… it comes to controlling invasive plants, a little faith can’t hurt. This is particularly true for garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). We have been struggling to get this highly invasive … under control at the Chicago Botanic Garden for more than 20 years. When I first began working on restoration of our 100-acre Mary Mix McDonald Woods, it took weeks of hand-pulling with many … is having a significant negative effect on garlic mustard (see woodsandprairie.blogspot.com ). Observers have reported an almost complete absence of garlic mustard in areas that are …
Type: Blog
… mint, and pineapple mint. Rich in nutrients, mint is both delicious and medicinal, known for easing both digestion and indigestion. Mint can also relieve a runny nose by clearing … Honey Lemon Mint Tea This tea recipe can be served iced or hot—perfect for both cooling down on sunny days and curling up under a blanket on cold, wintry ones. 3 cups of water= Handful of dried or fresh mint leaves Half a lemon Honey, …
Type: Blog
… history of the continent. “You call it corn; we call it maize.” Or so the 1970s TV ad for Mazola margarine told us. Long ago, “corn” used to be the term for any grain seed, including … in Europe. For some reason, the name stuck, and we all think of the sweet yellow stuff on our dinner plates (and its close relatives) as the one and only “corn.” This drawing shows the … corn My daughter chose this bundle of Indian corn because she liked both the deep red of cob on the left and the pinkish seeds of the one in the middle—but not for the same necklace. First, …
Type: Blog
… of Sumatra in Indonesia, was first “discovered” by Italian botanist Odoardo Beccari in 1878. On August 6, 1878, he first observed the leaves and fruits of a plant (interestingly, August 6 is the date we put Spike on public view!) . Several weeks later, Beccari saw a flowering plant for the first time. He sent a few tubers and seeds to Florence, Italy, but the tubers all …
Type: Blog
… Given the history below, it’s a name to remember! Alice the Amorphophallus is caught blooming on webcam at 12:22:39 a.m. today—the Semitropical Greenhouse may smell a bit funky this morning. … flowers and fruit (leaves had already been tried and abandoned). The elegant system caught on, and Linnaeus himself named some 9,000 plants before his death in 1778. Some of those plant … 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 …
Type: Blog
… or staring angrily at the purslane popping up in your vegetable garden, I have a suggestion for you: make a salad. You may be familiar with the concept of foraging for weeds. I first became … where to look. (The reality soon set in that most of this “free” food was actually growing on lawns and private property.) Whenever you forage weeds and wild plants you have to be careful … can find anywhere…and everywhere. It spreads aggressively from its seedpods—which can explode on contact! It only takes a brief sampling of the leaf to figure out why this weed is also called …
Type: Blog
… 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 … in this style. Each tree can take anywhere from eight hours to multiple days, depending on the size and on the person who is working on it. Most of the trees at the entrance to the garden will take …
Type: Blog
… Terese Adamiec is the grower for outdoor floriculture in the Plant Production department. She focuses on growing and maintaining the annuals that are used in the display gardens for the spring, summer, and fall seasons. She also maintains the inventory of nonhardy plants …
Type: Staff bio
… I’m thinking ahead about comfort plants—ones that lift your spirits. As senior horticulturist for the Regenstein Center Greenhouses at the Chicago Botanic Garden, I talk to a lot of people … hues will fade with low light levels, so keep this plant in strong, indirect light. Keep it on the drier side during the winter; water it regularly during the summer growing months. … )] Yes, you can grow orchids Paphiopedilum Paphiopedilum orchids are high on my list of houseplants. They are gorgeous, have long-lasting blooms, and are easy to grow. …
Type: Blog
… If you are longing for spring blooms as much as we are, you might like to try forcing branches to bloom indoors. … , and cutting off only those branches that are not essential to the plant’s basic shape. On a day above freezing, cut branches at least 1 foot long that have plenty of flower buds. … in a cool room out of direct sunlight and change the water every other day. When color appears on the buds or the foliage begins to unfurl, arrange the branches in a vase and display them in a …
Type: Blog
