WFIU

Joe-Pye weed looks great next to a splash of sunshine yellow from goldenrod or helianthus.

As summer transitions into fall, we usually rely on mums and asters to give us color as the growing season wanes. But here are some other reliable bloomers.

This hour we’re all about that bass — the chaconne, to be specific. This harmonic-bass formula has had us singing, dancing, and strumming for more than four centuries. We’ll trace the chaconne from its mythical island origins through many delightful variations as it passed from musician to musician.

“Heli” means sun and “anthus” means flower.

Many annuals need to be deadheaded to keep blooming all season. While snipping off the spent blossoms can hardly be described as hard work, it is easier not to have to remember to do this chore. For that reason, many of us try to buy annuals that do not need deadheading in order to re-bloom all season long and right into fall.

William Shakespeare included so many botanical references in his plays that there are about 175 mentions of flowers, fruits, grains, grasses, seeds, weeds, trees, spices, herbs, and vegetables in his works.

We're exploring medieval and Renaissance songs and dances collected by 18th-century “early music” aficionados in Britain. Plus, our featured recording by The Curious Bards explores Irish and Scottish identities through traditional music.

Dancing causes something unpredictable to happen in how you look and how you feel. Thankfully, you can’t experience both of these simultaneously.

I don’t have a watering system, so I get tired of watering when there are long periods of hot, dry summer weather. Here in the Midwest when it is over 90F, potted plants need watering twice a day and beds on slopes do too. It is a chore that makes me wish I had more drought tolerant plantings.

There are over 200 species of hibiscus, and they are beloved because of their big showy flowers and green, clean-looking foliage. They fall into three different major categories: tropical, perennial and hardy.