… 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 … can be issues ('Limelight' can top out at 8 feet tall), the news in the panicle category is dwarf stature. Think of Little Lime ™ as a mini 'Limelight'. Topping out at a manageable 3 to …
Type: Plant Info
… creating a new hedge. Attractive native shrubs are often overlooked—and occasionally hard to come by in local nurseries and garden centers—but they are well worth the effort to find. … at the bit to plant this native shrub. It’s unfortunate, because the chokeberry is one of the best shrubs you can grow in Illinois. Iroquois Beauty™ chokeberry ( Aronia melanocarpa … but the fruit that comes afterward offers a food source for yellow-rumped warblers on their way south. New Jersey Tea ( Ceanothus americanus ) New Jersey tea is one native shrub that I …
Type: Blog
… How best to highlight the color of 10,000 blooming orchids? For Brilliance: The Orchid Show , which runs … attraction You’ll also get to see the rare ghost orchid, Dendrophylax lindenii , one of the best known orchids in the world. Our collection of young orchids will be displayed in a case, as conditions allow. The Garden is one of the few institutions in the world to have ghost orchids. Fast facts quiz Click on each …
Type: Blog
… the bats hunt on Evening Island for night-flying insects and a little honeysuckle nectar to wash them down. Another side of the Garden emerges after the front gates close for the night—one in which the natural world is less colorful but more dramatic. In the dark, your senses sharpen. You look at blooms in a new way when they are lit by lightning bugs instead of the sun. Photo courtesy of Cathi Fremer You …
Type: Blog
… Topiaries, whether formal or whimsical, large-scaled or edible, can be a fascinating addition to most garden spaces. A plant familiar to many gardeners because they have either grown it, eaten it, or admired it as a tiny topiary is the versatile herb, rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis is an evergreen shrub hardy to zone 6. … a wide range of pH and moisture conditions, but it must have excellent drainage. This can be best accomplished when the plant is grown in a clay pot year-round. Clay permits faster …
Type: Plant Info
… Summer is a social time, filled with friends, family, and sunshine—but what if you want to slip away on … shows that solo trips outside, away from your everyday life, can calm the mind and allow you to de-stress. We’ve got tips on how to find moments of peace and self-reflection at the Chicago …
Type: Blog
… Flowers are one of the best antidotes to the icy winds of winter, and growing a houseplant that buds and blooms inside while all is dormant outside is particularly satisfying. This winter, as an alternative to the brightly …
Type: Plant Info
… temps, you might wonder how any plants can survive a Chicago winter—and even hold on to a welcome splash of color. As curator of plant collections at the Chicago Botanic Garden , … diseases or be browsed by critters. But the main reason that a perennial has evergreen leaves is to provide a place to store energy and nutrients while dormant. The leaves are tricky … perennials and help provide additional winter interest. While both spring and fall are the best times to plant perennials, it is easiest to find what you want in the spring, when nurseries …
Type: Blog
… in our Semitropical Greenhouse. Spike brought the nation’s—and even the world’s—attention to the Garden, as we waited for our first-ever flowering titan to open up in all its stinky and … Spike, including television, radio, print, and internet. And I wrote seven blogs along the way, telling the story, history, origins, care, and details about the smell of Amorphophallus … about these plants through frequent visits and reading the information on the website. Best of all was the opportunity to monitor growth through the live cam: we viewed Spike from time …
Type: Blog
… Advice from our horticulturist as the Rose Garden "Be brave." Tom Soulsby says it's the best advice he has for rose gardeners. As the senior horticulturist at the Rose Garden, Tom knows how to deal with roses at every stage of their lives: young and old, tended and in need of pruning, … want to be open at ground level—the better to get a good dose of sunshine. An overgrown rose is thick and congested at ground level, which results in lots of fuzzy tip growth instead of …
Type: Plant Info
