… At the top of the list of why we garden is for the joy it brings. Yes, there is the effort of physical labor, and true, some plants succumb … marginal plants requiring a special site. Examine your soil carefully. This is especially true for new homes, where much of the good topsoil might have been trucked away during construction. … break down quickly. Consult the Garden's Plant Information Service at (847) 835-0972 for the latest treatments. Spot-treat an area rather than the entire garden. If Japanese beetles are …
Type: Plant Info
… Phlox is predominantly a North American genus (one species sneaks into Siberia) best known for its gaudily—some say garishly colored—harbinger of spring, the moss phlox ( Phlox subulata ), and for that summer stalwart, the garden phlox ( Phlox paniculata ). For an idea of the diversity of the garden phlox, you can see Richard Hawke’s latest evaluation report on Phlox paniculata cultivars . The woodland phlox ( Phlox divaricata …
Type: Blog
… on. But things are changing. To see what's happening in today's gardens, one has only to visit the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden, where traditional … Throughout the demonstration gardens, you can see how vegetables, fruits, and herbs are grown for their ornamental beauty as well as for their taste. Flowers are grown to be eaten, as well as … eggplants would be grown for their vibrant color as well as for their taste? Color is the big news in vegetables these days, and the catalogs offer some real surprises. There are white …
Type: Plant Info
Current authoritative taxonomic treatment calls this Allium macleanii var. elatum . In a private garden in Glencoe from which the Chicago Botanic Garden's plants came, the scapes were 60 inches (250 cm) tall; the leaves were 30 inches (76 cm) long and 4 inches (10 cm) wide at their widest point. The flowers are very attractive to insect pollinators, and within a few days the colorful florets lose …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Silver white penny sized leaves densely packed on the stems of this creeping perennial from the deserts of West Texas provide a wonderful focal point in annual displays or hanging baskets. Not reliably hardy in the Chicago region, container plants can be brought indoors, cut back hard, and overwintered in a bright window until frost free temperatures are reached the following spring. …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Pomponella™ is a compact floribunda rose that produces deep pink, fully double flowers in clusters of five to seven from June to October. Released by W. Kordes Sohne in Germany in 2005, it has disease-resistant clean foliage. It requires little trimming, but may be cut back in spring. When planting, the base of the plant at the point where it is grafted should be well-covered with soil and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Douglas-fir, a native evergreen tree, has short needles and a strong pyramidal growth habit with pendulous lower branches that give it a very graceful appearance. 'Compacta Glauca' is much smaller than the species and the needles are blue-green. The cones are interesting – they hang downward and each cone scale has a three-pointed bract. A well-grown Douglas fir in a snowclad winter landscape is …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
Easily grown in average, dry to medium, well-drained soil in full sun. Tolerates drought. Prefers moist, gravelly or sandy soils with good drainage. Plants may repeat bloom throughout the summer, but need regular moisture to encourage this. Remove spent flower spikes to help extend the bloom period. Plants may open up as the summer progresses, particularly in humid climates. If plants depreciate …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… we managed this year was not more than 50," O'Shaughnessy explains. "We’ve used two techniques for dealing with it—pulling, and cutting. The preferred [and considerably safer] technique is … this time." When visiting the Dixon Prairie, we recommend remaining on the cultivated paths. For additional information about identification and removal of wild parsnip, as well as current …
Type: Plant Info
… don’t put away your trowel, shovel, hose or clippers just yet. Autumn is another great time for planting and many garden centers have a fresh inventory of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals … kicks in. As we ease into fall, night temperatures start to drop, but the soil will stay warm for some time. Planting in fall gives many trees and shrubs an “extra” growing season. Root … seasons are based on the annual temperature cycle. Take a break from planting and come visit the Garden to see what’s in bloom . Nina Koziol is a garden writer and horticulturist who …
Type: Plant Info
