… We get a lot of questions about one particular plant in the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden: Naranjilla (pronounced nahr-ahn- HEE -yah). It’s easy to see why. You can find this naranjilla ( Solanum quitoense ) in Bed #10 in the Growing Garden. This attractive plant has large, thick, green leaves, is about 10–12 …
Type: Blog
… the Greenhouses with Boyce Tankersley, director of living plant documentation, to see what’s in bloom and take in the different climates visitors can enjoy. In the Arid Greenhouse, we saw a number of species of aloe from South Africa just coming into …
Type: Blog
… Jesiolowski, Tom Weaver, Josh Schultes, Kelly Norris, and Steve McNamara (left to right) In a trip funded by the Plant Collecting Collaborative (PCC) , a consortium of public gardens, … developed, based on what plants our gardens deemed important for conservation, to fill a gap in our collections, or add beauty to our display gardens. And of course, we had the proper state and federal permits in hand for seed collecting. The six areas that we explored were typically oak-hickory forests, …
Type: Blog
… pollinators through Bees & Beyond, a program that reveals the vital role pollinators play in our everyday lives and in a healthy, diverse planet. The “beyond” in the title refers to bats, birds, butterflies, moths, wind, and generally any force or creature …
Type: Blog
… In the Chicago area, record-breaking weather was recorded in 2016 and 2017: For the first time in 146 years, the National Weather Service documented no measurable snowfall in either January or …
Type: Blog
… dressed students are shown sitting near a river, a specimen and an open floristic manual in each of their laps. Inspired, I stand up to look out my window at the plants in bloom in my campus view. I wonder if the present-day students walking past have seen them, too, and are …
Type: Blog
… century, when these and other waders were hunted for their feathery plumes that women wore in their hats. Since then, the great egret, standing more than 3 feet tall with a nearly 5-foot wing span, has become the symbol for the National Audubon Society, founded in part to stop these birds from being killed to extinction. Great egrets spend winter as far south as the West Indies, Central America, and South America. In spring, they migrate in small flocks during the day, eventually choosing a place farther north …
Type: Blog
… In August, when the jewelweed and cardinal flowers bloom, the ruby-throated hummingbird is … Ruby-throated hummingbird © Carol Freeman The ruby-throat is the only hummingbird to breed in eastern North America, and these tiny jewels are somewhat common nesters in Cook County … It’s at this time you might get lucky enough to observe the courting male as he flies in a U-shape and also buzzes in front of a perched female. Buzzes? Yes! Hummingbirds aren’t silent—you …
Type: Blog
… flower. Storing peony stems allows you to use early and mid-season blossoms together in an arrangement. Here are few tips to extend the bloom of cut peonies indoors. When cutting … buds that have just begun to open and feel similar to a marshmallow. Cut stems can be stored in the refrigerator for two to three weeks, but ... no fruit—such as apples—can be in the refrigerator with your peonies. The ethylene gas emitted by ripening fruit will cause …
Type: Blog
… As an active leader in international research collaborations, the Chicago Botanic Garden is participating in an … the Garden, served as co-coordinator of “A Workshop to Explore Enhancing Collaboration Between U.S. and Chinese Researchers in Systematic Biology,” held in late February at the South China Botanical Garden in Guangzhou, China. Funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and Natural Science Foundation of China, the workshop …
Type: Blog
