… see a special guest star at the Tropical Greenhouse: Alice the Amorphophallus is on display, in full and glorious fruit! Visitors are asking: why are some of the berries on the titan arum … while others are big and plump? Dr. Pat Herendeen and “Titan Tim” Pollak plucked a few of each in mid-February, X-rayed them, and performed a bit of berry surgery to get the answer. An x-ray … pollinated by Stinky (Denver Botanic Gardens, 2015). X-rays showed that seeds had developed in the larger berries—those pollinated with pollen from Stinky, the titan arum that recently …
Type: Blog
… work space for your child and makes clean up a breeze. 2. Grab a small pail to make the mud in. Let your child spoon some dirt into the pail. 3. Add a small amount of water and stir. This … the liners. 5. Decorate the top of the "cupcake" with herbs, leaves, beans, etc. 6. Place it in a sunny spot to dry. Parent Tip: Remember to have some damp towels or wipes nearby for messy … outweigh the alternative… At the Garden, with young kids, much of our time is spent digging in the mud, doing heavy work, getting our hands dirty with earth, and imaginative play. So trust …
Type: Blog
… as possible. When I travel, I always try to pick up a book on the local plants that grow well in the area. Advice: Do not be afraid to kill plants. I actually encourage new gardeners to not be afraid to kill plants by telling them I have killed many more in a much more public setting. Once I killed a plant, it made me reflect on what I needed to do … and maintain the highest quality bonsai for our visitors to enjoy all season long. Advice: As in life, success in gardening and bonsai is in the process. Gardening success is not achieved in …
Type: Blog
… is available at the Garden View Café .) “Something borrowed, something blue…” sets the tone in the English Walled Garden. 2. “Would you like to sit here?” With climbing hydrangeas overhead, … The top of the Waterfall Garden has it all: rushing water, a sweet arbor, birds chirping in shady trees. It’s one of the best spots at the Garden to sit…very…close. The peaceful hideaway atop the Waterfall Garden is a romantic destination in any season. 5. “Pics or it didn’t happen?” Romantic memories need a great background. At the …
Type: Blog
… or plants around them. Fungal infections are common because spores can travel on the wind or in water droplets and may land on seeds, sometimes penetrating the outer layers of the seed coat … is a way to save your seeds from this cruel fate. We use two methods to help prevent disease in seedlings: bleach treatment and heat treatment. Bleach treatment Pumpkin seeds (top), tomato … easy way to do this is to combine 1 cup (8 ounces) of water with 1/4 cup (2 ounces) of bleach in a bowl. Add a drop of dish soap to the solution to break the surface tension, add the seeds, …
Type: Blog
… pest management program that is designed to reduce the use of pesticides. Fritz grew up in Kankakee, just south of Chicago. He received an associate's degree in agricultural business from Kankakee Community College and an associate's degree in turf management from Joliet Junior College. After graduation, he interned at the Olympia …
Type: Staff bio
… Lorin Fox is the grower for the woody plants, perennials, and aquatics in the Plant Production department. His job is to produce high-quality plants for the Garden's … He also worked as a grower for floriculture with a focus on annuals. He became interested in gardening as a child, when his family had a vegetable garden, a couple of crabapple trees, and a grapevine. He moved on to working in a friend's garden and greenhouse, and has been practicing the art of bonsai since 1997. His …
Type: Staff bio
… I am a researcher in Dr. Andrea Kramer’s lab at the Chicago Botanic Garden. My work involves investigating functional traits and diversity in plant communities, rare species conservation, and restoration ecology. My current projects include research into intraspecific trait variation in prairie plant species, implications of hierarchical trait variation in plant competition, …
Type: Staff bio
… and the perfect name for a proposal. ‘Love and Peace’ —A beautiful combination: yellow, edged in pink. And that fragrance! Starry Night™ —Five pure white petals sparkle like the stars in your true love’s eyes. Some roses speak of love through scent. American historian Alice Morse Earle writes the following in “Old Time Garden” : “The fragrance of the sweetest rose is beyond any other flower scent, it …
Type: Blog
… are they all here right now? It’s all about their life cycle. These insects spend their youth in the woods during summer, growing up flightless. In late summer/early fall, their wings develop and they can take flight, seeking a nice, cozy … OK, don’t answer that. They belong to a group of insects commonly called “true bugs.” Insects in this order are distinguished by their straw-like sucking mouth part, which they use to feed on …
Type: Blog
