If you miss your basketball bracket, bet on your favorite flowers instead

Posted March 19th, 2020 in Featured, News, Stormwater & Green Infrastructure
Mulch Madness logo with bracket and leaf graphic

Hold on to your gardening hats, sports fans! The NCAA basketball tournament may have been canceled, but the Red Oak Rain Garden team has a surprise for you. We proudly announce our version: MULCH MADNESS. This competition involves 28 flowering native plants battling it out to find out who will make it to the Final Forb. (Yes, that’s a gardening joke!) What flower will be the champion? Your votes will decide.

While we know this isn’t the same as March Madness, we hope all you bracketologists out there will play along and learn about some of our garden’s plants.

HOW TO ENTER

  1. Download the bracket
  2. Fill it out with your picks
  3. Send your completed bracket to kgardin2@illinois.edu by Monday, March 23 at midnight

HOW IT WORKS

Final Forb logo - Urbana 2020 - with leaf and flower graphicsStarting Tuesday, March 24, games will be “played” twice per day: once at noon and another at 4:30 p.m. Vote for your favorite Illinois native plant on either Facebook or Twitter. Polls will be open for 12 hours. You can vote even if you don’t complete a bracket.

Votes from both platforms will be compiled to determine the winner of each game. Winners will be announced at 10 a.m. the following morning.

PRIZE

The person with the winning bracket will receive a $20 gift certificate to the local business of their choosing. (So, no matter where you are, you can help out your community in this uncertain time of the COVID-19 outbreak and business closings. The business does need to be able to offer online gift certificates.)

RULES

  1. One bracket entry per person
  2. Brackets must be submitted by Monday, March 23 at 11:59 p.m. Games start Tuesday, March 24
  3. The winning bracket is chosen based on the ESPN Fantasy scoring system
  4. A correct pick in each round is shown below:
    • Round 1: 10 points per pick
    • Round 2: 20 points per pick
    • Round 3: 40 points per pick
    • Round 4: 80 points per pick
    • Round 5: 160 points per pick
    • Championship: 320 points per pick

Reportedly, in the history of the (real) NCAA tournament, no one has ever filled out a perfect bracket. Will YOU be the first with a perfect bracket in MULCH MADNESS?

#MulchMadness2020

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant is a part of University of Illinois Extension and Purdue Extension.

 

Writers: Red Oak Rain Garden team, led by Eliana Brown

IISG Instagram

The IISG program, in cooperation with the @nationalparkservice at @indianadunesnps and @UrbanRivers in Chicago, is offering two internship opportunities to support conservation policy efforts. Sea Grant’s national Community Engaged Internship (CEI) program aims to broaden participation in coastal, ocean, Great Lakes, and marine sciences providing training and mentorship to the next generation of scientists, decision-makers, and citizens.

The program will do so by recruiting, retaining and engaging students in place-based research, extension, education, and/or communication that respects and integrates local ways of knowing.

Applications due March 17.

Learn more at the link in bio.

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The IISG program, in cooperation with the @nationalparkservice at @indianadunesnps and @UrbanRivers in Chicago, is offering two internship opportunities to support conservation policy efforts. Sea Grant’s national Community Engaged Internship (CEI) program aims to broaden participation in coastal, ocean, Great Lakes, and marine sciences providing training and mentorship to the next generation of scientists, decision-makers, and citizens. The program will do so by recruiting, retaining and engaging students in place-based research, extension, education, and/or communication that respects and integrates local ways of knowing.Applications due March 17.Learn more at the link in bio.

Happy International Women’s Day! A special thank you to the incredible members of our IISG community who inspire, lead, and drive change every day. 🎉

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Happy International Women’s Day! A special thank you to the incredible members of our IISG community who inspire, lead, and drive change every day. 🎉

It’s almost our favorite time of the year...Rain Garden Rumble!
This will be our 6th annual competition where 28 native plant species go head-to-head (or bloom-to-bloom?) in a fierce competition. But the best part? YOU determine who is crowned champion.

There are a few ways to participate. First, fill out a bracket* (steps below). Then, vote in our daily Instagram polls or Facebook posts from March 18th through April 4th. The person who submits the most accurate bracket wins a sweet set of Illinois Extension "rain-care" merch (an umbrella and rain gauge)!👀

*You do NOT have to fill out a bracket to vote in the polls!

1. Click the link in our bio to open our official blog with more information regarding the event.
2. Scroll down and click our bracket.
3. In the tab that pops up, click the “download” icon.
4. Fill it out with your picks and save the document. Please include your name! Note that you can learn more about the plants by clicking their names in the bracket.
5. Submit your completed bracket to RedOakRainGarden@illinois.edu by Monday, March 17. Matches begin the following day on Facebook and Instagram.

May the best plant win...🌿🏆
#RainGardenRumble2025

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It’s almost our favorite time of the year...Rain Garden Rumble!This will be our 6th annual competition where 28 native plant species go head-to-head (or bloom-to-bloom?) in a fierce competition. But the best part? YOU determine who is crowned champion.There are a few ways to participate. First, fill out a bracket* (steps below). Then, vote in our daily Instagram polls or Facebook posts from March 18th through April 4th. The person who submits the most accurate bracket wins a sweet set of Illinois Extension "rain-care" merch (an umbrella and rain gauge)!👀*You do NOT have to fill out a bracket to vote in the polls!1. Click the link in our bio to open our official blog with more information regarding the event.2. Scroll down and click our bracket.3. In the tab that pops up, click the “download” icon.4. Fill it out with your picks and save the document. Please include your name! Note that you can learn more about the plants by clicking their names in the bracket.5. Submit your completed bracket to RedOakRainGarden@illinois.edu by Monday, March 17. Matches begin the following day on Facebook and Instagram.May the best plant win...🌿🏆#RainGardenRumble2025
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