… brain; and fill your garden with fragrances spicy, sweet, or exotic. The key to growing lilies is simple: give them plenty of sunshine and good air circulation, and deep, well-drained soil. … from bulbs, which are best planted in early to mid-autumn or in spring. A good rule of thumb is to plant lilies with twice as much soil above them as the width of the bulb; a 2-inch bulb … be planted with 4 inches of soil above it. Bulbs can go deeper in a sandy soil where drainage is not an issue. If you have poorly drained soils, or find your garden overrun by voracious …
Type: Plant Info
… berries can be converted into juice, jellies, and jam. Some can be made into wine. A grape is a berry, multiseeded with one ovary. Of all the small fruits grown in gardens, grapes and … perennial grapevine grows 12 to15 feet in height, with a 3- to 5-foot spread, depending how it is pruned, and is therefore a good choice for small spaces. It grows up and out of the way and … after raisins, the seedless, pinkish red 'Reliance' can be dried for that purpose. Selecting A Site When choosing a planting site, look for a sunny spot with excellent drainage and good air …
Type: Plant Info
… in, snow piled up, and plants took a seasonal rest. But in northern Illinois, that rhythm is shifting. Winters are warming, shrinking, and becoming less predictable. We still get bitter … ecology of our gardens and wild spaces alike. What does a vanishing winter look like? Winter is more than a chill in the air. It’s a reliable environmental reset. Dormancy, flowering, migration, hibernation—much of life here is timed around a solid stretch of cold. When that cold period shortens, a warmer fall and spring …
Type: Blog
… frost makes kale taste sweeter! Looks Good & Good for You Kale, the cabbage without a head, is a member of the mustard family (Brassicaceae), along with broccoli, brussels sprouts, and … kale as a crop rather than a decoration can sow kale seeds in early spring as long as the soil is not pure muck. Choose a well-drained, full-sun spot and thin the plants as they grow, allowing for the full-body structure they are going to assume. An alternative is to buy transplants and pop them in wherever you want them. Leaves from transplants can be …
Type: Plant Info
… The Prairie State is…not so much! Illinois is known as “the prairie state,” but this moniker no longer truly reflects the landscape. Urban … enjoyed continuous sweeps of plants, location was not a problem, but now so much prairie is lost that the distance between patches has increased and successful pollination has declined. …
Type: Plant Info
… this variety for more than a hundred years and that his mother used it to make a dish that is similar to sauerkraut. Ellen Felton Dark As a Chicagoan, I have always appreciated that … it’s nice seeing their bright green stalks against the snow when everything else in the garden is long gone! And I love that I am almost always able to have some collards on the Thanksgiving table. Ellen Felton Dark is one of those greens that can thrive even in cold weather—down to 20 degrees Fahrenheit. A …
Type: Blog
… Description: The cheerful song of this common migrant and occasional winter resident is easy to recognize. Large flocks are often encountered in the McDonald Woods. In fall, when … October, November, and December, and again in March, April, and May. As beautiful as the song is, so is the plumage of this dapper sparrow. The adult male has a grayish body; a brown, striped back; …
Type: Birding
… A. Expecting a hardy woody plant to survive an unpredictable Midwestern winter in a container is risky business. When planted in the ground, an evergreen’s vulnerable roots are insulated from … drop well below zero. Plants are not "hardened" below ground, and the cold tolerance of roots is between 10 and 15 degrees. Temperatures colder than that will freeze tissue and kill the … Water the plants well now, throughout autumn and even during winter thaws. Another option is to wait for several freezes and then move the containers close to the house where they will be …
Type: Plant Info
… begin to green and produce new growth, I've noticed that some of my evergreens are very brown. Is this a disease? What should I do? A. The Chicago area experienced a very harsh winter this … water faster than its roots can absorb it, foliage browns and the plant suffers from what is known as winter burn. Holly ( Ilex ), yew ( Taxus ), and boxwood ( Buxus ) plants were among … on its own, or it can be trimmed. One way to minimize or prevent winter burn in the future is to make sure the plants are well hydrated going into winter. Applying a 2-inch layer of mulch …
Type: Plant Info
… When and how should I deadhead and prune my roses? A: Deadheading—the removal of spent flowers—is a form of pruning. Before making pruning decisions about your roses, it is best to determine the type of rose, and how and when it blooms. Roses are divided into … be allowed to sprawl naturally with no pruning required except to control size. If pruning is necessary on climbers or ramblers that only bloom once, it should be done immediately after …
Type: Plant Info
