… claws of some creature in a zombie movie? Does it smell bad too? Happy spring! This charmer is the first native wildflower of a Chicago spring: the skunk cabbage ( Symplocarpus foetidus). A … March in the McDonald Woods. It’s a biologically intriguing, ecologically brilliant prelude to the wildflower riot about to burst forth on forest floors from the McDonald Woods at the Chicago Botanic Garden to area …
Type: Blog
… tarragon ( Artemisia dracunculus ) has silvery leaves and an anise-like flavor, but basil is the king of herbs, beloved by all. It’s such a crowd-pleaser that we’re giving away Napoletano … seedlings during Herb Garden Weekend, and the rest of the month as well. Perhaps it’s time to rethink tarragon and the diverse palette of herbs available to modern cooks. The late author and farmer Noël Richardson once wrote, “If we could take only …
Type: Blog
… Plant Garden Farwell Landscape Garden Graham Bulb Garden, Aquatic Garden Viburnum Walk Liz Rex is the horticulturist for the Crescent, which welcomes visitors entering the Garden from the … Nights are held. Rex also cares for the Native Plant Garden, which showcases plants native to Illinois, and the Landscape Garden, which is a designed at a smaller scale to be relevant to the typical homeowner. She is also responsible for overseeing and coordinating …
Type: Staff bio
… in the natural world, you might think of destruction and loss of wildlife. But when it comes to the North American prairie, fires are a crucial tool for native plants to thrive and to safeguard against extinction. Until now, it was unclear precisely why and how … on that prairie, for the long haul, they have to survive and reproduce. We learned that fire is essential for reproduction. A healthy population is one that will be resilient in the face of …
Type: Blog
… work in the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. Talking to our scientists, it's easy to hear about the research topics that get them excited. Former senior ecologist Jim Steffen … escaping. 7. Daddy long legs are spiders. FALSE. A Daddy long legs isn't a spider; although it is in the Arachnid family, it's in a separate order from spiders. All spiders have two body …
Type: Blog
… at the Chicago Botanic Garden! Our day included these snapshots of the early morning visitors to the rare phenomenon of a corpse flower in full bloom. We chatted with the early birds and met some “regulars”—visitors who had come by to meet Spike, the Garden’s first titan arum on display last August, and Alice, the corpse flower … found out on the Internet. The Internet knows everything. Lexi: It’s very stinky. Maxwell: It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it. And it is very stinky. Carrie: I happened to see the …
Type: Blog
… greatly diminished. Of all the different type of plants 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 … mums and the golden ginkgo. Imagine winter without the green foliage of yew and boxwood to provide a visual 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
… But no—especially not in a natural woodland like this. A tree’s habit depends on where it is growing—how crowded it is by other trees and what it has to do to catch some sunlight. “Any tree will change its habit depending on what is given to it,” he …
Type: Blog
… Botanic Garden in the Plant Health Care department for 25 years. In 1994, Tiddens was promoted to supervisor of the department. Since then, the department has significantly reduced its use of … collections from diseases, pests, and weeds in an environmentally sensitive manner. Tiddens is a certified arborist through the International Society of Arboriculture and serves as the … representative in the Sentinel Plant Network, which unifies botanic gardens in an effort to monitor for and provide education on high consequence pest and pathogens that threaten the …
Type: Staff bio
… when I had discovered the male-female lacewing, butterfly visitors had been waiting for me to release butterflies from the pupae chamber. So I packed up the lacewing, with all of the other … saving our special discovery for last. I got everyone’s attention and announced, “This is extremely rare! As a butterfly wrangler, I have released many thousands of butterflies, but … of an eye. Luckily, one of our volunteers snapped some beautiful photos. Later, it occurred to me that this specimen could actually be a valuable contribution to science, and if nothing …
Type: Blog
