… plant species. I manage a microproagation lab focusing on developing tissue culture techniques for both rare/exceptional and restoration-relevant plant species. I coordinate the Synthesis Center for Conservation and Restoration at the Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action at the Chicago Botanic Garden. I also work to support data analysis and visualization for projects with collaborators at the Chicago Botanic …
Type: Staff bio
… a fair bit of brewing myself. Despite seemingly endless beer varieties, beer making boils down to just a few basic ingredients. So what’s really happening during the major steps in the brewing … base in beer and scotch. Photo via Finlay McWalter, Wikimedia Commons. GFDL A beautiful vine for the home garden is hops ( Humulus lupulus ), pictured here in flower. Pollinated and fruited … carbohydrates will feed the yeasts during fermentation. The brewer doesn’t want the grain seed to completely germinate, though—if it did, the embryo would “eat” all of the food reserves, …
Type: Blog
… Chicago Botanic Garden. Or in the intimate spaces of our Thomas English Walled Garden . Want to experience a sense of the show’s dreamy romance? Inside the English Walled Garden, past the … hand-pressed brick walls, you’ll feel like you’re stepping back in time—maybe, in fact, back to the Regency period, when most of Bridgerton (along with the Jane Austen novels) takes place. … or passionflower. On Bridgerton , masses of lush wisteria are twining everywhere—a metaphor for all of the romantic entanglements? Artistic license? No judgments. But alas, senior …
Type: Blog
… Allison Pillar is the grower for indoor floriculture in the Plant Production department. She produces high-quality plants for … since worked as a seasonal and assistant grower within the department before being promoted to her current position in 2020. Her interest in nature and plants led her to graduate from Macalester College with a bachelor’s degree in biology, where she also worked on …
Type: Staff bio
… First student Divine isn’t at the Chicago Botanic Garden, she’s in her backyard, trying to use her iffy, only-works-when-it-wants-to telescope and peering into the future. Someday, she wants to be an astrophysicist and help put … books she read as a child. Divine has always loved reading and would sometimes get in trouble for it. The books she doesn't want to put down even today are cosmos-related or anything about …
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 … in the Heritage Garden, but they were not interested in this flower. Honeybees tend to go for sweeter-smelling flowers. 3. Red admiral butterfly The red admiral, with its characteristic …
Type: Blog
… For Earth Day this year, take some time to appreciate the rich soil that covers our planet and supports plant life. Try this soil seed-bank test to discover the magic of topsoil. The soil seed-bank test is used by farmers, scientists, and …
Type: Blog
… Garden blog followers may remember that in “ How to Train Your Plant ” I demonstrated a way to grow a bean seed in a plastic bag to test geotropism. I started working on that project around … I kept one seed growing in the bag all winter, adding water as needed. The bean plant grew for five months, leaning toward the window in my office. The plant produced a white flower about …
Type: Blog
… We discovered a fun way to encourage the Garden’s Camp CBG campers to try a salad. Many kids turn up their noses when they hear the word, but after painting with food, our campers are eager to “dig into” their creations. For little ones, this project is easy and fun to do with a grown-up and provides opportunities to …
Type: Blog
… employee in 1980. He grew up on a farm near Celaya, Guanajuato, Mexico, where he learned how to operate equipment and take care of plants. Within a few months, Melecio was promoted to foreman; then a few years later, he became Grounds supervisor. Melecio supervises four regular employees and 43 seasonal employees, and is responsible for general grounds maintenance, major event support (set up and tear down), and the landscape …
Type: Staff bio
