… 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 … this game was created for Chicago residents, but the same principles apply everywhere, in every community. The game could be adapted for another location by replacing the image of the …
Type: Blog
… I always look forward to seeing Indian corn in the market and finding it in autumn decorations. Indian corn—in its range of hues from blue to deep maroon to oranges, … the colors of the season long after the tree leaves have faded and been raked away. It is one of November’s icons, reminding us of the cultural and botanical history of the continent. …
Type: Blog
… When you lift a rock in your garden and glimpse earthworms and tiny insects hustling for cover, you’ve just … ever before, and discover vital information. “One of the problems we have with soil science is that you can’t see into it so you really depend on a lot of techniques and methods to work out what’s happening,” explained Dr. Egerton-Warburton, associate conservation scientist in soil and microbial ecology. She has used high-throughput sequencing (also termed Next …
Type: Blog
… Photo by Bill Bishoff Consider the butterfly’s ability to see ultraviolet light. UV light is a spectrum of light between 10 and 400 nanometers that humans and most other animals cannot … complex mechanisms for both receiving and sending UV light, and they use these amazing gifts in a variety of clever ways. One well-known phenomenon is the relationship between butterflies and nectar-producing flowers. Thanks to special photoreceptors in their huge compound eyes, butterflies can detect ultraviolet light. Many flowers have evolved …
Type: Blog
… boils down to just a few basic ingredients. So what’s really happening during the major steps in the brewing process? And what do all those colorful beer-making terms mean? Malted (germinated) barley is used as a base in beer and scotch. Photo via Finlay McWalter, Wikimedia Commons. GFDL A beautiful vine for 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 … framework. Asian plants enrich our tables 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 …
Type: Blog
… enthusiasts, we often focus on how plants are affected by their environments. Their growth is affected by weather, water, nutrients, etc. But the plant-environment relationship is a two-way street, and plants can have a strong influence on the habitats they live in. We might experience this by walking in a forest and feeling ground beneath our feet that is spongy from the buildup of slowly …
Type: Blog
… easily take root and begin propagating anywhere they touch soil. For these reasons, grow mint in a plastic pot, so it doesn’t take over your yard. (The roots are so strong they can crack clay pots.) Mint needs at least four hours of sunlight per day, so pick a sunny spot. It is tolerant of most soils and weather conditions—just be sure it gets some water every week to keep it from becoming bitter. Maintaining flavor Mints spread in two ways: by runners and by seed. However, many plants are hybrids, which means the sprouts …
Type: Blog
… and waiting for Spike to bloom—a dream of the Chicago Botanic Garden for 12 years! Finally, in the next ten days or so, we’ll see the fruit of our labor in all of its stinky glory. What’s next, and when? Over the next several days, Spike will grow … days, a barely noticeable inch, and other days, a remarkable 4 or 5 inches. Below the soil is a giant corm, which is a type of underground tuber or bulb (some can weight up to 200 pounds). …
Type: Blog
… Love is in the air...we ❤️ the date nights, meet-cutes, and anniversaries at the Garden—and watching … and posted a charming play-by-play on Twitter: She said….yes! Graham Bulb Garden: Flower power In spring 2005, Heather Sherwood’s then-boyfriend found the perfect sweet spot in the Graham Bulb … lit at night. And at sunset, golden light typically illuminates the bridges. A bridge is a lovely place to start a future with your beloved. Head up the hill between the Japanese …
Type: Blog
