… home to my quiet, tree-lined Chicago neighborhood, but one thing I miss about urban living is ample outdoor space. The back door of my apartment leads to a wooden fire escape—built after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 as a second means of exit from the building. The landing is wide enough to finagle furniture during moves, but doesn’t invite much summertime lounging or … for starting an herb container, no matter where you live. Find the right container: Drainage is key for healthy herbs, says Hilgenberg, so make sure to find a pot with holes at the bottom. …
Type: Blog
… houseplants take a rest during the winter. Indoor temperatures tend to be high and the air is often dry. Plants are not entirely dormant but their growth is certainly not robust. Think of it as a rest period. But now, plants are responding to … in earnest. As the light grows longer each day your houseplants sense the change. The sun is warmer and stronger as it streams in the windows. Plants are awakening to the growing season …
Type: Plant Info
… in your garden last year —and the year before that. Hard to conjure up? That's because memory is simply unreliable when it comes to the hundreds of details that make for a successful garden … for electronic documentation. Formats vary widely, so you'll need to shop around for the app/site that echoes your gardening style (we bookmarked this helpful Wall Street Journal review of … The venerable Mother Earth News has a wide-ranging app that's free : motherearthnews.com Smartgardener.com (no relation to our monthly column!) has a free online journal that looks …
Type: Plant Info
… There is something wonderful about a plant that gives you color, pizzazz, longevity, reliability, and … (although the foliage and bulbs often do), and, when happy in their full-sun, well-drained site, can form colonies or self-seed, especially when some of the more humongous flower heads are … inches across, they are often cleverly advertised next to a smiling child’s face. Guess which is larger? For a big, round purple softball on a 4- to 5-foot stem, try a small army of …
Type: Plant Info
… In gardening, as in life, patience is a virtue. Twelve years ago, the Garden embarked on a mission to bring a rock star of the plant … Botanic Garden. The titan arum ( Amorphophallus titanum ), also known as the corpse flower, is the largest flowering structure in the world. When it blooms, it puts on a show like no … its display location . Native to the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia, the titan arum is distinguished by its large size, odd shape, and terrible stench (hence its common name, corpse …
Type: Blog
… in trees for shelter and protection from the elements. What you see as a messy clump of leaves is actually a structure formed from sticks and then lined with leaves and other materials to make … Are my neighborhood squirrels somehow related to the Three Little Pigs ? Since I know that is not the case, I started to speculate: Perhaps squirrels are attracted to that particular view. … branch over a lawn. Could it be that this spot also puts their predators at risk and therefore is actually a safer place to live? I don’t know! So, I started looking around to see if there was …
Type: Blog
… Chicago Botanic Garden. But to Jim Steffen , senior ecologist at the Garden, the oak woodland is a bustling center for natural processes and species, and may hold answers to unsolved … their presence was integral to the entire community of life in the woods. Carex bromoides is one of many sedge plants essential to the woodland ecosystem. “I started getting more into how … natural community of the past, Steffen does aim to grow an oak woodland of today. “My goal is to increase the native species diversity and improve the ecological functioning that is going …
Type: Blog
… incredible ability to harness the energy of the sun. But when you come to realize that there is a whole world living within them, you can’t help but be amazed. Imagine driving into a parking … and ceiling are too close together, and we might have the feeling that the roof of the car is going to collide with something. Now imagine this same scenario, only this time, imagine it … America . The details of the publication can be found at Charlie’s website charleyeiseman.com/leafminers. …
Type: Blog
… than an adult thumb, some are smaller than the width of your pinky nail. The name “Dumbledore” is an Old English term for a bumblebee. Despite what you may expect, bee diversity is most abundant in arid regions like the desert. While some bees do live communally or in hives … female may make her nest in a hole in the ground or in rotted wood. Colony Collapse Disorder is the term given to the mysterious and dramatic disappearance of North American honeybees. It is …
Type: Plant Info
… side stems from evergreens—arborvitae, yews and false cypress—they won’t be missed. The goal is to avoid cutting too far into the shrub and creating a hole. Red-twig dogwood is another great plant for its colorful stems. And winterberry holly offers branches filled with red fruits. Dried hydrangea flowers can be used as is or spray painted gold or whatever color you prefer for winter holidays. Ditto for seed heads …
Type: Plant Info
