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  • … 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
  • … a small, spring-flowering ornamental tree. Now’s the time to shop and plant. “October is great for planting,” says Tim Johnson, the Garden’s senior director of horticulture. “Any tree that is above ground—typically dug in spring, late summer, or early fall—is fine for planting from my perspective.” Planting now allows trees and shrubs time to establish good … The plants will not be stressed by brutal heat and as long as you keep them watered for the next six weeks or so, they will adjust to their new home. Safety First Before you dig, …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … Ketaurah James VeggieRx Manager, Windy City Harvest For Ketaurah James, her job is more than just a job: She grew up in North Lawndale, where Windy … program, how Farm on Ogden has transformed into a community hub, and why farming is for city people, too. Years working for Windy City Harvest: 5 years, and she participated in … plants that call our space home. In honor of The Orchid Show: Magnified , open through March 26, 2023, we chatted with one of the people who see the show through from vision to reality. …
    Type: Blog
  • … eye level. An obelisk placed in a slender bed creates a focal point and an interesting support for smaller annual vines like cypress vine with its tubular red, pink or white flowers. If you … interest through the summer. Besides their decorative nature, some vines can provide screening for undesirable views. Others offer food to pollinators and nectar-seeking creatures like butterflies and hummingbirds. Some serve as host plants for egg-laying butterflies. For example, pipevine is the only host plant for the pipevine …
    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
  • … tombstone in Cumberland, England "While life lasts." This can be a very brief moment in time for a spring ephemeral. In that narrow window of time between thawing ground and the leafing out … true of species like bloodroot ( Sanguinaria canadensis ), whose blossoms only last for a day before they drop. Additionally frustrating is that cloud cover can hamper catching the … pollinators associated with them, they usually have several different pollinators that can visit, including other native bees and many species of flies. Besides being important sources of …
    Type: Plant Info
  • For many homeowners, a long, hot summer means mow the lawn, water, repeat. It’s a cycle that … to traditional turfgrass, she and her collaborators are hoping to offer a “menu of options” for greener lawns that not only look good and stand up well against the Chicago area's moody … near their house,” Barak said. “[This research is] only helpful to the extent that it’s used!” Visit Rethinking Lawns —a website designed by Kozik in collaboration with Barak, Tonietto, and …
    Type: Blog
  • … horticulturist as the Rose Garden "Be brave."  Tom Soulsby says it's the best advice he has for rose gardeners. As the senior horticulturist at the Rose Garden, Tom knows how to deal with … at every stage of their lives: young and old, tended and in need of pruning, healthy and not. For this month's Smart Gardener , we asked him to address a common issue that every gardener … which results in lots of fuzzy tip growth instead of full, lush canes covered in buds. Check for dead or damaged canes (you'll prune those out first) and for signs of disease or pests. Next, …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … ethanol" and mentioned switchgrass as a possible source. The most promising cultivars for bioenergy are 'Alamo' in the deep south, 'Kanlow' for mid latitudes, and 'Cave-in-Rock' for central and northern states. If used to produce … absorb the emissions, a CO2-neutral process emerges as the CO2 is recycled. Bransby also points out that, when compared to low-grade coal, burning switchgrass for energy will "probably" …
    Type: Plant Info
  • … “Back then, we were getting ready to pack it in,” says Tom Soulsby, senior horticulturist for the Rose Garden, Heritage Garden, and the Linden Allée. Tom is responsible for curating and maintaining a collection of more than 5,000 roses in one of the largest public … years and Soulsby has no reason to believe that trend will not continue.  “We continue to care for roses now as we do in June and July—we water, mulch, and keep on top of the deadheading to …
    Type: Plant Info