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  • … king trumpet mushrooms, carnations – fresh cuts   Sustainability, reimagined The Last Show is a thoughtful reminder of the Garden’s commitment to sustainability, celebrating renewal … The Final Cut , features a coppiced willow stool—pruned year after year until its surface is covered in scars. Removed at last, the stump hovers above a bed of disbud spider mums grown by … Coppiced willow stool, disbud spider mums   Playing with dead things For Toth, the project is as personal as professional. “I feel like a kid in our Nature Play Garden where I sometimes …
    Type: Blog
  • … Botanic Garden. “It stopped me in my tracks.” The irony? That kind of abundance in the wild is rare. More than half of the world’s orchid species could disappear within this century, as … the one Hutchins saw, she said, show both what’s at risk and what might still be saved. “This is what I want for many more places” she said. “It’s what I hope we can help create.”   Johanna … conditions, they tend to disappear early when ecosystems are under stress. Their decline is often an early warning that something deeper is breaking down. So, if wild orchids matter so …
    Type: Blog
  • … as long as they are planted in well-drained soil. Another reason why your lilac may not bloom is because it is being pruned at the wrong time of the year. Lilacs bloom on the previous season’s growth and … Fertilizing will not increase the amount of blooms. If lilacs are planted near turf that is regularly fertilized, this could also be a cause of a lilac's failure to bloom. …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … that your tools will be safe and ready to use come spring, and extends the useful life of what is often a significant monetary investment. Digging, cultivating, and raking tools should first … the individual gardener or by the machine dealer’s service department. An important precaution is to remove all gasoline from the machines, either by draining or by running the machine dry, as … metal tools off the garage floor to avoid exposure to salt water dripping from your cars. It is advisable to individually wrap or otherwise separate smaller tools to protect them from …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … Most established trees, shrubs, and perennials require one inch of water per week.  It is always best to water deeply and infrequently to encourage good root development.  Irrigating these plants one time per week is usually all that is needed to keep them thriving.          …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … itself naturally, the way skyscrapers do downtown. Without that kind of framing, a sunrise is just a sunrise, something that happens every day.
 One morning, I climbed an overlook near the … and saw the Arch Bridge, tall trees standing in balance, framing it. Right then I knew: This is it. This is Gardenhenge.
 The next step was all about timing. I pulled up an app that tracks the sun’s …
    Type: Blog
  • … ), apple ( Malus ), pear ( Pyrus ), firethorn ( Pyracantha ) Description & Symptoms Apple scab is a common fungal infection of crabapple and apple trees. Small, pale green spots appear on the … that cause apple scab. Cool, wet springs typical of the Chicago area favor the disease, which is extremely common among ornamental crabapples and fruiting apple trees. Spores land on the … planted in full sun. When planting an apple or crabapple tree, choose a resistant variety that is less susceptible to apple scab. Resistant varieties may become lightly infected, especially …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … Description & Symptoms Hawthorns, Apples, Crabapples, Quince (deciduous, broadleaf host) Rust is a two-host fungal disease that moves between evergreen cedars or junipers and deciduous … they germinate and form brown galls that start the cycle of infection over again. Damage Rust is extremely unsightly on ornamental plants. Fruit is stunted and misshapen. Trees defoliate early. Treatment & Solutions When possible, avoid …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … studies have shown that eating local honey might help alleviate allergy symptoms—and honey is known to have medicinal benefits ranging from reducing inflammation to antimicrobial … Greece to the Mayan civilization, and beekeeping has a long and fascinating history . Iris is learning her beekeeping skills from Fred Daniels, site coordinator at Windy City Harvest’s Rodeo Farm, who has been beekeeping since 2012. Rodeo …
    Type: Blog
  • Is there such a thing as a low-maintenance perennial garden? The answer is yes if careful consideration is first given to plant choice and plant location. Matching the requirements of a plant to the characteristics of the site takes some planning, but will save hours of work in the garden. Astilbe Clematis …
    Type: Plant Info