… they often grow so rampantly that they choke out native plants. The unfortunate result is less biodiversity, and an ecosystem that needs to be restored. Urban development also has a …
Type: Plant Info
… to the side of a wall or fence and let it reveal other parts of the garden. Placed in a shady site, the mirror will lighten things up. Group It Not using those old colorful bowling balls? … can teach you to make beautiful mosaics like these below made by Gloria Ciaccio. Nina Koziol is a garden writer and horticulturist who lives and gardens in Palos Park, Illinois. …
Type: Plant Info
… yourself back from buying every type you see on the shelf, you also know that this feeling is fleeting. Those beautiful colors and unusual varieties are in their prime now, when the hot … couldn’t pick a peck of them. You have to pickle them yourself. Luckily, pickling peppers is perfectly painless. Hot or not: Just how spicy do you want your peppers? Go ahead and take a … the outside of the pepper on the grill, in the oven, or with the broiler. Once the skin is blistered on all sides, let the pepper cool and the skin will slide right off. If you don’t …
Type: Blog
… in Chicago? How many different species? We’ve learned that the short answer to this question is: “Yes, there are wild bees in Chicago, and there are more than 80 species!” But is there anything special about these bees that allow them to persist in harsh urban …
Type: Research
… er, clones? Aside from the internal struggles, enlarging your plant collection by propagation is a relatively easy—and inexpensive—undertaking. It also makes a thoughtful gift over the … by sowing seeds, making cuttings, layering, or dividing roots. Taking leaf or stem cuttings is one of the most common propagation methods for houseplants. Some houseplants, such as pothos … the foliage with water, and place it in indirect light. The ideal temperature for cuttings is 75 degrees Fahrenheit—you can create bottom heat with a heating pad. Thomas recommends placing …
Type: Blog
… order to satisfy their chill requirement. Simply defined, the accumulation of chill units (CU) is a cumulative measure of the number of hours trees spend between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit. … meet those requirements, barring extreme fluctuation like last year. Our current cool weather is right on track and looking positive for growers. Knowing a fruit tree’s chill requirement is a tool for choosing the right plants for your garden. Come to the garden for a quiet early …
Type: Blog
… most beloved nature poems in the English language. The poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” is a reminder of the ability of the natural world to lift spirits. Wordsworth wrote the poem on … Boyce, the Garden’s director of living plant documentation, even knows where each daffodil is— Narcissus ‘Bittern’, yellow petaled daffodils with orange cups, is under the crabapple trees in the Graham Bulb Garden, masses of large-cupped daffodils are on …
Type: Blog
… Bartram’s Garden, once visited by notables such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, is now a 45-acre National Historic Landmark in Philadelphia. “It’s an amazing place,” said Owen. … the work of artists who created works that included wood from the felled trees. Each piece is meant to celebrate Bartram’s desire to share his passion for trees and other plants. An … the natural world and in collecting and documenting the human species,” said Owen. “Nature is a vast source of that fascination.” …
Type: Blog
… lamps in his basement. Now he’s a proud plant parent to more than 100 plants. The collection is impressive, to be sure. But just how does one transport a thriving plant collection? As I … bring something if you’re just going to throw it away once you get there?” Weaver said. “Now is the time to get rid of anything disease or insect-infested.” Make cuttings of large plants you … (and gifting the large plant to a friend). “The nice thing about aroid plants like monstera is the vines have roots growing all over the place,” said Weaver. “You can easily chop a leaf off …
Type: Blog
… walk of the Garden. Or did you say cow slobbers? Whatever you call it, Tradescantia ohiensis is just one of the prairie plants that has a unique story to tell. Tradescantia ohiensis , better … are replaced by new flowers, prolonging the blooming period. Another interesting feature is its other common name, cow slobbers. If you break a leaf, you will understand how this common … form as it stretches between your fingertips. By the way, the “wort” part of spiderwort, which is commonly used to describe many plants (figwort, moneywort, mugwort, liverwort), simply means …
Type: Blog
