In a sunny patch at the Chicago Botanic Garden, a single bee balm ( Monarda fistulosa ) stretches toward the sky. A long-lost visitor lands: a rusty patched bumble bee ( Bombus affinis ), fuzzy and endangered, unseen here before. The rare sighting is a bright thread in a much larger tapestry being rewoven across the region. Once one of the most common bumble bees in the Midwest, the rusty patched …
Type: Blog
… D. (2013). The Plant Whisperer: A mother, a daughter, and a garden. Available online: slate.com (accessed March 2015). Footnotes Address: 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA … D. (2013). The Plant Whisperer: A mother, a daughter, and a garden. Available online: slate.com (accessed March 2015). Footnotes Address: 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022, USA Email: sophiashaw@icloud.com The Oxford English Dictionary dates the expression to Davy Crockett, Tour Down East, 1835: “I …
Type: Page
For Chicago-area gardeners, May is typically “go time!” for planting annuals, vegetables, and herbs to fill out the garden. The lawn is actively growing, too. However, this month is a study in contrast, before and after the final frost date for the Chicago region’s USDA Hardiness Zones 5b and 6a. When planting warm-season annuals, vegetables, and herbs, proceed with caution if cold temperatures …
Type: Plant Info
July ushers in peak summer weather for our USDA cold hardiness zones, with average daily temperature hovers in the mid-70s, making it the warmest month of the year. Furthermore, government models anticipate hotter, drier summers in the future. For gardeners, it’s important to monitor moisture levels, especially for new plantings, container plants, and vegetables. As plants grow (and, …
Type: Plant Info
Schedule and Session Descriptions Inspiring Nature Play: Reaching Wider Wednesday, May 6, 2020 8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Library Table Martha Meyer, Evanston Public Library Nature Play Ideas Table Forest Preserves of Cook County 8:30 – 9 a.m. Check-in and Registration 9 – 9:30 a.m. Welcome and Overview of the Day 9:30 – 10:40 a.m. Keynote Address Nature Play for All: Equity, Diversity, Anti-bias, and …
Type: Page
… successively bloom from early to late spring. Begin garden cleanup As leaves fall and plants die back, it’s a good time to clean up the yard in anticipation of the coming winter weather. …
Type: Plant Info
April in the Garden is all about anticipation, with each day bringing new discoveries, news oohs and aahs. What a magnificent season to walk the cultivated gardens and the natural areas, seeking both the brash and the modest — plants whose tropical colors take the chill off an April morning as well as the tiny, fleeting jewels only the fortunate will notice. Look and look again. These blooming …
Type: Walks
Clint Stevens spends his weekends on a high-stakes scavenger hunt across Southern Illinois, gathering clues to save rare plants from disappearing. Traversing steep prairie hillsides and swampy lowlands as a Plants of Concern volunteer, his mission is, at once, straightforward and profound: find endangered plants, count them, and alert the land managers working to improve their habitat. Stevens …
Type: Blog
What's the best way to recycle your lawn, garden, and kitchen waste? Make your own compost—it can do magic for your garden. Compost is simply a mixture of soil and pieces of plants that have decomposed to the point of being unrecognizable. Dark brown and crumbly, it is an attractive addition to any garden. And the things it does for the garden are nothing short of spectacular! Keeps lawn waste …
Type: Plant Info
Winter is actually the best time of year to prune your deciduous plants. Wait for a relatively mild, sunny day, get out your pruners, and take a critical look at your trees and shrubs. As soon as trees and shrubs go into dormancy, pruning can begin, and you can prune up to the time when buds begin to plump up. From mid-November to mid-March, you can shape and thin your deciduous plants in …
Type: Plant Info
