… Stake tall perennials before they reach 6 inches. Begin to regularly pinch back fall-blooming perennials such as chrysanthemums, asters and tall sedums. Pinch once a week until the middle of July. This promotes stocky growth. Continue to direct the growth of perennial vines on their supports. Climbing roses should be encouraged to develop lateral, flower-bearing canes. Continue to check peonies for botrytis blight or other foliar fungal problems. Peonies that suffered from botrytis or bud …
Type: Plant Info
… Description: A member of the goat-sucker family, this cryptic woodland bird is known for its distinctive call at night. It roosts on the ground in the McDonald woods but is difficult to find. …
Type: Birding
… red flowers cover the dark green foliage on this hardy deciduous hibiscus from mid-summer up to the first hard frost. This is a moderately sized cultivar suitable for smaller gardens. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Q. Can you help me identify the very large moth that appears just for a day or two on the side of my house at this time of year? And is it harmful? A. It is … are a quite distinctive dark reddish-brown, with silver lines and crescent shapes on their 5- to 6-inch wings. After mating and laying eggs, the females deposit eggs on future food sources … cherry or birch trees) for the developing caterpillars. The large caterpillars take all summer to achieve full size, then form cocoons on low shrubs and pupate over the winter, emerging as …
Type: Plant Info
… The impressive number of flowers a single plant produces. And the way it keeps on blooming for two months or so. In addition those 4-foot tall stalks don't usually need staking. Aconitums … and are the primary food source for Old World bees. Another common name, wolfbane, refers to the poison made from this plant's roots, which was used to tip hunting arrows. Medicinal (and poisonous) uses of this plant date back to ancient times. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… the more rewarding Heliconia . The brilliant red-orange “lobster claw” flowers go from April to September, each one lasting three months. That red-orange we think of as the flower is actually a bract, a protective covering for the true flower inside, which is pollinated exclusively by hummingbirds in South America. The … more. For home gardeners, ‘Sharonii’ is more adaptable than many Heliconias . It can take up to 80% shade and keep blooming as long as you give it good loamy free-draining soil and keep it …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Mexican petunia is a bushy, semi-woody tender perennial that bears no relationship to the petunias we know except for the form of its flowe Each petunia-like blue blossom appears only for a day, but bloom is non-stop from May through the heat of summer until frost. It’s native to South American, the Caribbean, and Mexico where it’s truly evergreen. It’s often found wild …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… calyces (bracts that surround the flower) and purple flowers on a plant that can reach up to 5 feet in height and width. This cultivar is drought tolerant once established. Chemicals in … butterflies and hummingbirds. Mexican bush sage has been used in our autumn landscapes for several years. Although it is a shrubby perennial of coniferous forests in Mexico, the Chicago Botanic Garden uses it in annual displays in September to November, when it is covered by hundreds of attractive flower spikes. The plants have narrow …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… veins on this cultivar of carvniverous pitcher plant. The "flags" draw insects near enough to discover the watery fluid at the base of the cylinder. Alas, it is a one-way trip as slanted … enzymes in the deceptively water-like fluid dissolve all of the insect tissues except for the chitinous exoskeleton. Pitcher plants thrive in full sun on hummocks in acidic bogs where their ability to obtain nitrogen and other essential elements provide an ecological advantage over their …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… it is a verbena, it does not produce pretty or fragrant flowers. This perennial grows three to five feet tall and is found in shady margins of woods. The opposite leaves are lanceolate, … toothed, with a rough texture like sandpaper. The species name "urticifolia" translates to "nettle-like". In July to August it produces large panicles of narrow rattail-like drooping … most of east and central North America. While it is not attractive, it does provide pollen for native bees and seeds for fall migrating birds. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
