… botanists for hoping against hope for a bit of rain for the plants. Botanists Monica Depies and Rebecca Ubalde make up one of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s three teams in the western United … SOS, led by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, to collect seeds for conservation, research, and ecosystem restoration. Under contracts with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the Garden … of two-to- four early career botanists in the West. Teams scout for potential populations and collect seeds. These seeds will be given to private growers to produce larger amounts of …
Type: Blog
… that I never could have imagined. I already had a yard full of tropical plants, succulents, and orchids, but once I added my first bonsai, I knew something had changed. It was the beginning of a journey that took me from Gainesville, Florida, to Washington, D.C., to Japan and finally here to the Chicago Botanic Garden, where I am the curator in charge of the Bonsai … kind in the world. Shortly after I purchased my first tree, I started learning about bonsai and joined a prominent bonsai club in Gainesville. In 2006, Gainesville (home of the Gators) …
Type: Blog
… The Martian: Many of us watched and loved the movie. Some of us read the book. A few of us got inspired to use the story to teach … science to students. The Martian by Andy Weir tells the fictional story of NASA astronaut and botanist Mark Watney, who becomes stranded alone on Mars and has to figure out how stay alive until the next NASA mission returns to rescue him. …
Type: Blog
… Maps had been followed, clues tracked, and early this summer the fortune was found. Standing on the far side of a hummock swamp in … samples in Delhaas Woods, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bunting, the former assistant director and director of plant collections at the Chicago Botanic Garden, was on day three of a nine-day … samples were packaged for propagation. The collection project was funded by the U.S. Forest Service and American Public Gardens Association (APGA). The challenges along the way made …
Type: Blog
… favorite season. Between the pumpkin-spiced treats, falling leaves, warm-toned landscape, and endless fall activities, I simply can’t get enough of the many opportunities that fall … work. The fall programs begin after a brief hiatus upon the completion of the summer program, and many enthusiastic gardeners return to plentiful crops and beautiful blooms just waiting to be enjoyed. Today I’m describing three of my favorite fall …
Type: Blog
… Are you staring at the glorious color wheel of peppers at your local grocer or farmers' market and salivating over your peppers growing at home? If so, you are a pepper lover, and while you hold yourself back from buying every type you see on the shelf, you also know that this feeling is fleeting. Those beautiful colors and unusual varieties are in their prime now, when the hot summer days and good strong rains are …
Type: Blog
… When looking at different bonsai trees, you might notice the stylized beauty of their shapes and textures. A lot of thought and work are put into raising bonsai trees and pruning them just so, but for many bonsai artists, their containers are just as important as …
Type: Blog
… starting to feel like spring in Chicago, which means it’s time to get those home gardens up and running. In the Horticultural Therapy Department, we’re in the process of setting up our … gardens at facilities all over the greater Chicago area. These gardens come in all shapes and sizes and fall on a wide spectrum of costs. For today, we’re focusing on how to create your very own …
Type: Blog
… neighborhood near Chicago’s Midway Airport called the empty, overgrown lots between buildings, and the grassy areas in the giant railroad yard, “the prairie.” And that’s where we played, tracking tadpoles in the spring, collecting bunches of wildflowers, and using homemade butterfly nets in late summer to catch monarchs as they sipped nectar on …
Type: Blog
… Even as the leaves start to turn in shades of scarlet and gold, we are thinking ahead to nature’s other big show—spring color. This year, the annual … plant immediately for flowering this fall (see the Colchicum selections). Here are some tips and suggestions to help you get started: Beautiful mixed bulb border in late April at a Woman’s … Board member’s home garden. The bulbs are planted between established shrubs, perennials, and trees, and are selected so that something is in bloom all spring. Narcissus blooming under …
Type: Blog
