In this video, Boyce Tankersley takes us on a tour of what’s in bloom in the three Greenhouses in the Regenstein Center. We’ll learn about carnivorous plants, a Sago Palm and some giant aloe plants. He also shows us a plant that blooms outdoors even in winter. Visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom for more information.

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Summer camp seems far away, but Camp CBG registration is open early this year. Discover what makes these camps unique, with 75% of the time spent outdoors learning about the natural world. New this year are two-week camps for 6-9 year olds. Learn more at http://www.chicagobotanic.org/camp/summercamp.

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Nancy Clifton, horticultural program specialist, shows us some of the wreaths she made for the Wonderland Express exhibition. She also shows you how to make a simple mixed pine cone wreath on a grapevine base. You can take classes with Nancy through the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden or get ideas at Wonderland Express, Nov. 25, 2011 through Jan. 1, 2012. Visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/wonderland for more information.

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The horticulturists at the Garden created a new winter display in the Heritage Garden this year. As part of the Wonderland Express exhibition, they arranged willow branches and evergreens to great effect. See how it was done with this video, then come see it for yourself! http://www.chicagobotanic.org/wonderland.

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Boyce Tankersley, Director of Plant Documentation, tells us about some of the flowers we saw blooming on the first meteorological day of summer at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We saw echium in the Heritage Garden, a very rare jade vine in the Tropical Greenhouse, allium in the West Flower Walk and poppies in the English Oak Meadow. Come see us soon or visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom for updates on what’s in bloom.

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The Model Railroad Garden opens for its 12th season on May 7. We caught up with Brian Busse from Applied Imagination as they were finishing their setup. The horticulture staff are currently planting the miniature gardens around all of the American landmarks Busse and his team installed. See how the garden turns out at the opening on May 7! Visit www.chicagobotanic.org/railroad for more information.

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Who isn’t ready to celebrate spring? The Antiques & Garden Fair is a great first stop to get inspiration for your own home and garden as well as purchase accents that bring them to life. David Drummond takes us on a tour of this year’s Fair to show us some items we could use to throw a spring garden party. We hope this gives you some ideas and inspires you to visit this weekend! See www.chicagobotanic.org for details.

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Boyce Tankersley, Director of Plant Documentation, takes us on a tour of the earliest blooming plants in the display gardens. We began in the Sensory Garden where huge patches of Iris histrioides ‘George’ were blooming better than ever. Then we went to the Lakeside Gardens to see large patches of giant snowdrops blooming under deciduous trees. The witch hazel outside the English Walled Garden is very fragrant and quite showy right now. We also like the snowdrops in the English Walled Garden Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Plenum’ because its petals look like a rose and it’s very fragrant. The Waterfall Garden has a nice display of snowdrops that is worth the climb to the top. The crocuses in the lawn near the Bulb Garden were also very showy. You’ll also find crocus in the lawn on Evening Island.

These are just some blooming highlights, visit www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom for information on what’s in bloom now.

View the video on YouTube here.

Blayne Greiner, Instructor for the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest urban agriculture program, gives us some tips from his recent class on seed starting. A lot of information was covered in this 3-hour workshop, so if this video still leaves you with questions, consider taking these courses. Visit chicagobotanic.org/windycityharvest/courses to sign up for the next one.

In case you missed it, here’s the recipe for blocking mix: 30 quarts brown peat, 20 quarts compost, 1/2 cup lime, 20 quarts coarse sand or perlite, 10 quarts soil, 3 cups organic fertilizer mix (blood meal, colloidal phosphate and greensand mixed together in equal parts).

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We put together these tips for anyone who is relatively new to entering horticulture competitions. These should help if you are planning to enter the competition at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show March 5-13, 2011. Visit to download a complete entry brochure.

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