Author Archives: raingardenuiuc

by Sandra Bjerga, RORG Student Team I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor about her background with horticulture, how she incorporates RORG service learning into her classes, and her research with nature and children. A little about her:Dr. Faber Taylor is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Department of Crop Sciences whoContinueContinue reading “Horticulture + Health: an Interview with Dr. Andrea Faber Taylor”

By Layne Knoche, RORG Landscape Designer Welcome to April at the Red Oak Rain Garden! This will be a special month for years to come, as the garden’s new additions of Virginia Bluebells, Shooting Star, Wild Hyacinth, and Woodland Phlox will bloom alongside the established populations of Foamflower, Rue Anemone, Wild Ginger, and Celandine Poppy.ContinueContinue reading “In the Garden: April”

By Layne Knoche, RORG Landscape Designer It’s finally March! Warmer temperatures and longer days mean spring is just around the corner. The last of the berries in the garden have been eaten by the returning Robins and overwintering pollinators are beginning to emerge from their winter homes in plant stems and under the cover ofContinueContinue reading “In the Garden: March”

By Layne Knoche, RORG Landscape Designer To be brutally honest, I really don’t like February. Sure, the days are finally getting longer and we tend to get some big snows in mid- to late-winter which some people enjoy, but the frigid temperatures and lack of green plants really start to wear this landscape designer downContinueContinue reading “In the Garden: February”

By Guest blogger Peggy Doty, Energy and Environmental Stewardship Educator, Illinois Extension Winter brings a unique opportunity to view wildlife in the Red Oak Rain Garden from a different perspective. Although animals move around the garden all the time, you might not notice them. In winter, from a human perspective, everything seems frozen and inactive,ContinueContinue reading “Winter Wildlife: Identifying Animal Tracks”

by C. Eliana Brown, RORG Director The Red Oak Rain Garden is designed to look good year-round. You should go visit it. But, even I — who loves being outside — can’t make myself go on those bone chilling cold, gray January days. What do you do then? Lately, I have noticed that the grayContinueContinue reading “How to Thrive in Winter’s Gray Days”

By Layne Knoche, RORG Landscape Designer The garden was welcomed into 2021 with a beautiful blanket of snow, which helped to accentuate some of my favorite details of the landscape design. At a time of the year when some find it hard to find beauty in plant life, RORG’s native Illinois plants are showing offContinueContinue reading “In the Garden: Early January”

by C. Eliana Brown, RORG Director As the year comes to a close, I want to take this time to thank the Red Oak Rain Garden’s Community of Supporters, who made it possible for us to install thousands of early-blooming plants giving us all something to look forward to come spring 2021. I’m also eagerlyContinueContinue reading “Make a Difference with Year-End Giving”

By the RORG Team Against all odds, 2020 was a pivotal year for the Red Oak Rain Garden – complete with several pivots. Some might say hard-fought and they would not be wrong. Here are the RORG Team highlights of um, wow, quite a year. LATE WINTER The RORG Team started out 2020 by applyingContinueContinue reading “RORG’s 2020 Year in Review”