… Mini crown-of-thorns ( Euphorbia milii var. splendens ) is a slow-growing tropical shrub with a rambling growth habit. Plants can grow to 1 foot by 2 feet on this Madagascar native that may be extinct in the wild. Its 5- to 6-sided fleshy, thorny stems are adorned with short, oblong leaves. The inconspicuous flowers, …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Narcissus ‘Blushing Lady’ is a late season bloomer in the Jonquil section of Narcissus with multiple flowers per stem and a delightful fragrance. The flowers open light yellow and over time the cups gradually age to a light pink blush. This species will thrive in most of the soils found in the Chicago area in full sun or under the canopy of deciduous trees. In addition to Chicago winters, it is also very tolerant of the hot humid summers of the Deep South that …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Stromanthe 'Burle Marx' 'Burle Marx' is easily distinguished by the strong green and white chevron patterning on its leaves and the … relatively small for a stromanthe at just 18 inches by 12 inches, and it takes three years to reach that size. As a native of the Brazilian rain forest, it needs heat and humidity, and it thrives in shade or part shade. All this has combined to make it popular as a houseplant and in containers, since it's not likely to survive in the …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… ‘Weeping Willie’ is a weeping form with blue-green, almost turquoise needles with an open habit. It sends out … or twisting outward in unpredictable patterns. The whole tree arches over, but can be staked to be more upright. In its native habitat Douglas-fir, a native evergreen tree, has a strong … – they hang downward and each cone scale has a three-pointed bract. Douglas fir is native to the Rocky Mountains and along the Pacific Coast. In the Pacific coastal regions, it can attain …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… STREETSPIRE® is a narrow columnar form of English oak introduced by Schmidt & Son nursery in Oregon. This … oak. The genus Quercus includes more than 600 species of the oak tree, of which 90 are native to North America; the Chicago Botanic Garden's collection contains more than 60 varieties and over 1,000 individual trees. Twenty oak species are native to Illinois. Oaks are slow growing, long lived, hard wood trees that produce fruit we all know as …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… <p>'Victoria's spring show is particularly striking. Its young leaves still have a strong burgundy tinge to compliment the masses of bright pink spring flowers. By mid summer the leaves become deep … hummingbirds love <em>Weigela</em>, and so do gardeners. For a plant that gives you so much to look at, they're very easy to care for. No particular disease or pest problems. No special …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… J. Garden, who collected specimens of the plant in 1855 while stationed in Natal. He sent them to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, where Sir William Hooker named the new species Clivia gardenii in honor of the collector when it flowered in 1856. Clivia is a genus in the Amaryllidaceae family from South Africa that produces lustrous, chunky, green, … in forested areas, on steeply sloping cliffs, and sometimes in marshy spots. It is very easy to grow, preferring shade, which means it flowers in areas where other plants often languish. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… or gold); they are often featured as specimen trees where space permits. The smooth gray bark is an attractive feature of the species. The genus Fagus includes 10-13 species of the beech tree, which are native to temperate regions of Asia, Europe and North America. Only Fagus grandifolia , the American beech, is native to the U.S. and Illinois. A single species, Fagus sylvatica or the European beech, accounts for …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Description: A loud and large flycatcher, this bird is most likely to be seen nesting in the McDonald Woods or in the Barbara Brown Nature Reserve. …
Type: Birding
… Description: This swallow is most often seen flying over the lakes looking for insects, especially closer to bridges where they build cup-shaped mud nests. …
Type: Birding
