… short-petaled flowers 2 inches across in a tasty blend of orange and red. It grows to 4 feet tall with long stems and upright growth. Dahlias are not hardy in the Chicago area, and … cultivars of dahlias that have been bred from about 30 wild species, all native from Mexico to Columbia. They are considered tuberous-rooted perennials and they are in the aster family. One … species, Dahlia excelsa , grows up to 18 feet tall, but modern breeders seek shorter varieties for the home garden. The American Dahlia Society organizes the many cultivars, estimated at …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… is a midseason bloomer. It takes 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 than 2 inches below the soil surface. It is deer resistant. Peonies are popular garden plants, known for their stunning flowers, their cold hardiness and the huge variety of their colors, forms, and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Circus’ is an early bloomer. It takes 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 than 2 inches below the soil surface. It is deer resistant. Peonies are popular garden plants, known for their stunning flowers, their cold hardiness and the huge variety of their colors, forms, and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Peonies are popular garden plants, known for their stunning flowers, their cold hardiness and the huge variety of their colors, forms and habits. They are divided into two main groups: herbaceous, which die to the ground in the fall, and tree peonies, deciduous plants with woody stems which they retain … classified as early, mid and late – ‘Miss Congeniality’ is a mid-late season bloomer. It grows to 36” tall, taking on a shrubby appearance throughout the summer, then dies to the ground in the …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… bright, funnel-shaped flowers in a circle surrounding the center. This small gem only grows up to 6 inches tall and 4 inches wide. Its outer spines are short and white, and the inner spines … a closely spaced, spiral pattern (instead of vertically). This genus has an unusual approach to plant metabolism, absorbing carbon dioxide at night and re-emitting it during the day in a way … should be watered sparingly and grown in light shade with good drainage. Recommended for USDA Zones 9b to 11, this plant is hardy to 25 degrees Fahrenheit. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… and delicate flower spikes that appear in late summer and early fall. The clump can grow to about 3 feet high and 3 feet wide. The fragrant flowers are a pinkish brown which mature to a golden brown in late fall. In massed plantings the flowers provide an attractive pinkish … able to cope with drought, deer, black walnut, pollution and clay soils while providing food for insects and birds. Despite the name it does not readily self-seed in the garden and so is a …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… perennials. Is this normal? Is there anything that I should do about it? A. It is not uncommon to see perennials heaved out of the ground at this time of the year. Fluctuations in temperature during the winter and repeated freezing and thawing of soil cause some plants to heave or push themselves out of the ground, and expose the plant's roots to the elements, … garden beds that are too wet can ruin the structure of the soil and make the beds unsuitable for planting. …
Type: Plant Info
… The jade plant ( Crassula ovata ) is native to South Africa. A member of the stonecrop (Crassulaceae) family, it is a popular, indoor, branched succulent shrub that can grow to 6 feet tall but usually reaches a height of 18 to 30 inches. As it matures, its trunklike … appreciates a resting period with reduced watering from fall to late winter. It is well known for its potential as a bonsai specimen, because it forms a bonsai very easily when pruning is …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… The winter landscape, freed from its summer splendor, may appear bare and forlorn to some, but for those who take the time to stroll around the Garden, there are wonders to contemplate—and to photograph. Birds, berries, …
Type: Plant Info
… As Plant Evaluator, Patrick tries to leverage his breadth of experiences in his work. With professional experiences that have varied as widely as working in small-scale urban agriculture to doing medical imaging research, he has a lot of perspectives that he can pull from. It is this wide breath of experiences that informs his perspective on trialing plants for the garden: yes, there are some plants that generally perform better than others, but in a …
Type: Staff bio
