… Conifer Garden Waterfall Garden Sensory Garden Circle Garden Lakeside Gardens Heather Sherwood is the senior horticulturist for the Helen and Richard Thomas English Walled Garden. She also is responsible for the West Flower Walk, McGinley Pavilion, Runnells Courtyard, and Searle …
Type: Staff bio
… away on the Chicago Botanic Garden’s southeast side, just north of Dundee Road, the Reserve is relatively unknown, even to longtime visitors. As an assistant ecologist, I’m in the Reserve a … Nope, you’re not in a movie theater If you’re in the Reserve’s prairie when the breeze is just right, you might pick up on the fragrance of prairie dropseed, a short, mound-forming … and hazelnut trees turning shades of yellow, orange, and red. My favorite place in the Reserve is the southeast corner. I love the views across the pond, with the Garden’s other shorelines in …
Type: Blog
… play outside. Outdoor activities encourage creativity and independent thinking. The good news is that outdoor play time has many benefits ; a growing body of research shows that nature play … positive social relationships. Sharing discoveries—like water creatures from Garden lakes—is a great way to cement knowledge. Nature play abounds at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and can be … in the backyard and a bit of imagination. Paint with mud. Why use regular paint when mud is so much more fun? Swap out watercolors for mud, and ditch brushes for hands to create …
Type: Blog
… Is there any more welcome sight than daffodils blooming in the spring? Not to me! I’m thrilled by … said, “Let him who hath two loaves sell one, and buy the flower of narcissus: for bread is but food for the body, whereas narcissus is food for the soul.” During the Victorian era, when flowers were selected carefully for their …
Type: Blog
… in the foliage. If you happen to come to the exhibition just after a rain shower, and the sun is shining, it’s your lucky day, because love is literally in the air. I remember one day in the exhibition when the weather was lousy. It had … human relationships seem tame. Visitors were enjoying the show, too. They would say, “This is supposed to be a ‘family’ exhibit!” Females who had already mated or just weren’t impressed by …
Type: Blog
… asters. The chosen replacement was a smooth aster cultivar, Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’, which is new to the Garden’s plant collection. It bears flowers nearly identical in color to ‘Jindai’ … and can grow to the same height as well. Bluebird smooth aster ( Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’) is getting along nicely with its neighbor plantings. Furthermore, this cultivar is more … relocated or divided, and these were heeled into a well-mulched bed located immediately at the site, and watered generously. Additional Echinacea , Liatris , and grasses were delivered and …
Type: Blog
… have become increasingly threatened by geologic disturbance and climate change. The Garden is part of a research group that's working to collect root pieces and other genetic material from … raise the trees in cultivation and then plant new ones in the wild. The quaking aspens project is just one part of a broader Garden goal to protect species and promote biodiversity. As part of … Adam Black, director of horticulture at the famed Peckerwood Garden in Hempstead, Texas. Adam is a plant geek at heart and knows the Chisos Mountains intimately from 20-plus years of …
Type: Blog
… window so they can recover in a few weeks. A common concern when bringing plants indoors is how to deal with insects. “You want to be proactive,” Tiddens said. “If you don’t do anything, … when using any insecticidal product—organic or synthetic. One chemical-free option is to simply dunk the entire plant, pot and all, if possible, in a bucket of water for several … the soil. They’re usually white or black and their presence in the top layer of moist soil is often a sign of overwatering. They typically feed on decaying organic matter, but they’ll also …
Type: Plant Info
… muddling technique Muddling 101 Here’s the first rule of muddling: Don’t overmuddle. Muddling is the process of gently—repeat, gently—bruising the leaves of herbs. As Kasey said, “If you hear the leaves tear, you’re overmuddling.” The goal is to release the fresh, green taste and aroma of the leaves, not to break or pulverize them … steel bar sets from the ’50s and ’60s. That big bump at the end of the long swizzle stick is a muddler. Infusion starts with muddling. Infusions Herbal infusions are a …
Type: Blog
… of dice you make will depend on the game you want to play, but for all games the basic idea is the same. Players will toss the seeds and the side that lands face up is the number they will work with. You’ll want to select seeds that are more flat than rounded. … 6s, 7s, 8s, and 9s. Those are scary numbers to add until you get the hang of it, which is the whole point of this game. To play, toss the seeds, then move the blanks out of the way. …
Type: Blog
