Articles of note in the Sterling Morton Library : April’s offerings

These are some recent articles that can be found within the journal collection of the Sterling Morton Library. Please visit the Library to discover the incredible botanical and horticultural resources that await you! If you are unable to visit the Library and interested in reviewing one of these articles, I would be delighted to help you at rhassert@mortonarb.org.

Barker, Michael S. and Paul G. Wolf. Unfurling fern biology in the genomics age. BioScience, v.60, no. 3, p. 177-185.

Curtis, Kent. The virtue of Thoreau: biography, geography, and history in Walden Woods. Environmental History, v. 15, no. 1, p. 31-53.

Gilberg, Cindy. Rain gardens and the plants that make them. Perennial Plants : the journal of the Perennial Plant Association, Winter 2010, p. 7-12.

Hipp, Andrew L. Hill’s oak: the taxonomy and dynamics of a western Great Lakes endemic. Arnoldia, v. 67, no. 4, p. 2-14.

Laganiere, Jerome, David Pare and Robert L. Bradley. How does a tree species influence litter decomposition? Separating the relative contributions of litter quality, litter mixing, and forest floor conditions. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, v. 40, no. 3, p. 465-475.

Mayer, Amy. Phenology and citizen science. BioScience, v.60, no. 3, p. 172-5.

Ross, Diana. Diana Ross meets … Penelope Hobhouse. Hortus, no. 93, p. 35-46.

Articles of note in the Sterling Morton Library : January’s offerings

These are some recent articles that can be found within the journal collection of the Sterling Morton Library. Please visit the Library to discover the incredible botanical and horticultural resources that await you! If you are unable to visit the Library and interested in reviewing one of these articles, I would be delighted to help you at rhassert@mortonarb.org.

Baggett, Pam. Swept away : create garden drama with a sweep of a single plant. Horticulture, v. 107, no. 2, p. 42-47.

Jutras, Pierre, Shiv O. Praqsher, and Guy R. Mehuys. Appraisal of key biotic parameters affecting street tree growth. Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, v. 36, no. 1, p. 1-10.

May, Felix, Volker Grimm and Florian Jeltsch. Reversed effect of grazing on plant diversity: the role of below-ground competition and size symmetry. Oikos, v. 118, no. 12, p. 1830-1843.

Raffles, Hugh, art by Cornelia Hesse-Honegger. A conjoined fate : a painter challenges the divisions between art and science, safety and risk, humans and insects. Orion, v. 29, no. 1, p. 16-27.

Simberloff, Daniel. Invasions of plant communities—more of the same, something different, or both? The American Midland Naturalist, v. 163, no. 1, 219-233.

Articles of note in the Sterling Morton Library : November’s offerings

These are some recent articles that can be found within the journal collection of the Sterling Morton Library. Please visit the Library to discover the incredible botanical and horticultural resources that await you! If you are unable to visit the Library and interested in reviewing one of these articles, I would be delighted to help you at rhassert@mortonarb.org.

Abel, Andrea. Cloud city. Wildflower, v. 26, no. 2, p. 12-19.
“At northern Mexico’s El Cielo Biosphere Reserve, an unusual stretch of cloud forest is home to an abundance of plants and animals.”

Bourne, Joel K. Redwoods : the super trees. National Geographic, v. 216, no. 4, p. 28-63.

New plants for 2010. American Nurseryman, v. 209, no. 12, p. 12-47.

Price, Karen and Dave Daust. Making monitoring manageable : a framework to guide learning. Canadian Journal of Forest Research, v. 39, no. 10, p. 1881-1892.

Schnable, P.S., et al. The B73 maize genome : complexity, diversity, and dynamics. Science, v. 326, no. 5956, p. 1112-115.
“The sequence of the maize genome reveals it to be the most complex genome known to date.”

Olechnowski, Brian F.M., Diane M. Debinski, Pauline Drobney, Karen Viste-Sparkman and William T. Reed. Changes in vegetation structure through time in a restored tallgrass prairie ecosystem and implications for avian diversity and community composition. Ecological Restoration, v. 27, no. 4, p. 449-457.

Articles of note in the Sterling Morton Library : September’s offerings

These are some recent articles that can be found within the journal collection of the Sterling Morton Library. Please visit the Library to discover the incredible botanical and horticultural resources that await you! If you are unable to visit the Library and interested in reviewing one of these articles, I would be delighted to help you at rhassert@mortonarb.org.

Elliott, Brent. Changes in the flowering times of garden plants over three centuries. Garden, n.s. v. 8, pt. 3, 154-160.

Analysis of the pocket guides of the 17th- and 18th-century gardeners.

Herkert, James R. and Francis M. Harty. In a place called Illinois : landscape restoration in Illinois. The Illinois Steward, v. 18, no. 2.
Discover these remarkable places and restoration projects:

• Cache River Wetlands
• Dixon Waterfowl Refuge: Hennepin and Hopper Lakes
• Emiquon Complex
• Illinois Ozarks
• Indian Boundary Prairies
• Kankakee Sands Macrosite
• Lost Mound/Hanover Bluff
• Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
• Nachusa Grasslands
• Nygren Wetland Preserve
• Prairie Ridge State Natural Area

Martin, Frank Edgerton. Framing the tallgrass prairie. Landscape Architecture, v. 99, no. 9, p. 44-53.
A Missouri farmstead restores native flora.

Meier, C.L., Keyserling K. & Bowman, W.D. Fine root inputs to soil reduce growth of a neighbouring plant via distinct mechanisms dependent on root carbon chemistry. Journal of Ecology, v. 97, no. 5, p. 941-949.

Nelson, Gil. Deciduous native hollies. The American Gardener, v. 88, no. 5, p. 30-34.

Dazzling dragonflies and blue gentians!

Walking in the Schulenberg Prairie at The Morton Arboretum earlier this week, I was mesmerized by squadrons of dragonflies, a carpet of blue gentians, the scent of Sporobolus heterolepis (a.k.a. prairie dropseed) and lots of tall waving grasses. Rich with the whir of insect wings, flitting finches and the sound of the wind rushing through Indian grass, big bluestem and switchgrass, this area continues to amaze through all four seasons. The prairie is indeed looking very lush in these waning days of summer – a veritable feast for the spirit and soul!

Our collections within the Sterling Morton Library include resources on prairies and prairie plants. The collection ranges from John Weaver’s classic, North American Prairie to Claudia McGehee’s charming children’s book A Tallgrass Prairie Alphabet to The Elemental Prairie featuring watercolors by George Olson. In addition to resources about these plants and this ecosystem, we also have resources about creatures the live in the prairie like Mitchell’s A Dazzle of Dragonflies and Johnsgard’s Prairie Birds : fragile splendor in the Great Plains. Wonder how Native Americans might have used prairie plants? Be sure to review Moerman’s Native American Ethnobotany and Kindscher’s Medicinal Wild Plants of the Prairie : an ethnobotanical guide. Interested in the folklore related to these native plants? Try skimming Gilmore’s Prairie Smoke : a collection of lore of the prairies.

Like the Schulenberg Prairie, the Sterling Morton Library is a rich resource to be savored and explored. The Library is open Tuesday-Friday from 9-5 and Saturday from 10-4. All are welcome and encouraged to use our collections! Arboretum members and active volunteers have borrowing privileges. Located in the Administration and Research Center on the Arboretum's east side, we're just a short walk from the Visitor Center.

Vegetable Gardens, or, Where Cabbage is King!

Like a general planning the next sortie, this time of the year, gardeners are planning their vegetable gardens. Nursery catalogs are spread out and studied, time is spent pacing around the yard with paper and pencil, and chairs are even drawn to the windows so the eager gardener can further study the landscape. Some of the most interesting and amusing gardens that I’ve visited have include a border of spinach, a run of beets or even a flurry of lettuce – right along the sidewalk by the front door. Savvy gardeners have discovered ways to meld and incorporate the traditional vegetable garden with the home’s landscaping. Recent news about the White House vegetable garden will hopefully encourage people to plant a row of peas, a strip of squash or even a ribbon of radishes. Short on space or time? Consider creating several compact container vegetable gardens. These are some of the resources in the Sterling Morton Library that will help the home vegetable gardener:

• The American Horticultural Society encyclopedia of gardening, 1993.
• Bartholomew, Mel. Square foot gardening, c1981.
• Bartley, Jennifer R. Designing the new kitchen garden : an American potager handbook, 2006.
• Bradley,Fern Marshall. Vegetable gardening : from planting to picking : the complete guide to creating a bountiful garden, c2006.
• Bubel, Nancy. The new seed-starters handbook, c1988.
• Chambers, David. Vegetable gardening, 1994.
• Coleman, Eliot. The new organic grower : a master's manual of tools and techniques for the home and market gardener, 1995.
• Creasy, Rosalind. The complete book of edible landscaping, c1982.
• Crockett, James Underwood. Crockett's victory garden, c1977.
• Harris, Linda D. Growing seeds! : starting from scratch, c1999.
• Heffernan, Maureen. Burpee seed starter : a guide to growing flower, vegetable, and herb seeds indoors and outdoors, c1997.
• Kitchen gardens : beyond the vegetable patch, c1998.
• Kite, L. Patricia. Gardening wizardry for kids, c1995.
• Lerner, Carol. My backyard garden, 1997.
• Nardozzi, Charlie. Vegetable gardening for dummies, c1999.
• Ogden, Samuel R. Step-by-step to organic vegetable growing,1971.
• Pavord, Anna. The new kitchen garden, 1996.
• Salad gardens : gourmet greens and beyond, c1995.
• Taylor's guide to vegetables & herbs, 1987.
• Weaver, William Woys. Heirloom vegetable gardening : a master gardener's guide to planting, growing, seed saving, and cultural history, 1997.