… making billions of spores that spread and grow into new organisms. You can take advantage of this phenomenon to make a beautiful print on paper. How to Make Spore Prints All you need are … can use mushrooms found growing outside or buy them from the market. When selecting mushrooms for spore prints, look for these things: The cap should be fully open with the gills exposed The … on the mushroom They should look like mushrooms you want to eat This portobello mushroom is good for making spore prints. This shiitake mushroom may be a little old—notice the brown …
Type: Blog
… Center Free Pat Herendeen , senior director of Systematics and Evolutionary Biology at the Chicago Botanic Garden, discusses plant diversity and conservation in Brazil. Photo: …
Type: Event for Calendar
… girls would will not sit still and listen to another lesson. I decided to make a board game for them. The main message of this game was a really important one: in Chicago, all of our water for drinking, cleaning, and recreation comes from Lake Michigan. If we waste water, then we waste the lake. It is that simple. The Water Conservation Game is set up and ready to play. The girls responded …
Type: Blog
… pondhawk dragonfly, female. Most dragonflies have very different-looking males and females. This one was in the Native Plant Garden. Photo ©Carol Freeman. Some of the dragonflies migrate … field of vision that helps it avoid predators. The most abundant dragonfly I’ve seen is the eastern pondhawk, with blue dasher dragonflies coming in a close second. I’m also seeing … dragonflies and tend to hold their wings above their bodies. (See my blog post Damselflies 101 for more information.) Blue dasher dragonfly, female. She looks very different from her male …
Type: Blog
… a drey , when they see one. The eastern gray squirrels in our region build dreys in trees for shelter and protection from the elements. What you see as a messy clump of leaves is actually a structure formed from sticks and then lined with leaves and other materials to make it a dry and cozy home. This month I was walking around my neighborhood in Chicago, and I noticed that three out of four …
Type: Blog
… What better way to celebrate spring and keep kids busy than with mud? All you need is a muddy buddy, a few basic supplies, and a sprinkling of imagination to try these fun, nature-based ideas at home. Mud Cupcakes Remember making mud pies as a kid? We’ve given this classic a makeover. Shrinking to a smaller, more manageable cupcake size keeps the mess down … a paper grocery bag or use newspaper to spread out on a table. This creates a clear work space for your child and makes clean up a breeze. 2. Grab a small pail to make the mud in. Let your …
Type: Blog
… Poland, to spend the summer with relatives. My grandparents’ farm was the home base for my adventures with cousins and siblings. We spent hours in the breezy northern hills, picking … wild and tasted like candy. We often brought some back to share with the family, but there is nothing quite like a strawberry fresh off the plant. Time lapse of a strawberry, … The garden strawberry is the strawberry we most often think of when we think of strawberries. This is the strawberry from the clear plastic boxes you find at the grocery store. This …
Type: Blog
… If you carve a pumpkin for Halloween or make a pumpkin pie from scratch, you’re going to have a lot of pumpkin seeds. You can put them to good use by turning them into “dice” and playing math games this fall. Baked pumpkin seeds Preparation First, remove, clean, and dry the seeds. After … of dice you make will depend on the game you want to play, but for all games the basic idea is the same. Players will toss the seeds and the side that lands face up is the number they …
Type: Blog
… A wonderful small-scale tree with glossy leaves, the Frontier elm turns reddish-purple in autumn. “It’s unlike most other elms and it also …
Type: Plant Info
… Fully double fuchsia-pink fragrant flowers appear in early summer and again in early fall if the spring flowers are dead-headed (removed). More tolerant of heat and humidity than most …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
