… This evergreen spring flowering shrub grows to 4 feet in size when provided partial shade and moderate moisture conditions. It produces domes of slightly fragrant bright pink flowers in spring and is graced with bright red foliage with the onset of winter temperatures. Like other Rhododendron … soil pH. Acidic pH is not a characteristic of most Chicago area soils so care must be taken to incorporate peat into the soils, top dress with granulated sulfur, and fertilize with liquid …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… If you happen to see this grass at any time time between July and late winter you'll see that the flower spikes … and bushy and reddish in color. A lot like a fox's tail in fact and explain why this grass is called a foxtail fountain grass. Ginger Love fountain grass is a warm season grass that grows in clumps about two to three feet wide and tall. The green foliage turns yellow in early fall and fades to beige in …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Tara Prairie Dropseed is a clumping warm season grass with bright green leaves and delicate flower panicles that appear in late summer and early fall. The clump can grow to about 3 feet high and 3 feet wide. The fragrant flowers are a pinkish brown which mature to a golden brown in late fall. In massed plantings the flowers provide an attractive pinkish …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Marie's doublefile viburnum is a broad shrub with a distinct horizontal branching habit that gives it a layered look. It … along the branches in May. Fall foliage color is a reddish-purple. It will grow in full sun to partial shade and is not fussy about soil types or conditions. This cultivar was introduced … in the trade. Viburnums are a versatile genus of multistemmed shrubs that are well-suited to the home landscape due to their range of sizes and cultural adaptability. Some viburnums are …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… or early autumn improves the overall health, disease resistance, and appearance of your lawn. To prepare your lawn, mow grass to 1 inch and choose a high quality grass seed. Make sure that the seeds make contact with the … You can use gas-powered vertical mowers, slicers, core aerators, spikers, or slit-seeders to create space for the seeds to make contact with the soil. These machines can be rented. …
Type: Plant Info
… Photographs can take our breath away. A beautiful image can transport us to another time. It can flood us with long-forgotten memories. It can go far beyond being a record of a thing, and can instead surround us with an essence, and feelings. Learn how to make pictures that soar past postcards, and capture what you are feeling, what you are seeing, … The first three sessions will end with a creative photographic challenge, and you are invited to participate. The last session will showcase the results of the challenge with a full group …
Type: Item Detail
… Long-eared owls are nomadic birds, found abundantly some years and difficult or impossible to find others. Choosing their locations based on prey abundance (small mammals, like mice and … groups in winter roosts where a dozen or more birds can be found together. They are also known to perform a broken-wing act in order to draw predators away from the nest sites, not unlike the behavior many people associate with …
Type: Birding
… the head identify this caterpillar as a true armyworm ( Mythimna unipuncta ), almost identical to the fall armyworm ( Spodoptera frugiperda ). A fall armyworm has an inverted Y-shape on its head and is found in larger numbers late summer/fall. Adult armyworm moths migrate north to Illinois from southern states to mate and lay eggs on the bottom of grass blades and other …
Type: Plant Info
… South America and in the Caribbean. They bloom once at maturity, which can be anywhere from 5 to 40 years. Most plants die after flowering and are not frost hardy. Banded agave is a medium-sized plant bearing a dense rosette of toothed, bluish-green, sword-shaped leaves, … from a very short trunk, reach 2 feet long and 3 inches wide, while the entire plant grows to a height of 24 to 48 inches with a spread of 36 to 72 inches. It blooms in the spring after 10 …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Ranunculus asiaticus 'Mache Pastel Mix' is a seed-grown strain of Persian buttercup that features fully double orange, scarlet, and yellow blooms above dark green foliage that grows to 16 inches in height during cool weather. When temperatures warm, the plants stop growing and … winter, six weeks before bloom time. The bulbs, which resemble a hand with fingers, are hardy to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and can be harvested and kept in a cool dark place until next winter, …
Type: Garden Guide Plant