… is sowing seeds for the annual displays on the Garden's grounds and for plants used in classes and camps. She is especially interested in the complex strategies that plants have developed to prevent the germination of their seeds until conditions are favorable for the seedlings' survival. In her work, she researches and tests different techniques to break these germination inhibitors …
Type: Staff bio
… the Chicago Botanic Garden’s plant collection is the more than 70 species of Amorphophallus . In particular, Amorphophallus titanum , also called the titan arum or corpse flower, has gained … bloom time—a hybrid of week-old gym socks and a rotting mouse that you just can’t seem to find in your kitchen. The Garden began collecting titan arums, or corpse flowers, in 2003. There’s a worldwide conservation effort to preserve the species, as it is considered …
Type: Blog
… within seed mixes, and their combined potential to power up to the diversity level found in remnant prairies. A healthy, diverse prairie Urban and agricultural development has left us … of prairieland, which is vital part of our ecosystem. Today, the prairie can be found only in small patches, and scientists at the Chicago Botanic Garden study prairie plants and their … question is what restored plant communities will look like. Restored prairies can and do grow in all kinds of places, according to Barak, who conducted fieldwork at dozens of sites within an …
Type: Blog
… are filled with an abundance of foliage, plants, and animal life unlike any other ecosystem in the Chicago Wilderness region. Among other benefits, they help to filter rainwater. Rare … remnant woodlands, and fish are a part of this shadowed world that has long been entrenched in mystery for local residents and scientists alike. As urbanization, erosion, increasingly … Plants of Concern program. “They are delicate landscapes. It can be challenging to get in to them. It can be challenging to move around on the steep slopes.” Those challenges have not …
Type: Blog
… what do chickens have to do with the environment? There are a number of ways that having hens in your backyard can be environmentally beneficial. Poultry Pest Patrol Jennifer Murtoff of Home … to test the insect-finding power of poultry. They placed hundreds of insect pest decoys in leaf litter, placing some litter in the chicken pen and some outside. A day later, they examined both piles and recovered any …
Type: Blog
… answers to unsolved scientific questions. Purple milkweed ( Asclepias purpurascens ) blooms in the McDonald Woods. “Nothing out there exists by itself. It’s all a network,” said Steffen. … to document, study, and breathe life into the systems that sustain a healthy woodland. In the late 1800s, most area native oaks were cleared, leaving behind a fragmented and altered … including buckthorn and nonnative critters, such as all of our present-day earthworms, moved in. The climate began to change. While many may have thrown up their hands and walked away from …
Type: Blog
… of a bonsai gradually become active. During this time, the energy of the tree that was stored in the roots over the winter begins to move back up into the tree branches. As this happens, the … Dormant bud Swelling bud Extending bud Opening bud The best time to repot is generally in the middle of this process, when the roots are active, and the buds are in the swelling and extending stage. All repotting should be done by the time the trees are in …
Type: Blog
… tissue between the upper and lower surface of the leaf, leaving the edges and surfaces intact. In order to occupy the incredibly thin space within a leaf, most of these larvae are flat and move their heads back and forth from side to side as they excavate the material in front of them. Usually, the adult insect lays an egg on the leaf of a host plant and when it … eat those plants. Many of these species of insect can be identified by the patterns they make in the leaf. The patterns may start out as very tiny trails in the leaf that continually get …
Type: Blog
… and Meghan Markle? Visit the Helen and Richard Thomas English Walled Garden instead. If you’re in Chicago this weekend, that means—like most of us—you didn’t get an invite to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a graduate of Northwestern University. Get in the spirit of the occasion anyway by visiting the English Walled Garden at the Chicago Botanic … of the experience. Here are just some of the connections to British royalty that can be found in the English Walled Garden: The garden was dedicated by a member of the British Royal Family. …
Type: Blog
… the expiration date for color and excitement at the Chicago Botanic Garden—and it shouldn’t be in your garden either. We asked Tim Pollak, outdoor floriculturist, and Cindy Baker, manager of … of color options for your garden. Phlox cultivars add shades of showy pink, lavender, or white in clusters of delicate-looking flowers. Their sweet fragrance will attract late-season … hummingbirds to your own backyard. Garden phlox are generally hardy plants and will grow well in sun or shade. Plant in midspring with a layer of mulch to retain soil moisture for maximum …
Type: Blog
