… at the Chicago Botanic Garden! Our day included these snapshots of the early morning visitors to the rare phenomenon of a corpse flower in full bloom. We chatted with the early birds and met some “regulars”—visitors who had come by to meet Spike, the Garden’s first titan arum on display last August, and Alice, the corpse flower … found out on the Internet. The Internet knows everything. Lexi: It’s very stinky. Maxwell: It is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see it. And it is very stinky. Carrie: I happened to see the …
Type: Blog
… But no—especially not in a natural woodland like this. A tree’s habit depends on where it is growing—how crowded it is by other trees and what it has to do to catch some sunlight. “Any tree will change its habit depending on what is given to it,” he …
Type: Blog
… Botanic Garden in the Plant Health Care department for 25 years. In 1994, Tiddens was promoted to supervisor of the department. Since then, the department has significantly reduced its use of … collections from diseases, pests, and weeds in an environmentally sensitive manner. Tiddens is a certified arborist through the International Society of Arboriculture and serves as the … representative in the Sentinel Plant Network, which unifies botanic gardens in an effort to monitor for and provide education on high consequence pest and pathogens that threaten the …
Type: Staff bio
… when I had discovered the male-female lacewing, butterfly visitors had been waiting for me to release butterflies from the pupae chamber. So I packed up the lacewing, with all of the other … saving our special discovery for last. I got everyone’s attention and announced, “This is extremely rare! As a butterfly wrangler, I have released many thousands of butterflies, but … of an eye. Luckily, one of our volunteers snapped some beautiful photos. Later, it occurred to me that this specimen could actually be a valuable contribution to science, and if nothing …
Type: Blog
… monarchs made the journey each fall from the northern plains of the United States and Canada to forested sites north of Mexico City. In western North America, more than a million monarchs made a shorter flight to tree groves on California’s coast. However, monarch numbers have been declining for more than … of monarch groves in California may also be playing a role. In the West, severe drought is likely contributing to reduced monarch populations. These threats are compounded by climate …
Type: Blog
… Pondering the Prairie Series A weevil is a type of beetle. It typically has an elongated head that appears as a snout. In fact, its other name is snout beetle. Weevils, or snout beetles, make up what many believe to be the largest family of insects in the world—estimated at almost 40,000 species. The majority … relationship between plants and insects is a very close one. Insects can be very beneficial to plants, as pollinators, or very destructive to plants, which is the basis of the weevil …
Type: Blog
… play in our everyday lives and in a healthy, diverse planet. The “beyond” in the title refers to bats, birds, butterflies, moths, wind, and generally any force or creature that keeps our … can get an up-close look at my personal favorite fluttering pollinator, butterflies. While it is easy to be swept away by the magnificent beauty of lepidopteran, it is important to recognize their …
Type: Blog
… interesting native flora that might produce a collection for the seed bank. It was impossible to make a positive I.D. traveling at 60 m.p.h., but the color of that patch of blue was … ( Hydrastis canadensis )—a once common but now rare plant of Illinois woodlands. Its rarity is attributed to its past popularity as a medicinal plant, which led to its overharvest. Along … further that day, so I made a note of where it was located and planned on returning to the site soon to explore it further. However, I had one question that I needed to answer before this …
Type: Blog
… A Phalaenopsis, or moth orchid, is called the “gateway orchid” for beginning collectors: it requires very little care, and yields great rewards with blooms that last up to three months! Early success with a moth orchid leads growers to try other species and, finally, to orchid addiction. But how do you ensure early success? As a …
Type: Blog
… The Krasberg Rose Garden is naturally romantic. As with fine wines, the descriptive words for roses are rich and … is strong in this big, ruffly, old-fashioned rose. Finally, some roses have romantic stories to tell. The Portland rose ( Rosa ‘Comte de Chambord’) was a gift to the Empress Josephine, who established the greatest rose garden of its time at Malmaison. The …
Type: Blog
