… or at places including the Chicago Botanic Garden , where I’m director of youth education. One winter, after a snowstorm, I decided to look for evidence of wildlife near the Garden’s Regenstein Learning Campus. My first sighting was the tracks of at least one coyote running through the snow. The individual track was not a clear footprint, but it was …
Type: Blog
… and numerous Vaughan’s Seed Store catalogs. (Vaughan’s started on the East Coast, then became one of the leading Chicago seed houses.) Recognizing that some varieties from the turn of the … by mulched paths made with wood chips that would have been straw in earlier centuries. As one crop is harvested, the next crop is planted—a nod to the constant production that was a …
Type: Blog
… statuesque qualities of plants. During these fleeting evening hours, it is simple to move from one brightly lit section of the Garden to a twilight hideaway of seclusion and repose. But, at …
Type: Walks
… ): compact and colorful in the fall Sedges ( Carex spp. ): The real MVP. They insulate pots, support other plants, and look great year-round Great for beginners: Red columbine ( Aquilegia … winter cover. More native species can handle container life than I originally expected. One of the ongoing mysteries for overwintering plants: Does keeping the soil wet in the winter …
Type: Blog
… and reduces surface runoff (and pollutants) that would otherwise end up in streams and rivers. One way to capture excess water on your property is to plant a rain garden. Rain gardens are …
Type: Plant Info
… can trust in it to adapt and evolve, to persevere endlessly and, when we let it, to heal and support us. We have no choice but to respect and defer to nature’s ways, even when they don’t … to share a bit with you: “It’s a long row to hoe” were the first words that came into my mind one morning. The day before me felt too busy, too much. How was I going to get everything done … Furthermore, I have wrestled with feelings of anxiety my whole life, and moments like this one have been with me since I was young. But that morning, when the idiom “It’s a long row to …
Type: Blog
… green to red. Red bell peppers are best known for their powerful antioxidant properties. Just one pepper contains twice the daily requirement for vitamin C, making bell peppers one of the richest foods for vitamin C. Vitamin C helps grow and repair tissues in the body and … http://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/48446.pdf http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/tc/antioxidants-topic-overview http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1378 …
Type: Blog
… for ornamental use—it’s great at making hedges—but escaped from human control and is now one of our region’s worst invasive species. As its hedge-producing credentials suggest, buckthorn … woodland with robust growth of native vegetation in the understory (Photo: Jim Steffen) …and one that looks like this … Buckthorn-dominated area showing a lack of understory vegetation … climate change and instead locking it away harmlessly for potentially hundreds of years—is one such service. Steffen’s more than two decades of work removing buckthorn from the Garden’s …
Type: Blog
… They both are bursting with flowers to the point where it feels like if you added one more they would explode. On both plants, all the blooms open in perfect synchrony. Like … open a soft yellow, then the flower ages to creamy white. It gives the impression it could support your weight like a little cushion. Calycanthus ‘Athens’ Size: 53” tall by 81” wide. … by 1½” wide. Bloom period May-July with peak in late June. The smell of sweetshrubs has become one of my favorites. Every part of this plant is fragrant, but the fragrance of the flowers vary …
Type: Blog
… day, around the world. Bats, bees, butterflies, birds, and more pollinate plants that create one-third of the food we eat. As you enjoy a meal with friends and family, take a moment to say …
Type: Blog
