… to see them all that often—especially at close range, in order to admire their delicate form and attractive appearance. Bats are in the order Chiroptera , roughly translated as “hand wing,” and are the only mammals that are actually capable of true flight (unlike flying squirrels—which … the late fall, while using fine nets at night to capture owls to attach U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service bird bands, I often caught many of the large, hoary bats migrating south for the winter. …
Type: Blog
… It’s that time of year when the sun finally comes out and temperatures go up, allowing you to get some outdoor planting done. But beware the fickle … old bedding, especially fitted sheets. They fit snugly around the bottom of the containers and keep out the cold air. If you do cover your containers, it may be helpful to prop up the … covering with bamboo poles. The covering shouldn’t touch the plants, because it can weigh down and crush any leaves or fresh blooms. And if the temperatures drop too low, the covering can …
Type: Blog
… Garden. This attractive plant has large, thick, green leaves, is about 10–12 inches long and 8–10 inches wide, with deeply serrated edges, and is completely covered in tiny, purple hairs (which are not really hairs—in the botanical world they are called “tricomes” ) . It is native to Ecuador and other South American countries. There is more to notice about this intriguing plant than its …
Type: Blog
… gentian (Gentiana puberulenta) . You’ll find them among the myriad of pale blues, whites, and violets of the dominant fall asters, many of them blooming throughout October. Look for bottle and cream gentians in the Garden’s Dixon Prairie or elsewhere. Buried beneath the riot of asters, sunflowers, goldenrods, and towering grasses are the brilliant blue-violet stars of the prairie gentian. Talk about …
Type: Blog
… many of you are anxious to get planting done—it is spring, right? But we encourage caution and patience. If it squishes, wait. Working with wet soil and turf damages it. Here are tips to help gardeners navigate Chicago’s spring: Wait until the … soils can be worked much sooner after a rain event. Clay soil holds more moisture and requires a longer waiting time. Avoid excessive walking in garden beds and on lawns. It can …
Type: Blog
… Blooms at the Chicago Botanic Garden. This is my second year working at Butterflies & Blooms, and I think it’s looking better than ever. The biggest surprise this year happened this week. We received some big, hairy atlas moth cocoons, and I was a little concerned about whether they would have time to emerge before we have to shut … the display, its strong feet clinging to my finger. I reached far up into a serviceberry tree and placed the moth where visitors could get an ideal view. Just a few minutes later, a handful …
Type: Blog
… Spring is done and we’ve finally moved into summer bulb season! The annual beds have been replanted with sweeps of dahlias, cannas, caladium, and begonias to showcase these nonstop workhorses of the summer garden. Caladium bicolor ‘Raspberry Moon’, Begonia ‘Million Kisses Honeymoon’ and Cretan brake fern ( Pteris cretica ) light up the shade under the Selkirk crabapples. …
Type: Blog
… the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2017, brings together citizens, research scientists, educators, and horticulturists to study "phenology," or the life-cycle events of plants. Wildflower … phenology events , for example, are fairly simple: first flower, full flower, first fruit, and full fruiting. Deciduous trees , on the other hand, are more complex, with stages from first … Budburst builds on the basic human drive to notice this kind of changing nature around us and record the information to a database for scientists to review. As director of Budburst, I'm …
Type: Blog
… One of my signature projects at the Chicago Botanic Garden is designing and building the hypertufa troughs for the Heritage Garden spring display. While our greenhouse staff spends their winters growing the unique and beautiful plants that we feature in the troughs, another team is hard at work making the … you might imagine aging for generations in the English countryside. Making troughs is a heavy and dusty job, but the result is a unique and lasting piece of garden artistry. Here is how we …
Type: Blog
… Cook County in the summer. But now, thanks to the ban on certain pesticides (including DDT), and the creation of osprey nesting platforms, the fish-eating bird is breeding again in local … full white head or tail. Instead, it has a broad brown band through the eye, a brown back, and white belly. An osprey flies with a crook in its wings. Immature bald eagles, with their mottled black and white plumage, can easily be mistaken for ospreys. In summer, visitors can watch an osprey …
Type: Blog
