… plants in their own landscapes. The unusual features of the witch hazel family make it an excellent choice for such adventurous gardeners. Witch hazel offers yellow and red fragrant … bloom in fall and winter are of primary interest. Some can be the earliest shrubs to bloom, with their blossoms emerging while the brown seed capsules from the previous year are still … it is the most fragrant of them all. It is one of the earliest plants to flower in Illinois, with a profusion of slightly larger, yellow flowers appearing in late winter to very early …
Type: Plant Info
… Sow seeds in March and April for a fast, flavorful harvest. It will be a few months before we can safely plant tomatoes, peppers, … spicy, sometimes frilly leaves. ‘Red Giant’ mustard produces beautiful, purple-tinted leaves with a mild mustard flavor. Rainbow in a Pot Swiss chard is another colorful spring favorite that … very easy to grow from seed. ‘Bright Lights’ is a lively mix of green, red, and bronze leaves with stems that are gold, pink, orange, red, and white. Chard seeds start to germinate as soon as …
Type: Plant Info
… infrastructure. To increase native seed availability, the Garden and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are bringing together governments, nonprofits, and the nursery industry to build the …
Type: Research
… Pollinators are crucial to the health of the planet, helping with everything from the food we eat to the cycle of life. You can welcome pollinators such as … as 100 honeybees. Mason bees pollinate a wide variety of flowers, in addition to fruit trees, with a particular emphasis on the rose family. They are generalists though, so they pollinate … invite nature’s best pollinators to call your garden home. Rot-resistant cedar or redwood are excellent materials to use, but recycling-minded gardeners can reuse whatever wood they have or …
Type: Plant Info
… to their strongest advantage—not lined up like so many plants on parade, but integrated with companion plantings of soft, sheltering evergreens, ground covers, vines, and perennials, … designed to complement the colors of the roses. The garden is a true stroll garden, with winding paths leading visitors in a circular fashion from the dark, richly red-toned roses … In between these extremes are the floribundas, like Singin' in the Rain ™ and Pink Iceberg ™ . Excellent choices for mixed borders or smaller spaces, the floribundas usually remain shorter and …
Type: Walks
… prominence far removed from its place on the prairie. Switchgrass can produce high yields with very low applications of fertilizer, greatly lessening the need for agricultural chemicals and making it appealing as a crop, along with its perennial nature. Bransby suggests that co-firing switchgrass with coal to produce … is distinctive with this 4- to 5-foot grass. The flower panicles persist for months and are excellent additions to cut-flower arrangements. Even in fall, the foliage remains blue while the …
Type: Plant Info
… grow herbs on a south- or west-facing sunny windowsill or under a kitchen cabinet fitted with an LED or other light bulb. If you’re growing them under lights, they should get 10 to 12 … in egg and potato dishes and in gravies. It can be used in a cucumber salad as well as with poultry, cheese, carrots, green beans, peas, or cottage cheese. Once the plant flowers, you … three to four weeks. Chervil is quick to flower and go to seed (bolt) in hot weather. It is excellent in salads, soups, and vinaigrettes and with seafood. When using it in a soup or other …
Type: Plant Info
… and upright. Besides the spring flowers, the display is followed again in late summer with colorful fruits, providing for two seasons of outstanding interest. And, let’s not forget … have semi-double or double blossoms. Bud color ranges from pure white to dark purple-red with many variations. The flower color may be different than that of the bud. Depending on the … blossoms have a light, spicy scent. Fruits Crabapples put on a second show in late summer with fruits that are yellow, bright red, dark purple-red, maroon, gold or a brilliant orange. …
Type: Plant Info
… In general, gardeners are game folks—always ready to grow a new seed, experiment with an unusual plant variety, or to give a fresh cutting a try. What's often called a lily pad … each year for their container gardens or water features. Our Heritage Garden pools are filled with tropicals. "Hardy" refers to waterlilies (many are white and yellow) that can survive our … tropicals instead. Both tropical and hardy rhizomes can be overwintered. Our Plant Information Service team has a succinct summary of how-tos here: …
Type: Plant Info
… has for rose gardeners. As the senior horticulturist at the Rose Garden, Tom knows how to deal with roses at every stage of their lives: young and old, tended and in need of pruning, healthy … lot of energy to support an old cane, which therefore won't produce as many flowers. The canes with the potential to produce the most roses will be young, new shoots. Rosa 'Golden Wings' … musts. When it comes to roses, you'll be working with long, whipping canes loaded with thorns—excellent reasons for extra precautions. Need new pruners? The Garden Shop carries these sturdy …
Type: Plant Info
