… native to India, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines, New Guinea, southern China and northern Australia. The Vanda orchid ‘Miss Joaquim’ is the national flower of Singapore. In the home, vandas require warm growing conditions with bright light, high humidity, and good air movement. Because vandas thrive in temperatures between 60 to 98 degrees Fahrenheit, …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… How does the natural world affect a community’s health and well-being? Over the course of one year, 16 Chicago high school students from the Instituto … the entrance of the Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (IHSCA). The program’s leader is Vincent Gomez, manager of horticultural therapy services at the Chicago Botanic Garden. “The … learned to broaden her perspective. “People really do think differently and have different points of view. I try to listen to them and open up to them and learn to disagree. With this …
Type: Blog
… Deeply Rooted “The more high-tech we become, the more nature we need.”—Richard Louv, journalist and author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder “Preschool educators have long known that animals, plants, water, and other aspects of the natural world delight children and draw them in as learners.”—Natural … in learning science with my love of nature and share it with others, I thought, ‘This is the place for me’.” Jennifer at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, age 4 Eileen Prendergast …
Type: Page
… of your own this Halloween. Goth gardening (drawn from Victorian or Gothic gardening) is having more than a moment; it’s been all the rage for years. In 2024, it was dubbed one of gardening’s trendiest topics as gardeners, new and experienced, implemented dark, moody containers, sections of their space, or entire gardens. … rose hips and round out the “Tim Burton wedding” vibe of her container. Get creative! Bonus points for a fog machine to transform your container into a true character in your Halloween …
Type: Blog
… One of the most delightful and perhaps underused smaller trees is the native American pawpaw ( Asimina triloba ). Large, dangling leaves give the plant a … America—that is most noteworthy with its almost indescribable flavor—a mix of banana, apple and hints of mango, vanilla and citrus. Some of the fruit's common names hint at how delicious it …
Type: Plant Info
… Pinky Lee orchid (× Vuylstekeara Cindy 'Pinky Lee'), an Oncidium -type hybrid orchid, is a cross between Miltonia 'My Clown' and Oncidium Shonan 'Pinky'. It is one of the few pink-blooming oncidinae with amazing, relatively large mottled blossoms. The beautiful colors range from shades of pink and lavender to purple and red, with some yellow in the center. The matte flowers have purple …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… Here’s how he found it. I joined the Chicago Botanic Garden as photographer in August, and from my very first day, I was interested in finding what I like to call Gardenhenge. The idea … something I photographed many times while working in the city. It occurs when the sun rises and sets perfectly framed between buildings, with unobstructed views along east-west streets. And … itself naturally, the way skyscrapers do downtown. Without that kind of framing, a sunrise is just a sunrise, something that happens every day.
One morning, I climbed an overlook near the …
Type: Blog
… Native to Central and South American, Brassavola orchids are named after the Venetian nobleman and physician, Antonio Musa Brassavola. They have long, thin, tubular leaves that can reach up to … humidity and less frequent water than many other epiphytic orchids. Lady-of-the-night orchid is generally found in lowland tropical forests or mangrove swamps, growing on trees or on exposed …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… This epiphytic (grows on the branches and trunks of trees) orchid species bears small, delicate white flowers with long, curved nectar … continuous bloom for up to two months. They are relatively easy to grow, given medium light and temperatures to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night and daytime temperatures in the mid-70s. A … native of Japan, Neofinetia falcata was the favorite orchid of the ruling shogun. The orchid is named after Achille Finet (1862-1913), a French botanist who studied the orchids of Japan and …
Type: Garden Guide Plant
… in Smart Gardener, we talked about daffodils twice, in both the April article (on planning) and again in the November article (on planting, when you need it in fall). This April, we want to … and unplanted. What makes a miniature? The American Daffodil Society (ADS) refrains from an official definition or separate division for miniatures (although it sanctions a cultivar list ). … smaller flowers each year, according to sun/soil/water/weather conditions—the term "miniature" is a moving target that's hard to standardize. In general, however, the ADS and reputable …
Type: Plant Info
