… Members of the genus Cornus , commonly known as dogwoods, are welcome in the home garden for their multi-season interest -- be it flowers, fruit, foliage, and/or bark -- and their range of forms from small trees to suckering shrubs. The dominant display, however, varies among the species. Dogwoods are native to cooler temperate areas of North America and Asia. The genus includes 45-60 species, divided …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… It is a male clone, which will not produce the distinctive smelly fruit, and will mature to tall 15 foot by 4 foot narrow tree in 10 years. Good for planting in rows or as an accent. The Ginkgo is an ancient deciduous conifer and evidence has … this tree coexisted with the dinosaurs. Ginkgo is sometimes called the maidenhair tree due to its beautiful fan shaped leaves that resemble a maidenhair fern frond. It is one of the most …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Vernal or Ozark witch hazels, although native from Missouri to Texas, are fully hardy in the Chicago area and are a welcome harbinger of spring. These are … by inconspicuous woody seed capsules. AUTUMN EMBERS™ was selected by Klehm Nursery for its particularly intense burgundy fall color. These shrubs are maintenance free, with no reason to prune if properly placed. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Native to the West Indies, coastal northern South America, and Panama, Barbados gooseberry is frequently grown as an ornamental or for its fruits in the American tropics, Bermuda, California, Hawaii, Israel, the Philippines, … ripe. Drought-tolerant and frequently grown in greenhouses and as a houseplant, it is hardy to zones 9-11. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Narcissus ‘Mary Copeland’ is in Division 4. It blooms in mid to late spring with 4 inch double flowers that are sweetly scented. The petals are white with a … toxic and will not be eaten by deer or rabbits. The name Narcissus comes from the Greek word for narcotic and is tied to the myth of a young man known as Narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection. When he …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… This hardy waterlily produces 6- to 8-inch rich pink flowers that are fragrant and float on the surface of the water. It was named for the son of hybridizer Perry D. Slocum. Waterlilies are rhizomatous aquatic plants with about … hardy hybrids, tropical day-blooming, and tropical night-blooming. Waterlilies need full sun to flower and must be anchored in mud as they are not free floating. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… a heavy crop of flowers each spring. Hybridized in 1979, it won the prestigious Dykes Award for the outstanding tall bearded iris in 1985 and is still one of the most sought after pink … no flowers.) Pink and yellow tall bearded iris were very rare until plant breeders were able to double the chromosome numbers from 2 sets (diploid) to 4 sets (tetraploid). Pinks are produced when 3 out of the 4 sets of chromosomes contain a …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Merlot sweetspire is a cultivar (cultivated variety) of Virginia sweetspire which is native to the moist partly-shaded areas of the south-eastern United States. Merlot is named for its fall color which is dark red and persists into winter. It is also an attractive plant in … as a border or screen, or as an understory plant. In the right conditions it will tend to sucker so unwanted sucker should be removed. Prune in early spring if necessary. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Cottonwood is a tree people love to hate. This fast-growing poplar grows throughout North America, except in the far western … In dry plains, groves of cottonwoods sprout along streams, and may provide the only shade for miles around. In spring, it produces racemes of cottony seeds that fill the air with fluff … will find that the buds are sticky. In autumn, the leaves turn a blotchy yellow and are quick to drop. Seedless cultivars are available. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Description: Most winters, thanks to volunteer Peter Dogiakos, who fills homemade bird feeders with thistle in the Enabling Garden, … little birds, pine siskins give rising, buzzy, “zreeee” calls as they sit in trees or fly to spruce cones and feeders to dine. Pine siskins often hang out with American goldfinches, which … from year to year, and when it's a particularly lean winter, the siskins fly south looking for food. They readily come to feeders filled with thistle seed. Siskins were particularly …
Type: Birding
