… 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
… " 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
… 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
… 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
… . Amended terra preta soils created long ago still cover 10 percent of the Amazon Basin. It is important to understand that “slash and char” is different than “slash and burn,” which has many negative environmental implications, like … study showed improvement in plant disease resistance when biochar was used. So what exactly is modern-day biochar? Biochar is similar to charcoal, except that it is formulated specifically …
Type: Blog
… the pollinators visiting these plants. A standout plant, looking almost like a small shrub, is white wild indigo (Baptisia alba). This is the white-flowered cousin to blue wild indigo (Baptisia australis) ; this plant, not native … tubular flowers, foxglove beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis) . On the lower half of the flower is a large hairy sterile stamen (the part of the flower that produces pollen); perhaps this …
Type: Blog
… wild and tasted like candy. We often brought some back to share with the family, but there is nothing quite like a strawberry fresh off the plant. Time lapse of a strawberry, … by Tomas ‘Frooxius’ Mariancik The Cultivated Strawberry The garden strawberry is the strawberry we most often think of when we think of strawberries. This is the strawberry from the clear plastic boxes you find at the grocery store. This strawberry is …
Type: Blog
… field of vision that helps it avoid predators. The most abundant dragonfly I’ve seen is the eastern pondhawk, with blue dasher dragonflies coming in a close second. I’m also seeing … as aquatic nymphs before they emerge into the beautiful winged insects we see on land, which is why you will often see them around water. They are fierce hunters in both stages. They don’t bite or sting humans, though. The common green darner dragonfly is one of the first dragonflies to emerge in the spring, and one of the species that can be found …
Type: Blog
… recently experienced the fascinating bloom cycle with the titan arum Sprout. However, there is an additional denizen of the Araceae (a.k.a. Aroid, a.k.a. Arum) family with rare and … flowers of Japanese cobra lily have a spathe (pulpit) with a spadix (jack) inside. The pulpit is striped purple with white on the outside, while the interior is a dark, shiny, chocolate color. What is different about the blossom of a Japanese cobra lily …
Type: Blog
… In gardening, as in life, patience is a virtue. Twelve years ago, the Garden embarked on a mission to bring a rock star of the plant … Botanic Garden. The titan arum ( Amorphophallus titanum ), also known as the corpse flower, is the largest flowering structure in the world. When it blooms, it puts on a show like no … its display location . Native to the rainforests of western Sumatra, Indonesia, the titan arum is distinguished by its large size, odd shape, and terrible stench (hence its common name, corpse …
Type: Blog
