… Cathy Thomas is the plant propagator for the Plant Production department. One of her responsibilities is sowing seeds for the annual displays on the Garden's grounds and for plants used in classes …
Type: Staff bio
… Take a peek in your closet, and you might find a long wooden broom for sweeping up dust or offering rides to witches and wizards. For broom maker John Spannagel of … a pantry item. They’re a labor of love, made with a special ingredient: broomcorn. Broomcorn is a type of ornamental grass used to make specialty brooms, a passion Spannagel discovered nearly three years ago. The retired construction worker makes roughly 50 brooms a year and tours at local farm shows. As …
Type: Blog
… Tim Pollak is the Manager, Plant Production at the Garden, where he has worked since 2001. As part of his job, he is the grower and buyer of all the plants for the seasonal annual displays, containers, hanging baskets, and specialty plant displays. He …
Type: Staff bio
… We gathered around a table at the Garden View Café the other day to taste something that only one of us had ever tasted before: … orchid roots. A traditional winter drink in the cafés and restaurants of Turkey, salep is made from the tuberous roots of orchids—specifically, terrestrial orchids in the genus Orchis … “Chai,” “junipers,” and “I’ll have another glass,” were three answers; the flavor is hard for American taste buds to define. Sweet and savory and spicy all at once, there’s a note of bark …
Type: Blog
… wildflowers and other plants? It starts with a summer filled with scientific observation at the Nativars Research Plot in the Bernice E. Lavin Plant Evaluation Garden . The observer was … Christian Acevedo, a Garden intern from Miami Dade College through the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. He did research for Budburst , a project by the Chicago Botanic … responding to human impacts, such as climate change, on the environment. One of the projects is on nativars, or cultivated varieties of native plants. Researchers are studying whether …
Type: Blog
… In case you missed it, the International Herb Association has named tarragon the herb of the year. “What?” you might be thinking. “What about basil?” Discover a world of uses for your herb harvest—essential and flavored oils, vinegars, jams and jellies—at Herb Garden … tarragon ( Artemisia dracunculus ) has silvery leaves and an anise-like flavor, but basil is the king of herbs, beloved by all. It’s such a crowd-pleaser that we’re giving away Napoletano …
Type: Blog
… Long-ago legend says that cranes can live for 1,000 years…and that folding 1,000 paper cranes, one for each year, can make a wish come true. So it is that the crane is the symbol of longevity and good fortune. Fast forward to the turn of the …
Type: Blog
… As director of horticulture, Tim Johnson oversees and directs operations in the Horticulture division, which includes 27 display gardens, plant production, plant healthcare, … degree in horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1984. He worked as a foreman for Campbell's Garden Center, installing and maintaining landscapes. During summer breaks from … supervisor, and grounds manager—before he became the director of horticulture in 1996. Johnson is an instructor at the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. He writes a …
Type: Staff bio
… Rigoberto Montoya is an assistant grower for the Plant Production department's indoor floriculture division. He is responsible for the day-to-day care of plants, and he comes up with innovative ways to grow …
Type: Staff bio
… Greenish buds open to dusty rose pink flowers on this kalanchoe, which can be adapted to use as a bedding plant, as well as an indoor potted plant. Grow this plant in bright light, and avoid overwatering this drought-tolerant species. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
