… 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 …
Type: Blog
… small foliage and flowering plants together in a decorative container—like a basket or saucer—for a versatile display you can enjoy throughout the year. Dish gardens are easy to grow, very … blooming, the flowers can be easily removed or replaced, and the dish garden can be enjoyed for many more months. Choose the container: Your dish garden should be planted in a shallow … a plastic liner or saucer in the container, or add a layer of gravel or pebbles on the bottom for drainage. Choose the plants: Use small starter plants; 3-inch or 4-inch pots work best. …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… Rigoberto Montoya is an assistant grower for the Plant Production department's indoor floriculture division. He is responsible for the day-to-day care of plants, and he comes up with innovative ways to grow the specialty crops for display. He also assists with the delivery of plants to the garden areas and operates a …
Type: Staff bio
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
