Archives

• Gardening with Native Plants: Gardener’s Bookshelf December 2, 2025

  December usually brings cold days, crisp air, freezing lakes, animal tracks, and snow shoveling. This month always brings the longest nights and the winter solstice,… Read more

• Learn, Lead, Repeat: The Summer Camp Staff Experience September 4, 2025

  Every summer, the Arboretum’s core staff is joined by a cohort of college students from UW–Madison and other campuses to help advance all facets of… Read more

• The golden oyster mushroom craze unleashed an invasive species – and a worrying new study shows it’s harming native fungi July 16, 2025

  “Golden oyster mushrooms, with their sunny yellow caps and nutty flavor, have become wildly popular for being healthy, delicious and easy to grow at home… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Garden Animals June 2, 2025

  June brings the longest day lengths, warm temperatures, and usually ample precipitation. Plants grow rapidly and summer blooms begin. This month, garden tasks… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Sun to Shade May 1, 2025

  Wisconsin spring is in full swing in May and change is everywhere – budding, germination, decomposition, emergence, migration, fresh new growth, and warmth. Read more

• Spring Is Prescribed Fire Season April 8, 2025

  Prescribed fire season is underway at the Arboretum. Wisconsin’s prairies, oak savannas, oak woodlands, and even some wetlands evolved to rely on fire for regeneration. Read more

• Taking the Next Step for Pollinators: Musings of a People and Nature Researcher April 3, 2025

  February 13, 2025. I traversed a snowy Arboretum with arcing trees layered in glittery white piping to attend the morning Winter Enrichment lecture… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Shrubs with Early Blooms February 27, 2025

  March often brings the end of winter, the beginning of spring, or simply the variability of this seasonal transition. Longer days, increasing sun… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Plants for a Garden Full of Life February 4, 2025

  During February, winter’s grip begins to loosen. Although Madison’s average daily temperature for the month is in the mid-20s, the average high temperature… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Planning for Pollinators January 7, 2025

  In our Wisconsin climate, January is an unlikely month for actual gardening, but seeding and planning for the new season is underway at the Arboretum. Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Winter Reading December 2, 2024

  December is the first month of meteorological winter and brings the shortest days of the year, often with cold and snow. Gardens are quiet this… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Autumn Care and Reflections November 4, 2024

  Late fall arrives in November, with colder days, possible frosts, shifting winds, shorter daylength, and neutral colors. Plants go into dormancy; some still hold seeds. Read more

• On the Trails: Greene Prairie Boardwalk Removal October 31, 2023

  Greene Prairie is an amazing 47-acre restoration – named after botanist Henry Greene who independently hand-planted the area – located in the southern part of… Read more

• ­­Celebrate Citizen Science Month April 3, 2023

  April is Citizen Science Month! Join the UW–Madison Arboretum to celebrate citizen and community science projects and the volunteers who help create knowledge about our… Read more

• Monarch Winter 2022–2023 Population Numbers Released March 21, 2023

  On March 21, 2023, the World Wildlife Fund-Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance (WWF) and the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas in Mexico (CONANP),… Read more

• Kohler Fellows Host Three Art-Science Fusion Community Events at the Arboretum March 13, 2023

  In April, Anna Gregory and Praveen Maripelly will lead three participatory events at the Arboretum called Wisconsin Landscapes: Art and Science Fusion Workshops. Held from… Read more

• Land Care Report: A Record Year in Seed Collection and Donations December 30, 2022

  When the snow begins to fall, it brings a change in work for the Arboretum land care crew. Chainsaws and forestry mowers rumble to life… Read more

• Jumping Worm Research Enhanced by Student Researchers September 29, 2022

  Non-native invasive species can negatively affect the conservation of native species, restoration goals for natural areas, and general ecosystem health. At the Arboretum, we manage… Read more

• Operation Fresh Start Conservation Academy Crew Assists Restoration Efforts August 30, 2022

  Over eight days in August, the Arboretum land care operation received a people-powered restoration boost from an Operation Fresh Start (OFS) Conservation Academy crew. Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Summer Shift August 1, 2022

  August brings mostly warm days, and perhaps subtle cooler hints of fall. It can be a rainy month, or a time when dry conditions deepen. Read more