native plants Archives

I Know What You Did - UIC Nutrition Teaching Garden

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:58:03 — 55.4MB)

Mike and Peggy welcome gardeners representing three gardens that were recognized by the Chicago Excellence in Gardening Awards’ 2021 60-Second Garden Video Challenge. They also update the #SaveBellBowlPrairie situation. Meteorologist Rick DiMaio previews a La Nina-influence winter.

Podcast

October 10, 2020 Mike Nowak

Having a Virtual IMPACT on Landscapes

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:43:05 — 47.2MB)

The Illinois Landscape Contractors Association (ILCA) annual IMPACT Conference will be virtual this year. Mike and Peggy talk to presenters Jack Pizzo of Pizzon & Associates and Kim Eierman from EcoBeneficial. The sad saga of Nicole Virgil and her fight to be able to have a hoop house in suburban Elmhurst continues. She returns to talk about the latest developments

Podcast

February 8, 2020 Mike Nowak

Nature’s Best Hope Is You

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:14 — 43.2MB)

Doug Tallamy returns to the show to discuss his new book, “Nature’s Best Hope,” about how our planet’s salvation will be via native plants and the insects they support. The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Jim Ault talks about Brilliance: The Orchid Show, which runs through March 22.

Podcast

October 5, 2019 Mike Nowak

Sustainable Landscapes Make an IMPACT

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:43:57 — 48.8MB)

Christine Nye, who recently retired as horticulture manager at the Shedd Aquarium, stops by to talk about the gardens she created there. She is joined by Pam Karlson, Annamaria Leon and Ken Williams to promote the upcoming ILCA IMPACT Conference. Pete Czosnyka explains how he faces a $675 fine for growing native plants in his front yard.

Podcast

July 6, 2019 Mike Nowak

Net Zero Energy Design…and Beyond!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:44:52 — 49.3MB)

Chicago area architects Tom Bassett-Dilley and Nate Kipnis join Mike and Peggy in studio to talk about the potential for net zero–and possibly net positive-energy design projects. Show regular Melinda Myers returns to talk native plants and getting a late start on veggie planting in the Midwest.

Peggy and The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener

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October 6, 2018 Mike Nowak

Mark and Marcus: Music and Sustainability

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:49:18 — 49.2MB)

Folk musician Mark Dvorak and Stephanie Schrodt stop by the studio to promote next week’s Folktober Fest in Oak Park. Holly and Joey Baird, The Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener, have early fall tips. In the advance of the ILCA’s IMPACT Conference, Marcus de la fleur talks about the benefit of putting native plants in your home’s landscape, and the difficulty of finding companies that will maintain them.

Podcast

September 29, 2018 Mike Nowak

Midewin: Where the Buffalo Roam

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:24:44 — 38.9MB)

Mike and Peggy broadcast live from Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, just southwest of Chicago near Wilmington, Illinois, and talk to range of guests about one of the great restoration projects in the history of the planet.

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August 4, 2018 Mike Nowak

Pollinator-palooza 2018

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:46:24 — 48.7MB)

Landscape horticulturist Dolly Foster teaches you how to make your garden pollinator friendly. Tom Buechel explains how the Plant Sentry program will theoretically keep plant e-commerce free of invasive plants and pests.

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June 9, 2018 Mike Nowak

The Garden Boss Is in the Hoss…er, House

Mike and Peggy welcome William Moss (also known as The Garden Boss) from Get Out and Grow to talk about all things gardening. Native landscaper Benjamin Vogt recounts his battle with the City of Lincoln, Nebraska over what they consider “weedy” plants.

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November 5, 2017 Mike Nowak

November 5, 2017 – The Future of Fracking and Energy in Illinois

Mike and Peggy welcome back Scott Stewart, Executive Director of the Millennium Park Foundation, on the eve of that group’s 20th anniversary, and environmental reporter Kari Lydersen, who reports on a victory over fracking in Illinois and the future of the Future Energy Jobs Act.