… Garden, we were reminded of the pure joy that plants can bring. Alice provided special moments for many people—including me. On September 28, at 12:51 a.m., I received a text from the Chicago … This is it. This is what so many dedicated horticulturists at the Garden have been waiting for, and watching for, with our collection of eight titan arums over these last 12 years. I arrived at the Garden …
Type: Blog
… reportedly said, “Let him who hath two loaves sell one, and buy the flower of narcissus: for bread is but food for the body, whereas narcissus is food for the soul.” During the Victorian era, when flowers were selected carefully for their meanings, …
Type: Blog
… the Midwest Region of the Haiku Society of America, the Chicago Botanic Garden put out a call for submissions for haiku poems. After careful review of hundreds of submissions, we’re excited to share our selected poems from Garden enthusiasts everywhere for National Poetry Month. Get lost in these beautiful haiku poems paying tribute to the Helen …
Type: Blog
… Garden. But dig a little deeper (literally and figuratively), and you’ll find the reason for that slope: the “hill” is actually the remnants of a glacier. Its proper name is the Highland … of the country; a secondary divide travels along our edge of Lake Michigan. A helpful map for visualizing the ups and downs of the moraines and the valleys in between. Source: Luman, … LiDAR map courtesy of the Illinois State Geological Survey. Planning & Planting Planning for the bike/pedestrian path included much deliberation about the plants that were already …
Type: Blog
… meadia : A Must-see of the Prairie Question: Which one of these is NOT a common name for this handsome spring ephemeral? Shooting star Prairie pointer Prairie primrose Roosterheads Pride of Ohio Answer: Shooting star is the most common name for this species, at least in the Midwest. The plant’s myriad arching flower stalks sporting … a common name, but one that I created. Not very colorful, but this could very easily be a name for this species, since it commonly occurs in prairies and is a member of the primrose family. …
Type: Blog
… of fall allium and autumn crocus blooms. This year, however, a special mention must be made for the glorious gladiolus! Especially the delicate, 4-inch, salmon pink flowers of the salmon … cold temperatures! Two characteristics of its native habitat nominated the gladiolus for trial at the Garden: first, it is a winter-growing bulb in South Africa, which translates to … in North America. Second, this plant thrives in moist soils in grassy areas—it was perfect for the site we chose in the Bulb Garden. Based on its initial success in our plant trial …
Type: Blog
… My top pick for cool new plant species? The media has called it grotesque and compared to an eyeless worm. … when researchers stumble on a species unknown to science. Here are five of my favorite recent news stories on orchids: Gastrodia agnicellus , by Rick Burian, courtesy of the Royal Botanic … across a crested fringed orchid (Platanthera cristata) , which no one had seen in the state for nearly 20 years. It’s always a feel-good story to learn that a plant has been rediscovered …
Type: Blog
… Botanic Garden. A room in the basement of the Regenstein Center is the hive of repair activity for the Model Railroad Garden. There are also ghost trains for Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns . That is why there is a staff of three year-round engineers … They also invent their own fixes. They have to. Cubs fans in fresh whites never lose hope for their team winning one day. “The Amtrak train hasn’t been made since 2004; we couldn’t get …
Type: Blog
… of a project to adapt zoo population management approaches to plants held in botanic gardens. For the majority of plants, seed banking is the most common method of long-term plant conservation. However, for “exceptional species,” the roughly 20 percent of seed plants not suited to seed banking, a living plant collection is often used for conservation. The viability and value of living collections can be limited without tracking …
Type: Research
… resilient plant populations is not as easy as throwing seeds on the ground and waiting for them grow,” notes Andrea Kramer, Ph.D., the Chicago Botanic Garden’s director of restoration … scientists teamed up with researchers from the University of Washington and the Institute for Applied Ecology to identify the most effective approaches for producing and using genetically … in the peer-reviewed journal Restoration Ecology. Full article: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/rec.13131 Photo by Tom Kaye: A population of golden paintbrush ( Castilleja …
Type: Research
