Tim Pollak shows us some of the plants he and his team grew in Production for the fall displays. The hanging mum hayracks have already been hung on the bridge from the Visitor Center. The mum ball containers will soon be moved to the Esplanade and the Crescent will soon be planted with the annuals Tim shows you in this video. View the video on YouTube here.
Each spring visitors look forward to hundreds of crabapples blooming in the Gardens of the Great Basin and throughout many other display gardens. Don’t miss this magical time of year and the chance to be surrounded in so many beautiful blossoms. Visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/walk/crabapple.php for more information on the crabapples at the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Tom Soulsby tells us about the plants that went into each of the 65 troughs in the Heritage Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. He also shows us how to protect cool season annuals from frost since they still don’t like freezing temperatures (much like us!)
Heather Sherwood shows you how to prune climbing roses so you have a glorious display this summer. We covered our climbing roses in 18 inches of mulch and wrapped them in burlap for the winter. It’s important to uncover them and remove dead material when the temperatures get warm in spring.
Come see the crocuses in bloom throughout many of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s 24 display gardens. The crocuses in the lawn on Evening Island are particularly spectacular right now.
Boyce Tankersley tells us about the earliest blooming plants at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Watch for interesting facts about witch hazel and snowdrops and see other early bloomers like winter aconite and lenten rose. Come see them this weekend!
Hamamelis x intermedia 'Jelena' in bloom in the Dwarf Conifer Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden is showing the first signs of spring this week with the witch hazels coming into bloom. While these shrubs can be showy in three seasons, certainly their fragrant flowers that bloom at unusual times are of primary interest. They can be the latest (October) or earliest (February to March) shrubs to bloom, with their blossoms emerging while the brown seed capsules from the previous year are still attached to the branches. Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’ has flowers in an unusual blend of red, yellow and orange. Most other witch hazels have yellow blooms. Come out and enjoy this first sign of spring at the Garden!
Heather Sherwood, Senior Horticulturist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, shows us how easy it is to cut flowering branches and bring them indoors for early blooms this spring!