… about the coming bloom from the docents posted there, one of the most frequently ask questions is, “How could you tell this time that Spike was a flower?” How could we tell that Spike was … was off-center. While leaf shoots are true to center, we knew that a flower shoot powers up in a slightly different way. Again: it’s subtle but telling! Horticultural intuition. Both Deb … We called upon the folks at the Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California; Smithsonian Gardens in Washington, D.C.; Phipps Conservatory and …
Type: Blog
… Female Butterfly At Butterflies & Blooms on Monday, I saw something I had never seen before in my five years as a butterfly wrangler at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I noticed that a leopard … 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 … by the lacewing, which sat on the tip of my finger. Then it took flight and was free in the blink of an eye. Luckily, one of our volunteers snapped some beautiful photos. Later, it …
Type: Blog
… Most people recognize that familiar call of the black-capped chickadee. It’s often heard in late summer and fall as chickadees gather in family groups and small feeding flocks to prepare for the winter. The chickadee’s … song—translated as “Hey, sweetie,” (though you can’t often hear the third syllable)—is reserved for late winter, spring, and summer, when the bird is courting and nesting. Nothing …
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… In November, I had the unique opportunity to go to the Portland Japanese Garden for a week-long training session—and what a week it was! I arrived in Portland in early November, having endured scarily bumpy plane rides and torrential rains. The … of Japan. One of the two pines species most popular in a Japanese garden, the black pine is symbolic of the seashore and referred to as on-matsu (the male pine), because of masculine …
Type: Blog
… Even as the leaves start to turn in shades of scarlet and gold, we are thinking ahead to nature’s other big show—spring color. This year, the annual Woman’s Board Fall Bulb Sale is online only. You’ll be able to shop at your leisure for hundreds of varieties of bulbs imported directly from growers in Holland. The members’ presale, with discounted prices, starts September 1; the public sale is …
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… various wildlife and, at the Garden, you can find examples of this everywhere. The milkweed in the Dixon Prairie is a favorite meal of the monarch butterfly. In the Bernice E. Lavin Plant Evaluation Garden, goldfinches feed on Agastache and other …
Type: Blog
… In late October 2012 when I was driving down a country road in rural northwest Illinois, I … ( Hydrastis canadensis )—a once common but now rare plant of Illinois woodlands. Its rarity is attributed to its past popularity as a medicinal plant, which led to its overharvest. Along … further that day, so I made a note of where it was located and planned on returning to the site soon to explore it further. However, I had one question that I needed to answer before this …
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… among the longest-lived Christmas trees and most resistant to needle drop. The main downside is that some varieties can be very expensive. Colorado blue spruce ( Picea pungens ‘Procumbens’) Spruce ( Picea sp.) Spruces come in colors ranging from dark green to icy blue, but they all share one thing in common; incredibly sharp needles. While they make terrific trees for outdoor decorating, they …
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… In 2018, the Chicago Botanic Garden hosted celebrated designer Bunny Williams of Bunny Williams … a good container? A: One of the things I’m always thinking about when I’m doing a container is height. When you first plant a container, all of the plants are very small. But a month later when they’ve grown in, they’re at their full profusion. They look quite different. You have to think in advance …
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… has returned to the Chicago Botanic Garden this spring. Its bold blooms draw pollinators in as well as Garden visitors. What is it, you ask? Some of the most unusual plants our Production Greenhouse team grow for our … become the epic plants you see throughout the Garden. You won’t find these Dr. Seussian plants in many other gardens in the Midwest (if you do, please let us know). Echium are native to the …
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