… Helen Bartlett is the horticulturist for Evening Island, which was designed in the New American Garden style of landscape design, … studies from Knox College. Bartlett joined the Garden in 2013 as a seasonal employee on the aquatics team. The following year, she became a seasonal assistant horticulturist on the Green Roof and the Evaluation Gardens. Bartlett then was assistant horticulturist for the …
Type: Staff bio
… false indigo—just patented via the Chicagoland Grows, Inc. plant introduction program and on sale for the first time. Look for them at Chicago-area garden centers, said Jim Ault, Ph.D. , who … violet as the plant ages, and Baptisia ‘Sunny Morning’, for its profusion of yellow flowers on dark charcoal stems. Blue Mound false indigo Baptisia australis ‘Blue Mound’ Lavender Rose …
Type: Blog
… plant names and plant parts, sprouted a few seeds, and dissected a plant. That was about it for my formal plant-science education. Hands-on plant science at the Garden: a young visitor gets a whiff of Spike’s removed spathe, looking … use as pollinators. And, notoriously, the pollen of ragweed is a tiny spike—the better to hold on to moist spots like the inside of human nasal passages, where the grains never germinate, but …
Type: Blog
… and trees. The Chicago region's soils are twofold, having positive and negative virtues. On a positive note, our soils tend to be rich in nutrients. But on a negative note, our soils are heavy and do not drain well. The soils at the Chicago Botanic … to improve our soils and are about to embark on another trial…biochar. Biochar has been used for thousands of years in the Amazon Basin of South America to greatly improve poor, unproductive …
Type: Blog
… Greg Mueller , Ph.D., chief scientist and Negaunee vice president of science at the Garden for answers. Why do mushrooms pop up out of nowhere? Mushrooms can appear magical—seeming to pop … The mushrooms we see are the spore forming part of the individual—analogous to an apple on an apple tree. Most of the individual is comprised of a mass of microscopic threads ( hyphae … mycelium is the long-lived part of the individual that absorbs nutrients and water. Depending on the species and its ecology, an individual may persist for weeks to more than a thousand …
Type: Blog
… a shoe box, cardboard dividers, seeds, a pot with soil medium, and of course scissors and tape for constructing the maze. Stand the box on its side. Then cut two pieces of cardboard to fit in the box and make divisions. You’ll want … have to be perfect. The tape will fix that. Cut a large window in each divider. Cut a window on one end of the box. Tape the dividers in place as shown in the picture. Pardon the crude …
Type: Blog
… 115 degrees Fahrenheit in the drought-stricken Mojave desert, you’ll forgive our botanists for hoping against hope for a bit of rain for the plants. Botanists Monica Depies and Rebecca … growers to produce larger amounts of seeds to be used for large-scale restoration projects on federal land. The seeds are critical for getting native, locally adapted plant material back on the landscape, especially after major disturbances, such as the wildfires that have increased …
Type: Blog
… as anyone who’s gasped at a mist-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge or taken a Parisian boat ride on the Seine can attest. Bridges are integral to the Chicago Botanic Garden, too, built as it is on nine islands. For a lovely summer evening, take a long walk together…cross these six romantic bridges …
Type: Blog
… “Can a Venus fly trap bite off your finger?” Jose asked, on a virtual field trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. With an overhead camera, I zoomed into the … learning routines and inspired them to think about and get engaged with nature. The hands-on component is key. After a teacher signs up for a field trip, we deliver kits of materials for every student. Students pick up the kits at …
Type: Blog
… In gardening, as in life, patience is a virtue. Twelve years ago, the Garden embarked on a mission to bring a rock star of the plant world to the Chicago Botanic Garden. The titan … as the corpse flower, is the largest flowering structure in the world. When it blooms, it puts on a show like no other. Huge. Rotten. Rare. Watch our video on YouTube of Spike moving to its … size, odd shape, and terrible stench (hence its common name, corpse flower). Plants bloom for a single day every seven to ten years, and it is nearly impossible to predict the day it will …
Type: Blog
