The "West Central" business district will be gaining another new restaurant soon. Moving into the old CDK site at 2902 Central will be the Old Neighborhood Grill. Informed Central street sources said it is expected to be a Mediterranean style restaurant which will include an outdoor eating area in the front alcove of the building.
Submitted by jeffpsmith on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 13:15
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The common blue violet (Viola sororia), also called dooryard violet, meadow violet, or sister violet, is overlooked by many gardeners these days, perhaps because it appears unwanted in lawns and gardens, but back in the day it was beloved, and it has been the state flower of Illinois for 100 years, following a 1907 contest in which it was selected by Illinois schoolchildren.
Submitted by jeffpsmith on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:59
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Shown here is False Solomon's-seal, Smilacina racemosa. This fellow has delicate alternate-leafed plants that do well in in partial-shade to shady areas, but tend to flop over if not using a tree for support. It develops pyramidal clusters of small blooms that turn into little round red berries a little smaller than BBs. This is a slow grower but hardy; my wife planted a specimen about 17 years ago in a difficult shady area and it returns every spring.
Submitted by jeffpsmith on Tue, 05/27/2008 - 12:46
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Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium reptans) is another perennial native to Illinois that met my requirements of being able to handle a fair amount of shade and moisture, and it's flourished in a spot where all its predecessors died. A member of the phlox family, featured in the Botanic Gardens Native Plant Garden, and approved for Illinois highway planting by the Federal Highway Administration, it produces handsome little bushlike sprays of up to 1-1/2' tall, with light blue flowers in mid spring and beyond.
