… after being contacted by editors at Midwest Living magazine. Polling a number of experts in the Midwest, the editors asked for recommendations of award-worthy plants and then came up … with crazy beautiful flowers and one that’s so easy to grow that you basically just plant it in the right spot and water it. Best for Sun ‘Joanna Reed’ catmint ( Nepeta ‘Joanna Reed’) is one of the tidiest catmints I’ve ever grown, an attribute that cinched a top rating in our …
Type: Blog
… The Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden is the place to explore small-space gardening. Seven Basil Types Planted at the Regenstein … Fruit & Vegetable Garden There, basil is king. (Of course it is—the word basil is rooted in the Greek basilikos , meaning royalty.) The bed is planted with seven very different basil varieties, laid out in a pinwheel design, and all grown from seed. It’s enough to make a gardener’s—or a …
Type: Blog
… May is the month to look for warblers, vireos, thrushes, sparrows, and some shorebirds, as they … they are passing through. The good news is that there are a few warblers that actually nest in our area, so if you miss them during migration you can often find the nesting birds later in the summer. A great place to look for warblers, like this palm warbler (Setophaga palmarum) , …
Type: Blog
… vividly the first time I visited the Chicago Botanic Garden. I was silent (unusual for me) and in awe. Everywhere I looked, I saw plant labels, and looking at them provided me some kind of … like, right? Well, the same with plants. One important aspect of visiting a botanic garden is acknowledging its plant collection. Botanic gardens are living museums, and when you go to a museum, you want to know what is in front of you. A display plant’s name on the label is the first interaction between you, the …
Type: Blog
… How to relax in nature, even when you can’t get away? Daydream, according to the American Heart Association. … of everyday life. We started a bucket list for you, focusing on some of the natural wonders in the plant world. We know, oh, just a few plant geeks here at the Chicago Botanic Garden. So we asked some of them: What plant would you most like to see in the wild? The common thread is that there is no common thread. These are not your garden-variety plant lovers. These are …
Type: Blog
… " The Anna Karenina principle states that “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” When we talk about rare species we tend to think of them as a collective group that shares similar traits, however, some argue that “every rare species is rare in its own way”. Rabinowitz (1981) showed that all common species had wide ranges, large …
Type: Staff bio
… 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 … your list. But before buying that little tree, there are a few things to consider. Tree health is essential. Glued-down rocks on a juniper bonsai Often, a tree’s leaves will give you a good …
Type: Blog
… While working out in the woods this winter, a small lump on the branch of a young elm tree caught my attention. At … are amazing, but their nests are truly a marvel of avian architecture. Not much larger in diameter than a quarter, they are just large enough to hold the one to three navy bean-sized … much larger than her body. Not much larger than a quarter, the ruby-throated hummingbird nest is an engineering marvel. This is all well and good until the eggs hatch. Growing young …
Type: Blog
… Pondering the Prairie Series Life in the prairie in the middle of winter is fairly uneventful; at least for humans who focus primarily on life …
Type: Blog
… had the pleasure of teaching families with young children at the Chicago Botanic Garden. It is a gift to work in a garden with children because there is so much about gardening that we can use to help them … know that young children are active learners. The best teaching occurs when we join that child in hands-on, developmentally appropriate play. A backyard garden, a small container on a porch, …
Type: Blog
