… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… and—critically—more forgiving of ourselves. Additional evidence of this has been published in recent issues of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Nature . Gardeners recognize this power: We find therapy digging in the earth, getting our hands dirty, and participating intimately in the miracles of life, as … leader? How would I balance the pressure of meetings, phone calls, and ever-increasing e-mail traffic while ensuring that dinner was on the table and my sons’ homework was completed on …
Type: Blog
… One of the most recognized lines from Shakespeare is the following: “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.” You would have to read Hamlet to get the backstory, but one thing I know as an ecologist, is that we would be in a lot of trouble if there wasn’t a whole lot of rot going on all over the place. You can … our oak woodland, that if things were not constantly rotting, you would be up to your eyeballs in dead leaves, and it would be almost impossible to walk anyway, because of the mass of dead …
Type: Blog
… It’s finally starting to feel like spring in Chicago, which means it’s time to get those home gardens up and running. In the Horticultural Therapy Department, we’re in the process of setting up our off-site gardens at facilities all over the greater Chicago …
Type: Blog
