Approximately a trillion red-eyed flying cicadas will hatch in the U.S. this spring as two adjacent broods emerge from the ground. This double hit of cicadas has not happened since 1803 and Illinois will witness the action. Program is presented by cicada expert Dr. Gene Kritsky, professor emeritus of biology at Mount  ST. Joseph University […]

Buckthorn is a highly invasive shrub that forms dense thickets and crowds out native plants . Learn how to identify buckthorn, find out why it threatens wildlife habitat and native species, and learn how to control it in your own landscape. Alternative  replacement shrubs will be discussed. Presented by Matt Evans, Managing Ecologist of Woodlands […]

Collecting your own flower seeds is a great way to preserve native flowers (and favorite old varieties of annuals) and to produce free flowers for your garden. Learn about identifying seeds at peak ripeness and how to dry and store them for years to come. Presented by Dolly Foster, a horticulturist who for 23 years […]

Doug Tallamy returns to share his Homegrown National Park Initiative. Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home,  call for action is to use public and private spaces to support and expand biodiversity. 83% of US. land is privately owned. He challenges property owners to select ecologically effective plants, shrink lawn size and remove invasives in order […]

The Nachusa Grasslands is a 3,800-acre restored tallgrass prairie near Franklin Grove, about a two-hour drive west of Glencoe. Managed by The Nature Conservancy and volunteers, it is Illinois’s largest and most biologically diverse grasslands restoration project. Naturalist and longtime Nachusa volunteer, Susan Kleiman will describe the restoration process and the introduction of the large […]

Landscape designer Deborah Chud returns to take the audience on a photo tour of her highly unusual New Perennialist-inspired garden and describes the design principles underlying it. Many of the plants are unfamiliar—even to experienced and knowledgeable gardeners. These “new perennials” were all taken from a distinctive canon of plants, and they exhibit the naturalistic […]

Reliable supplies of water are threatened by scarcity, excess, wild fluctuations between these extremes, and pollution. In the Great Lakes region, some communities enjoy ample supplies and others do not, but they all face the "threat multiplier" of a rapidly changing climate. Kimberly Gray, chair of the civil and environmental engineering department at Northwestern University, […]

We hope to reschedule this program for the spring of 2023.  Visit the Friends’ website for program updates and event calendar.  Living green infrastructures are an essential element of climate adaptation and can provide significant environmental, social, and economic benefits. Yet green infrastructure remains the exception. Learn about green roofs and walls, bioswales/rain gardens, urban trees, permeable […]

Monarch populations have fallen drastically. In July 2022 they were classified as an endangered species by the International Union of Conservation of Nature,. Karen Oberhauser, conservation biologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will address their migration, overwintering biology, and the critical need for their global conservation. This virtual program is presented in partnership with the […]