Thanks to a recent update to the arboretum’s website, gardeners will find it easier to broker a love connection between plants and pollinators.

If private landowners don’t remove invasives alongside natural areas, species like buckthorn will persist in forest preserves and parks, regardless of habitat restoration efforts.

Want to immerse yourself in the sculpture work of a World War II vet? What about a Scottish folk musician who decided watercolor was his medium of choice? That and more are available this weekend in Chicago.

The Chicago Park District is undertaking an inventory of its trees — counting their numbers and recording their health — in order to develop a management plan.

“This has been kind of an extreme and somewhat stressful year for a lot of plants,” said Tom Tiddens, supervisor of plant health care at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

This week’s “Pick Six” — our weekly roundup of outdoorsy recommendations in each of the Chicago region’s six counties — ranges from a cool glacial remnant to a theatrical production that doubles as a hike.

With their bulging red eyes and their alien-like mating sound, periodical cicadas can seem scary and weird enough. But some of them really are sex-crazed zombies on speed, hijacked by a super-sized fungus.

The Chicago Park District also received nearly $1.5 million to conduct an inventory. Morton Arboretum's Chicago Region Trees Initiative is administering the grants on behalf of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

CRTI connects organizations — public and private — across the seven-county Chicago area to promote the importance of trees and improve the quality of the region's tree canopy.

Young trees could be vulnerable to damage from the emergence of millions of periodical cicadas in Illinois this spring. Here are tips on how to protect your trees.

Experts said the pest’s eggs, which will hatch in spring, are able to withstand the recent arctic blast.

The fall foliage season got off to a slow start in the Chicago region but is making up for lost time. We’ve rounded up some resources to help you make the most of Mother Nature’s spectacular, but short-lived, autumnal display.

The first sighting of the invasive pest was confirmed in Chicago, but we’re years from a major infestation and have learned from cities like Pittsburgh how to minimize the nuisance, an expert said.

This month, the Morton Arboretum is inviting people to get back in touch with their roots with a variety of events and programs highlighting Latino cultures and communities, beginning with the Celebración de los Árboles on Sept. 16-17.

When it comes to alleviating the impacts of climate change, trees have been promoted as the ultimate “green infrastructure.” But trees are living organisms, and they can be sensitive to some of the same climate stressors as people. But just how sensitive?

“This is providing the means for us to collaborate not only within the Chicagoland area but to really make a difference in biodiversity hot spots across the globe,” said Chuck Knapp, vice president of conservation research at Shedd Aquarium.