… full sun and moist soil conditions. It blooms via inflorescences from May through August. It is a specimen in a border or a ground cover. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… conditions to reach a height of 8 inches. It produces yellow blooms in July and August. It is a ground cover. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… terrestrial orchid. Use in the landscape where ever a spot of months long tropical color is needed. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Own Rewards Taking an active part in the work of the garden can be therapeutic, as long as it is something you enjoy doing. What could be more exhilarating, for example, than raking leaves on … be a chore, but for him it's enjoyable and therapeutic. One of the garden's more tedious jobs is weeding, but with a little imagination, I've turned it into a game I call "Good Guys Against …
Type: Plant Info
… place that supports bees, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. In some ways, meadowscaping is like a dreamy, modernistic interpretation of a prairie on steroids. These designed landscapes … works of living art that mimic or take inspiration from nature. The hand of man (and woman) is evident. Unlike a cottage garden filled with “onesies,” a meadowscape includes great drifts of … England to Chicago in the late 1950s, she’d never heard of a prairie. In England, a grassland is called a meadow. But every kid in our Chicago neighborhood called the empty, overgrown lots …
Type: Plant Info
… says Tom Tiddens, supervisor of the Garden’s Plant Health Care department. “Companion planting is an interesting technique and organic growers swear by it, but you need to have all-around good … Aphids Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA , CC BY 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Tiddens is big on having plant and environmental diversity in the home landscape. “Rather than using … dry, wet, low-growing plants, taller plants.” Attracting a multitude of different insects is not a bad thing. Beneficial insects come when there’s something for them to eat. “We want to …
Type: Plant Info
… winds howl and the temperatures plummet. Any day could bring a thick layer of snow. This is the season when our gardens sleep and gardeners dream of spring. Perusing seed catalogs in … tomatoes, giant colorful zinnias, or a rainbow of Swiss chard leaves. Growing plants from seed is fun and saves money—where else can you get dozens of plants for a few dollars? Many plants can … placed outdoors until after the last frost-free date. In the Chicago area, that date generally is May 15. If you start your seeds too early, you could end up with spindly plants on your …
Type: Plant Info
… cold to shed her bloom. —Elizabeth Gordon What can give us more hope that the end of winter is near than to see the young shoots of snowdrops (Galanthus spp . ) emerging from the frost-covered ground? We can be well assured that spring is just around the corner by the very sight of their blooms standing out against the melting snow … plant bulbs as soon as they are available in the fall. Place in a sunny or semi-shady site, in moist soil with a large proportion of humus. The site should be well drained, with a …
Type: Plant Info
… View Classes Carlson’s Outdoor Photo Tips Light Controlling light in photography is important. “Often the snow looks gray or blue in winter photos; this is because there’s an enormous amount of light bouncing around from snow—it’s highly … ‘squints’ just as we do in bright light. The old photo cliché “when it’s bright, add light” is certainly true in these conditions. Open your camera’s aperture or extend the shutter speed to …
Type: Plant Info
… bumble bee ( Bombus affinis ), fuzzy and endangered, unseen here before. The rare sighting is a bright thread in a much larger tapestry being rewoven across the region. Once one of the … pollinators, wildlife, and people alike. Bee balm, the flower that drew the bee that day, is one of many resilient native species helping to reweave balance. Its tubular blossoms attract … ) seed pods Bee balm ( Monarda fistulosa ) seeds The Seed Amplification Program is cyclical, beginning with collecting seed from the forest preserves to “amplify” through seed …
Type: Blog
