… garden. If the soil can form a sticky ball when you squeeze a handful, it is still too wet for planting. Soil will take longer to dry after periods of cool weather. Sandy soils can be … walking in garden beds and on lawns. It can compact and damage your soil. Soil is ready for planting when it crumbles in your hand. Working the soil when it is too wet can increase …
Type: Blog
… Also, Patino is the lead employee on the team that puts outdoor lights on the large trees for Wonderland Express, a task that takes him more than 240 hours every fall. Patino grew up in …
Type: Staff bio
… I am the Managing Ecologist for the prairie and river at the Chicago Botanic Garden. The natural areas I maintain at the …
Type: Staff bio
… Lisa Hilgenberg searched out several practical, good-looking, decently-priced solutions for bringing veggie vininess under control in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden . Forget …
Type: Blog
… hummingbird is migrating. It’s perfect timing, because the hummingbirds get energy for their journey southward by sipping nectar from the blossoms of these plants native to … outside with lichens and dead leaves. The young hatch in about 15 days, and remain in the nest for another 20 days or so as the female brings them insects. An aerial wonder , the …
Type: Blog
… been handed down through generations, a practice that helps maintain the food crop gene pool for future generations. The Abraham Lincoln tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum ‘Abraham Lincoln’) was … as the preacher bean because its abundant yield of purple-streaked green pods gives cause for thanks and praise. The nearby Painted Lady bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris ‘Painted Lady’), native …
Type: Blog
… from the fact that many of the species are dependent on one or just a few native plant species for their survival, and as a result, may serve as valuable indicators of the health of our … seek. There are day-flying moths also, like some of the hawkmoths (which are often mistaken for hummingbirds) that are seen visiting a variety of flowers in full daylight. Moths are also a … of species that emerges about every two weeks during the year, with midsummer being the peak for species and abundance. Many moth species have relatively short flight periods and can only be …
Type: Blog
… The Greeks had done it: they chose the word Hepatica (hepar = liver in Greek), as the name for plants with tri-lobed leaves that look rather like a human liver. The Romans coined the familiar name Pulmonaria (pulmo = lungs in Latin) for the perennial with spotted leaves that suggested a diseased lung. Likewise, Linnaeus named a … with a new “common” name: titan arum. Attenborough felt that the Latin name was inappropriate for television audiences. Today, as titan cultivation succeeds at more and more botanic gardens …
Type: Blog
… My work so far has investigated the consequences of climate change and species invasions for plant-pollinator mutualisms, plant populations, and plant communities. Using …
Type: Staff bio
… takes longer to recover. Why candle? The pine shoots that emerge in spring are called candles for a reason: they tend to be very tall, skinny cylinders like taper or dinner candles. If we let … who is working on it. Most of the trees at the entrance to the garden will take eight hours for some of our speedier employees. Most days, during our regular hours, you can expect to see …
Type: Blog
