Immortalized in popular song, the sycamore occupies a special place on the Indiana panorama. The American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis) is one of the tallest trees (up to 150 feet) on the Hoosier landscape, and it sometimes exhibits a circumference so large that its hollow stumps once served as dwellings and outbuildings on early-settler farms. The …
Since the onset of the COVID19 pandemic in 2020, a small group of like-minded individuals started meeting with Shirley Heinze Land Trust (SHLT) personnel about the concept of an emerging leaders group. I was one of those individuals who, at the time, did some volunteering at SHLT but also witnessed the organization take on new …
This blog entry was originally posted through Enbridge on October 5, 2021. Some information has been updated from the original post. Shirley Heinze Land Trust uses Meadowbrook Nature Preserve trail system to engage residents in nature and conservation On a guided hike through Meadowbrook Nature Preserve in northwest Indiana, visitors traverse newly expanded trail systems through oak …
By: Jim Haniford Well, here we are, a little over five months into Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s trail cam monitoring project at Meadowbrook Nature Preserve. We’re marking Earth Day on the west branch of the tributary of Salt Creek, a waterway that rambles carelessly through the bottomlands of the ancient moraine. The occasion is attended …
By: Mary Nell Murphy While driving on Hwy 12 near the Indiana Dunes parks last fall, I stopped at a wayside for a stretch break and looked across the road to a sea of watermelon pink under the forest canopy. Delightful? No! As I suspected, and as I confirmed “upon further review of the field” …
By: Glenn Major As a child, our mother sent us out to collect Bittersweet vines. Their attractive fruit mixed with gourds from the garden made for a festive holiday decoration of table or mantle. Folks wove them into colorful Christmas wreaths and candle rings. There lies the problem; these attractive vines imported from Asia in …
Invasive Species Awareness Week: Oriental Bittersweet Read More »
Our partners in land conservation include individuals and families, non-profits and private corporations, and federal, state, and local government agencies. They provide advice, expertise, and funding to help us preserve precious natural lands and waters here in northwestern Indiana. We recently protected another 50 acres of land within the Little Calumet River Conservation Area. The …
Partnership Week 2020 – Land Conservation Partners Read More »
By Christine Maloney Four mature maple trees around my house (two on the south and two on the north) leave only a narrow strip of full sun in the middle to grow my favorite sun-loving garden crops. To complicate things further, my house and driveway take up the majority of that area in my typical …
Gardening from the Roots to the Treetops – Create a Backyard Food Forest!s Read More »
By Rich Hawksworth Earlier this year I committed to locating the six species of lady’s slipper orchids native to Northwest Indiana. These alluring wildflowers are members of the genus Cypripedium. The name, which is derived from Ancient Greek, is an early reference in mythology to Aphrodite, meaning “sandal” or “slipper.” Like their namesake goddess, lady’s …
A Quest for Aphrodite’s Slippers in Northwest Indiana Read More »
