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.

View the video on YouTube here.

What’s a spring ephemeral? Ecologist Jim Steffen tells us about a few of the spring blooming wildflowers you can see blooming in McDonald Woods right now. As Jim says, there is always something in bloom in the woods, but spring is one of the showiest in this area, so don’t miss it! Visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/walk/mcdonald_woods.php for more information on the woods.

View the video on YouTube here.

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.

View the video on YouTube here.

Though it’s still winter outside, Tim Pollak, Outdoor Floriculturist, and his team in the Production Greenhouses are getting ready for spring on the inside. Tim takes us on a tour of the Production Greenhouses to show us what they are growing for spring this year. All year round, his staff and volunteers work to grow many of the annuals that are later planted in the display gardens at the Chicago Botanic Garden. See what it takes to grow all of those plants!

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.

View the video on YouTube here.

Emily Shelton shows us around the North Green Roof Garden and explains why we think the plants survived the winter so well.

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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!)

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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.

View the video on YouTube here.

Heather Sherwood shows you how to prune your roses in spring. We cover our roses with 18 inches of mulch in winter to protect them from the harsh weather. It’s important to uncover them when the temperatures warm and do some spring pruning to get them ready for a glorious summer!

View the video on YouTube here.

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.

View the video on YouTube here.