… Botanical cocktails that look like scientific potions;were front and center during our previous Science After Hours event. Mix up your own potion at home with … fun botanical cocktail recipes. Herbal experts Nancy Clifton of the Chicago Botanic Garden and Kasey Bersett Eaves, owner of Vivant Gardening Services in Chicago, teamed up to create … it was originally used as a way to preserve food. It’s also helpful to know what muddling is. The process of gently bruising the leaves of herbs releases the fresh, green taste and aroma …
Type: Blog
… at squares of color in the slant of the afternoon sun. The colors had to pop in daylight and for Orchids After Hours , an evening look at the Show with cocktails and light bites for purchase. We tried out color combinations one by one. The comments were … Our collection of young orchids will be displayed in a case, as conditions allow. The Garden is one of the few institutions in the world to have ghost orchids. Fast facts quiz Click on each …
Type: Blog
… Dye-ing for nature-based fun? Forgo the food coloring and kits, and go for naturally safe, naturally kid-friendly, and naturally beautiful “homemade” egg dyes instead. Dyes can be used on hard-boiled or fancy blown-out eggs. Most of what you need is probably already in your own kitchen and pantry. The tools you’ll need to create your own egg …
Type: Blog
… Rose Garden or walking down toward the Smith Fountain at the Esplanade, they trail bridesmaids and tuxedoed men and happy families. As they pass, we onlookers stop in our tracks, smile … gawk unabashedly…and let our thoughts turn to romance. Over the years, the Garden has been the site of many a romantic story for both staff and visitors. With summer in full swing—and romance … Garden that bears the dedication “Will you marry me?” (Scott asked Laura; she said yes) is still called the “marry me tree” by our staff. (Curious romantic? Find this unusual maple …
Type: Blog
… virtually treeless plains of Nebraska almost 150 years, ago a day was set aside to celebrate and appreciate trees—Arbor Day. This year we have selected the genus Quercus , the oaks, as an exemplar of why trees are important to us and our environment. Quercus rubra standing tall at the Garden There are 461 species of oaks, … oaks of China have diverged over very long time periods into several related genera. Quercus is the largest tree genus in the flora of North America (north of Mexico) with more than 90 …
Type: Blog
… Silent Spring had a profound impact. It was one of the books we read at my mother’s insistence and then discussed around the dinner table. . . . Rachel Carson was one of the reasons why I became conscious of the environment and so involved with environmental issues. Her example inspired me to write Earth in the … Robert Frost’s familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end …
Type: Blog
… My 3-year-old son and I have enjoyed many seasons of Little Diggers. We have learned new things together and have had a lot of fun with the projects. One of our favorite projects was with insects. We got up close and personal with ants, butterflies, grasshoppers, and ladybugs. The instructor set up habitats …
Type: Blog
… Botanic Garden transcend tradition on Valentine’s Day. Read on for thoughtful, unusual, and homemade floral gift ideas. Spouses can evoke their wedding day by combining flowers from their ceremony and reception into a Valentine’s bouquet, said Tim Pollak, outdoor floriculturist at the Garden. Tim would use sweet peas, freesias, and delphinium for a nostalgic, sweetly scented gift. Tropical flowers from spots such as Hawaii …
Type: Blog
… While stores can’t keep Halloween and fall decorations in stock this year—supply chain issues or maybe gremlins—we’ve got some DIY … the spirit of the season by using mostly found objects, materials you might already have, and some embellishments. Here are some projects that I’ve worked on over the years. These ephemeral projects celebrate what’s happening now in gardens and then fade as the wonders of the next season take over. Decorate it! Pumpkin Project Get the …
Type: Blog
… the CaraDonna Lab investigates the interplay among species interactions, population dynamics, and community patterns. We use the mutualistic interactions among plants and pollinators as a model system to ask fundamental ecological questions about the importance of species interactions and to understand the ecological consequences of global change (e.g., climate change, …
Type: Staff bio
