… They can be freestanding or attached to an exterior wall. The top, which serves as a ceiling, is often a series of slats or latticework that provides partial shade. Like arbors, pergolas are … or trailing plants. They can also hold hanging baskets along the sides. A good example is in the English Walled Garden . Trellises A trellis is another design element that can support climbing plants or it can simply stand alone as a …
Type: Plant Info
… Winter solstice is just around the corner—December 21 to be exact. On that day, we in the Midwest will have about … or a dusting of snow, the landscape becomes all the more magical. The angle of the sunlight is gentle, and on some days, especially after a snowfall, the sky becomes a brilliant, cloudless … striking shapes and forms of the trees and rocks. The apples and pears are long gone, but this is a good time to admire the unusual structure and form of espaliered fruit trees in the …
Type: Plant Info
… A favorite flavoring all over the world, pepper is used in a different way by each cuisine: Caribbean chefs flavor their dishes with habanero; in … enjoy piri piri; and the Brazilians use malagueta. (For the extremely local, no Chicago dog is complete unless it comes with sport peppers!) Use these top tips to ensure the best pepper harvest year after year in your garden, because every bite is worth savoring. Horticulturist favorites Every year brings new cultivars and favorites along …
Type: Plant Info
… Basil ( Ocimum basilicum ) is one of the most popular herbs grown today. It is not only a flavorful ingredient in Italian, Chinese, French, and Thai cuisine, but it is also a fragrant, ornamental plant for gardens and containers. Easy to grow and tasty to eat, …
Type: Plant Info
… benefit from a light sanding to remove rust or splinters. Others may need replacing—and this is a good time to find them on sale. The Basics Just getting started? Invest in a few good … tool edges), and some coarse sandpaper, and you’re off to a great start. Trowel A trowel is a good tool for digging small holes, transplanting, removing weeds, and cultivating the soil. … against a flat edge. Ratchet pruners are basically anvil pruners, but the cutting action is done in stages. Ordinary scissors, used solely for gardening, may work well, too. Hoes A …
Type: Plant Info
… Summer is a social time, filled with friends, family, and sunshine—but what if you want to slip away on … to a lyrical reading of “Ozaagi’aan One Open to an Other” in English and Ojibwe; an excerpt is printed on the love seat. Recording courtesy of Margaret Noodin, Ph.D. Noodin reads her poem “Ozaagi’aan One Open to an Other”. Dr. Noodin is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and author of two collections of …
Type: Blog
… The start of the new year is an ideal time for homeowners to begin making plans for enhancing their garden's beauty. As … quality of your landscape — and, by extension, your life! Planting one tree in the right place is an easy and affordable way to create beauty and improve the quality of life. Trees enhance the … perennials grow anew each spring from their winter-hardy roots. One benefit of perennials is that each plant's root system becomes larger over time, and the clump eventually needs to be …
Type: Plant Info
… Over time, the true classics will endure, but the process of looking for a beautiful new plant is something gardeners anticipate at the start of each new growing season. Below, the Chicago … corners. The foliage turns pinkish in fall and remains ornamental throughout the seasons. It is a good companion to lady's mantle and purple-foliaged plants. Japanese yellow waxbells ( … gold foliage that appears in early spring followed by dangling, pink, heart-like flowers. This is a new color combination for partially shaded spring gardens and will bring a bright light to …
Type: Plant Info
… few months, determine if your garden invites your eye to linger with appreciation for what is planted there, or whether your landscape needs an exciting new dimension. Here are some … exfoliating bark add visual interest all year long, but during winter, when branches are bare, is when exfoliating bark captures our attention. Peeling and curling bark, which often reveals a … ). Colorful Stems and Twigs One of the easiest ways to add high-impact winter interest is to plant en masse a large group of multistemmed deciduous shrubs with colorful stems and …
Type: Plant Info
… human well-being and health. Current Projects: Adaptation to temperature extremes. Temperature is one of the greatest drivers of plant diversification, with adaptation to both hot and cold … species distributions. While the family comprises mostly tropical species, the genus Asimina is able to grow over a range of USDA hardiness zones (zones 5-9). I am leading a project to … and midpoint of its native range to identify signatures of local adaptation. This project is integrally tied with traditional knowledge of local Native American communities given the …
Type: Staff bio
