Articles filed under Blaine, Valerie

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Forest preserve opens new nature center in St. Charles Feb 3, 2013 12:00 AM
The new Creek Bend Nature Center at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles opens to the public Monday, Feb. 4. The welcome sign is up, and the Forest Preserve District of Kane County hopes you’ll stop in.
What are the ethics of collecting plants and wildlife Jan 6, 2013 12:00 AM
This month, a familiar question came up about collecting in forest preserves. A visitor to the nature center had read that some native plants could be used as medicine, and wondered where he could get some of these plants. The answer? Not in the forest preserves.
Readers asked, Valerie Blaine answers Dec 8, 2012 12:00 AM
People ask the darndest things. When someone sees the forest preserve district patch on my sleeve, it seems I'm fair game for just about any question — and there are some doozies. "Do you have to rake all these leaves?" "How many coyotes are in the preserves?" "What's the name of that bird that's blue, kind of small, you know — the one that sings a lot?"
A look at the history of Tekakwitha Woods Nov 10, 2012 12:00 AM
In mid-November the naturalist staff of the Forest Preserve District of Kane County will move from Tekakwitha Woods Nature Center to the District's new Creek Bend Nature Center at LeRoy Oakes Forest Preserve in St. Charles. Moving is a reflective, if not hectic, time. As I've been filling and stacking boxes, I have frequently paused and look out into the autumn woods. There's a lot of history here.
How the prairie survives a hot, dry summer Aug 18, 2012 12:00 AM
Robins perched motionless in the shade, bills agape. Thirsty plants wilted in flower beds, and trees prematurely surrendered their yellowing leaves. Humans holed up in air-conditioned houses. Everyone, it seemed, was held hostage by the heat this summer. Everything was dying for rain. Everyone and everything except the prairie.
Water 101: How to weather the drought Jul 17, 2012 12:00 AM
Stuck in the gridlock of Randall Road, I watched as sprinklers shot water in glistening arcs over grass-covered median strips. Millions of water drops were evaporating into thin air, never reaching a blade of grass. I cringed. That was my water someone was wasting. Your water, too.
Meet the jumping oak gall wasp Jun 3, 2012 12:00 AM
Jumping Jehoshaphat! The ground is alive! Or so it seems when hundreds of tiny round spheres the size of a pin head are hopping around on the sidewalk. This spring there are plenty of these curious little things, thanks to a bumper crop of jumping oak gall wasps.
That's not an umbrella, it's a May-apple Apr 3, 2012 12:00 AM
If you've walked in the woods this week, you might think a beach party is about to begin. There are beach umbrellas popping up all over the forest floor. But unlike those on the sandy shoreline, these umbrellas are about 10 inches high. And, of course, they're not really umbrellas; they're the leaves of a woodland plant called May-apple.