Archives

• Gardening with Native Plants: October Changes Everything September 28, 2023

  While every month heralds some change in our gardens and landscapes, October brings transformation. Leaves and temperatures fall, animals may begin hibernation, migrating birds depart… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Summer Bees July 3, 2023

  In Madison, July is the warmest (on average) and the second wettest (on average) month of the year. Extreme heat and significant drought can also… 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

• Gardening with Native Plants: Early Flowers April 3, 2023

  April brings many transitions in the garden: temperatures rising, days lengthening, buds breaking, animals and insects emerging, seeds germinating, and more gardening. The land comes… 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

• Gardening with Native Plants: Flowers for Spring and Early Summer March 1, 2023

  Spring arrives this month, with meteorological spring on March 1 and astronomical spring (the equinox) on March 20. The meteorological season marks the beginning of… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Halfway to Spring January 30, 2023

  February is usually snowy and cold but always the shortest wintry month. Thawing and increasing daylength hint at the end of winter and the beginning… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: The Latest Asters August 30, 2022

  September brings the end of the flowering season as fall arrives in native plant gardens. A few flowers may linger into October, but this month… 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 Are Now Endangered. Here's How You Can Help. July 30, 2022

  As the only butterflies known to make a roundtrip migration like birds do, migratory monarch butterflies are used to traveling. Those that live in… 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

• Arboretum Hosts Native Gardening Conference September 18 July 15, 2022

  Learn Sustainable Gardening Practices and How to Use Native Plants in Home Landscapes The UW–Madison Arboretum will host its 2022 Native Gardening Conference, “Native… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Midsummer Highlights June 30, 2022

  Our native gardens take on a summer look this month. July brings the warmest average temperatures of the year, with a peak average high of… Read more

• Monarch Winter 2021–22 Population Numbers Released June 1, 2022

  On May 24, 2022, the World Wildlife Fund-Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance (WWF) and the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas in Mexico (CONANP), released data… 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

• Gardening with Native Plants: Emerging Bees, Living Lawns March 31, 2022

  April brings welcome spring to southern Wisconsin. In deciduous woodlands, small spring ephemerals emerge and flower, and tree canopy leaf-out begins. In prairies and savannas,… Read more

• From Minnesota to Mexico: How do monarchs know where and when to go? October 19, 2021

  Monarch butterflies, Minnesota’s official state butterfly, spend their summer throughout the Midwest and migrate to Mexico in the fall to avoid the freezing winters. By… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Spring Plants and Pollinators March 30, 2021

  Even if winter lingers in March, April leads to true spring: longer and warmer days, adequate rainfall, and changing colors as tree buds swell and… Read more