… I’m thinking ahead about comfort plants—ones that lift your spirits. As senior horticulturist for the Regenstein Center Greenhouses at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I talk to a lot of people … They have large, showy flowers, some of which smell like carrion to attract pollinators. For example, the huge, hairy, star-shaped flowers of Stapelia gigantea have a decaying flesh odor that attracts flies. The plants are easy to care for. Give them plenty of indirect sunlight and water as the soil begins to dry. Have a heart …
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… If you are longing for spring blooms as much as we are, you might like to try forcing branches to bloom indoors. … trees and shrubs form their flower buds in late summer or fall before the plants go dormant for the winter. The buds can be forced into bloom indoors in late winter or early spring. … undergo a period of cold. Once the branches are indoors in water it may take one to four weeks for the blossoms to open, although two weeks is typical. The closer to their natural bloom time …
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… piney fragrance. They feature dark green needles (often with silver undersides) and are known for their rounded needles, which minimize injuries. They’re among the longest-lived Christmas … they all share one thing in common; incredibly sharp needles. While they make terrific trees for outdoor decorating, they do not hold up very well to the dry air indoors. If you select a … and their color range is quite appealing. When used properly, spruce can be an excellent plant for holiday decorating. Pinus cembra ‘Blue Mound’ showcases its long, soft needles Pine ( Pinus …
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… In spring to early summer, the plants become covered in white, apple blossom-like flowers for several days to weeks. The glossy green foliage holds up against extreme heat and drought, … your diet! Sweeten the fruit with honey or sugar to make a jam or syrup. I recommend ‘Viking’ for less astringent fruit that is good for harvesting. If fruit doesn’t interest you, consider ‘Professor Ed’ or the Chicagoland Grows …
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… But to Jim Steffen , senior ecologist at the Garden, the oak woodland is a bustling center for natural processes and species, and may hold answers to unsolved scientific questions. Purple … him today. After taking a course in his community, he was federally licensed to band birds for research, a pursuit he followed for another 40 years. As he searched for hawks, owls, and other birds of prey, Steffen couldn’t …
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… Botanic Garden to reflect and recommit to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for our staff, our visitors, our volunteers, and our boards. Part of that process is to take a … stories that may be offensive. This approach ignores cause-and-effect, and is tone-deaf. For example, take Carolus Linnaeus, whose statue we feature in the Heritage Garden. This garden celebrates him for a singularly brilliant idea: a method of classifying all living organisms and naming them …
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… a fine-grained, sweet orange flesh. We used to plant them at the end of May—perfect timing for this 110-day crop. The hubbards are versatile winter squash that can be eaten right after … the new year. Australian blue squash ( Cucurbita maxima ‘Queensland Blue') can be stored for an incredibly long time. A member of the avant-garde Australian blue group of squash, … they hail from South America, the blue squash varietals grow equally as well in Australia (for which they are named) because of similar temperatures and length of growing season. This is a …
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… of space, luckily. To find the best inspiration, I turned to Lisa Hilgenberg, horticulturist for the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden. She recently planted … tower in the garden, so ideas were fresh on her mind when I talked with her. Here are her tips for starting an herb container, no matter where you live. Find the right container: Drainage is key for healthy herbs, says Hilgenberg, so make sure to find a pot with holes at the bottom. “I like …
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… to improve our soils and are about to embark on another trial…biochar. Biochar has been used for thousands of years in the Amazon Basin of South America to greatly improve poor, unproductive soils for farming. The ancient Amazons used a simple “slash-and-char” process to create biochar. This … 3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons In the past decade, the use of biochar has been investigated for modern agricultural use, in arboriculture, as well as for general use in ornamental landscape …
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… hidden beauty is revealed—as long as you keep your eyes open. A coworker recently told me, for instance, that she never had noticed the red twig dogwood in a Garden parking lot until … to her one winter. Now, on the grayest of days, when she passes that spot, she always looks for that pop of color. You’ll make your own discoveries, whether you’re walking at the Chicago … in a forest preserve, or at another favorite spot. I’ve got a few suggestions on what to look for in winter; download the GardenGuide app to help you find and learn more about specific …
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