As the Lakes and Shorelines Ecologist, I maintain around five miles of restored shoreline at the Chicago Botanic Garden. My role is primarily leading and assisting the seasonal aquatics crew with fieldwork during the growing season. Field management throughout the year includes planting native species, removing invasive species, managing algae both manually and with algaecide, native seed …
Type: Staff bio
… same mix for their pots. Any gardener who suspects the soil is contaminated should have a soil test taken prior to growing edible plants. This is best done when the soil temperature is above …
Type: Plant Info
… to the present. Jonnes will discuss how modern Chicago tree lovers have played a powerful role in advancing the new tree science that has illuminated the role of trees in a green infrastructure and their importance to human well-being and public health. Books will …
Type: Event for Calendar
… Native to the Pacific coast of North America, this little plant in the barberry family grows in woodlands on the west slopes of the Cascade Mountains. With a growth habit similar to … 8-10” tall topped with a compound leaf divided into three leaflets with wavy leaf margins. In late spring to early summer, one-foot stems topped with spikes of tiny, fragrant white flowers …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… again at the Chicago Botanic Garden. This is the third time Spike has begun a bloom cycle. In 2015, the corpse flower ultimately lacked the energy to bloom. In 2018, at nearly 7 feet tall, Spike finally bloomed, smelling like rotting meat or flesh. Spike … cycle in August 2015. More than 75,000 people came to the Garden to see Spike, and more than 300,000 people around the world watched the plant’s progress on live webcam. But the notoriously …
Type: Page
… there’s the light green midrib and the grass green center. Then that rich dark green, edged in white to set it off from the wide grass green border. In addition, the leaves fold up at night to show off the velvety purple underside. Calatheas are tropicals native to northwest Brazil, and ‘Medallion’ is one of over 300 known varieties. Because they can’t take temperatures below 60, they’re most commonly used as …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… and beautiful flowers. If you look closely, you’ll even see new buds forming. Orchids live in a wide variety of habitats and come in a wide variety of sizes, so you’ll want to make sure … for most of the year, and others from which you can get multiple flowerings in a year. 3. Only buy a healthy plant. Soft brown scale ( Coccus hesperidum ) and offspring on Phalaenopsis . The … offspring. 4. Consider the flower. You have basically two choices when buying an orchid: buy one that’s flowering or about to flower, or buy one that’s not in flower. Especially for …
Type: Blog
… Today, on International Women’s Day, the Chicago Botanic Garden celebrates women in science at our institution and around the world. At the Garden, 21 of our 35 scientific staff members are women and, in our graduate program in plant biology and conservation with Northwestern University, more than 70 percent of the …
Type: Blog
… they’re not related to the true crocus. Seventeen species and varieties of Colchicum grow in the Graham Bulb Garden. Flower colors range from white to magenta-violet, and include doubles … blooms are a great way to brighten up the early autumn landscape. They’re best grown in a groundcover or as an underplanting for taller bulbs such as lilies ( Lilium sp. ). The … bulbs such as Scilla, but it makes them perfect for hiding bare stems of tall plants in the summer while providing a jolt of color to your beds just before everything goes to sleep …
Type: Blog
… When it’s 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the drought-stricken Mojave desert, you’ll forgive our botanists for hoping against hope for a … Monica Depies and Rebecca Ubalde make up one of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s three teams in the western United States that are collecting native seeds for the national Seeds of Success (SOS) program this field season. The Garden is an active partner in SOS, led by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, to collect seeds for conservation, research, …
Type: Blog
