… carbon and nitrogen, helping decomposition. The end result is similar to what you might buy in bags at a garden center. If you are worried about raccoons, possums, mice, and any other …
Type: Blog
As the weather cools, smart kitchen gardeners search for ways to stretch the growing season, hoping for a few more salads…an extra harvest of kale…or (gasp!) truly fresh veggies on the table at Thanksgiving. The idea of season extension—gaining a month longer to grow crops at either end of our rather short USDA Zone 5 season—is worthy of a home experiment. Hoophouses greatly increase vegetable …
Type: Plant Info
LEED Features The Chicago Botanic Garden has earned a Gold LEED rating from the U.S. Green Building Council for the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. The Plant Science Center received points in six categories including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, material and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. LEED …
Type: Page
Plant Breeding The Garden’s plant breeding program develops new perennial plants for introduction to the horticulture industry and gardeners alike. Focusing predominantly on plants native to North America, the program strives to develop novel hybrids with superior ornamental traits, cold hardiness, disease/pest resistance, heat/drought tolerance, and other adaptations to the rigors of Midwestern …
Type: Page
Tomato Talk | Support A Full Season of Tomato-Growing Information Staking, trellising, and caging In July, tomatoes seem to take on a whole new attitude. At the beginning of the season they are polite. They grow at a steady but manageable pace. But around the fourth of July, they get aggressive. They grow quickly and we soon realize they need some support. Tomato plants sprawl by nature, and left …
Type: Page
Victory Gardens The Victory Garden movement in World War II encouraged a nation of home gardens. This coloring book takes its inspiration from Vegetable Gardening in Wartime , published in 1943 by L. Richard Guylay, and A Curious Herbal , published in 1737 by Elizabeth Blackwell, which is in the Rare Book Collection of the Garden’s Lenhardt Library . Thanks to librarian Leora Siegel, who …
Type: Page
Chicago Botanic Garden, The Morton Arboretum pledge to safeguard threatened species for Reverse the Red Day What does an orchid in Malaysia have in common with an oak in Mexico? Both have found their way onto the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species. They have also found their way into plant conservation research at institutions thousands of miles …
Type: Blog
The genus Hibiscus is a large group of flowering plants in the mallow family. The name Hibiscus came from the Greek word “hibiskos” that meant “marshmallow.” The sticky root or stem of some plant in the mallow family was used at one time to make marshmallow confections. Some common names for hibiscus plants include hardy hibiscus, rose of Sharon, rose mallow, swamp mallow, and tropical hibiscus. …
Type: Plant Info
… Annuals, whether in garden beds or containers, are later on the list. These plants will die at the end of the season, and it does not make sense to waste valuable water on them, …
Type: Plant Info
In the constellation of singular spring flowers, there are a few stars that shine more brightly than the rest. Perhaps the fairest of them all is the great white trillium, Trillium grandiflorum , a woodland wildflower beloved by conservationists, gardeners, schoolchildren, and white-tailed deer. Also known as white wake-robin, snow trillium, trinity flower, or large-flowered trillium, it is …
Type: Plant Info
