Artistry runs deep here

My father Harry graduated from Drake University with a major in Psychology and dual minors in philosophy and art. Kind of interesting for a future landscape architect. But I’ve always thought it is part of what makes him and our subsequent culture a unique. One where creativity isn’t touted, it is practiced. Both on the […]

What’s the deal with Dirt

My guess is that many people don’t find dirt very interesting.  But the truth is that people study it intensely.  We actually employ someone who is a soils expert, Mike Curry! So what exactly Is pulverized topsoil?  Topsoil is the upper layer of the Earth’s crust,  usually the top 2 to 8 inches. It has […]

Name that plant!

Believe it or not but there are rules and regulations for naming plants.  The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants, or THE CODE, was first published in 1952 but has roots in Brussles in 1864.  The Code is filled with principles, rules and regulations, recommendations, etc.  Let’s just say, not the most exciting read. […]

Tulip Trivia

On this snowy and blisteringly cold day I find myself dreaming of tulips. You see, my mother loves tulips.  Even though growing up in Riverwoods there was a fair share of deer, she would tirelessly plant them.  Not en masse, but in little charming clumps that would pop up here and there.  She would sometimes […]

Why we do it…50 years and still going

ILT is in our fist week of the season. Each morning we are greeted at 6 am by new and old faces clad in ILT orange, busy preparing for their day. The parking lot is a calculated maze of trucks and trailers weaving about gathering the materials they will need for the day. It is […]