… Care Department Landscape Waste Program As manager of horticulture services, Cindy Baker is responsible for the care and maintenance of more than 100 acres of ornamental landscaping. She … ten permanent and 43 seasonal workers. Baker has a bachelor's of science degree with honors in agronomy and horticulture from the University of Arizona. She also has completed graduate course work in both horticulture and human resource development. As an undergraduate, she volunteered at the …
Type: Staff bio
… A cold spring—or, as some of us in the Second City affectionately call it: Second Winter—can test our ability to feel connected … forsythia, are hit with the reality of the snow outside our windows, causing a short circuitry in our minds and a yearly re-questioning of “Why do we even live here?” However, small signs of … Flower Mandala Sun Catchers Loosely translated from Sanskrit to mean “circle,” a mandala is a symbol that represents wholeness and reminds us of the connectivity of all things in the …
Type: Blog
… With more than 1,850 known species of moths in the state of Illinois—more than ten times the diversity of butterflies—it is a real adventure sampling the moth species inhabiting the McDonald Woods at the Chicago … along with visual searches, I have been investigating the diversity of moth species found in the restored portions of our oak woodland. Moths are removed from the traps and then …
Type: Blog
… These are just some of the questions I’m studying as a master’s of science candidate in the Plant Biology and Conservation graduate program run by Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Flower timing is critical for many reasons. For the earliest of the spring bloomers, earlier flowering provides … However, these early individuals are at higher risk of exposure to extreme weather events. In contrast, later flowering individuals risk flowering in an environment with less sunlight due …
Type: Blog
… the “parent plant.” 2. Selecting Choose a ripe, disease-free tomato; one past being edible is best. 3. Removing Cut the tomato ‘around the equator’ and squeeze out the seeds and ‘goo’ in to a strainer over the kitchen sink. Run cold water over and use your fingers to try and … The top of the refrigerator is a great place for this. 6. Drying When dry, scrape the seed in to an envelope labeled with the variety and the date for storage. If the seeds stick to the …
Type: Blog
… When it comes to controlling invasive plants, a little faith can’t hurt. This is particularly true for garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata). We have been struggling to get … spring to clear just 10 or 11 acres. After years of not letting the garlic mustard set seed in the McDonald Woods, a few years ago we finally began to see a light at the end of the tunnel … is having a significant negative effect on garlic mustard (see woodsandprairie.blogspot.com ). Observers have reported an almost complete absence of garlic mustard in areas that are …
Type: Blog
… I study biodiversity and restoration in the tallgrass prairie. My post-doctoral research is focused on seed mix design for restoration from both a social and ecological perspective. … that is, which planted seeds and species are likely to germinate, emerge and establish in restored prairies. …
Type: Staff bio
… We have a problem. My cat is eating my plant. Despite the fact that my prayer plant has inhabited my apartment for over a … Garden, my cat’s small, albeit mischievous brain has only just now discovered that she can, in fact, eat it. The leaves turned all ratty and shriveled, and now the plant is dead. Rita the … plant-muncher, whom I love very much. (Don’t worry–she has not taste-tested any of the plants in this photo! The ZZ plant and flamingo flower are toxic to cats and normally sit safely out of …
Type: Blog
… at the Chicago Botanic Garden , I am inspired by all sorts of family programs and drop-in activities for kids and families that celebrate the outdoors. What’s fun about nature art is that it starts with an adventure and ends with a surprise. For instance, the “family of owls” that we created may appear in story time later. Here are some of the nature-inspired activities and kid-friendly crafts …
Type: Blog
… roots at the Orchid Show can be quite disconcerting—what are those big white things dangling in the air, you wonder, and how do they work? Let’s look at those roots from a different angle, … about 70 percent are epiphytes—plants that grow on trees, with above-ground rather than in-ground roots. Known as aerial roots, they act as anchors and supports as they wrap around … air and from the leaf litter in the tree niche it inhabits. Orchid Roots Are Adventitious That is, an orchid’s roots can grow along the stem of the plant, not just out of the bottom of it. The …
Type: Blog
