… where nectar flowers abound. They avoid windy, exposed sites. Many native plants are valuable for butterfly gardens. Serious butterfly gardeners consider not only nectar plants to attract butterflies in their graceful adult stage, but also plant host plants for the larvae or caterpillar stage. Butterfly gardeners allow for feeding and damage caused by the caterpillar stage in order to complete the life cycle. …
Type: Plant Info
… Time: 10–40 minutes of actual planting (depending on the size of the group) Appropriate for Ages: 2 and up Clean-up Time: 10–15 minutes Large pea seeds are easy for small fingers to grasp. Here I am modeling the latest in seedling trays. You can purchase these and our other supplies at your local garden … flower), pumpkin, and other squash. For more details about how and when to plant these seeds visit www.kidsgardening.org/node/101624 . A low, wide trug full of soil makes filling pots easy …
Type: Blog
… has stiff, square stems and leaves scented like pine. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and moths all visit the flowers to gather nectar. This plant is deer and rabbit resistant and prefers full sun …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Symphyotrichum shortii , known as Short's aster, is a native of eastern North America that grows well in full sun to partially shaded environments. Among the most floriferous of the native asters, this plant produces violet-blue flowers with bright golden centers that turn brick-red once the flowers are pollinated. In bloom, the flowers are visited by a wide array of insects including …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… the Nature Play Garden has another wonderful element: plants that were chosen specifically for this garden. There are plants that appeal to all five senses, and plants with funny names or … the new Learning Campus and its Nature Play Garden is through plants. In the Garden’s 26 other gardens, plants are chosen, tended, and laid out to enhance the visitor experience. In … Perennial Gardens Heaven Scent Jacob’s ladder ( Polemonium reptans ‘Heaven Scent’) was chosen for its fragrance. Enjoy its bright bloom in the spring. Bergenia cordifolia ‘Winterglut’ …
Type: Blog
… I put together my top five picks for all-around best Midwest plants after being contacted by editors at Midwest Living magazine. Polling a number of experts in the Midwest, the editors asked for recommendations of award-worthy plants and then came up with a list of great plants that … perennials from the Chicago Botanic Garden’s trials , as well as plants I’ve grown and loved for a long time.) Here’s my short list—including one with crazy beautiful flowers and one that’s …
Type: Blog
… For this year’s Orchid Show , we’ve gathered stories about the most famous orchid of them all: … planifolia . Vanilla planifolia produces the seedpods used to make vanilla, the spice used for flavoring desserts and beverages, and for providing wonderful aromas in candles, perfumes, and many other things. This collection trip …
Type: Blog
… (Asclepias) are native: Asclepias amplexicaulis is native to our prairies and is suitable for planting in sunny perennial flower gardens. The flowers are described as "eraser pink" in … color and are fragrant (honey). Asclepias exaltata is native to our woodlands and is suitable for planting in partially shaded gardens. The flowers are white and also fragrant. Asclepias … is fragrant. A native of sunny prairies, it also has cultivars that have been selected for specific colors: ‘Hello Yellow’ ‘Western Gold Mix’ ‘Gay Butterflies’ (orange, red, yellow) …
Type: Blog
… in our national seed bank at the National Seed Storage Laboratory (now the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation). Hundreds of other varieties have disappeared—not only of … the next crop is planted—a nod to the constant production that was a matter of survival for our forefathers and foremothers. Early Jersey Wakefield cabbage Mammoth Red Rock cabbage …
Type: Blog
… it to blast out its scent in one big, hours-long burst. And the smell! The Indonesian name for the plant translates as “corpse flower,” an apt summary of the decaying, rancid, rotten stench. However, what smells horrid to humans is a magnet for the carrion beetles and flesh flies that are the titan arum’s natural pollinators. The Big … As the spathe opens, the true female flowers at the base of the spadix signal their readiness for fertilization by releasing scent molecules. Internal heat volatilizes the molecules (turning …
Type: Page
