… The most common tree in the Chicago area is from Europe—and that’s bad news for our native plants and animals. Introduced to the United States in the early 1900s as an ornamental plant and privacy hedge, common … volunteers, have worked since 1988 to repair and restore this important woodland habitat. Visit: McDonald Woods is located along Lake Cook Road from the Garden entrance east to Green Bay …
Type: Blog
… Digital Photography Contest Choose your best photo for the Garden Photo Contest From Robin Carlson, staff photographer It is certainly not an easy task to pick your best photo of the Chicago Botanic Garden! The subject matter is so wonderful that I … Choose your best photo for the Garden Photo Contest From Robin Carlson, staff photographer It is certainly …
Type: Page
… Having just celebrated our 50th anniversary Garden-wide, we are quietly marking the "birthdays" of several individual gardens: the Home Landscape, Aquatic, Bulb, Native Plant, … or later. In this issue of Smart Gardener , we offer some thoughts about helping your garden to age gracefully. While a mature, lush, beautifully maintained landscape is every gardener's … courage to edit. By becoming your garden's curator and addressing the issues in an organized way, you'll be prepared for the really big, garden-changing decisions to come, such as removing a …
Type: Plant Info
… It’s the humblest patch of green at the Chicago Botanic Garden, yet the information gathered there has … though you may not realize it, it’s part of your daily prep for work, school, and play. In a small, sunny, grassy, flat, fenced-in plot (there’s a reason for that), located on the outer … at 8 a.m., rain (or snow) or shine, a dedicated Garden staff member steps into the plot to read the instruments and record the results, then heads back indoors to transfer the …
Type: Blog
… Windy City Harvest Crew Members Meet the Windy City Harvest Crew Youth Farm Participants Lake County Alan Age: 15 Grade: 10 School: … is a fun or surprising fact about you? I love drawing and thinking about how things are the way they are…it's all a mystery to me. Washington Park Avion Age: 16 Grade: 11 School: Walter … for the Apprenticeship. When I learned of my eligibility for Corps, I decided it would be my best option because I would have the opportunity to extend my training over two seasons while …
Type: Page
… The new entrance, picnic pavilion, and shade garden were not the only innovations the Garden has … Over the last few years, our horticulturists have been working with Cognitive Gardens, Inc., to install a state-of-the-art “smart garden” network. Cognitive Gardens specializes in applying … the data and enables gardeners to understand and respond to the plants’ immediate needs in a way never before possible. Tom Johnston, director of Horticulture, explains, “Now we know where …
Type: Blog
… The Greenhouses The Greenhouses display beautiful and fragrant flowering plants, rare plants, … unusual plants on earth. Many can be viewed here, along with our warm temperate collection, in three greenhouse areas. Tropical Greenhouse Semitropical Greenhouse Arid Greenhouse Explore the Greenhouses Looking to escape the cold on a snowy winter day? Step into warmth and be immersed in sunlight on a walk …
Type: Page
… Lyrical fall planting ideas and more As summer blooms fade, you’ll see mums everywhere—the automatic go-to fall favorites—but what else can heighten your containers and garden with color, texture, and surprise? We love featuring mums in our fall displays at the Garden, but we also aim for variety and surprise. Here, Tim Pollak, …
Type: Blog
… many reasons — medicine, cooking, aromatherapy, garden beauty, or tea making. Teas made from the following plants can be drunk for medicinal purposes or just for their good taste. Cowslip ( … or insomnia, the leaves can also be cooked or eaten raw. The plant's flowers can be added to salads or candied for cakes. Raspberry plants ( Rubus sp.) When you think of these plants … used to settle stomachs. The plant's rhizome, or its underground stem, is its useful part. In its native India, a tea is made from the peeled, grated, or minced rhizome; cinnamon; and …
Type: Plant Info
… peony displaying double pink blooms with a sweet scent, excellent for cutting and displaying in a vase. Peony bloom time is classified as early, mid and late; ‘Bessie’ is a midseason bloomer. It grows to 26 inches tall, taking on a shrubby appearance throughout the summer, then dies to the ground in the fall. Plant in sun to part shade with the eyes no more …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
