Photo from PHNRC website

Sandy Wentworth, Ruth Melulis and Eva Mannaberg

Five members of the Prospect Heights Natural Resources Commission led by Agnes Wojnarski amazed us with their descriptions of the process of restoring a slough to its native state.  This all-volunteer group went from concept to gaining city support to obtaining funding to removing non-native invasive plants to slough restoration. The  actual slough restoration started in 2014 and in 3 years, native plants and wild life are back!

For more information visit their website.

Sandra Wentworth from Proven Winners, a developer and supplier of patented annuals and perennials to nurseries, spoke to us about their process for developing and sustaining new plant varieties. We learned that:

1. Proven Winners plants start out as cuttings, not seeds, to maintain their colors and growing habits
2. Proven Winners plants do not go to seed and generally don't need dead-heading
3. The plant cuttings are started at the Proven Winners facility and then sent to growers for maturation, potting and distribution to garden centers
4. Proven Winners plants always have a Proven Winners label

It was a most informative discussion.

Patricia Weiner is a retired CPS teacher, photographer, naturalist, gardener and avid traveler. Patricia shared stories and photos of her trip to the Pantanal which is an immense tropical wetland located mostly in Brazil. It is home to hundreds of species of birds and fauna such as jaguars, caimans and capybaras. Patricia has won numerous awards for her photographs of animals and birds.
A beautiful selection of mounted photographs of Ms. Weiner's travels  was available for sale.