What’s in Bloom – Page 4 – My Chicago Botanic Garden

What to see on the first day of fall

Boyce Tankersley, Director of Living Plant Documentation, takes us on a tour of what’s blooming in the display gardens on the first day of fall.

Sweeps of perennials on Evening Island, the cascading mums on the Visitor Center bridge, and masses of mums in the Crescent Garden, are found in the boundaries of our formal garden areas. Our show doesn’t end there, however — find gorgeous asters and sunflowers in the English Walled Garden, Japanese anemones and Endless Summer hydrangeas in the Waterfall Garden, mums mixed with later blooming annuals like zinnias and rudbeckia in the Sensory Garden, and an amazing array of colorful annuals in the Circle Garden.

We only visited six of the 25 display gardens, so come out to see them all this fall! Visit chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/ for more information on what’s in bloom.

Flowers on the First Day of Spring

Happy first day of spring! Thousands of Joanne d’Arc Dutch Crocus are blooming in the lawn on Evening Island along with many other plants you wouldn’t normally see bloom at this time. This cultivar was hybridized in the mid-1920s by W.J. Eldering, an early Dutch pioneer in the creation of garden-adapted cultivars. Learn about this plant and more on our weekly bloom highlight page. http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/highlight.php

Dwarf Irises Begin to Bloom

Meet Katharine Hodgkin, a dwarf iris that is blooming now in the rock garden area of the Landscape Garden. The ethereal powder blue of this 4- to 8-inch-tall hybrid of Iris winogradowii and Iris histroides is beautifully etched with darker blue markings and shows a splash of lemon yellow on the “falls” — the three lower petals of the iris flower that may either hang down or flare out. Learn about this plant and more on our weekly bloom highlight page. http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/highlight.php

Turquoise puya Blooming in Arid Greenhouse

An interesting plant has come into bloom for the first time in the Arid Greenhouse. Turquoise puya (Puya alpestris) produces brilliant turquoise flowers accentuated by intensely orange anthers. The species is native to the high desert mountains of southern Chile, and obtains almost all of its water from the morning dews that briefly precipitate water before sunrise. The long, thin, arching leaves are protected by spines along the margin that discourage herbivores from taking a bite. Learn more about this and four other plants in this week’s Bloom Highlight. http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/highlight.php

Orchids are Nearing Peak Bloom in The Greenhouses

Orchids are reaching their peak in The Greenhouses. The dragon mouth orchid is native from Guatemala to Panama, where the subspecies rosea is found. This dragon mouth orchid (Encyclia cordigera var. rosea) is in the Tropical Greenhouse, lower level, east epiphyte tree. The flower spikes can produce flowers for up to three months, and each of the flowers smells like chocolate. This species requires very bright light whether grown in greenhouses, on a windowsill, or under artificial lights. During the summer growing season it prefers a moist, humid growing environment, but in the winter the watering should be reduced and diurnal — the difference between night and day low temperatures — with temperature fluctuations of 10 degrees to initiate flower production. Learn more about what’s in bloom here. http://www.chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/highlight_archive/highlight_022812.php