… had the pleasure of teaching families with young children at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It is a gift to work in a garden with children because there is so much about gardening that we can use to help them grow. “It is not what is poured into a student that counts but what is planted.” —Linda Conway If you’ve …
Type: Blog
… ) in Bed #10 in the Growing Garden. This attractive plant has large, thick, green leaves, is about 10–12 inches long and 8–10 inches wide, with deeply serrated edges, and is completely covered in tiny, purple hairs (which are not really hairs—in the botanical world they are called “tricomes” ) . It is native to Ecuador and other South American countries. There is more to notice about this …
Type: Blog
… " The Anna Karenina principle states that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” When we talk about rare species we tend to think of them as a collective group that shares similar traits, however, some argue that “every rare species is rare in its own way”. Rabinowitz (1981) showed that all common species had wide ranges, large … while rare species could have any combination of these traits, but not all three. What is interesting is the range, population size and habitat preference all have important …
Type: Staff bio
… My 2-year-old son is a little too young to carve or paint his own pumpkin this year, so creating a “pump-cano” was the perfect fall fun activity for him. This is an entertaining and simple activity for children of all ages and a great way to extend … or other design if you like. Place the pumpkin on a tray or protected surface because this is going to get messy. Pour about ½ cup of baking soda inside the pumpkin. Squirt some dish soap …
Type: Blog
… arrival, one can’t help but daydream about greener pastures, or in my case, lawns. Now is the time for spring lawn maintenance. The main purpose of spring lawn care is to get the turf through the summer months. Cool-season grasses such as Kentucky bluegrass, … metal leaf rake, go through your lawn and rake up any trash, debris, and fallen branches. This is a good time to assess your lawn to see if there has been any damage from the long winter …
Type: Blog
… So we asked some of them: What plant would you most like to see in the wild? The common thread is that there is no common thread. These are not your garden-variety plant lovers. These are people who … related to giant sequoia. In our Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden, the Shoin House is mostly built of sugi, which is traditional for this kind of structure, but rather unique in …
Type: Blog
… One of the most recognized lines from Shakespeare is the following: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” You would have to read Hamlet to get the backstory, but one thing I know as an ecologist, is that we would be in a lot of trouble if there wasn’t a whole lot of rot going on all over the …
Type: Blog
… struggle. They suspect the problem may be solved through soil science. The health of a forest is rooted in soil and the diverse fungi living within it, according to researchers at the Chicago … lead to the deforestation of native natural areas. Research collaborators tour a study site in China. “There has been a lot of deforestation in China and so there is interest in knowing how best to do reforestation, whether we’re using native plants or …
Type: Blog
… Pondering the Prairie Series Life in the prairie in the middle of winter is fairly uneventful; at least for humans who focus primarily on life above ground. Perhaps now is a good time to reflect on the diversity of life in a prairie below ground. All one has to do is drive across the Midwest and view the unending and, to many, boring, miles of corn and soybean …
Type: Blog
… able to handle these growing threats (we refer to them as “native winners”). The ultimate goal is to help make restoration of these plants and habitats as effective as possible in order to … areas that support wildlife and pollinators, and help keep our air and water clean. This is no small task. The invasive species that the native plants are up against are very impressive. For example, Russian knapweed is allelopathic (prevents other plants from growing nearby), and it has roots that can grow more …
Type: Blog
