… and recreation comes from Lake Michigan. If we waste water, then we waste the lake. It is that simple. The Water Conservation Game is set up and ready to play. The girls responded very well to the activity. I am sharing it on … of the Lake Michigan with an image to represent the local water source. (For most cities, that is groundwater.) I discovered, to my surprise, that many of my Brownie Scouts were not familiar …
Type: Blog
… process? And what do all those colorful beer-making terms mean? Malted (germinated) barley is used as a base in beer and scotch. Photo via Finlay McWalter, Wikimedia Commons. GFDL A beautiful vine for the home garden is hops ( Humulus lupulus ), pictured here in flower. Pollinated and fruited in fall, these pale … grains are grasses with a special type of seed called a caryopsis . Inside a caryopsis is an embryo and a large, starchy food reserve (called the endosperm) that plays a key role in …
Type: Blog
… the colors of the season long after the tree leaves have faded and been raked away. It is one of November’s icons, reminding us of the cultural and botanical history of the continent. … teosinte (pronounced tay-oh-SIN-tee), around 10,000 years ago by the people living in what is now Mexico. Over time, maize became a staple crop, yielding different varieties of nutritious … Indian corn in bundles of three alongside gourds, pumpkins, and bundles of straw. Indian corn is related to popcorn. These kinds of maize differ from other kinds in that they have a harder …
Type: Blog
… A new collaboration between Garden scientists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hoping to expand the range of a species once extinct in Illinois. Garden scientists, students, … ( Tetraneuris herbacea ). Plant Biology and Conservation Ph.D. student Rafael Urbina Casanova is working with Garden scientists Drs. Jeremie Fant and Andrea Kramer, and collaborators Jenny … relies on dry, rocky habitat in the Great Lakes region to survive. Unfortunately, this habitat is often quarried, so very little habitat remains available in Illinois,” said Rafael. This …
Type: Research
… Competition is heating up in the western United States. Invasive and native plants are racing to claim … and resources. Alicia Foxx, who studies the interplay of roots of native and invasive plants, is glued to the action. The results of this contest, says the plant biology and conservation … Botanic Garden and Northwestern University, could be difficult to reverse. Cheatgrass, which is an aggressive, invasive plant with a dense root system, is in the lead and spreading quickly …
Type: Blog
… Photo by Bill Bishoff Consider the butterfly’s ability to see ultraviolet light. UV light is a spectrum of light between 10 and 400 nanometers that humans and most other animals cannot … light, and they use these amazing gifts in a variety of clever ways. One well-known phenomenon is the relationship between butterflies and nectar-producing flowers. Thanks to special … These patterns can resemble airport landing strips or helicopter pads, advertising, “The food is in here!” The butterflies easily home in on these markings and land on the flower petals. From …
Type: Blog
… claws of some creature in a zombie movie? Does it smell bad too? Happy spring! This charmer is the first native wildflower of a Chicago spring: the skunk cabbage ( Symplocarpus foetidus). A … we walked through the McDonald Woods , the 100-acre restored and protected natural area that is home to at least seven state-listed threatened or endangered plant species. Skunk cabbage’s … and ice. The temperature inside the hood can be 95 degrees hotter than outside. Thermogenesis is the goal for skunk cabbages, titan arums , and other “warm-blooded” plants . The heat …
Type: Blog
… and whimsical gift for mom, grandma, or anyone special. A nice feature of these tiny bouquets is that you can show off the beauty of small flowers that always sing backup to showier blossoms … a little larger than you need, and then trim it to fit. Push it into the cap. If your cap is narrow, like a milk bottle cap, you may want the foam to be above the level of the cap so there is enough room to hold the flowers. Otherwise, trim the top so the foam does not stick up. Add …
Type: Blog
… four “P’s,” if you will—enable many older gardeners to carry on. Keeping active in the garden is what our volunteers love best. There is no better place to start than prevention. Since recovery takes longer as we age, let’s make … of tools with bright colors make them easier to spot in the garden or lawn. Preparation is the next area where the time spent will be repaid handsomely. Containers along a path are an …
Type: Blog
… exposed branch structure of a deciduous tree, naked of its leaves. The ingenuity of leaf loss is protection, preventing branches from bearing too much weight and breaking when it snows. All I need is patience, and I will see the world become green again. Winter pulls back a curtain to reveal … cultivate an appreciation of nature by thinking about what’s known as phenology. Phenology is the study of the timing of the biological events in plants and animals such as flowering, …
Type: Blog
