… From the 2015 archives: It is our pleasure to introduce another titan arum (in bloom!), which we have joyfully named Alice the Amorphophallus. Given the history below, it’s a name to remember! Alice the Amorphophallus is caught blooming on webcam at 12:22:39 a.m. today—the … The Greeks had done it: they chose the word Hepatica (hepar = liver in Greek), as the name for plants with tri-lobed leaves that look rather like a human liver. The Romans coined the …
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… has its roots in the ancient Greek myths. Flower legend says that the goddess Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) was out hunting with the handsome mortal Adonis, when a powerful storm forced them to seek shelter together in a cave. Love ensued. Post-storm, the lovers ran off—Venus, minus one … meaning into that name: Cyprus was the sacred island of Venus’s birth, pedilon is the word for slipper, and calceolus means little shoe. The lady’s slipper orchid is native to a broad …
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… Pollak here once again, with an update on Spike, our still-growing titan arum. Spike continues to get bigger, not only in height, but also in girth! What we’re really curious about, however, … rotting animal carcass, old dirty socks, and even the smell of death itself, which accounts for the plant’s common name, the corpse flower. In its natural habitat on the island of Sumatra … ( Catharsius sp.) think that stink smells great. Photo ©2012 via potokito-myshot.blogspot.com A different view of ewwww! Carrion beetles, dung flies, and flesh flies aren’t responding to …
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… Have you been to the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden lately? If you have, you probably saw some of the … think of niwaki as big bonsai, but that relationship isn’t exactly right. Bonsai translates to “tray (or pot) planting.” While we may think of niwaki as big bonsai, we should try to think … takes longer to recover. Why candle? The pine shoots that emerge in spring are called candles for a reason: they tend to be very tall, skinny cylinders like taper or dinner candles. If we let …
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… without any leaves. And yes, you can…with a little help from Jim Jabcon, assistant ecologist for natural areas. The other day, Jabcon walked me through the McDonald Woods and began my … 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 …
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… features such as metallic markings by asking, “What sort of advantage would this feature give to the butterfly?” Every trait found in nature exists because it gave that individual more opportunities to reproduce. Perhaps the trait helps keep the butterfly from being eaten, or it gives a male … endocuticular thin alternating layers.” That’s quite a mouthful, so they call it M.E.T.A.L. for short. The acronym fits perfectly. Here's another way to think of what you are seeing: …
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… Merian (1647–1717) was a fascinating woman, artist, and naturalist. While she was known for her watercolor paintings of flowers and insects, embroidery patterns, and copper engravings, … from the 500 deutsche mark banknote Divorced in 1699, she traveled with her daughter Dorothea to the Dutch Colony of Surinam (now known as Suriname) that same year to continue her entomological work and art. Her spectacular artistic abilities and scientifically …
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… flowers can be found in patriotic shades of red and white, the color blue is very difficult to find at the Garden. In fact, blue is a rare sight in the entire natural world. Less than ten … the plant kingdom features blue flowers, which is extraordinary, since pollinators don’t seem to have a problem with them. Scientists have been investigating the origins of blue flowers for a long time, and it was not until recently that they came up with a result. Blue sea holly ( …
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… 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 … Northcreek Nursery Symphyotrichum lateriflorum ‘Lady in Black’ was one of only seven asters to receive a five-star rating of excellence by Richard Hawke, plant evaluation manager at the … S. lateriflorum , was also among the seven, so you can see that this is one of the best asters for your garden. The foliage of ‘Lady in Black’ is an almost black-purple color, enhanced in …
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… 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 … sense if you have some background on the life of these two groups of prairie plants. Look for the white-and-cream wild indigos in a prairie near you—they are blooming now. Of course you …
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