… This Asian native is a deciduous shrub that can grow to 8’. It blooms in late March to early April with clear, light pink flower clusters. In the fall, its leaves turn yellow and red. It can tolerate full sun. Like all rhododendrons, it …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… This Asian native is a deciduous shrub that can grow to 8’. It blooms in late March to early April with deep pink flower clusters. In the fall, its leaves turn yellow to a bronze-red. It can tolerate full sun. Like all …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Double white trillium flowers are a delightful surprise in the spring woodland garden setting. Not a cultivated selection, these are a vegetatively … populations, also sometimes referred to as a "nativar." Dappled shade under deciduous trees in moist soils provide ideal growing environment. Unfortunately, deer are very fond of them. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… top the finely dissected leaves of this Russian sage cultivar. This cultivar thrives in soils that will dry between irrigations when grown in sunny locations with average soils. The flowers are butterfly and hummingbird magnets. Not …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Just in Time for Halloween This is the month for ghosts, goblins, and witches, and for tricks and … health care department. “It has long, dangling branches and I like to put purple lights on it in October—it looks pretty cool.” On a fall night, the bare limbs look like big straggly arms … (Monotropa uniflora) is ghostly white because it lacks chlorophyll. It’s often found growing in dark, spooky sites on the forest floor in the shadiest of places where few other things grow. …
Type: Plant Info
… for its year-round interest. An extremely hardy deciduous shrub that will reach maturity in five years, the black chokeberry is a perfect choice for naturalizing. If left alone, the … the rose family, Aronia melanocarpa tolerates partial shade (up to 50 percent) but thrives in full sun. Hardy to zone 3 (the Chicago area is zone 5), it is also an excellent choice for … well. Although Aronia melanocarpa is native to eastern North America, it is widely planted in eastern Asia. In 1967, Howard Brooks, of the United States Department of Agriculture, …
Type: Plant Info
… A biting February morning in Chicago can be a challenging experience for anyone, but for a lover of trees, it can also turn … cold and the winter sun rocketing off the white of the snow, all plants are revealed in their naked glory. This is a moment when you really love your birch. But even if the following day is shrouded in gray and freezing drizzle has slickered your garden with ice — a day when even your faithful …
Type: Plant Info
… of water and nutrients from the soil to the upper canopy of the tree. This manifests itself in the characteristic "flagging" of solitary upper branches, where leaves suddenly wilt, turn … green, yellow, or brown, curl, and drop off the tree. Often these symptoms are first noticed in June when one or two dead branches appear high in the tree. Infected branches will also exhibit brown streaking in the sapwood immediately under …
Type: Plant Info
… provides an elegant earth-to-earth closed system. Nutrient-rich scraps from vegetables grown in your garden are diverted from the landfill, instead going into the compost bin. Within a few … for purchase. The simplest systems are just as effective as the more high-tech versions—in fact, a simple compost pile works fine or you can easily make a bin yourself. Situate your compost bin or pile in a shady outdoor area with access to rain/snow. Some sunlight is fine, but the pile should not …
Type: Plant Info
… challenges from human-driven habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change. Established in 2023, the Pollen Bank focuses on conserving oaks and orchids of the Great Lakes region and … the world. A half-black bumblebee on a chaste tree (Vitex spp.) with pollen on its face and in the pollen sac on its hind leg. Photo by Nick Dorian. What is pollen, and why store it? Pollen is a fine, powdery substance produced by the male part of a plant in most species that make seeds. You may experience pollen as the invisible cause of your runny …
Type: Research
