Boyce Tankersley, Director of Plant Documentation, tells us about some of the flowers we saw blooming on the first meteorological day of summer at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We saw echium in the Heritage Garden, a very rare jade vine in the Tropical Greenhouse, allium in the West Flower Walk and poppies in the English Oak Meadow. Come see us soon or visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom for updates on what’s in bloom.
Tag: plants
Getting the Model Railroad Garden Ready for 12th Season
The Model Railroad Garden opens for its 12th season on May 7. We caught up with Brian Busse from Applied Imagination as they were finishing their setup. The horticulture staff are currently planting the miniature gardens around all of the American landmarks Busse and his team installed. See how the garden turns out at the opening on May 7! Visit www.chicagobotanic.org/railroad for more information.
Spring’s Earliest Blooming Flowers
Boyce Tankersley, Director of Plant Documentation, took us on a tour of the earliest blooming plants in the display gardens. We began in the Sensory Garden, where huge patches of Iris histrioides ‘George’ were blooming better than ever. Then we went to the Lakeside Gardens to see large patches of giant snowdrops blooming under deciduous trees. The witch hazel outside the English Walled Garden is very fragrant and quite showy right now. We also like the Galanthus nivalis ‘Flore Plenum’ snowdrops in the English Walled Garden, because their petals look like a miniature rose and they are very fragrant. The Waterfall Garden has a nice display of snowdrops that is worth the climb to the top. The crocuses in the lawn near the Bulb Garden were also very showy. You’ll also find crocus in the lawn on Evening Island.
These are just some blooming highlights, visit www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom for information on what’s in bloom now.
Planning a Vegetable Garden This Year?
Windy City Harvest participant Joan Hopkins gives you a taste of what you’ll learn in the Windy City Harvest short courses. These classes are designed to teach you about how to grow vegetables in an urban setting and they take place at the Arturo Velasquez Institute at 2800 S. Western Avenue in Chicago.
View the video on YouTube here.
Visit chicagobotanic.org/windycityharvest/courses to register for the next short course and grow a better garden this year.
The Guerrilla Gardener Comes to the Garden
Richard Reynolds, a self-proclaimed guerilla gardener and blogger, comes to the Garden on Tuesday, February 8 to give us an inside scoop on his involvement with this movement. Check out this video on planting sunflowers in public spaces and then come join the discussion during his presentation. View the video on YouTube here.
For more information and to register, visit http://www.chicagobotanic.org/school/symposia/