… to bloom in the last few years. What makes it a rare event? A. It takes seven to ten years for a single corpse flower to gather enough energy to begin its bloom cycle. The Garden began … Q. How do you know when the bud is going to bloom? A. There are three main clues we look for when determining the peak bloom. First, as the arum “powers up” its bloom cycle, it grows … is imminent. It's really not an exact science, but these clues give us a general time frame for the bloom. Q: How long does the plant bloom? A. The plant generally blooms for 24 to 36 …
Type: Page
… them recently, but I’d admit to 50-plus plants. I simply find orchids to be fascinating for their seemingly infinite variations of flower sizes, shapes, colors, fragrance (very … from spores, with a smaller collection of orchids. She would send me home with plants on every visit, all of which I eventually lost, as I didn’t really have a clue as to how to grow them! But … quite a few orchid shows and meetings, gave lectures on orchids, and had the chance to visit some of the venerable orchid businesses like Stewart Orchids in California, Fennell’s …
Type: Blog
… came to do the work. Since 2004, the Garden has hosted the 10-week, paid Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, giving college students hands-on experience in real-world … Interns learn all aspects of the research journey, attend professional development workshops, visit other scientific institutions, and present their research at a capstone symposium. Together … and other local pollinators. This summer, these interns are studying pollinator preferences for various common garden plants. A moment to relax. Interns take a break from the lab to explore …
Type: Blog
… Chris Baker has been studying and working on bonsai for more than 16 years. Like so many, he started out as an enthusiast with a true love of … to natural-looking bonsai, North American species, and American potters. This led Baker to visit other bonsai curators, professionals, and ceramicists around the country to study this …
Type: Staff bio
… here courtesy of Ayse’s mother, Figen Ormancioglu, who kindly brought it with her on a recent visit. (The family surname translates as “son of the forester”—Ayse’s love of botany is in her … “Chai,” “junipers,” and “I’ll have another glass,” were three answers; the flavor is hard for American taste buds to define. Sweet and savory and spicy all at once, there’s a note of bark …
Type: Blog
… to most soil conditions, and some can even tolerate salt spray. They make excellent screening for privacy, tolerate urban pollution, and can be pruned to suit the site. Large specimens lend a … look to a landscape, where tinier species are perfectly at home in hot, dry rock gardens. And for gardeners in wooded areas, here's the best feature of all — the deer leave them alone! Do you … here are merely meant to whet your appetite to the large number of junipers available today. A visit to the newly renovated Dwarf Conifer Garden will provide more inspiration for how to use …
Type: Plant Info
… The most common tree in the Chicago area is from Europe—and that’s bad news for our native plants and animals. Introduced to the United States in the early 1900s as an … volunteers, have worked since 1988 to repair and restore this important woodland habitat. Visit: McDonald Woods is located along Lake Cook Road from the Garden entrance east to Green Bay …
Type: Blog
… people. Her house in the Hudson Valley was full of exotic tropicals and orchids that she cared for meticulously. And yet she was always ready to give them away when anyone showed an interest in one, which for me was every visit. She would carefully divide an established plant that she had nurtured for decades, wrap up …
Type: Blog
… What does it mean for plants? The temperatures have been slowly dropping and sporadic frost has put the brakes on … extend the last harvest as we move closer to winter. Frost or Freeze? The typical average date for the first fall frost in the greater Chicago area is October 15. In some years, the first … 12 to 16 inches of hardware cloth in the soil about 3 inches away from the trunk. If deer visit your garden, deter them from eating twigs or rubbing antlers by placing snow fencing or …
Type: Plant Info
… Seed Sourcing through the Lenhardt Library It's January, and it's time to order seeds for your garden. You type seeds into your search engine—only to get 257,000,000 results. Next … Have an unusual interest? So do the mushroom folks at Garden City Fungi ( gardencityfungi.com ), the banana experts at Going Bananas ( going-bananas.com ), and the Kitazawa Seed Company ( … at the Garden, the database is accessible only through the Lenhardt Library's computers—so visit the library and one of our helpful librarians will work with you to find what you need. Or …
Type: Plant Info
