… When I was 8 years old, I traveled with my family to Przysietnica, Poland, to spend the summer with relatives. My grandparents’ farm was the home base for my adventures … wild and tasted like candy. We often brought some back to share with the family, but there is nothing quite like a strawberry fresh off the plant. Time lapse of a strawberry, …
Type: Blog
… the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden: Naranjilla (pronounced nahr-ahn- HEE -yah). It’s easy to see why. You can find this naranjilla ( Solanum quitoense ) in Bed #10 in the Growing Garden. This attractive plant has large, thick, green leaves, is about 10–12 inches long and 8–10 inches wide, with deeply serrated edges, and is completely … (which are not really hairs—in the botanical world they are called “tricomes” ) . It is native to Ecuador and other South American countries. There is more to notice about this …
Type: Blog
… at the Chicago Botanic Garden, there are dragonflies everywhere! The quick, strong fliers seem to love the Garden. Eastern pondhawk dragonfly, female. Most dragonflies have very … field of vision that helps it avoid predators. The most abundant dragonfly I’ve seen is the eastern pondhawk, with blue dasher dragonflies coming in a close second. I’m also seeing … a few damselflies, which are generally smaller and more thin-bodied than dragonflies and tend to hold their wings above their bodies. (See my blog post Damselflies 101 for more information.) …
Type: Blog
… the McDonald Woods, which wrap around the northeastern edge of the Chicago Botanic Garden. But to Jim Steffen , senior ecologist at the Garden, the oak woodland is a bustling center for natural processes and species, and may hold answers to unsolved scientific questions. Purple milkweed ( Asclepias purpurascens ) blooms in the …
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 … in plant conservation" Botanic Gardens collections are playing an important role in helping to slow the extinction of plant species. A well-planned collection will represent the complete …
Type: Staff bio
… In gardening, as in life, patience is a virtue. Twelve years ago, the Garden embarked on a mission to bring a rock star of the plant world to the Chicago Botanic Garden. The titan arum ( Amorphophallus titanum ), also known as the …
Type: Blog
… are beautiful, magical, and mysterious creatures. Sara Longwing ©Carol Freeman They have to among nature’s greatest achievements. Their transformation from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly is truly mind-boggling when you really think about it. Seeing one is a joy. Seeing hundreds at …
Type: Blog
… in trees for shelter and protection from the elements. What you see as a messy clump of leaves is actually a structure formed from sticks and then lined with leaves and other materials to make it a dry and cozy home. This month I was walking around my neighborhood in Chicago, and I … of four squirrel dreys on my street were located on branches that reach over the street. I had to ask myself why squirrels would build their homes in such a dangerous place. If the squirrel …
Type: Blog
… On a walk through the Chicago Botanic Garden, you are likely to encounter dozens of woody plants—short, tall, flowering, or simply lending structural beauty … It’s OK to have a favorite. Phillip Douglas, the Garden’s new curator of woody plants, is not shy about listing his top picks. Spending his first summer in Glencoe, Douglas is … the development of the oak and willow collections, and a review of all such plants already on-site. Douglas will also be helping to organize trips to collect plants in the wild with Andrew …
Type: Blog
… If you happened to walk around the Heritage Garden in late June, the unusual blue color of the Moroccan mountain … with flying insects. The odor was not lovely and sweet. I would describe it as similar to musty, molding fruit—not unpleasant, but certainly not a fragrance you would wear. It only … its hind legs with pollen from the eryngo, and they are now swollen and bright yellow. Pollen is also sticking to the hairs on its thorax and underside. It is a good pollinator! Carpenter …
Type: Blog
