… this is a good time to find them on sale. The Basics Just getting started? Invest in a few good tools for digging, weeding, pruning, and watering. Inexpensive gardening tools have … edge, which helps remove weeds. The handles may be wood, plastic, padded, or metal. Before you buy one, pick up the trowel in the store and try it out to see how it fits in your hand and how … Gloves Weeding, pruning, and digging all take a toll on a gardener’s hands and fingernails. Buy a few pairs of durable gloves that won’t shrink when thrown in the washing machine. …
Type: Plant Info
… Amorphophallus remains a unique occupant in the world of plants, and visitors to the Chicago Botanic Garden recently experienced the … This formation produces the startling look of snake eyes. One of the first jacks to emerge in spring, cobra lily has flowers that can last a long time in the cool spring weather. Japanese … easiest to grow, and perhaps the best garden subject for the Chicago area. They are pricey to buy, but the flying saucer-shaped tubers bulk up quickly in a rich, woodsy soil. There are …
Type: Blog
… lounging or late-night stargazing. Still, I find myself dreaming of an herb garden growing in the little patch of morning sun that filters through the stairs. Growing an herb container … & Vegetable Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. She recently planted an herb container tower in the garden, so ideas were fresh on her mind when I talked with her. Here are her tips for … calls for two types of potatoes, and four or five different herbs. If you go to the store and buy these ingredients, it could cost eight bucks apiece. To grow scallions, dill, basil, and …
Type: Blog
… In Chicago, February is too early to start gardening outside, but herbs may be started indoors … It’s often used in Italian and Greek dishes, soups, stews, tomato sauces, and with meats. Buy a plant in the produce section and transplant it to a larger pot filled with soilless potting … water them frequently. Although you can grow rosemary from seed, it’s easier (and faster) to buy a pot from a garden center or produce section. Lemon verbena A tender perennial that is easy …
Type: Plant Info
… gathering. One Tuesday evening before Thanksgiving, we did just that for the first time in our office at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Within an hour, each of my work friends had created … packets that come with bouquets of flowers from the grocery store or florist. Flowers Buy flowers at places like grocery stores or Trader Joe’s; you can ask people to contribute money to buy them. Figure on about 15 to 20 stems per person. Tips: Lilies in the bud are pretty and …
Type: Blog
… It’s easy to find fun outdoors—with sticks, chirpy crickets, magic circles, and more. “Hands in earth, sand, mud: building, digging, sewing, baking—these are what humans DO.” For fun, … this all the time, and now she’s a wildlife biologist.” 1. Pick up a Stick How cool is this? In 2008, the stick was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame! It’s in great company: the … process of decorating it with ribbons and streamers… 6. Cricket Bug Box Catch a cricket (or buy a dozen for $1 at the pet shop). Friendly and chirpy, crickets are many kids’ first …
Type: Blog
… greenhouse staff spends their winters growing the unique and beautiful plants that we feature in the troughs, another team is hard at work making the troughs. Hypertufa is a simulated stone container that is durable in all weather conditions, but lighter-weight than solid stone or concrete. Our trough style, … completely cure for several weeks. Once cured, it is ready for our spring display! You can buy pre-made hypertufa containers, but this is definitely a project you can do at home for a lot …
Type: Blog
… Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden teacher. This project is “baking” in name only, as the dough is simply mixed, rolled, and cookie-cut—the ornamental “cookies” then … her at work, while supplying some tips along the way. The first question: Where do you buy a whole pound of cinnamon? Nancy orders bulk cinnamon online from San Francisco Herb Company. … cinnamon until achieving the feel and sheen of pie dough). If too many hairline cracks form in dough, add a bit more applesauce and mix until glossy and smooth. Prep Prep your rolling …
Type: Blog
… annuus— that brightens the vegetable garden or borders and occasionally fills a vase or two in the kitchen. The name Helianthus is derived from the Greek helios for sun and anthus for a flower. Vincent van Gogh paid tribute to their beauty in a series of paintings, and poets including William Blake salute them in their verses. Native … after a single season spent with sunflower shells on the soil around it. Better idea is to buy sunflower seeds that have the hulls removed. It’s a bit more expensive, but you won’t have to …
Type: Blog
… and more than 32,000 registered cultivars (named hybrids). They are divided into 13 divisions in an official classification system. Some people refer to any yellow daffodil as a jonquil. … sold in garden centers and by mail-order sources from September through November. If you buy several bags of bulbs, you can stagger the bloom time by potting a few each week. Didn’t buy any bulbs in fall? No problem. In February and March, garden centers, groceries, and big-box …
Type: Plant Info
