… bear cones. With a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes, they add color and textural contrast to landscapes year-round. What exactly are dwarf conifers? Simply stated, they are conifers that do not reach the normal height for their species. True dwarf conifers average about one-twentieth the typical size, with most … Blue Spruce) has the blue foliage of the Colorado Spruce in a weeping, dwarf form. Be sure to visit the Dwarf Conifer Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden to view these and many more dwarf …
Type: Plant Info
… Their Bets As if on cue, tiny green leaves peek out from the dark soil each spring, reaching for the sun. But how do flowers know it’s spring? And can they detect real spring versus a warm … it’s still winter? “Within the context of ‘reasonable conditions’ plants are generally able to detect real spring from a false start,” said Paul CaraDonna, Ph.D., a Chicago Botanic Garden … things up beyond the ‘reasonable conditions’ plants are used to such that they might start to get fooled.” And They’re Off These plants got a jump on spring Unseasonably warm days have …
Type: Blog
… The Royal Gala apple is crisp and juicy. It is recommended for eating fresh or for cooking. The difference between apples and crabapples is the size of the … and in quantity as a crop, they can also be grown in the home garden. Special attention to pollination, disease/pest vigilance, and pruning may be required for the trees to thrive and … tree for the home garden that is smaller than its commercial counterpart. Apple trees produce best fruiting when they are between 10 and 30 years of age. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… looking at them provided me some kind of familiarity—like when you meet someone new, you want to know their name, what they do, what they like, right? Well, the same with plants. One … am out travelling: A label from downtown, Quebec, Canada. I do not speak French, and before I get nervous, I see the scientific name with relief. A label from the Alpine Garden, Montreal … around 7 to 8 inches across, and is made to withstand the constant humidity. Next time you visit the Garden, check out the Linnaeus statue in the Heritage Garden and see the decoding of a …
Type: Blog
… With a narrow pyramidal habit, bald cypress reaches a mature height of 50' to 70'. Its feathery green leaves are yellow-green in spring, a soft sage green in summer and … deciduous conifer has one of the widest ranges of distribution, growing from Illinois all the way to Florida. Lovely pyramidal deciduous conifer that also can be grown as a bonsai. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Home gardeners can sympathize: not every seed that is planted grows. This truth extends to restored prairies that are grown from seed mixes, according to Rebecca Barak, Ph.D., who … transect in each study prairie, and marked off a large circle every 5 meters along the way. Within the circle, she and her collaborators counted all the plant species they could find. … rainwater and carbon dioxide—they also provide opportunities we can all enjoy each time we visit, said the scientist and former teacher. “I think it’s about more than that [the ecological …
Type: Blog
… It’s rare that a plant's cultivar name makes it into everyday conversation—'Peace' comes to mind for roses, or 'Stella d'Oro' for daylilies. But say "'Annabelle'," and everyone knows … covering it in July. After five years, it will reach just 4 feet in width and 3 in height. Get a good look at it just outside the Regenstein Center, in the sitting area across from the Circle Garden. The oakleaf hydrangeas: H. quercifolia The best of the best in this popular group is Snow Queen ™ . Regal in size at 6 feet tall, with the …
Type: Plant Info
… AUTUMN JAZZ® arrowwood viburnum, which suckers from the base to form in an upright oval habit, will grow to a height of 8' to 10'. It is named arrowwood viburnum because Native Americans used the … yellow. The arrowwood viburnum is one of the hardiest and easiest to grow of all viburnums for the garden. This shrub is a Chicagoland Grows® selection. Chicagoland Grows® is a plant …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… high in beta-carotene, potassium and vitamin C; low in fat; and high in fiber. Smaller, three- to six-pounders are the best for pies since they're sweet and non-stringy. As with all squash, the flowers are edible … October 15, theoretically providing almost 150 frost-free days, although we're lucky if we get 120. Pumpkins prefer well-drained, fertile soil in full sun. Sow seeds directly into the …
Type: Plant Info
… or western Asia. It produces small white flowers, followed by almost black fruits. It is best suited for a naturalized setting at woodland's edge. Members of the genus Cornus , commonly known as … -- be it flowers, fruit, foliage, and/or bark -- and their range of forms from small trees to suckering shrubs. The dominant display, however, varies among the species. Dogwoods are native …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
