… grown exponentially in recent years. In senior centers, gardening and garden spaces are used to help with fine motor skills, socialization, and ambulatory movement. In veteran’s hospitals, gardening is used for exercise, vocational training, and education. There is one population that, in my … three primary benefits I observed: quiet fascination and stimuli reduction, the ability to follow direction, and tactile sensory integration. The first benefit has to do with the …
Type: Blog
… Thanksgiving is here again, and we at the Chicago Botanic Garden are thankful for all the pollinators who make … the PDF (11″x17″) of this placemat. As you enjoy a meal with friends and family, take a moment to say thanks for the little things that make such a big difference—pollinators! Draw and color … you are eating at your feast in the center of your plate on our placemat. Check the answer key to see who pollinated them. Instructions: Click on the image above to download our placemat to …
Type: Blog
… be good for making prints. For younger children, this activity provides ample opportunity to practice color, fruit, and vegetable identification and hone their gross-motor skills. Older children may be interested to know that different foods come from different parts of the plant. Here is a fun and educational activity that will foster creativity in children of all ages. …
Type: Blog
… I study biodiversity and restoration in the tallgrass prairie. My post-doctoral research is focused on seed mix design for restoration from both a social and ecological perspective. … though observation and experimentation, I am determining how seed mixes become prairies, that is, which planted seeds and species are likely to germinate, emerge and establish in restored prairies. …
Type: Staff bio
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
… 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
