… it may not look like it, spring is on its way, which means it’s time to start prepping for the anticipated spring planting season. This is a great time of year for horticultural therapy contracts. Everyone is itching to start planning and prepping for a successful horticultural therapy outdoor garden program, and our excitement level is …
Type: Blog
… run by Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Flower timing is critical for many reasons. For the earliest of the spring bloomers, earlier flowering provides first access to important … there better reproductive times to flower over others? It’s an important question to explore for the health of wildflowers and their pollinators. Beyond their subtle beauty and symbol for …
Type: Blog
… There’s nothing quite like a fresh start to the new year. For gardeners, this is a great time to set goals and to think through plans for the year. We asked our dedicated team of horticulturists at the Chicago Botanic Garden to share their goals and advice for gardeners everywhere. Chester Jankowski, Jr., senior horticulturist Goals: My goal is to …
Type: Blog
… one can’t help but daydream about greener pastures, or in my case, lawns. Now is the time for spring lawn maintenance. The main purpose of spring lawn care is to get the turf through the … once in a season, I would recommend early to mid-September. 3. Seed A seed spreader works well for seeding large areas of lawn. Once you get a chance to inspect your lawn, you may find a … a full-sun area, a blend of Kentucky bluegrass and turf-type perennial rye grass works best. For a full-shade area, a fine-leaf fescue works best. If your area is a mixture of part shade and …
Type: Blog
… to get crisper (and your summer plants will too), but September isn’t the expiration date for color and excitement at the Chicago Botanic Garden—and it shouldn’t be in your garden either. … asked Tim Pollak, outdoor floriculturist, and Cindy Baker, manager of horticultural services, for their favorite fall-blooming perennials that will make your landscape pop this season. Purple … garden phlox ( Phlox paniculata ‘Barfourteen’) Phlox paniculata Garden phlox Look no further for a long-blooming and beautiful native perennial that provides a whole palette of color options …
Type: Blog
… to study "phenology," or the life-cycle events of plants. Wildflower phenology events , for example, are fairly simple: first flower, full flower, first fruit, and full fruiting. … to notice this kind of changing nature around us and record the information to a database for scientists to review. As director of Budburst, I'm excited to hear about your observations on … trees ( Liquidambar styraciflua ) underneath my window at the Regenstein Learning Campus, for instance. I can’t wait to see the beautiful shades of yellow or orange or…well, you just …
Type: Blog
… Heather Sherwood, one of our very creative senior horticulturists, to get your own star appeal for the holidays. Heather has selected red-twig dogwood ( Cornus sericea ) for its warm, cheery color, but the star can be made from any combination of branches and natural … roughly 3/8 of an inch in diameter, cut into equal lengths. Heather recommends 30-inch lengths for a front door wreath. You can use shorter lengths to make a smaller star. This will use less …
Type: Blog
… out there was going to be a model railroad out there. Then one of the secretaries, who worked for a vice president, found out that I had been into model railroads all my life. So one day, the … It sounds like you were a busy kid. A. My family had 2.5 acres that we farmed in World War II for vegetables. I sold vegetables in the neighborhood in my little wagon. Then I was in the Boy … and I became a photographer. Q. What keeps you motivated after all these years? A. My passion for the railroad is what drives me—I absolutely love this railroad. The same passion goes for …
Type: Blog
… carnivorous plants get their nutrients? The pretty pitcher plant ( Sarracenia leucophylla) , for instance, attracts insects with nectar. Insects slip down the “pitcher” part of the plant and … movie and play Little Shop of Horrors: What do carnivorous plants eat? Should I be concerned for my fingers? Don’t worry; these carnivorous plants are only looking to devour insects. Why do …
Type: Blog
… collaborations, the Chicago Botanic Garden is participating in an initiative to set the stage for new partnerships. Patrick Herendeen, Ph.D. , senior director, systematics and evolutionary … greatest takeaways of the conference, according to Mueller and Herendeen, was the opportunity for attendees to learn about the many similarities between the education and research systems in …
Type: Blog
