… 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
… 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
… Pondering the Prairie Series Life in the prairie in the middle of winter is fairly uneventful; at least for humans who focus primarily on life above ground. Perhaps now is a good time to reflect on the diversity of life in a prairie below ground. All one has to do is drive across the Midwest and view the unending …
Type: Blog
… There are some remarkable prairie plants in the Midwest. Here at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Dixon Prairie boasts more than 250 … about their life story. Something that might help you remember them when you happen upon them in a local natural area. Something other than a pretty face. Dodecatheon meadia : A Must-see of … Pride of Ohio Answer: Shooting star is the most common name for this species, at least in the Midwest. The plant’s myriad arching flower stalks sporting shooting stars falling to the …
Type: Blog
… Tequia Burt to write about the importance of African American heirloom seeds. Every year in my garden, I grow at least one African American heirloom crop, partly to commemorate … to plant heirloom seeds that our ancestors may have carried from Africa to help sustain them in a harsh, unknown land? Here are a few African American heirloom seeds that you can try growing in your own garden. Hill Country Red Okra OK, I’ll admit that okra is not my favorite—it’s slimy. …
Type: Blog
… new curator of woody plants, is not shy about listing his top picks. Spending his first summer in Glencoe, Douglas is especially taken with the variety of oaks at the Garden. The … points out the deep purple leaves on the English oak tree ( Quercus robur ‘ Purpurascens’) in the meadow east of the English Walled Garden, and the cutleaf emperor oak ( Quercus dentata … ‘Purpurascens’) He favors the narrow, upright Regal Prince oak ( Quercus × warei ‘Long’)—in the rainwater glen on the southeast corner of the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation …
Type: Blog
