… In Chicago, February is too early to start gardening outside, but herbs may be started indoors during the winter. Sow … like parsley, with a hint of anise and lemon. Sow seeds every three to four weeks. Chervil is quick to flower and go to seed (bolt) in hot weather. It is excellent in salads, soups, and vinaigrettes and with seafood. When using it in a soup or …
Type: Plant Info
… Branch Trail to the Chicago Botanic Garden , where I work as a senior graphic designer. Life is just better when you start and end your day outside on a bike. I stopped to take a selfie, as … places for a break, in spots including the Skokie Lagoons. My favorite part of the commute is riding into work past the three islands of the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden. I’m in … It’s a great way to start the day. If you’ve never tried the North Branch Trail, fall is a great time to give it a go. I’m already looking forward to the golden hues of the black …
Type: Blog
… or a Q-tip and go from male to female flowers moving the pollen and aiding fertilization. This is a fun project for children, too. To attract bees to your vegetable patch, plant flowers they … because you won’t have to replant the entire border each spring. One bee-loving native plant is swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) . Although this milkweed thrives in moist places, it … use the plant for their eggs, so avoid pesticides. The nectar and pollen in native plants is highly nutritious to native pollinators and that’s a good reason to include them in your …
Type: Plant Info
… The Chicago Botanic Garden is helping increase the supply of native seed at the local, regional, and national … forest preserves to massive wildfire recovery efforts in the western United States, the Garden is helping get the right native seed to the landscapes that need it. Andrea Kramer, Ph.D., … native seed production Restoring 30,000 acres of land takes a lot of native seed. The Garden is helping the Forest Preserves of Cook County (FPCC) meet this ambitious goal by supporting …
Type: Research
… already busy lifestyle, making gardening an easy and enjoyable part of your routine. The goal is to keep things small and manageable. If you’re just starting out, you may only want one or two … ornamental vegetables alongside other plants. Swiss chard, with it’s beautiful colored stems, is one example. Whether you are short on garden space or not, many vegetables and herbs can be … the edibles simply look great. Herbs One of the most enjoyable moments in the summer garden is in the early morning, enjoying a cup of coffee or tea, sauntering past pots of herbs. Brush a …
Type: Plant Info
… delighted to see a special guest star at the Tropical Greenhouse: Alice the Amorphophallus is on display, in full and glorious fruit! Visitors are asking: why are some of the berries on … You can see the difference on Alice’s infructescence (fruit stalk) , too: the stalk is curving. As the chubby, seed-filled fruits from Stinky’s pollen continue to ripen and enlarge, the structure is bending over the small, non-viable fruits from Spike’s pollen. Each of the berries produced …
Type: Blog
… life. Try this soil seed-bank test to discover the magic of topsoil. The soil seed-bank test is used by farmers, scientists, and others to find out what weed seeds are hidden in a garden or … could affect the growth of the crop. You can use the same basic procedure to find out what is living in the soil in your yard or other location. For this variation of the test, your … soil from a woodland area Dry leaves (leaf litter) from the ground above the soil collection site Moss growing nearby Directions Pour a layer of gravel about 2 inches deep on the bottom of …
Type: Blog
… Home gardeners can sympathize: not every seed that is planted grows. This truth extends to restored prairies that are grown from seed mixes, … development has left us with less than one-tenth of one percent of prairieland, which is vital part of our ecosystem. Today, the prairie can be found only in small patches, and … to a large swath of acreage in the suburbs, she and her team visited each restored prairie site to compare the plant communities to the mix of seeds that were planted there initially. “I …
Type: Blog
… cabinet. Currently, I am in the second year of my research of the vanilla orchid. Vanilla is an exciting plant to study because it grows as a vine with two different types of roots. These … in the wild can germinate without one or more mycorrhizal fungi. As a scientist, my goal is to study the interactions that the vanilla orchid has with these fungi as they mature. This is important because most vanilla farms are monocultures—it is easier to obtain clones from …
Type: Blog
… attracts a wasp that hunts the spider as potential food for its own larvae. Thus the wasp is fooled into landing on the flower—and picking up its pollen—while hunting. So cheeky! A … (Check out more on orchids fooling mating bees with this famous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h8I3cqpgnA .) Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’ has dancing skirts and chocolate fragrance. I’m Happy Just to Dance with You Before this dance is through I think I’ll love you too. I’m so happy when you dance with me. The most …
Type: Blog
