Resolutions for a New Year: Your 2024 Outdoor Bucket List
The new year is just around the corner, and with it comes a slew of resolutions. The media is a hurricane of different ideas, like shedding winter weight, spring cleaning, or ditching the spending habit. Still, resolutions can add a lot of pressure to an already arduous task. Instead, why not do something that’s beneficial […]
Green Gifts: Sustainable Presents They’ll Love
The holidays are a joyous time full of heartfelt appreciation. We spend quality time together, put up special decorations, and even give each other gifts. Unfortunately, with packaging, unwanted presents, a spike in travel, and excess food waste, this doesn’t make the holidays the most eco-friendly time of year. Our environmental situation is complex, and […]
Deck the Halls Sustainably: 6 Eco-Friendly Ways to Decorate for the Holidays
The holidays are a dazzling time of excess and ornament, the ultimate celebration. But is it possible to go all out with the decorations without being wasteful? Since the Garden’s undergoes a festive transformation each year for WPS Garden of Lights, we know a thing or two about sustainable holiday decorations. So, whether it’s indoors […]
The Wetland Oddballs: Bogs & Fens
One’s devastatingly acidic and the other is incredibly alkaline. Bogs and fens seem like they couldn’t be any more different, yet they often come part and parcel in the wetland world. So, what mysteries lay under the moss? Are bogs and fens actually more similar than they seem? A Briefing on Bogs Bogs are a […]
Grow with the Flow: Wisconsin’s Water Agriculture
With the rise of hydroponics and other alternative growing methods, water agriculture seems like a contemporary development in the U.S. Surprisingly, Wisconsin has a strong history of using natural waterways to grow food. So, what’s the scoop? Cranberries Small but mighty, cranberries are Wisconsin’s number one fruit crop in both acreage and economic impact! In […]
Ohe·Láku Among the Cornstalks: A Legacy of White Corn
The corn season is an exciting time; it tells of coming autumn breezes, corn mazes, and pumpkin picking. For Laura Manthe and other members of the Oneida Nation, the corn harvest is an important cultural tradition and a symbol of community resilience. The Oneida Nation are a part of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy. They’re […]
What’s the Deal with Algae?
They aren’t a plant and they aren’t an animal, so what are algae? Algae are primary producers, which means that they’re at the very bottom of the food chain. They create their own food through photosynthesis like plants do, but they’re actually considered protists.3 They serve as food for small aquatic critters like insects and […]
Friend or Foe? Lily Pads in Wisconsin
With gorgeous blooms and vibrant foliage, lilies are a gorgeous addition to an ornamental pond, but can become quite a nuisance in a recreational body of water. Imagine trying to reel in a fish through a densely knotted mess of stems and pads or, worse yet, detangling the mass from your boat’s propeller. What a […]
Soaking up the Sun: The Western Painted Turtle
During rural Wisconsin summers, turtles are hard to miss. Whether they’re sitting out on a log in a lake or accidentally finding their way into your backyard, they have their few months of glory and then disappear. So, who are these mysterious critters anyway? Well, I’m glad you asked. Being Wisconsin’s most common subspecies, you’ve […]
4 Critical Types of Wisconsin Wetlands
Wisconsin has a wealth of wetlands, and we’re better for it! Wetlands play an important role in our local landscapes and biodiversity. They prevent flooding by capturing excess water, purify water by filtering out pollutants, and serve as nurseries for many of our young fish and wildlife.2 Wetland is a general term for a whole […]
