… composed of flat, white petals surrounding a yellow button center, growing on knee-high stalks in a summer meadow, rural roadside, or cottage perennial border. Some may remember with affection the flower they picked in younger years to make romantic predictions, chanting the traditional litany of "He loves … to learn that 22 plant genera contain at least one flower commonly called "daisy," resulting in 38 different flower species of the same common name. Distinguishing characteristics The …
Type: Plant Info
… after year with a striking display of flower power. Many amaryllis plants are sold preplanted in a gift box. Those that are not should be planted in a heavy pot, wider than it is tall, with adequate drainage holes. Use a general, lightweight, … is especially important when keeping the bulb more than one year. Potted Care Place the pot in an area that receives bright, indirect sunlight. Keep the plant away from hot or cold drafts, …
Type: Plant Info
… frothy, almost shamelessly brilliant flowers known as cool-season annuals. But as we putter in the garden, or enjoy a spring-break walk, seeking out cherished wildflowers, bulbs, and other early bloomers, we should take every opportunity to spot one of the most invasive plants in our area—garlic mustard, Alliara petiolata . Don't be fooled by the name. Today, it offers no beneficial culinary component in spite of what the early Europeans may have thought when they tucked it into the ship's hold …
Type: Plant Info
… strip, meant to attract bees and other busy insects to the smorgasbord of food plants growing in the garden. Smart gardeners know that it's the presence of pollinators—the bees, butterflies, … moths, beetles, flies, and other insects (plus hummingbirds)—that makes the difference in the health and fertility and productivity of wild plants, food plants, and landscape plants alike. Recent news about the die-off in honey bee colonies and the decline in monarch populations makes the issue of pollinators …
Type: Plant Info
… In 1926 when Eva Kenworthy Gray of California launched her at-home hybridizing of fibrous … with thick canes or stems, often brilliant foliage and heavy clusters of dangling flowers in cherry red, orange, salmon, pink and white. They can be easily identified by the folded, often feathery, winglike leaves that appear speckled, polka-dotted, banded or splotched in multicolors, including metallic silver. The splashiness of color and pattern in the foliage …
Type: Plant Info
… Peony's a charming lady, she doesn't like a spot too shady; likes to live out in the light, dressed in red or pink or white. --Elizabeth Gordon Peony plants are some of the oldest perennials in cultivation. There are woody small shrubs (euphemistically referred to as tree peonies) in …
Type: Plant Info
… own native bees. Illinois is home to about 500 species of bees that are important pollinators in natural areas, in agricultural fields, and in our gardens. Like honey bees, native bees are threatened by pesticides, habitat loss, disease, …
Type: Plant Info
… College student Jessica Tillery came to the Chicago Botanic Garden for the summer to work in a plant science lab, hoping to jump start her career in habitat restoration—which she did. And she got the chance to develop something she wasn’t … friends. And those relationships, Tillery said, “made her experience.” Tillery was an intern in the Garden’s 2022 Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in Plant Conservation. …
Type: Blog
… A large wading bird walks in the shallow waters, can be seen looking for snails and mussels. In appearance, they can look like a cross between a crane and rail. Their plumage is brown with … them to cut snails out from their shells without breaking it. At night or dawn when it awakes in the early morning, loud wails fill the air. Limpkins are not year-round residents here at the …
Type: Birding
… Q. For several summers now, I have noticed plenty of bumblebees in my garden but very few honeybees. What is the reason? A. The honeybee has been a victim of two different mites—a tracheal mite and a Varroa mite. In addition, severe weather conditions over the past several years have threatened their numbers. … to gardeners, that are capable of pollinating fruits, vegetables and other crops. Some nest in wood cavities or underground burrows. Before you swat that "strange flying insect" in your …
Type: Plant Info
