… the mushroom du jour. Three of the cases involved this toxic mushroom that is commonly found in yards after summer rains. It looks lovely, and it usually won’t kill you, but I’m told that it … starting one to three hours after ingestion. This is the most commonly eaten toxic mushroom in the United States. It might seem like a bumper crop of free eats in your lawn, but Chlorophyllum molybdites is toxic. Today’s other culprit was Panaeolina …
Type: Blog
… What’s the first plant you ever loved? In the past two years since I co-founded Plant Love Stories, people have told me their stories. I … you remember your grandma’s hydrangeas, neighborhood trees you climbed as a child, or a plant in a habitat far from home that stoked your curiosity about the natural world. Maybe it’s the … its name that you started to really notice it. Maybe there’s a plant you encountered somewhere in your past that changed everything: your hobby, your professional path, your livelihood, your …
Type: Blog
… this past spring and summer. Lately, the butterflies have gotten the lion’s share of PR. In particular, the monarch butterfly is on nearly everyone’s radar, due to its precarious … and moths, the numbers of moth species outnumber the butterflies by more than ten to one in North America ! In fact, there is a moth species that is also dependent on milkweeds—the milkweed tussock moth ( …
Type: Blog
… for a remarkable diversity of fossil plants and animals. The Early Cretaceous of Mongolia in particular is well known for its fossil dinosaurs and other vertebrates, but fossil plants … and vegetational change, immediately prior to the major diversification of angiosperms. In Mongolia we are studying well-preserved seed plants from multiple Early Cretaceous age … cones, seeds and other plant parts preserved three-dimensionally as lignified mesofossils. In addition, there are also well-preserved compression fossils from several localities. From the …
Type: Staff bio
… Washington Carver did not seek wealth or fame for his work. He found personal satisfaction in scientific discovery and using his talents to make the world a better place for farmers and … about sustainable urban agriculture to improve the health, nutrition, and livelihood of people in need, just as he did for rural farmers 100 years ago. The Garden's Windy City Harvest grows … not a historian or biographer, so this story will omit details about Carver’s life—he was born in Missouri to a slave mother and eventually became a botany professor at Tuskegee University. …
Type: Blog
… Add a little brightness to your family's day—play with food, make rainbow dough—and get in some nature play, too. Ready to turn ☹️ into☺? Nature Rainbow Scavenger Hunt Lace up your … preserve, or go off the grid. See if you can find something that was not made by a human in every shade of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. It's extra … you just have to look a little harder to find your gallery of gratitude.. Coloring in the Kitchen Hey, kids, here are three recipes that make playing with your food even more fun! …
Type: Blog
… There comes a time in every plant parent’s life when you begin to think about expanding your family. Are you ready … need a whole stem—you can just cut off a part of the leaf as your cutting. 2. Dip the cutting in rooting powder or gel Rooting solution makes roots grow more quickly and uniform, said Thomas. You can find rooting powder or gel at most garden centers. 3. Put the cutting in a mix of potting mix and perlite Although some cuttings can root in water, Thomas said plants …
Type: Blog
… to identify different kinds of evergreens by their needles and cones. It’s a lesson in sorting and classifying plants—in other words: taxonomy. Conifer vs. Evergreen Every year we remind students of the meanings of … therefore is not an evergreen, is the bald cypress. These can be very attractive when covered in snow. (The bald cypress trees growing in the Heritage Garden have been pruned at the top and …
Type: Blog
… like to pay tribute to someone special or mark a special occasion, they can dedicate a book in the library in the same way that they might dedicate a tree or a bench in other Garden areas.” Later that summer, my mom passed away. As my thoughts eventually turned …
Type: Blog
… the garden along the Garden Wall and Berm has been a learning experience. The Garden section in question, located by the big Edens Expressway (northbound lanes) sign. Originally, the design … Botanic Garden sign—included Tatarian aster ( Aster tataricus ‘Jindai’), which stands tall in the fall and produces clouds of small lavender-blue flowers well into late October and even … produce a forest of these plants. Unfortunately, they soon encompassed pretty much everything in their path. Even the hearty feather reed grass ( Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) …
Type: Blog
