… among the longest-lived Christmas trees and most resistant to needle drop. The main downside is that some varieties can be very expensive. Colorado blue spruce ( Picea pungens ‘Procumbens’) … decorating, they do not hold up very well to the dry air indoors. If you select a spruce, it is critical that it is kept away from any sources of heat that might dry it out. The branches are strong and can …
Type: Blog
… The Krasberg Rose Garden is naturally romantic. As with fine wines, the descriptive words for roses are rich and … Morse Earle writes the following in “Old Time Garden” : “The fragrance of the sweetest rose is beyond any other flower scent, it is irresistible, enthralling; you cannot leave it.” Breathe deeply, and perhaps you’ll detect …
Type: Blog
… for our staff, our visitors, our volunteers, and our boards. Part of that process is to take a hard look at the stories the Garden tells about gardens, plants, and people. We do … to tell underlying stories that may be offensive. This approach ignores cause-and-effect, and is tone-deaf. For example, take Carolus Linnaeus, whose statue we feature in the Heritage Garden. … we publish, and part of virtually every class we teach. What we disregard about Linnaeus is that he also classified people, and he used inferior terms for all who weren’t European and …
Type: Blog
… Love is in the air...we ❤️ the date nights, meet-cutes, and anniversaries at the Garden—and watching … lit at night. And at sunset, golden light typically illuminates the bridges. A bridge is a lovely place to start a future with your beloved. Head up the hill between the Japanese Garden and the Arch Bridge. The Puryear Point view is breathtaking—an extended panorama from the Japanese Garden to Evening Island to the Great …
Type: Blog
… to dominate the party. Even if someone brought in better foods that more people enjoy, there is no room on the tables. The kale is everywhere! While not a perfect analogy, this anecdote relays the reasons why buckthorn invasion is detrimental to forest ecosystems. The dinner guests are like the other plants and animals that …
Type: Blog
… Chamomile Chamomile can be traced back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Chamomile’s oil is said to have calming properties. It is a popular herbal tea that is said to help with digestion, insomnia, and the common cold. Its fragrant white flowers with a …
Type: Blog
… Using peonies as a cut flower for floral design is easy, with a few tricks to preserve the health of your plants and flowers. Peonies are the … queen of the garden during their blooming season. From late spring through early summer, there is a beautiful abundance of color and shapes blooming, depending on the variety. Finding a variety that is also fragrant adds to the reward of growing this exquisite flower. Storing peony stems …
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… and with a bit of advance planning, choosing suitable varieties to plant in the spring is possible. Here are a few ideas to get you started creating, and/or caring for, your edible … to frost. Here, a transparent plant cover called a cloche (from the French word for bell) is used to protect plants if frost is expected. Plan to plant strawberries No grocery store strawberry ever tastes as good as one …
Type: Blog
… chomping at the bit to plant this native shrub. It’s unfortunate, because the chokeberry is one of the best shrubs you can grow in Illinois. Iroquois Beauty™ chokeberry ( Aronia melanocarpa ‘Morton’) is starting to ripen. The beautiful black fruit stays on the plant longer than some other … Not to be confused with the chokecherry tree ( Prunus virginiana ), chokeberry ( Aronia sp.) is a fruiting shrub that ranges from 3 to 10 feet tall with red, purple, or black fruit. The name …
Type: Blog
… the words “evergreen” and “conifer” —they are not the same thing!—and every year, someone is confused. I blame Christmas trees. The “Christmas Tree” intersects both of the sets … spruce, fir, and Douglas fir. Wait a minute…those are are the same trees! You see, the problem is that our Christmas trees tend to be both evergreen and conifer, and as a result, many of us … Brown’s tree might have been a bald cypress. One conifer that loses its needles, and therefore is not an evergreen, is the bald cypress. These can be very attractive when covered in snow. (The …
Type: Blog
