… and bushy and reddish in color. A lot like a fox's tail in fact and explain why this grass is called a foxtail fountain grass. Ginger Love fountain grass is a warm season grass that grows in clumps about two to three feet wide and tall. The green … in July and persist until winter and are usually retained over winter and the entire plant is cut back in late winter. This grass is extremely adaptable and can be used in a wide range of …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… The Desert Mountain mock orange is native to the dry, mountainous regions of southwest North America. It bears highly fragrant white flowers with a maroon center in May to June. The Desert Mountain mock orange is a medium-sized deciduous shrub with narrow grayish-green leaves that are adapted to dry … feet in height and width with gently arching branches and an open appearance. While this shrub is adaptable to a range of conditions including drought, it prefers sunny locations and cannot …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Prunus tenella 'Fire Hill' is a dwarf shrub with long thin leaves and a breathtaking display of dark pink flowers in spring. This is a low growing suckering shrub that is not fussy about soil pH, texture or moisture but does best in full sun. Because of the …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… moisture conditions. It produces domes of slightly fragrant bright pink flowers in spring and is graced with bright red foliage with the onset of winter temperatures. Like other Rhododendron species, it needs an acidic soil pH. Acidic pH is not a characteristic of most Chicago area soils so care must be taken to incorporate peat into … identified as appropriate for Rhododendron and other acidic-loving plants. The root system is comprised of a dense network of fine feeder roots in the top couple of inches of the soil and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Rodgersias they can tolerate boggy areas and naturalize over time. 'Bloody Wheels' foliage is particularly colorful. The leaves emerge bright red, then deepen to a bronzed purple before maturing to green. Fall color is also dramatic. The flowering spikes can be 5' tall, but bloom is iffy. As a species, Rodgersias give you a bold counterpoint to the delicate airy foliage …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Rue is a dainty, attractive perennial native to south Europe with spicy, aromatic foliage. It grows … dried leaves are used in herbal medicines, and stems can be used to flavor vinegars, but it is not used directly as food, only as an extract. The fragrance is intriguing, like a combination of pine, thyme and soap; some considering it malodorus. It …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Tara Prairie Dropseed is a clumping warm season grass with bright green leaves and delicate flower panicles that appear … brown in late fall. In massed plantings the flowers provide an attractive pinkish haze which is enhanced by backlighting in early morning or late afternoon. This grass is a wonderful all year plant with bright green foliage in spring and summer, flower spikes in …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Jade vine ( Strongylodon macrobotrys ) is a rare find in U.S. botanical gardens. Aside from the Chicago Botanic Garden, only the … Gardens in Hawaii have this interesting plant. The unusual color of the jade vine's blooms is the result of pigments in two different color classes being modified by high pH in the sap of the stems. Native to the Philippines, only old, mature plants produce flowers. Jade vine is a member of the pea family (Fabaceae) and is bat-pollinated in the wild. The brilliantly …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… ACCOLADE™ elm is a deciduous pyramidal elm tree growing 50 – 60 feet tall and 24-40 feet wide. Its claim to fame is its resistance to Dutch elm disease and the elm leaf miner. This elm grows vigorously, … It was named 2012 Urban Tree of the Year by the Society of Municipal Arborists. This tree is a Chicagoland Grows® selection. Chicagoland Grows® is a plant introduction partnership of the …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Vanilla, besides being a fragrant extract essential to baking, is a vining orchid native to Mexico. It is not at all difficult to grow indoors given the proper conditions, but it may be difficult to … ensure production of the vanilla pods that carry vanilla "beans". This labor-intensive method is one reason that vanilla is so expensive. The Aztecs were the first to create the sublime blend …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
