… Wolfsbane is a beautiful—and poisonous—fall-blooming perennial. It also has a colorful history associated … series, Remus Lupin, a tormented werewolf, drinks a potion of wolfsbane carefully concocted to control his transformations. As early as Dracula in 1931, wolfsbane casually replaced garlic … from the toxic slobber of a three-headed dog named Cerberus, the scary canine guardian to the gates of Hell. In the Dark Ages, wolfsbane was said to be used by witches in spells and …
Type: Blog
… Step past the sleepy stone lion, breathe in the cowslip primrose, and listen to the water trickle into an eighteenth-century lead cistern—the feeling is as timeless as the tiny thyme plants growing between the hand-pressed bricks. So how do we … Helen and Richard Thomas English Walled Garden withstands the rigors of time? Work is underway to enhance the English Walled Garden’s magestical tapestry. Dedicated in 1991 by Princess …
Type: Blog
… the Forest Preserves of Cook County, including a stint at the Garden. The Conservation Corps is a paid summer internship that gives young people hands-on conservation and environmental science experience. Students partnered with Garden horticulturists and learned to identify plants and remove invasive species. This year, they worked to clear and trim overgrown bushes, install new plantings, and remove invasive plants. In …
Type: Blog
… resolutions—whether at the Chicago Botanic Garden, or in their own backyard. Feel free to snag one of their ideas for yourself. Heather Sherwood, senior horticulturist, Helen and Richard Thomas English Walled Garden Some of my New Year’s resolutions are to clean and sharpen my tools, start a compost pile with my kitchen scraps, pet more bumblebees, … Pogue, senior horticulturist, Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden My New Year’s resolution is to apply the principles of the Garden's soil initiative. I am very excited to learn more about …
Type: Blog
… Cathy Thomas is the plant propagator for the Plant Production department. One of her responsibilities is … and camps. She is especially interested in the complex strategies that plants have developed to prevent the germination of their seeds until conditions are favorable for the seedlings' survival. In her work, she researches and tests different techniques to break these germination inhibitors present in the seeds of native plants grown for restoration …
Type: Staff bio
… My top pick for cool new plant species? The media has called it grotesque and compared to an eyeless worm. And our friends at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London described it as “the ugliest orchid in the world.” The not-so-pretty Gastrodia agnicellus orchid is just one of the new discoveries and developments I’ve tracked recently, as curator of the … and collector of orchids, I still geek out when researchers stumble on a species unknown to science. Here are five of my favorite recent news stories on orchids: Gastrodia agnicellus , …
Type: Blog
… as some of us in the Second City affectionately call it: Second Winter—can test our ability to feel connected to anything living, including each other and ourselves. When we are stuck inside, our mental … Flower Mandala Sun Catchers Loosely translated from Sanskrit to mean “circle,” a mandala is a symbol that represents wholeness and reminds us of the connectivity of all things in the …
Type: Blog
… species of moths in the state of Illinois—more than ten times the diversity of butterflies—it is a real adventure sampling the moth species inhabiting the McDonald Woods at the Chicago … woodland. Moths are removed from the traps and then photographed before being released back to the woodland. The metallic scales of the Virginia Ctenucha moth (C tenucha virginica ) are … the food chain. Entomologist Doug Tallamy tabulated the number of caterpillars that were used to support one nest of black-capped chickadees and found that they consumed between 6,000 and …
Type: Blog
… the hottest year since global temperature tracking began in 1880. If that sounds familiar, it is: It was the third record-breaking warm year in a row. And the warmth continued into 2017. “Is … phenological mismatches. These occur when species that depend on each other do not respond to climate cues in the same way. For instance, hummingbirds and butterflies that overwinter in … on any of our target species. If you want to make more of a commitment, you can create a site location—your backyard, for example—that will allow you make observations on the same plants …
Type: Blog
… perennials as a filler. Full sun and well drained soils are required - once established it is drought tolerant. Pollinator insects and hummingbirds love the nectar rich flowers. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
