… such as urban development, agriculture, and grazing. For plants, the ability to disperse from one habitat to another occurs via the movement of pollen and seeds, which involves the help … Botanical Garden . Photo: A five-spotted hawkmoth ( Manduca quinquemaculata ) drinks nectar from an Arkansas River Valley evening primrose ( Oenothera harringtonii ) flower. Note the pollen …
Type: Research
… graduate school work focused on the systematics, taxonomy, and biogeography of several genera from the Loasaceae. …
Type: Staff bio
… that individual more opportunities to reproduce. Perhaps the trait helps keep the butterfly from being eaten, or it gives a male butterfly bright colors to impress the ladies, or perhaps it … the butterfly to utilize new food sources when nectar isn't available. When butterflies emerge from their chrysalids, they are very vulnerable to predators like birds, since they can’t move. … effect. In each phase of a butterfly’s life cycle, it is extremely vulnerable to being eaten. From slow, plump caterpillars to immobilized chrysalids to paper-thin, delicate adults, they’ve …
Type: Blog
… These birds can lower their body temperature when sleeping at night, which protects them from freezing. While some birds need to leave the region in fall because insects and other food … come to feeders feasting on seeds and suet. Supplemental food, especially sunflower seed from feeders has been shown to help these little balls of feather and hollow bones survive when … fence posts and abandoned mailboxes, and a pair once built a nest in an old shoe hanging from a line. The female builds a cup-shaped nest with moss for the foundation, lining it with …
Type: Blog
… sun-loving perennials. And some plants succumb to disease or insects. Through generous funding from the Woman’s Board of the Chicago Horticultural Society, the English Walled Garden is updated … their borders. It should be a joyous and restful place above all else.” This post was adapted from an article by Nina Koziol that appeared in the summer 2014 edition of Keep Growing , the … of “Growing the Future,” a $1 million pledge to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Proceeds from that year supported renovation of the English Walled Garden and replacement of trees damaged …
Type: Blog
… when staff, landowners, land managers, and volunteers selected initial species for monitoring from the 1999 Chicago Wilderness Biodiversity Recovery Plan’s priority plant list and developed … to develop the Plants of Concern program – funded initially, in part, by grants received from Chicago Wilderness. As Susanne Masi, a founder and the first manager of Plants of Concern, … 150 landowners and land managers to monitor species at over 600 public and private sites (up from only 54 volunteers, 28 landowners, 44 species, and 62 sites when the program began in 2001). …
Type: Blog
… my first bonsai, I knew something had changed. It was the beginning of a journey that took me from Gainesville, Florida, to Washington, D.C., to Japan and finally here to the Chicago Botanic … State Bonsai Convention. That weekend was an eye-opening experience for me, as I got to learn from and assist international bonsai artists like Jim Smith, Colin Lewis, and others. That … continued learning. Feeling more and more drawn to a career in horticulture, I made the move from veterinary technician to horticulturist of the Rainforest Exhibit at the National Aquarium. …
Type: Blog
… really nice to see that this gets replicated out in the world,” said Foxx. Seeds from their joint collecting trip in 2012 have been added to the Garden’s Dixon National Tallgrass … loves to walk through the Helen and Richard Thomas English Walled Garden when she steps away from her work. In a way, Foxx is also learning from the invasive plants themselves. To develop her hypothesis, she considered the qualities of …
Type: Blog
… represents paradise—a place inaccessible to mortals, designed to be viewed and contemplated from a distance. Ayse Pogue is a senior horticulturist at the Garden, and she oversees the Malott … as if it has been there forever. One of Pogue’s favorite spots to view the island is from the Zigzag Bridge that links the islands of Keiunto (Island of the Auspicious Cloud) and … immortality. Through the ages, people have tried to discover the secret to everlasting life—from Ponce de León searching for the legendary Fountain of Youth to early philosophers …
Type: Blog
… at Butterflies & Blooms, we normally refer to our butterflies as “emerging” or even “hatching” from their pupal state. The correct scientific term for this is actually “eclosion.” If you want … ever popular blue morpho, giant owl, and the great orange deadleaf are frugiverous; they come from habitats where there aren’t many wildflowers available, so they turn to feeding solely on … this can be a benefit, because the monarch can capitalize on the unique benefits that come from plants in the milkweed family. On the other hand, if milkweed declines, monarchs don’t have …
Type: Blog
