… New research by Garden scientists offers hope for plants growing in human-altered landscapes. The ability of organisms to move across a landscape is an important part of dealing with change. For example, this ability to move—or disperse—allows plants and animals to deal with human-altered land-use change, such as urban development, agriculture, and grazing. For plants, the ability to disperse from one habitat to another occurs via the movement of pollen …
Type: Research
… composed of three petals contrast with its six bright yellow anthers, each flower opening for a few hours in the morning or longer if cloudy. Spiderwort belongs to the Commelinaceae, the day flower family, which commonly features plants with flowers that open for a day or less and then deliquesce (liquefy). If you pinch one of the blue petals between your … came to be. The genus Tradescantia and others in this family have a mucilaginous sap that, for all you farmers out there, resembles bovine saliva as it drips from the broken leaf. A …
Type: Blog
… in spring! Snow brings an important nutrient into the soil: nitrogen There are not many ways for nitrogen to enter the soil. While planting legumes and adding fertilizer are the most common … the poor man’s fertilizer. Don’t forget, snow is water! When snow melts, it provides moisture for evergreen trees and shrubs. This moisture helps keep these plants happy and healthy … willows, hazels, winter hazels, and witch hazels are only a few of many very attractive plants for a winter landscape. Dogwoods and willow varieties often will have young growth that is …
Type: Blog
… to add up. An Amorphophallus titanum shoot to the right of a leaf stalk provides comparison for determining the slight bulge, which could mean a flower bud. The emerging Amorphophallus … take a decade or more to send up their first flower shoot. We’ve been tending to this corm for about 12 years, so the timing was right. Is the corm big enough? The smaller the corm, the … and expertise. Their final confirmations gave us the thumbs up to go public with the big news that Spike would soon blast into bloom! Like first-time parents, we are learning as we go. I …
Type: Blog
… tend to name men. Rarely do they mention some of the amazing women who have opened the door for so many of us following in their footsteps: marine biologist Rachel Carson, conservationist … that they have their own hashtags: #YAMMM (Yet Another Mostly Male Meeting) and #Manel (short for “male panel”). However, as difficult as it has been for women in science generally, it has surely been much, much harder for women of color and other …
Type: Blog
… testimony to the many plant explorers who, in the past four centuries, traveled far and wide, for years at a time, in search of new plants. The story of plant exploration is a thrilling … the Chicago Botanic Garden’s director of plant collections. He also manages plant exploration for the Garden. “Over the past three years, I have led expeditions to Azerbaijan twice, the … in 13 states. The role of plant explorers is much more than finding new, pretty specimens for gardens. The importance of the Plant Exploration Program at the Garden is multifaceted. “We …
Type: Blog
… to close on July 13 and 14—the first time in the Garden’s history that we closed to visitors for two consecutive days. So what exactly happened that required us to close? And how did the … and back into the Skokie River. The Skokie River watershed, highlighted in blue. ( Click here for larger view .) The 2017 flooding at the Garden was dramatic. Our lake levels rose more than … shoreline plants that we installed along the Garden’s lakeshore withstood being underwater for up to nine days without impact. These plants will continue their important “engineering …
Type: Blog
… garden, I grow at least one African American heirloom crop, partly to commemorate Juneteenth. For Black Americans, Juneteenth marks the final liberation of our ancestors held as slaves on … So, I’m giving it a go this year, as okra has been essential in African American cuisine for centuries. Native to Africa and Asia, okra likely first appeared in the United States in the … forgiving, and prolific crop. Photo courtesy of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds/rareseeds.com Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad Tomato This heirloom seed is still with us today because an …
Type: Blog
… Fabiany Herrera , Ph.D., of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action, together with lead author Monica Carvalho and Carlos … Jaramillo —researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute—among others, discovered for the first time how the tropical rainforest in South America responded to the asteroid impact … important flowering plants. This study also shows that it took almost six million years for the tropical rainforest to recover after the asteroid impact. Herrera highlights that if it …
Type: Research
… Putting roses to sleep for winter In early November, many of the roses that bloom twice per year (called remontant, or … nighttime temperatures—and Garden staff jumped into action to put the rose beds “to sleep” for the winter. Now the garden looks entirely different. The process that our staff uses to prep roses for winter is the same process you can use in your rose garden, too. Step 1: Prune canes. While …
Type: Blog
