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

Join is in welcoming our new research and reporting coordinator, Laura Esman, to the team! In her new role, Laura will oversee research competitions and manage IISG’s research portfolio. She will also spearhead IISG data collection and lead the program’s annual reporting process.

Esman brings over 30 years of experience in research, project coordination and grant administration. Her most recent positions include managing director of the Indiana Water Resources Research Center, and lab manager and research associate in the Natural Resources Social Science Lab in Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.

Full story at the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 17847944430638356
Join is in welcoming our new research and reporting coordinator, Laura Esman, to the team! In her new role, Laura will oversee research competitions and manage IISG’s research portfolio. She will also spearhead IISG data collection and lead the program’s annual reporting process.Esman brings over 30 years of experience in research, project coordination and grant administration. Her most recent positions include managing director of the Indiana Water Resources Research Center, and lab manager and research associate in the Natural Resources Social Science Lab in Purdue’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources.Full story at the link in bio.

There’s still time to register! Educators are invited to join the Great Lakes Region Place-Based Education Institute starting this February and dive into hands-on strategies that connect students with their communities and local environments. Don’t miss this powerful professional learning opportunity!

Learn more & register at the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 18063625076281979
There’s still time to register! Educators are invited to join the Great Lakes Region Place-Based Education Institute starting this February and dive into hands-on strategies that connect students with their communities and local environments. Don’t miss this powerful professional learning opportunity!Learn more & register at the link in bio.

🎉 Congratulations to our IISG Knauss Fellowship finalists!
We’re proud to announce Anupama Chandroth (@iubloomington) and Laura Gray (@illinois1867) as Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s finalists for the 2026 Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship.

They’ll join a national cohort of 48 finalists placed in executive and legislative branch offices in Washington, D.C., contributing scientific expertise to federal decision-making on marine, coastal, and Great Lakes issues.

Full story at the link in bio.

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Open post by ilinseagrant with ID 17925527007208099
🎉 Congratulations to our IISG Knauss Fellowship finalists! We’re proud to announce Anupama Chandroth (@iubloomington) and Laura Gray (@illinois1867) as Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s finalists for the 2026 Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship.They’ll join a national cohort of 48 finalists placed in executive and legislative branch offices in Washington, D.C., contributing scientific expertise to federal decision-making on marine, coastal, and Great Lakes issues.Full story at the link in bio.