… Poland, to spend the summer with relatives. My grandparents’ farm was the home base for my adventures with cousins and siblings. We spent hours in the breezy northern hills, picking … at the grocery store. This strawberry is Fragaria × ananassa , which has only been around for about 260 years, and has undergone a lot of breeding in that time. Fragaria × ananassa is … by Philip Miller, a famous English horticulturist. He referred to it as the “pine strawberry” for its taste, which was similar to pineapple. If you’re taken aback by this assessment of …
Type: Blog
… Bridges are integral to the Chicago Botanic Garden, too, built as it is on nine islands. For a lovely summer evening, take a long walk together…cross these six romantic bridges together…and prepare for some memorable moments. Bridges are one of the most spectacular places at the Garden for photography—as countless brides, prom groups, families, and sweethearts can attest. Sunset …
Type: Blog
… path protects young boxwoods in this highly-trafficked area. Prepare properly The right plant for your design goals should help reduce maintenance. Choose the right plant for your garden’s growing conditions and design goals. A plant that is well-adapted to your site will perform better and have fewer problems. Proper siting makes a big difference for some plants. Plant salt tolerant plants along busy roads; broad-leaved evergreens perform …
Type: Blog
… People sometimes walk right by the brick pillars of the Enabling Garden, thinking it’s not for them, said Alicia Green, who maintains and designs the horticulture therapy garden. She likes … flowers; blooms start to take off in May. Here are a few of her spring design touches to look for in the Enabling Garden: Think Beatrix Potter storybook You might not find Peter Rabbit in the … “It looks fanciful and just a little wild and crazy,” without being overgrown, she said. Look for a special botanical tulip called Tulipa ‘Nora’. The small, deep pink tulip looks more like a …
Type: Blog
… know about taking pictures at Lightscape at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It’s a great chance for photographers of all abilities to practice shooting after dark. And with a little time and … are not allowed at Lightscape. Instead, raise your ISO. Newer cameras have improved technology for low-light situations, and the old rules of thumb don’t always hold true. Pick a setting … to photo editing, try a class at the Garden in Photoshop or Lightroom. There is no replacement for a solid tripod, but these easy hacks will help improve your odds of getting a sharp picture: …
Type: Blog
… degree in horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1984. He worked as a foreman for Campbell's Garden Center, installing and maintaining landscapes. During summer breaks from … Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. He writes a weekly gardening column for the Chicago Tribune and a weekly gardening tips column for the Daily Herald , and responds to other media request. He is a regular speaker at the …
Type: Staff bio
… For the new orchid grower, selecting an orchid may seem overwhelming. Here are a few tips to get … want to make sure that you choose one that’s well suited to your home and to your schedule. For example: if you have lots of bright, direct sun in your home, a Cattleya will do very well, … Most only flower once a year so you will probably need some good motivation to keep caring for it when it’s not in flower. Also, sometimes the shock of moving from the greenhouse to your …
Type: Blog
… Valentine’s Day has special meaning for us at the Chicago Botanic Garden. With that in mind, we’ve gathered a few stories about how … scientists think that the orchid attracts a wasp that hunts the spider as potential food for its own larvae. Thus the wasp is fooled into landing on the flower—and picking up its … (Check out more on orchids fooling mating bees with this famous video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h8I3cqpgnA .) Oncidium Sharry Baby ‘Sweet Fragrance’ has dancing skirts and …
Type: Blog
… question, located by the big Edens Expressway (northbound lanes) sign. Originally, the design for the perennial border—which you can see trailing up and down the hill behind the big Chicago … Manual removal of the asters was only part of the solution; we needed to find a replacement for these bad boys. In the process, we revisited the vision for this border, and decided to mix drifts of purple coneflower ( Echinacea ), blazing star ( …
Type: Blog
… a shoe box, cardboard dividers, seeds, a pot with soil medium, and of course scissors and tape for constructing the maze. Stand the box on its side. Then cut two pieces of cardboard to fit in … in place as shown in the picture. Pardon the crude appearance of this maze. I wasn’t going for style points. Plant the seeds in the soil and put the container on the side opposite of the hole you cut. Just for fun, I used several different seeds from a bean soup mix to see if one kind would get through …
Type: Blog
