Archives

• 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

• Spring Is Prescribed Fire Season March 12, 2024

  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

• 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

• Director's Note: Migratory Monarchs Added to IUCN Red List as Endangered Species August 1, 2022

  I spent much of the last week of July talking to reporters about the recent announcement from the International Union for the Conservation of… Read more

• Monarch Butterflies Have Been Declared Engangered. What Can We Do to Save Them? July 24, 2022

  Ayesha Rascoe speaks with conservation biologist Karen Oberhauser about why the migratory monarch butterfly was just declared endangered, and what can be done in response. Read more

• Monarch Butterflies Are Endangered, Leading Wildlife Monitor Says July 21, 2022

  North America’s monarch butterfly, whose showy looks and extraordinary migration have made it one of the continent’s most beloved insects, has been classified as endangered… Read more

• How to Help Wisconsin's Disappearing Native Bees in Your Yard April 15, 2022

  “The homeland of the federally endangered rusty patched bumble bee has shrunk by 90% in the past 20 years, yet the beneficial, fuzzy native… Read more

• Wisconsin's prairies shine in late summer, from Lapham Peak to UW Arboretum August 25, 2021

  Prairies aren’t just pretty to look it and nice to walk through. They’re vital to species like American kestrels, bobolinks, sandhill cranes, eastern meadowlark, federally endangered Karner blue butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Read more

• Monarch Winter 2020–21 Population Numbers Released February 26, 2021

  According to newly released data, the population of monarch butterflies in Mexico wintering sites decreased by 26 percent over last winter. On February 25, 2021,… Read more

• Monarch Butterflies: Spring Migration and Habitat Restoration March 4, 2019

  Monarch butterflies are getting ready for a big journey north to Wisconsin. Karen Oberhauser was a guest on the Larry Meiller Show to talk about… Read more

• The Vanishing Flights of the Monarch Butterfly February 20, 2019

  “Walking around my family’s property in upstate New York last summer, I noticed something I hadn’t seen in years: scores of monarch butterflies flying around the… Read more