… For the past week, the big forklifts and trucks with their whimsical cargo have been rolling in to set up for the U.S. debut of Lightscape on November 22. Popular time slots are selling fast for the new holiday event at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Lightscape is a festive, immersive trail of color, imagination, and sound, a night out for families, couples, and friends who want to get in on something new. This is a holiday lights event for a new generation, jolly with the …
Type: Blog
… A Paphiopedilum, or lady slipper orchid, is another popular orchid with collectors: it prefers high humidity and indirect light, faring … as we learned in our first video, Repotting Orchids, Part 1: Phalaenopsis , it’s always best to repot your orchids shortly after purchasing them—the sphagnum moss in which they are sold … an expert in all things orchids, both native and tropical. She took some time this past fall to show me (and you) how to repot our orchids to maintain a healthy growing environment. Our …
Type: Blog
… Lorin Fox is the grower for the woody plants, perennials, and aquatics in the Plant Production department. His job is to produce high-quality plants for the Garden's plant collection and special displays. Fox has … his family had a vegetable garden, a couple of crabapple trees, and a grapevine. He moved on to working in a friend's garden and greenhouse, and has been practicing the art of bonsai since …
Type: Staff bio
… Some vegetables are more satisfying than others when it comes to harvest. Parsnips are in that category. The sun was out, the air was crisp, and the nights were frosty: parsnip weather. Cold weather is actually a good thing for parsnips—in fact, they need it to convert the starch in their roots to sugar, transforming them from lowly, nose-turned-up roots …
Type: Blog
… When my mother first moved from England to Chicago in the late 1950s, she’d never heard of a prairie. In England, a grassland is called a meadow. But every kid in the neighborhood near Chicago’s Midway Airport called the … spring, collecting bunches of wildflowers, and using homemade butterfly nets in late summer to catch monarchs as they sipped nectar on goldenrod. They weren’t “real” prairies, of course, …
Type: Blog
… Chester Jankowski, Jr., is the senior horticulturist for the Grunsfeld Children’s Growing Garden and the Kleinman Family … is responsible for designing and maintaining the gardens, and working with the education staff to make all the annual displays at the Children’s Growing Garden accessible to everyone. At the Cove, Jankowski uses the garden to create an outdoor classroom filled with …
Type: Staff bio
… or saucer—for a versatile display you can enjoy throughout the year. Dish gardens are easy to grow, very adaptable to most environments, and can be placed anywhere in the home. Even if you do not have a green … used as a container—let your imagination be the judge. Provide drainage: Adequate drainage is probably the most important rule to ensure the success of your dish garden. Be sure to remove …
Type: Blog
… Botanic Garden with someone special. The food’s been great, and the music sounds terrific…time to grab his/her hand and head out for a romantic stroll. Find the places where the two of you can hear the music across the water, take in a different view, and have a bench all to yourselves. Our top ten hideaways at the Garden: Stop and smell the roses. In between the entrance to the Krasberg Rose Garden and the Linden Allée is a tiny terrace, tucked behind a hedge. The chairs there are perfect for taking in the scent of …
Type: Blog
… Jamie Berlin is the horticulturist for the Lavin Evaluation Garden and Green Roof Gardens at the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. The Lavin Evaluation Garden is home to the Garden's Plant Evaluation Program, featuring plants best suited for Midwestern gardens and those in similar climates. The Green Roof includes a south garden with plants native to North America and a north garden with native and exotic plants that show potential for future …
Type: Staff bio
… Selecting perennials to look good year-round and weather the seasons outside our wall (and next to the freeway) has … asters. The chosen replacement was a smooth aster cultivar, Aster laevis ‘Bluebird’, which is new to the Garden’s plant collection. It bears flowers nearly identical in color to ‘Jindai’ … relocated or divided, and these were heeled into a well-mulched bed located immediately at the site, and watered generously. Additional Echinacea , Liatris , and grasses were delivered and …
Type: Blog
