… Pondering the Prairie Series Rosa setigera , or Illinois rose, grows in moist prairies and thickets, and is a typical wild rose in many ways: five pink petals, with lots of yellow stamens in the center supported by prickly stems. There are distinct differences, however. Illinois rose …
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… Have you noticed all the mushrooms popping up in lawns, mulch, and next to trees? We asked Greg Mueller , Ph.D., chief scientist and Negaunee … is comprised of a mass of microscopic threads ( hyphae ), known as the mycelium that grows in the soil , leaf litter, wood chips, tree, etc. You can sometime see the usually white, cottony … are borne on the gills of mushrooms or inside the pores of bracket fungi. Was the increase in mushrooms due to the rain? When conditions are right (and what is right somewhat depends on …
Type: Blog
… On a typical day in the Butterflies & Blooms exhibition, you will see our butterflies flying, sunning themselves, or resting in the foliage. If you happen to come to the exhibition just after a rain shower, and the sun is shining, it’s your lucky day, because love is literally in the air. I remember one day in the exhibition when the weather was lousy. It had been raining …
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… weeds wither, moisture plentiful. If you don’t have much space, remember that can vegetables in containers, window boxes, hanging baskets. Don’t say good-bye to your summer garden yet … ideas for next year. Make a list of the plants that worked and should be planted again. Bring in twigs, nuts, berries, and seedheads to dry for fall decorations or winter wreath making . … into bunches, and secure them with a rubber band. Hang the bunches for several weeks to dry in a warm spot (but out of direct sun). Harvest herbs to dry, freeze, or use fresh. Lift tender …
Type: Blog
… you had to repot your orchids shortly after purchasing them because they are often packed in sphagnum moss, which provides too much moisture for the plant. I was also not aware that you … every one to two years to maintain healthy plants. Anne Nies, a master’s degree candidate in the Garden and Northwestern University’s Plant Biology and Conservation program, is an expert in all things orchids, both native and tropical. She took some time this past fall to show me …
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… farm was the home base for my adventures with cousins and siblings. We spent hours in the breezy northern hills, picking the sweetest strawberries I ever had. They grew wild and … , which has only been around for about 260 years, and has undergone a lot of breeding in that time. Fragaria × ananassa is actually a cross of the Chilean and Virginia (or wild) strawberry, which arrived in Europe in 1712 and 1624, respectively. The hybrid plant was discovered in the 1750s and …
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… In other seasons, people tend to breeze right by conifers in favor of, say, roses that scent summer evenings or crabapple trees that flower in the spring. But in winter—especially after a dusting of snow—pines and other conifers are the …
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… Field & Florist’s Heidi Joynt, we learned to turn those branches into lovely, living wreaths in a perfectly timed class at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Sterling Range heather ( Ciliatum … willow varieties Flowering almond ( Prunus triloba ) Heidi Joynt demonstrated how to layer in curly willow cuttings and delicate flowering branches like bridal veil and bridal wreath … Most Chicago-area yards have a flowering shrub or tree, much admired when it bursts into bloom in spring. While some intrepid gardeners know to cut early branches to force bloom indoors, Joynt …
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… My Great Aunt Lila used to say that plants bring out the goodness in people. Her house in the Hudson Valley was full of exotic tropicals and orchids that she cared for meticulously. And yet she was always ready to give them away when anyone showed an interest in one, which for me was every visit. She would carefully divide an established plant that she …
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… the structural racism at the heart of the European colonization of the "New World" that began in 1492 and the displacement of indigenous people. In a great many cases, the names of the plants, and animals, and places the indigenous people … words—erased. Many of the Garden’s stories have not addressed this very real issue. In addition, our interpretation has been very light touch, and, in some cases, has failed to tell …
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