… are collected and classified. The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Nancy Poole Rich Herbarium is home to 12,000 specimens of plants—from our own Cook County backyard and the Upper Midwest—all the way from Russia, Korea, and China. This biological library enables scientists from around the … more expedient and reliable method. Precision is especially important when considering plants for drug exploration. The cancer fighting properties in Taxol were discovered in a native species …
Type: Plant Info
… Hanging lobster claw ( Heliconia rostrata ) is native to Central America, where migrating hummingbirds from North America pollinate the flowers while hovering to sip nectar. Their foreheads get dusted with pollen in the process — which apparently annoys some of them, because they have …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… gracilistyla ). This mid-sized deciduous shrub blooms in early spring and is a great plant for challenging landscapes with full sun and wet soils. If it gets too large, it can be pruned back hard to generate new branches from near the base. Rosegold pussy willow benefits from having a dark background to accentuate the flowers in very early spring. Members of the genus Salix are commonly known as …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… This is rare species found only in . It can reach a height of 75’. It will do best in a sunny location with well-drained soil. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… of tightly packed flowers, often followed by conspicuous berries. NOTE: Berries are poisonous to people and rabbits; harmless to birds and butterflies. Most bloom white, though there are pink varieties. Gardeners welcome … of bugbane comes from their ability to repel insects and in earlier times they were used to get rid of bedbugs. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… A. Determining when tomatoes are ripe can be tricky, especially when we are anxiously waiting to sample the first tomatoes of the season. As a practical matter, the best guides to tomato ripeness, particularly for the heirloom varieties and those hybrids bred for the home gardener, are color and touch. …
Type: Plant Info
… This slow growing spruce can reach a height of 80’. Native to , it will grow into a broadly conical shape. Its horizontal branches will become somewhat pendulous with age. It will do best in a sunny location with well-drained soil. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Red baneberry is a tough Illinois native. In fact, it can survive temperatures to 30 below on the one hand, and wildfires on the other. And it looks great throughout the growing season. You get fluffy little white "bunny tails" of flowers in late spring; handsome foliage throughout … of tightly packed flowers, often followed by conspicuous berries. NOTE: Berries are poisonous to people and rabbits; harmless to birds and butterflies. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… explodes into flower. Plant this salvia in full sun and in average soil, and water it to get the root system established. This perennial is a hummingbird and butterfly magnet. 'Pascal' … in the Mexican Sierra Madre Oriental mountains by Yucca Do Nursery staff. It has proven to be winter hardy in Denver, Colorado, during the last five years. Horticulturist Heather …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… When gardening in the Midwest, it is truly a delight to discover plants that have saved their showier sides for the last months of the year. At this time especially, we welcome the graceful conifers, the … at home in moist sites, with some even tolerating wetter conditions. Full sun to part shade is best, with a soil pH on the acid side. Chicago gardeners can amend their alkaline soil with equal …
Type: Plant Info
