… life. Try this soil seed-bank test to discover the magic of topsoil. The soil seed-bank test is used by farmers, scientists, and others to find out what weed seeds are hidden in a garden or cropland’s soil that could affect the growth of the crop. You can use the same … soil from a woodland area Dry leaves (leaf litter) from the ground above the soil collection site Moss growing nearby Directions Pour a layer of gravel about 2 inches deep on the bottom of …
Type: Blog
… chunks of meat onto rosemary skewers for a delicious infused kabob. Genius! A sage brush is perfect for sweeping marinades onto grilled chicken. After the meat is cooked, snip the herb … softened butter to create sage butter to serve along with it at the table. A beautiful plant in the garden, sage is most familiar as the flavoring in stuffing—but it makes a great grill brush, too! After using your tarragon brush on grilled …
Type: Blog
… delighted to see a special guest star at the Tropical Greenhouse: Alice the Amorphophallus is on display, in full and glorious fruit! Visitors are asking: why are some of the berries on the titan arum … while others are big and plump? Dr. Pat Herendeen and “Titan Tim” Pollak plucked a few of each in mid-February, X-rayed them, and performed a bit of berry surgery to get the answer. An x-ray …
Type: Blog
… Show of hands: Who’s ready for spring? We are, too. Thankfully, the bright, blooming containers in the Heritage Garden at the Chicago Botanic Garden were planted this week, welcoming spring and … past 15 years—it’s one of his favorite things to do each spring. The bright, colorful troughs in the Heritage Garden welcome visitors every spring. “After a long, drawn-out winter, it’s nice … a mass planting in the Garden. People look forward to these 41 containers each spring, which is something Soulsby keeps in mind when he’s planting them. By the time April rolls around, …
Type: Blog
… I appreciate any cultivar name that invokes thoughts of my favorite holiday: Halloween. It is fun to stumble upon some Gaillardia ‘Goblin’ , Hemerocallis ‘Bela Lugosi’ , or Alchemilla … mollis ‘Thriller’ and suddenly wonder, “What should my costume be this year?” One perennial in particular has a designation so dark, it can conjure up a gruesome ghost story: Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Lady in Black’ Side-flowering aster A late-fall frost, not ghostly images, sets off Symphyotrichum …
Type: Blog
… Lorin Fox is the grower for the woody plants, perennials, and aquatics in the Plant Production department. … He also worked as a grower for floriculture with a focus on annuals. He became interested in gardening as a child, when his family had a vegetable garden, a couple of crabapple trees, and …
Type: Staff bio
… More than 200 years ago, English poet William Wordsworth came upon the happy sight of daffodils in spring—and was inspired to write one of the most beloved nature poems in the English language. The poem, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” is a reminder of the ability of the natural world to lift spirits. Wordsworth wrote the poem on …
Type: Blog
… There comes a time in every plant parent’s life when you begin to think about expanding your family. Are you ready … er, clones? Aside from the internal struggles, enlarging your plant collection by propagation is a relatively easy—and inexpensive—undertaking. It also makes a thoughtful gift over the … need a whole stem—you can just cut off a part of the leaf as your cutting. 2. Dip the cutting in rooting powder or gel Rooting solution makes roots grow more quickly and uniform, said Thomas. …
Type: Blog
… From the 2015 archives: It is our pleasure to introduce another titan arum (in bloom!), which we have joyfully named Alice … end up with that name? First, imagine a world where the same plant was called different names in different languages in every town in every valley in every country around the globe. It …
Type: Blog
… Spring is done and we’ve finally moved into summer bulb season! The annual beds have been replanted with … garden because they provide both structure and color at a time when little else is blooming in the shade. The leaves emerge in a layered whorl, giving the plants a pagoda-like structure. We’re also moving into Asiatic …
Type: Blog
