Making Lemonade

Illinois officials are finding alternative uses for infested ash trees:

• Wilmette Village President Chris Canning is turning two ash from his own yard into bats for Wilmette's youth baseball program. (Evanston is also working on a baseball bats project)
• Wilmette also plans to use some ash wood as flooring when they renovate the public works facility
• Other suggested uses- decorative bowls, stained counter tops, furniture, cabinets, picnic areas in forest preserves
• Turning wood chips into electricity- Robbins Community Power- by the end of the year will be IL's first wood-chip energy plant, and may use ash wood chips

From: Ash borers kill trees, but wood still has life Town officials get creative in uses for rescued lumber
By Dave Wischnowsky Tribune staff reporter, Published May 27, 2007
Click here to go to photos from the Tribune Article

Happy Birthday Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus, the father of modern taxonomy, was born 300 years ago today. Linnaeus' contributions include Binomial Nomenclature (Latin Names), the modern centigrade thermometer, growing bananas in Europe, and the idea of plants having sex.

• New York Times May 23, 2007 'The 300th Birthday of the Man Who Organized All of Nature' By JAMES BARRON

The benefit of being the father of modern taxonomy is that not only do you get to name plants after your family and friends, but you can name weeds after your critics.

For more on Carl Linnaeus and the meanings behind the Latin Names go to our article What’s in a Plant’s Name? or check out our Name Dictionary of some of the plants we grow.

Don’t make fun of trees with your lungs full

Recent “environmental studies” have committed the classic fallacy of reasoning- “not being able to tell the forest from the trees”. ‘Computer Models’ of the earth’s atmosphere have shown that darkening the earth’s surface in the temperate climes could lead to an increase in ‘global warming’. Therefore, they conclude planting trees with their dark leaves would increase the amount of sunlight that is absorbed and given off as heat. According to the models it would be better if the surface of the northern hemisphere was white -like snow covered or sand. The ‘studies’ say that they have taken into account the carbon sequestering and oxygen production of trees and still found that no trees are better. Giving them the benefit of the doubt the researchers may have been trying to make a point that ‘global warming’ studies and modeling can lead to such absurd results because the environment and its myriad of connections is too complex to be understood simply on a quantitative basis. Anyone who walks in a northern forest knows that the benefits to the earth far outweigh any detriment, but quantifying that equation will take a lot of assumptions, which are all in flux. In other words the forest is more than the sum of its parts. And that’s the truth.

The previous issue of the Wisconsin Urban Forestry Insider email newsletter had the following headlines and links:

Leafy, Green and Good Recent news stories suggest that there is one true answer to of global warming — transforming the way we produce energy, reducing carbon dioxide emissions at the source. Planting trees to combat climate change is a distraction from this solution, an "indulgence," "the morning-after pill for fossil fuel gluttons," a "dangerous illusion."

This article itself ends positively, stating the many benefits of urban trees, and describing planting trees as something any of us can do that does not require “the development of new technologies or massive investment in alternative energy sources”. The article states that the climate change issue is complicated, with no easy solution and requiring much time, thought and money, but “Meanwhile, we can all plant a tree.”

Trees to Offset the Carbon Footprint? How effective are new trees in offsetting the carbon footprint? A new study suggests that the location of new trees is an important factor when considering such carbon offset projects. Planting and preserving forests in the tropics is more likely to slow down global warming. But the study concludes that planting new trees in certain parts of the planet may actually warm the earth.

When Being Green Raises the Heat Carbon dioxide is heating up the earth. Ice caps are melting, ocean levels are rising, hurricanes are intensifying, tropical diseases are spreading and the threat of droughts, floods and famines looms large. Can planting a tree help stop all this from happening?

The authors of these articles end with a caution that they are not suggesting cutting down trees outside the tropics is the answer for slowing global warming. "Preservation of ecosystems is a primary goal of preventing global warming, and the destruction of ecosystems to prevent global warming would be a counterproductive and perverse strategy... Forests provide natural habitat to plants and animals, preserve the biodiversity, produce economically valuable timber and firewood, protect watersheds and indirectly prevent ocean acidification.”

Chicago Cicada Central Blog

Ron Wolford, the Extension Educator Urban Gardening/Environment at University of Illinois Extension put together a blog Chicago Cicada Central Blog with facts, links, and resources on the Periodical Cicadas.

New Name for INA!

After much debate and thought, the people voted and decided to change the name of the Illinois Nurseryman's Association (INA) to the Illinois Green Industry Association (IGIA). The new name "more accurately reflects the existing membership of the organization as well as the evolving complexion of the industry" and "welcomes and invites potential new members form every segment of the Green Industry". The new website is www.illinoisgreen.org

Polar Bear's Don't Lie

Lisa Haderlein, Executive Director of The Land Conservancy of McHenry County recently started the blog Polar Bears Don't Lie- One Family's Journey to Lower Carbon Living

The blog is a journal of her family’s efforts to reduce their carbon output during the month of May. The blog has links to information and resources about Global Climate Change.

Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week

May 20-26 is Emerald Ash Borer Awareness Week in Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Maryland.

For more information go to:

• Emerald Ash Borer in Illinois Blog
• Emerald Ash Borer Website
• Wisconsin Emerald Ash Borer web page
• Purdue EAB Website

The Ups and Downs of Global Warming

Feeling Warmth, Subtropical Plants Move North By SHAILA DEWAN
New York Times May 3, 2007

• “If global warming has any upside, it would seem to be for gardeners, who make up three-quarters of the population and spend $34 billion a year, according to the National Gardening Association. Many experts agree that climate change, which by some estimates has already nudged up large swaths of the country by one or more plant-hardiness zones, has meant a longer growing season and a more robust selection.”

(See our Previous Post on the Hardiness Zone Debate)

The Downside:
Warmer temperatures help pests as well-

• “Studies have shown that weeds and invasive species receive a greater boost from higher levels of carbon dioxide, a heat-trapping gas, than desirable plants do.”

Plants that are part of the identity of an area may not be able to adapt

• “By the end of the century, the climate will no longer be favorable for the official state tree or flower in 28 states, according to “The Gardener’s Guide to Global Warming,” a report released last month by the National Wildlife Federation.”

Another Upside:
Raising Awareness in products and practices that conserve water and energy including drought-resistant plants, xeriscaping, rain gardens, low maintenance plants, organic fertilizers, and greener equipment.

• “Some experts said global warming was affecting gardeners in another way, by raising awareness.”

Summer Flowering Shrubs

Download our pdf on Summer Flowering Shrubs

• 'Sweet' Summer Flowering Shrubs

• Summer Flowering Shrubs for Cut-Flowers

• Troubleshooting Summer Flowering Shrubs

Chicago is One of Top Cities in Sustainability

SustainLane's 2006 US City Sustainability Rankings
Ranks the 50 largest cities in the US on urban sustainability.

Chicago scores high in most categories
Including Knowledge Base, Metro Public Transit, City Innovation, Energy/Climate Change Policy and City CommutingOther Categories include Metro Congestion, Air Quality, Tap Water Quality, Solid Waste Diversion, Planning/Land Use, Housing Affordability, Natural Disaster Risk, Local Food and Agriculture, Green Economy, and LEED Buildings