What's Blooming in Madison this Week? |
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Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2021 is a safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous one for all of you.
There are still a few interesting things to see in our gardens and parks this time of year (more on this in a later newsletter), but I’m most interested right now in sharing some online resources that I’ve found.
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First, Dr. Douglas Tallamy and Michelle Alfandari, co-founders of Homegrown National Park, Inc., are promoting a grass roots project that invites residents across the nation to plant native trees, shrubs, and flowers. Even if all you have is a flower box, I encourage you to check out this website. https://homegrownnationalpark.org/about-us
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The centerpiece of the site is a national map of native plantings by zip code. If everyone were to replace half of their lawn with natives, it would add up to about 20 million acres. That’s one big national park!
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Since last summer, the Native Plant Society of NJ has been presenting Wonderful Wednesday Webinars, for free, on the third Wednesday of the month. Many of these were recorded and archived, and you can find them HERE . Scroll down and choose 'Webinar Recordings'.
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This month's session is scheduled for the fourth Wednesday instead of the third.
Wednesday January 27, 2021 at 7:00 PM
"Winter Botany 101"
Joe Alvarez
Delaware-Bay Chapter
Registration now Available
The next scheduled program is on Wednesday, February 10, 2021 at 7:30 pm. Dr. Susan Petro, instructor in biology at Ramapo College, will present
"Beneficial Insects in the Garden."
This program will discuss the beneficial beetles, bugs, flies and wasps that are your allies in the battle against plant-devouring insect pests. The registration link for this talk will be available in early February.
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Another project, called ‘Backyard Forestry in 90 Minutes’, is presenting a virtual tree identification webinar
Winter Tree ID, Part 2
with Kieran Hunt
Thursday, January 21st
at 7pm
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Kieran will cover a brief introduction on "How to ID trees", then focus on actual species identification. If you missed Part One, not to worry! This webinar will review some of the basics before diving into some specific trees.
Some of the genera covered will be oak, birch, cherry, tulip, hickory, walnut, magnolia, sweetgum, black gum, and sassafras. Register at
To see Part #1, visit
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Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, located just south of New Hope, Pennsylvania, is offering it’s annual winter lecture series in a virtual format this year. Each lecture in the series costs $15, and all lectures are presented on Sunday afternoons from 2 – 3pm, now through Feb 28. For more information, visit
Scroll down and click on the title of each lecture to register.
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I especially recommend the Feb 28 presentation By Dr Tallamy. He is one of the best speakers I have heard, and his photos are beautiful. |
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Last, but not least if you want to take a deep dive into environmental topics, is the 2021 Rutgers University “Environmental Stewards” class. The class meets on Tuesdays, from 5–8 pm, runs January 26 through June 1, 2021, and costs $ 200.00 for the course. The deadline to register is January 22, 2021 https://envirostewards.rutgers.edu/about.html
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Enviro Stewards Class of 2013 |
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That's it for now. I hope these suggestions are useful and that you'll enjoy learning more about native plants, gardening and the natural world. |
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You can contact me at maccarij@rosenet.com if you have questions, comments, or photos of your own to share.
I hope you enjoyed this email. However, if you prefer not to receive any more of them, simply reply with the word REMOVE and I will take you off our mailing list.
Be safe and be well.
Best wishes,
Joan
Joan Maccari
Madison Environmental Commission
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