… demographic, and pollination studies on a threatened thistle ( Cirsium pitcheri ) that is being negatively impacted by a biocontrol weevil. I am also interested in developing measures … Colleagues and I have modeled how fecundity differences among cultivars of invasive species is likely to impact (or not) their invasiveness. Most of these projects are carried out in …
Type: Staff bio
… pollinators react to cultivated varieties of native plants. Budburst's Fall into Phenology is not limited to just leaf color and seed; it is about observing plants in the fall. This will be my second autumn with Budburst and the …
Type: Blog
… not a serious threat to people and will only give you a pinch if you handle them roughly. It is not uncommon to find the large brown stag beetles around buildings near woodlands at night, … If you notice the dark-colored segment that looks distended on the end of the grub, it is the digestive chamber, where the wood the grub consumes is digested with the aid of microorganisms. If you give one of these guys a gentle squeeze, you …
Type: Blog
… moss, ribbon, and little wooden reindeer are what we used to create our ornaments. (Charcoal is not shown.) Use whatever decorative ribbon you like, but make sure it’s narrow enough to fit through the ornament loops and that it’s knotted securely. The moss ornament is almost complete with charcoal, soil, moss, and reindeer! Seal the moss in a closed terrarium … want to add for whimsy (optional) Separate the halves of the DIY ornament. If your ornament is like mine, it has little “loops” for attaching a hook at the top. Start by tying a 12-inch …
Type: Blog
… One of our favorite insects at the Chicago Botanic Garden is the praying mantis. So we were very excited to obtain an egg case earlier this spring. We … hatch, and then release the newly hatched insects into the Garden. A praying mantis egg case is called an ootheca (pronouned oh-uh– THEE -kuh). The plural is oothecae (oh-uh-THEE-see). The ootheca was produced by a female praying mantis last fall. She …
Type: Blog
… therapy garden. She likes to surprise them. “The Buehler Enabling Garden in spring is all about happiness!” she said. “I plant flowers that are colorful and scented, even a bit … to unfurl at the Chicago Botanic Garden, in areas including the Enabling Garden . Green is still planting last-minute flowers; blooms start to take off in May. Here are a few of her … The small, deep pink tulip looks more like a wildflower than a cultivated variety. Old school is cool “I stick with total crowd pleasers that people connect with right away,” Green said, “and …
Type: Blog
… marker A plate or tray Rubber bands, pipe cleaners, or other items (optional) *Vermiculite is a soil amendment that can be purchased at a garden supply store. It expands when soaked in water and stays moist, so it is ideal for this project. You can substitute regular soil or sawdust as the medium. Time: This … separated by rubber bands. You can add pipe cleaner antennas or legs if you like. The rest is the same. This project gives our educators the chance to teach students about how both roots …
Type: Blog
… easier to prune because you’ll be able to better see a tree’s branching structure and there is less chance of transmitting diseases from one plant to another. Winter is the perfect time to prune deciduous trees or remove nuisance buckthorn. DON’T prune conifers. …
Type: Blog
… We’ve officially reached planting season, and it is now safe to put in warm-season flowering annuals, vines, herbs, and vegetables. … Let spring bulb foliage yellow and wither before removing it. The leaves manufacture food that is stored in the bulb for next year’s growth. Even braiding the foliage of daffodils can reduce …
Type: Blog
… recently named the next ten years the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, stressing that now is the time to focus on rebuilding, revitalizing, and restoring degraded lands around the world if we want a habitable planet in the future. But ecosystem restoration is complex. It requires both a large amount of seeds from plants native to the area being … representative has signed on here . For more information, visit: https://botanybill.weebly.com/ …
Type: Blog
