… “Can a Venus fly trap bite off your finger?” Jose asked, on a virtual field trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. With an overhead camera, I zoomed into the Venus fly trap to show … As the pandemic evolved, the Garden first started offering virtual field trips last year as a way to bring the natural world to students who were participating in remote learning at home. In …
Type: Blog
… What are those big white things dangling by the orchids in the air, you wonder, and how do they work? Let’s look at those roots from a … roots. The keiki growing at the top of this Phalaenopsis floral stem has grown large enough to be transplanted. The White Stuff Is Velamen An aerial root should look fleshy and green; the … covers it is called the velamen. Thin and rather papery, but spongy and protective, it’s a one-way water barrier that allows moisture to soak in—and keeps it from oozing out. If the velamen …
Type: Blog
… Spring is seed season—and a good time to think about gifting seeds to gardeners, friends, and green-thumbed moms (think Mother’s Day). Musing about how to share some seeds, horticulturist Nancy Clifton got interested in the guerrilla gardening-inspired idea of “seed balls” (or seed bombs, as they’re sometimes … thinks seed balls make an ideal gift item—they’re easy to make, easy to “plant,” and an easy way to teach kids about germination. Clay powder gives seed balls a reddish color and even …
Type: Blog
… For some gardeners, a winter landscape is a blur of neutral colors highlighted with the dark green of conifers and sometimes the blue of the sky. But imagine another winter scene — … also make a group of conifers more interesting, just as different leaf shapes add drama to a deciduous garden. Especially in winter, the stiff, sharp needles of spruce contrast strongly … Nana'. Not as tough as juniper or arborvitae, falsecypress must be carefully sited. It grows best in sandy, somewhat acidic soil with protection from drying winds. SHADES OF GREEN There is …
Type: Plant Info
… If you carve a pumpkin for Halloween or make a pumpkin pie from scratch, you’re going to have a lot of pumpkin seeds. You can put them to good use by turning them into “dice” and … math games this fall. Baked pumpkin seeds Preparation First, remove, clean, and dry the seeds. After scooping the pulp out of the pumpkin, place it in a bowl of water and gently … is the whole point of this game. To play, toss the seeds, then move the blanks out of the way. Line up the numbers so they are easier to see and add up. Addition and Subtraction Working …
Type: Blog
… Collaborations Windy City Harvest Collaborations The success of the Windy City Harvest program depends, critically, on the Chicago Botanic … educational institutions, and businesses. Examples include NeighborSpace, which holds title to two Windy City Harvest operating sites; Brinshore-Michaels, the Chicago Housing Authority and … NeighborSpace Preservation Foundation of the Lake County Forest Preserves Proviso Partners for Health Roots of Success Sodexo Land-use Partners Brinshore-Michaels Development Chicago …
Type: Page
… Exhibit One Ketaurah James VeggieRx Manager, Windy City Harvest Ketaurah James grew up in North Lawndale and is the manager of the VeggieRx program. English Spanish I manage the VeggieRx program, a … with Lawndale Christian Health Center that provides fresh produce and nutrition education to the North Lawndale neighborhood. Childhood Memories I grew up in North Lawndale, and … James VeggieRx Manager, Windy City Harvest Ketaurah James grew up in North Lawndale and is the manager of the VeggieRx program. English Spanish I manage the VeggieRx program, a …
Type: Page
… And Florida has its frangipani trees. They’re all beautiful at this time of year, but here at the Chicago Botanic Garden and throughout the Midwest, spring arrives with a flush of flowers on … but they are so small or high up that we can’t appreciate their unique beauty until they drift to the ground. Small to midsize ornamental trees, however, offer bold, beautiful color at eye … can be yellow, bright red, dark purple-red, maroon, or a brilliant orange. Crabapples often get a bad rap because some are very susceptible to disease, especially after a wet spring. The …
Type: Plant Info
… A plant is one of my favorite gifts, both to give and receive. I am, however, not inclined to throw out these beauties once the holiday festivities have passed and the decorations are packed away. Faced with the rather … and then cut it off at the base. Impatient gardeners, like myself, cut the green stem off and get on with the business of fertilizing once a week with a very dilute orchid fertilizer. …
Type: Plant Info
… Reserve Winding paths lead visitors through four terrestrial habitats, including a prairie on the berm and east end of the lake, a low woodland on the south edge of the lake, an upland … ecologists between 2009 and 2015, removing invasive species and replanting native plants to provide critical habitat for the region’s bird species. Through the Reserve, Barbara Brown’s … at the crosswalk); about a 20-minute walk south on the service road from the Visitor Center. In every season of the year, wintering, migrating, and breeding birds are drawn to the Reserve. …
Type: Page
