… Sweetshrubs have untoothed, opposite, ovate leaves with a pleasant, spicy aroma. The flowers, blooming in May and June, have numerous overlapping petals and a fruity scent.‘Solar Flare’ has large 2.5” wide-opening flowers. It’s easy to see the hybrid origin of this cultivar, with burgundy petals on the outside from the American parents, and an inner ring … or partial shade, in well-drained soil. Flowers bloom on new growth, so the best time to prune is just after flowering. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… -- abundant white flowers in spring, edible berries and interesting branch structure/bark. It is considered trouble free and frequently recommended by garden designers. More than one-third of … attractive foliage color in fall and interesting bark/branch structure in winter. Common names for amelanchier include juneberry and serviceberry and refer to the blueberry-like fruit edible … Garden's collection includes more than 30 varieties and over 450 plants. Archived Copy: This content was captured before February 2022, and is no longer being updated. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Stone Family Picnic Glade The Stone Family Picnic Glade features a covered and open-air picnic area—with a breathtaking … accommodate up to 200 people. With sunny paved and lawn areas, it’s the perfect gathering spot for family, friends, and school groups. Bicyclists, walkers, and all visitors are welcome to take a break with a packed snack or picnic*. The Picnic Glade is located near Parking Lot 2 and the east road, and features: Bike racks Accessible restrooms …
Type: Page
… When you lift a rock in your garden and glimpse earthworms and tiny insects hustling for cover, you’ve just encountered the celebrities of soil. We all know them on sight. The leggy, the skinny, the pale…the surprisingly fast. Behind this fleeting moment are what may be considered the producers, editors, and set designers of the … ever before, and discover vital information. “One of the problems we have with soil science is that you can’t see into it so you really depend on a lot of techniques and methods to work out …
Type: Blog
… of the new growth to stimulate growth from lower nodes. (In other plants, we often refer to this as “pinching.”) A closeup of this Pinus sylvestris shows where the candle was broken last … year and where you expect the new growth to emerge. The result of breaking these candles is that the new growth spreads more horizontally than vertically, and the density of the pads … takes longer to recover. Why candle? The pine shoots that emerge in spring are called candles for a reason: they tend to be very tall, skinny cylinders like taper or dinner candles. If we let …
Type: Blog
… know the extent that urban areas impact native bees. My research at the Chicago Botanic Garden is investigating how urban areas may affect native bees in Chicago. Chicago is an ideal city to … to the other native bees we have around Chicago. To explore native bee communities along this urbanization gradient, I have a series of eight sites along Chicago’s Union Pacific North … in this area along the Metra line allows us to ask a variety of questions about native bees. For instance: Are there fewer bees in highly urban areas? Are there different bees in natural …
Type: Blog
… Valentine’s Day has special meaning for us at the Chicago Botanic Garden. With that in mind, we’ve gathered a few stories about how … attracts a wasp that hunts the spider as potential food for its own larvae. Thus the wasp is fooled into landing on the flower—and picking up its pollen—while hunting. So cheeky! A … (Check out more on orchids fooling mating bees with this famous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h8I3cqpgnA .) Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’ has dancing skirts and …
Type: Blog
… Native to moors, swamps, and grasslands in central Eurasia, purple moor grass is a slow-growing plant that produces an erect cluster of arching green foliage 12-20 inches tall that turns yellow in the fall. Purple flowers bloom on 20- to 32-inch stalks in July and August. Purple moor grass … with regular moisture and is tolerant of both acidic and alkaline conditions. Archived Copy: This content was captured before February 2022, and is no longer being updated. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… in August and September. Later-blooming perennials, annuals, and shrubs can provide color for weeks to come. And many of their blossoms offer nectar to migrating butterflies and … good-looking, late-season wonders for your garden. Butterfly bush (Buddleja) Butterfly bush is a magnet for flower-feeding butterflies, bees, and other insects. This woody perennial ranges in size from 2 to more than 5 feet tall. The sweet-smelling flowers …
Type: Plant Info
… human well-being and health. Current Projects: Adaptation to temperature extremes. Temperature is one of the greatest drivers of plant diversification, with adaptation to both hot and cold … of USDA hardiness zones (zones 5-9). I am leading a project to develop genomics resources for A. triloba and explore genetic diversity in Asimina. Collaborators and I are sampling A. … from the extremes and midpoint of its native range to identify signatures of local adaptation. This project is integrally tied with traditional knowledge of local Native American communities …
Type: Staff bio
