… though you may not realize it, it’s part of your daily prep for work, school, and play. In a small, sunny, grassy, flat, fenced-in plot (there’s a reason for that), located on the outer road that encircles the Garden, stands … Temperature A soil thermometer is as handy for home gardeners as it is for us—especially in spring, when it tells gardeners if it’s warm enough to put seeds in the ground. We measure the …
Type: Blog
… Here’s a science project students can do at home! Try tomato seeds. As I’ve stated before, we in the education department of the Chicago Botanic Garden are committed to helping parents and … off the cutting board. As you will discover (if you didn’t already know) the seeds are coated in a gelatinous substance that makes them slippery and difficult to handle. So the first question … tract of an animal and still germinate. Not all seeds can do that. It is possible that in nature, the coating protects the seeds on their journey from the mother plant through the …
Type: Blog
… with use of native plantings and integrative pest management techniques. I’m also interested in the use and promotion of native species in urban landscapes. Growing up in Chicago I relished the time being in parks and found it captivating when I’d get the rare …
Type: Staff bio
… Evaluation Garden allows us to expand our acclaimed plant evaluation program, which began in 1982. The landscape plan by Wirtz International Landscape Architects includes specialty … crabapple tunnels, deciduous hedges, and playful ornamental grass mounds that come together in a distinctive, non-traditional design. David received his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at Northeastern Illinois University. His interest the outdoors began as …
Type: Staff bio
… Join me in contemplating the sweetness of plants. All sugar comes from plants. All of it. Plants are the … pictured here, and be ready to cover loosely with a piece of paper towel like the glass shown in the middle. Directions First, assemble the hardware. Cut the bamboo skewer to 6 to 8 inches, … into the glass without allowing it to touch the sides. Cut a piece of paper towel with a hole in the center. This will go over the top of your glass to prevent dust from settling on the …
Type: Blog
… The night Spike blooms will thrill us all in the semi-tropical greenhouse, with its breathtaking flower…accompanied by a titanically rotten … with an update on Spike, our still-growing titan arum. Spike continues to get bigger, not only in height, but also in girth! What we’re really curious about, however, is the aroma. The stench is one of the cool …
Type: Blog
… to the natural world for inspiration on how to enjoy the eclipse— here at the Garden , or in your own backyard. On Monday, August 21, 2017, people across the United States witnessed a rare event: the first total solar eclipse to cross over the country from coast to coast in nearly a century. The path of totality—meaning the area of the United States that saw the sun completely blocked by the moon—passes across southern Illinois. In the Chicago area, we experienced roughly 86 percent coverage around 1:19 p.m. This was the …
Type: Blog
… we grow here, half trace their origin to Asia, and more than one-third of all plant cultivars in our collection emanate from the same source. What would the Garden look like without Asian plants? Spring would have no forsythia, crabapple, daffodils or tulips. In summer, eight out of every ten kinds of rose we grow—gone, along with daylilies, hostas, and … as well. The list of culinary vegetables from Asia is exhaustive. Wheat and barley originated in western Asia, and rice in the east. Fruits include lemons, limes, oranges, pears, apricots, …
Type: Blog
… fall asters, many of them blooming throughout October. Look for bottle and cream gentians in the Garden’s Dixon Prairie or elsewhere. Buried beneath the riot of asters, sunflowers, … time when its grassland habitat has reached its peak height. Prairie gentian can only be found in remnant prairies of high quality, of which very few have survived. To find this rare gem is a … is its cousin, fringed gentian (Gentianopsis crinita) . Fringed gentians can be found in greater concentrations in sand prairies, its preferred habitat. Although it is also short in …
Type: Blog
… as gifts around the holidays. Unfortunately, many of these trees don’t survive very long. In this blog, I will cover some of the dos and don’ts about purchasing a bonsai as a gift, tell … bonsai for sale at a large garden center During the holiday season, little areas pop up in megastores and mall kiosks to sell bonsai (or “mall-sai,” as I call them). These bonsai are … avoid that tree. It is also a good idea to feel the soil. If a tree is bone dry or standing in water, that should be a concern. Many of these trees are mass produced this time of the year. …
Type: Blog
