… if you’re looking for inexpensive, unusual containers to hold your plants. The only caveat is that if the container has no drainage holes, it’s best to keep the plant in its original … lighted kitchen cabinets where they take up very little space. During winter, the sunlight is weaker than in summer, but it’s also at a different angle—lower in the sky—and comes more … tins that have a few drainage holes in the bottom, courtesy of a hammer and nail. If one mini is good, a grouping of them is even better. Here is a sample of space-conscious plants for your …
Type: Plant Info
… at the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. How do carnivorous plants get their nutrients? The pretty pitcher plant ( Sarracenia leucophylla) , for instance, attracts … How do carnivorous plants attract pollinators and insects to eat at the same time? This is a complex question. Using different odor cues, color cues, and potentially even distance … challenge. Keep in mind, these plants would fail if they were eating their pollinators. Below is an example of a Sarracenia leucophylla flower used to attract its pollinator, compared to its …
Type: Blog
… We see this celebration in action every day at Butterflies & Blooms , where visitors can get an up-close look at my personal favorite fluttering pollinator, butterflies. While it is easy to be swept away by the magnificent beauty of lepidopteran, it is important to recognize their greater role in this turning and churning machine we call earth. …
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 landscape, and endless fall activities, I simply can’t get enough of the many opportunities that fall brings. Fall also happens to be my favorite … ( If you choose to fill your pumpkin with a planted flower, I would recommend using 1-2 cell-pack pansies per pumpkin.) Therapeutic benefits One of my favorite aspects of this …
Type: Blog
… in length, with the tail being about a quarter of the length of the body and head combined. It is by far the largest of the shrews we will see here. They are generally a velvety, dark gray … snow. Imprints in the snow of a screech owl’s wings tell the story of the shrew that didn’t get away. Although short-tailed shrews are primarily crepuscular or nocturnal in their habits, … in a terrarium. I placed an upright log in the enclosure for it to climb up on so I could get a better picture. As I approached with the camera, the shrew spun around to face me and leapt …
Type: Blog
… It’s finally starting to feel like spring in Chicago, which means it’s time to get those home gardens up and running. In the Horticultural Therapy Department, we’re in the … Enabling Garden. To start your own home horticultural therapy garden, the first thing you need is a good container. At the Buehler Enabling Garden, as well as off-site gardens, horticultural … or focus plant such as a Pennisetum rueppelianum grass or Caladium X hortulanum (1) . This plant can be placed along the side or in the middle. I like to place my focus plant …
Type: Blog
… themselves. Through hybridization, there now are more than 70,000 varieties of dahlia, about 1,500 of which are popularly grown. Here are some tips for growing these beautiful plants in the … the plants will receive at least six hours of sunlight. Since dahlias do not like to get their “feet” wet, the area should not accumulate water and should drain well. If the soil is clay-like, it should be amended with leaf mulch, compost, or peat moss. Since dahlias should …
Type: Blog
… are helping experts, like Chicago Botanic Garden scientist Louise Egerton-Warburton, Ph.D. , get a better look at fungi than ever before, and discover vital information. “One of the problems we have with soil science is that you can’t see into it so you really depend on a lot of techniques and methods to work out … such as fully decomposing a leaf. A lot of fungi are needed to keep the system working. “You get 110 yards of fungal material in every teaspoon of soil,” she explained. Aside from breaking …
Type: Blog
… may be interested to know that different foods come from different parts of the plant. Here is a fun and educational activity that will foster creativity in children of all ages. … a large kitchen knife and cutting surface, cut the fruit and vegetables different ways to get different effects during stamping. Celery is the most versatile; you can create rosette, crescent moons, and lines from celery. Most other …
Type: Blog
… level. They play an important role in small landscapes, especially in urban sites where this is no room for a large tree. The individual flowers may be exceptionally small —like those of the … Eastern redbud—but so plentiful and eye-popping that you just can’t miss them when the tree is in full bloom. Magnolias are also spectacular, but they have large, primitive-looking … can be yellow, bright red, dark purple-red, maroon, or a brilliant orange. Crabapples often get a bad rap because some are very susceptible to disease, especially after a wet spring. The …
Type: Plant Info
