… she learned everything about labeling and tagging the plant collection and created a schedule for the Integrated Pest Management scouting program that assisted Production staff in decision-making. She was hired to be the labeling coordinator, a job she did for a decade, where she established protocols and procedures and doubled the number of labels … high school, college, and graduate students, as well as veterans. Gabriela coordinated the visit of international Garden guests and has translated documents for educational programs …
Type: Staff bio
… to know that although it looked like a bad infestation, aphids are not really a big problem for the plants. When they are very abundant, it does not take long for natural predators like praying mantises and ladybugs to find them and move in for a feast. … and devour on our flowers, and they will grow up over the summer. The next time you visit, stop by and see if you can find them helping our plants remain healthy and less bothered …
Type: Blog
… I started vermicomposting (composting with worms) in April for Earth Day. It has been four months and my worms have generated some nice castings (worm poop) … and airy, not wet. (Note: If your worm bin is soggy, open the lid and let the bin dry out for a week or so. Do not add any food scraps before moving to the next step.) When you have a … undecomposed material from the bucket of castings back to the worm bin. It is not necessary to get every piece, as these will continue to decompose over time. You can screen the material by …
Type: Blog
… winter, the males look a lot like the drab-olive females. But come spring, the male begins to get blotches of yellow on his body until he finally molts into his golden spring and summer … and other plant fibers in a tree or shrub 2 to 30 feet high. She incubates four to six eggs for about two weeks, never leaving the nest and relying on the male to bring her food. Both …
Type: Birding
… dragonflies and tend to hold their wings above their bodies. (See my blog post Damselflies 101 for more information.) Blue dasher dragonfly, female. She looks very different from her male … be found here from March through the first hard freeze in the fall. Choose the right time to visit, and you might even be lucky to find yourself in the middle of a migrating swarm of green … blossoms, but you can spot them throughout the 385-acre grounds. Drop by and keep an eye out for the dragonflies near the late-summer blooms. Skimming bluet damselfly, female. This is a …
Type: Blog
… Winter is a great season for bookworms—there’s nothing like a good book to keep you company during the colder months. And … and give us a glimpse into the history of plants all the way back to ancient Greece. For just a taste of what this collection offers, we asked Leora Siegel, Lenhardt Library’s senior … are digitized and linked above, but nothing quite compares with seeing a rare book in person. Visit the Lenhardt Library from noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday to explore its full …
Type: Blog
… way to recycle your lawn, garden, and kitchen waste? Make your own compost—it can do magic for your garden. Compost is simply a mixture of soil and pieces of plants that have decomposed to … Dark brown and crumbly, it is an attractive addition to any garden. And the things it does for the garden are nothing short of spectacular! Keeps lawn waste out of landfills Composting not … decompose, make a compost pile smell bad, and often attract animals. How hot does it have to get to kill fungi, insect eggs, or other pests that may be on the garden debris? Most fungi, …
Type: Plant Info
… recognizable and beloved wildflowers, but there are a few things you may not know about them. For one thing, there are several wild species of Rudbeckia growing in the region and several cultivars with bigger and/or fancier flowers that have been developed for people’s gardens. My favorite, sweet black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia subtomentosa) , is a native … or ray) of an individual flower called a ray or ligulate flower. I know this is hard to get your head around, since the entire heads of many tiny flowers are arranged in a way that …
Type: Plant Info
… to feed. The larvae go through several growth stages, eating increasingly voraciously as they get larger. By late June or early July, the fully grown larvae pupate and enter a two-week … moth into the Midwest from the Northeast. Homeowners can assist by searching their property for egg masses or any other signs of spongy moths. If you live outside a quarantined area and … moth, call the Illinois Department of Agriculture’s toll-free Moth Hotline at (866) 296-6684 for specific instructions. In Lake County, currently the only county in Illinois under …
Type: Plant Info
… amazing gifts: food, shelter, many medicines, even the air we breathe. And they do the same for the world’s wildlife. Indeed, all life depends on plants. The United Nations recently named … soon. You can check to see if your representative has signed on here . For more information, visit: https://botanybill.weebly.com/ …
Type: Blog
