… It starts with a summer filled with scientific observation at the Nativars Research Plot in the Bernice E. Lavin Plant Evaluation Garden . The observer was Christian Acevedo, a Garden intern from Miami … provide the same resources for pollinators as their wild cousins. Understanding variation in pollinator attraction between natives and cultivars is critical to designing effective …
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… after being contacted by editors at Midwest Living magazine. Polling a number of experts in the Midwest, the editors asked for recommendations of award-worthy plants and then came up … with crazy beautiful flowers and one that’s so easy to grow that you basically just plant it in the right spot and water it. Best for Sun ‘Joanna Reed’ catmint ( Nepeta ‘Joanna Reed’) is one of the tidiest catmints I’ve ever grown, an attribute that cinched a top rating in our trial. The strong stems never flopped and new shoots grow quickly to conceal the declining …
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… Fruit & Vegetable Garden There, basil is king. (Of course it is—the word basil is rooted in the Greek basilikos , meaning royalty.) The bed is planted with seven very different basil varieties, laid out in a pinwheel design, and all grown from seed. It’s enough to make a gardener’s—or a … basilicum : ‘Dwarf Fine Bush’ The neat round globes that divide the pinwheel pack a big punch in those tiny leaves. This basil is highly aromatic, rich with cinnamon/anise/clove flavors. …
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… they are passing through. The good news is that there are a few warblers that actually nest in our area, so if you miss them during migration you can often find the nesting birds later in the summer. A great place to look for warblers, like this palm warbler (Setophaga palmarum) , is in all the willow trees around the Garden. A less common warbler is this beautiful Cape May …
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… vividly the first time I visited the Chicago Botanic Garden. I was silent (unusual for me) and in awe. Everywhere I looked, I saw plant labels, and looking at them provided me some kind of … Botanic gardens are living museums, and when you go to a museum, you want to know what is in front of you. A display plant’s name on the label is the first interaction between you, the … Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP). Only scientific names—written in Latin—are universal worldwide. The scientific name of a plant usually consists of its generic …
Type: Blog
… 22 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the creative team started by squinting at squares of color in the slant of the afternoon sun. The colors had to pop in daylight and for Orchids After Hours , an evening look at the Show with cocktails and light … That’s a hard no—too dance party-ish. Finally, for the space under the two-story skylight in Nichols Hall, we settled on translucent squares of mostly leafy green, sunny yellow, sky blue, …
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… has returned to the Chicago Botanic Garden this spring. Its bold blooms draw pollinators in as well as Garden visitors. What is it, you ask? Some of the most unusual plants our … become the epic plants you see throughout the Garden. You won’t find these Dr. Seussian plants in many other gardens in the Midwest (if you do, please let us know). Echium are native to the Canary Islands, regions …
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… is a two-way street, and plants can have a strong influence on the habitats they live in. We might experience this by walking in a forest and feeling ground beneath our feet that is spongy from the buildup of slowly … Some background: Ecosystem services are essentially benefits nature provides to humans (e.g., clean air and drinking water, food, and other resources). Sequestering carbon —removing it …
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… Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking at a symposium on plant exploration that was held in Des Moines, Iowa. The audience was enthralled following the plant-collecting exploits of such … focused on plant collecting a tad closer to home—not as exotic perhaps, but still crucial in support of my research as the Chicago Botanic Garden’s plant breeder. So let’s go seek out the … selections and garden advocates. It’s likely that every midwestern gardener has a phlox or two in their landscape. Most of the remaining 60-plus phlox species are relatively unknown to …
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… a few great ideas to get your taste buds going: Add a bit of mint to a basil pesto Grow thyme in unexpected flavors: orange, lime, lemon (all are growing in our kitchen herb garden) Dry and mix your own herbes de Provence recipe) Infuse lavender blossoms in lemonade Speaking of infusions, “herb mixologist” Kasey Bersett Eaves opened our eyes to the …
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