… and conservation initiative began after Garden horticulturist Lisa Hilgenberg happened to meet Aaron Keefer, the culinary gardener for the renowned French Laundry restaurant in California’s Napa Valley. At a conference in Iowa, their conversation turned to the rare Marshall strawberry, known for its exceptional flavor. Keefer mentioned that he would …
Type: Blog
… The annual beds have been replanted with sweeps of dahlias, cannas, caladium, and begonias to showcase these nonstop workhorses of the summer garden. Caladium bicolor ‘Raspberry Moon’, … ‘Miss Muffet’ and Begonia × tuberhybrida ‘Illumination White’ make a great pairing for shady areas. On the perennial side of things, we’re moving into lily season. The very first lilies to bloom are the martagon lilies ( Lilium martagon) and their hybrids (such as Lilium martagon …
Type: Blog
… March in the McDonald Woods. It’s a biologically intriguing, ecologically brilliant prelude to the wildflower riot about to burst forth on forest floors from the McDonald Woods at the Chicago Botanic Garden to area … temperature inside the hood can be 95 degrees hotter than outside. Thermogenesis is the goal for skunk cabbages, titan arums , and other “warm-blooded” plants . The heat creates the …
Type: Blog
… with the Huntsville Botanical Garden in Alabama on a Trillium conservation program for the beloved woodland flower . The Huntsville Botanical Garden has one of the most complete … Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 1997. The rhizomes were grown out in the nursery, and in two to three years, the Trillium plants will be replanted in areas to be determined throughout the Garden. Currently, the Chicago Botanic Garden has eight species …
Type: Blog
… a drey , when they see one. The eastern gray squirrels in our region build dreys in trees for shelter and protection from the elements. What you see as a messy clump of leaves is actually a structure formed from sticks and then lined with leaves and other materials to make it a dry and cozy home. This month I was walking around my neighborhood in Chicago, and I … of four squirrel dreys on my street were located on branches that reach over the street. I had to ask myself why squirrels would build their homes in such a dangerous place. If the squirrel …
Type: Blog
… woodland. Moths are removed from the traps and then photographed before being released back to the woodland. The metallic scales of the Virginia Ctenucha moth (C tenucha virginica ) are … from the fact that many of the species are dependent on one or just a few native plant species for their survival, and as a result, may serve as valuable indicators of the health of our … the food chain. Entomologist Doug Tallamy tabulated the number of caterpillars that were used to support one nest of black-capped chickadees and found that they consumed between 6,000 and …
Type: Blog
… degree in horticulture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1984. He worked as a foreman for Campbell's Garden Center, installing and maintaining landscapes. During summer breaks from … Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. He writes a weekly gardening column for the Chicago Tribune and a weekly gardening tips column for the Daily Herald , and responds to other media request. He is a regular speaker at the American Public Garden Association's …
Type: Staff bio
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
… 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 …
Type: Blog
