… It’s OK to have a favorite. Phillip Douglas, the Garden’s new curator of woody plants, is not shy about listing his top picks. Spending his first summer in Glencoe, Douglas is especially taken with the variety of oaks at the Garden. The horticulturist points out the … the development of the oak and willow collections, and a review of all such plants already on-site. Douglas will also be helping to organize trips to collect plants in the wild with Andrew …
Type: Blog
… The Chicago Botanic Garden is on #TitanWatch. That’s right: if you visit the Garden’s Semitropical Greenhouse, you will see … arum (it’s Alice!). Here’s what you need to know as you watch Sprout grow: The corpse flower is one of the largest and rarest flowering plants in the world. It takes seven to ten years for a … have bloomed around the world recently, having more than one plant bloom in such a short time is uncommon. Watch for these signs the titan arum bloom is starting . Corpse flowers smell bad . …
Type: Blog
… pop up out of nowhere? Mushrooms can appear magical—seeming to pop up overnight. This is part of their mystique. 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 ), known as the mycelium that grows in the … mycelium growing if you pull up a mass of downed leaves or among wood chips. The mycelium is the long-lived part of the individual that absorbs nutrients and water. Depending on the …
Type: Blog
… deeper (literally and figuratively), and you’ll find the reason for that slope: the “hill” is actually the remnants of a glacier. Its proper name is the Highland Park Moraine. It’s one of a series of five, collectively called the Lake Border … path included much deliberation about the plants that were already growing at the site. As construction neared, Garden ecologist Jim Steffen reached out to the Glencoe Friends of …
Type: Blog
… Seeing bulbs coming up all around me inspires lots of questions. I want to understand how this is possible and I want to test their strength. So I spent a few weeks playing around with this … layer of soil. Day 4: The leaves have pushed the soil up a little more. Day 5: The soil is light and there are a lot of wheat plants, so they continue to lift the soil. Day 6: “Get off … ...and bursting from inside the pot. This demonstration was pretty easy and impressive. It is a simple activity to illustrate how plants and other living things change their environment to …
Type: Blog
… a pantry item. They’re a labor of love, made with a special ingredient: broomcorn. Broomcorn is a type of ornamental grass used to make specialty brooms, a passion Spannagel discovered … broomcorn broom-making. We caught up with Spannagel to learn a little about his craft: What is broomcorn? (Spoiler: It’s not corn) Broomcorn ( Sorghum vulgare var. technicum ) is an annual ornamental grass. It has no “ears” or “cobs,” and it can grow anywhere from 12 to 14 …
Type: Blog
… until late May, due to temperature requirements. This crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia) is continuing to respond very favorably to the root work we did. This crape myrtle ( Lagerstroemia ) was the focus of my previous post on repotting . It is continuing to respond very favorably to the root work we did. Crape myrtles are a genus of … trees or large shrubs. Some varieties are deciduous, and some are broadleaf evergreens—this is a deciduous variety. Crape myrtles are most famous for their flowers, which grow as clusters …
Type: Blog
… sunny windowsill or in a more formal arrangement. The great thing about starting seeds indoors is that it is relatively inexpensive—and who can resist the satisfaction of watching those first sprouts … any seed starting are time, light, a growing medium, cleanliness, water, and attention . Time is critical. Some species need weeks longer than others. Tomatoes, for example, need just six to …
Type: Blog
… I make no secret about the fact that fall is my absolute favorite season. Between the pumpkin-spiced treats, falling leaves, warm-toned … also happens to be my favorite season for horticultural therapy. This exciting time of year is when all the off-site therapy gardens are reaping the benefits from their summer of hard work. The fall programs …
Type: Blog
… plants you have to be careful that what you take isn’t getting sprayed with herbicides—which is why I recommend only harvesting weeds from your own yard, or places you know have … sorrel. Oxalis stricta Oxalis stricta , also known as yellow wood sorrel or lemon clover, is an annual weed that you can find anywhere…and everywhere. It spreads aggressively from its … can explode on contact! It only takes a brief sampling of the leaf to figure out why this weed is also called sour grass. The plants are full of oxalic acid, which is dangerous to humans in …
Type: Blog
