… moisture conditions. It has blue and lavender blooms From May through August and belongs in a border. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… height of 2 feet with full sun and moderate moisture conditions. It has greenish yellow blooms in July and August. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Illinois. Shooting Stars Although they are extremely attractive, they are underused in many home gardens. We’d like to change that because native plants are truly unique. They have … fluctuating seasonal rainfall, freezing winters, and hot, humid, summers. Plants that grew in this area before settlers arrived were the cornerstone in a sustainable web of life. They support native insects, birds, mammals and infinitesimally …
Type: Plant Info
… love for veggies. “The stuff’s not bad. It just grew on me,” he said. Williams participates in VeggieRx, a program that offers free vegetables and nutrition training to help patients with … Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion, and is headquartered at the Farm on Ogden in North Lawndale. Williams goes to the VeggieRx program at the Farm on Ogden every Wednesday. He … throughout the country came to the Chicago Botanic Garden for the program sponsored by the U.S. Botanic Garden. Windy City Harvest will lead several others too, all with the same goal: …
Type: Blog
… When seeding lawns, use grass seed appropriate to your site. The best choice for most lawns in northern Illinois is a mix of Kentucky blue grass, perennial rye, and fescue seeds. If seeding in a shaded area, purchase a shade-tolerant mix. Cultivate soil down to a few inches and … areas of turf that pull back easily, like a carpet. Grubs chew grass roots, resulting in turf that lifts up. Minor damage is usually not cause for treatment. Pull back turf and count …
Type: Plant Info
… for fall harvesting. Cool-season lettuces, mesclun mixes, and unusual greens that were planted in early spring can be planted again this month. If weather is unusually hot, plant these greens in partial shade. The best quality and best tasting salad greens come from plants that were … cut every other plant to the ground. This practice allows each lettuce head to develop fully. In hot weather, lettuces and cabbages can bolt quickly and form seed stalks. These stalks render …
Type: Plant Info
… bring an endangered plant species back from the brink of extinction? The answer might be found in zoo animals. That’s the inspiration for Chicago Botanic Garden scientist Jeremie Fant’s latest … by continually crossing with other plants to produce new seed. This is akin to animals in zoo collections. Zoos have used genetic information to develop ‘studbooks’ to decide what … prevent inbreeding.” Fant’s work is based on zoological cases including black-footed ferrets in the 1980s. Zoologists created a breeding program that ultimately reintroduced the threatened …
Type: Blog
… apply repellents to emerging summer-blooming lilies, if rabbits and deer have been a problem in the past. Fertilize annuals in containers, baskets, and window boxes with a quarter-strength balanced fertilizer every seven … not do so at planting time. Mark the spots with small stakes to repeat fertilizer application in the fall (when plants are not visible). Continue to remove yellowing leaves of …
Type: Plant Info
… native to high, cool, but not cold, environments from the Himalayas down through Indonesia. In the native range, a number of variations of flower color can be found. It's nicknamed the Nun … the basic form of the flower, which consists of three petals surrounded by three sepals—often in dramatic and contrasting colors and in a variety of shapes and sizes. Although some orchids are native to temperate zones, most …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… displays its quarter sized purple flowers horizontally along the branch of the tree. The ‘x’ in front of the genus identifies this as a hybrid between two different genera. The female seed … basic form of the flower, which consists of three petals surrounded by three sepals -- often in dramatic and contrasting colors and in a variety of shapes and sizes. Although some orchids are native to temperate zones, most …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
