… food scraps. Remember not to put meat, dairy, citrus peels, onion, garlic, or chili peppers in your worm bin. These foods will make the bin smell bad, will attract flies, or will be …
Type: Blog
… point,” Sherwood said. “That’s not always at the first leaf union—sometimes it’s deeper in the crown of the plant.” Look closely at the stem just below the old flower. You’ll often see …
Type: Blog
… Experts in reforestation are concerned with the reasons why some replanted sites 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 Botanic … University, and collaborators at China’s Central South University of Forestry and Technology. In densely populated places such as the Chicago area and Changsha, the capitol of the Hunan …
Type: Blog
… When Science First student Divine isn’t at the Chicago Botanic Garden, she’s in her backyard, trying to use her iffy, only-works-when-it-wants-to telescope and peering into … school bus from designated stops all around the city to spend up to four weeks being immersed in a free, nature-based science enrichment program. Science First inspires students in grades 8 to 10 who come from backgrounds underrepresented in science to pursue careers in …
Type: Blog
… Gems from Faraway Places Do you have hostas, daylilies, a Japanese maple, or a star magnolia in your garden? How about marigolds, coleus, a gingko, or a panicle hydrangea? If so, this is a testimony to the many plant explorers who, in the past four centuries, traveled far and wide, for years at a time, in search of new plants. The story of plant exploration is a thrilling chapter in the annals of …
Type: Blog
… mollis ‘Thriller’ and suddenly wonder, “What should my costume be this year?” One perennial in particular has a designation so dark, it can conjure up a gruesome ghost story: Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Lady in Black’ Side-flowering aster A late-fall frost, not ghostly images, sets off Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Lady in Black’. Image courtesy Northcreek Nursery Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Lady in Black’ was …
Type: Blog
… importance are adding biodiversity and sustainability. Both of these elements are omnipresent in gravel gardens. The origins of gravel gardening are rooted in Essex, EngIand, via Beth Chatto, Cassian Schmidt at the Hermannshof Garden in Germany, and Roy Diblik of Northwind Farm in Wisconsin. I was introduced to gravel gardens …
Type: Blog
… President’s Day was established in 1885 as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents past and present. It also seems to be just the … right day for me to share the highlights of my visit to the White House with you. Smack dab in the middle of last fall’s Cubs playoff series against the Mets, on the same day that Vice …
Type: Blog
… A new collaboration between Garden scientists and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is hoping to expand the range of a species once extinct in Illinois. Garden scientists, students, and collaborators are conducting research to guide … Drs. Jeremie Fant and Andrea Kramer, and collaborators Jenny Finfera and Cathy Pollack at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to understand genetic and ecological limits to its recovery in …
Type: Research
… The Victory Garden movement in World War II encouraged a nation of gardens. The results were impressive: 20 million gardens were established, and 40 percent of fruits and vegetables were homegrown. In Chicago, the Chicago Horticultural Society, the parent organization of the Chicago Botanic … had a leading role, helping to create the largest acreage of urban land under cultivation in the country. That legacy continues today. The Garden’s Windy City Harvest program has …
Type: Blog
