… Negrita triumph tulip ( Tulipa 'Negrita') produces deep, plum-purple blooms on 14- to 16-inch stems in the middle of tulip season. Triumph tulips used as annual bulbs can be … due to heavy soils that hold too much water during the dormant season (mid to late summer). Best results at naturalization typically are obtained in gardens with sandy soils, where the … in annual displays. Several dozen species tulips are grown in rock gardens where their need for perfect drainage can be met. During World War II, Dutch farmers consumed tulips when no other …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Winter solstice is just around the corner—December 21 to be exact. On that day, we in the Midwest will have about nine hours of daylight. Compare that … , the stark white trunks of native sweet birch (Betula lenta) stand out on overcast days. Look for paperbark maples (Acer griseum) and Peking lilacs (Syringa pekinensis) and discover the … be cut back in early spring. So grab your coat, hat, gloves, and scarf and come out for a visit. There’s much to see. Written by Nina Koziol, garden writer and horticulturist who lives …
Type: Plant Info
… Spring is the time to start seeds—especially for the veggies and herbs that thrive in summer's heat. Tomatoes. Peppers. Onions. Basil. … them. Some packs include a seedling illustration—a big help if your plant labels happen to get out of sorts. And there's invaluable information about transplanting, watering needs, and …
Type: Plant Info
… Building campfires? Baking bread? In these disorienting times, there’s a growing movement to embrace such pursuits as a way to get centered, to lead a more simple, slower life. It has been called #cottagecore, but really it …
Type: Blog
… keep away from our nectar-rich honeysuckle. With open, fluttering hearts, we’re paying homage to connections of all kinds at a celebration this summer called Love in Bloom . Lean into love on … To kick things off, our Nature Preschool students answered some Very Big Questions on love for us. Now we have a crush on all of them. In love with summer roses Summer is the time when … Just come with an idea for a poem. A poet will peck away on a manual typewriter and…. You get your own poem to keep—something special, something deep. We tried it. And now we’re in a …
Type: Blog
… look, you’ll notice signs of wildlife all around you, too. Their connection makes for the best kind of codependency. Killdeer, a shorebird that commonly nests at the Garden. Plants and … and other perennial seeds. Crabapple and dogwood trees set fruit that many birds like to feed on in late fall and winter. In addition to plants providing food to all kinds of wildlife … Sometimes, nature lends a helping hand to protect the plants, too. Foxes and coyotes that visit the Garden on occasion chase away geese and voles, small rodents that damage the bark of …
Type: Blog
… Description: Most winters, thanks to volunteer Peter Dogiakos, who fills homemade bird feeders with thistle in the Enabling Garden, Garden visitors can get close views of a northern bird species called the pine siskin. Gregarious little birds, pine … from year to year, and when it's a particularly lean winter, the siskins fly south looking for food. They readily come to feeders filled with thistle seed. Siskins were particularly …
Type: Birding
… guidebooks for what seems like forever. “Is it this one?” we ask each other, pointing to pictures in the book where the leaves kinda sorta look like our little plant. Finally, we flip … definitely mistake it for a grass; there are no flowers, no spiky balls, no spears. The only way to know it isn’t a grass is to observe the sparse, puny prickles just starting out. The … all else fails, we post to Twitter or Facebook botany groups and someone always knows. The best part of the job—doing research in the field! I’m asking you to combat species blindness by …
Type: Blog
… The thick-stemmed wood fern is native to the forests of northern eastern asia where it thrives as an understory plant on the forest … vase shaped plant that retains its leaves in winter, although they lie flat on the ground to protect the crown and rootball through the winter. The fronds can be cut back in spring to encourage new growth. This fern grows best in part shade with moist well-mulched soils and grows to about 3 feet high and wide. Deer …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Native to midwestern swamps and marshes, pepper vine is a deciduous bushy vine that grows as a ground cover or a vine growing 35 feet or more. The dark green compound foliage is up to 6 inches long and wide and turns pale yellow in fall. The leaflets are toothed, dark green on … inedible berries up to 5/8 inch in diameter, which are attractive to birds. The plant grows best in full to part shade and moist soil where it is short-lived, but aggressive; it can become …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
