Category: Perennial

Sprout the Titan Arum at the Chicago Botanic Garden

We recently visited Sprout, the newest star of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s titan arum display.  We were fortunate to catch a couple of videos of CBG staff collecting pollen from Sprout’s male flowers.  Pollen will be stored, frozen actually, so it can remain viable for about two years, and will be used to pollinate future titan… Continue reading Sprout the Titan Arum at the Chicago Botanic Garden

Dr. Michael Dirr Talks Shrubs

I had the great fortune to attend the iLandscape show in early February and heard Dr. Michael Dirr speak on shrubs.  You can watch the video below, he is a hoot!  It is an amateur recording though you should be able to hear everything he says. Details on many of the cultivars he talks about… Continue reading Dr. Michael Dirr Talks Shrubs

Planting Bulbs

A few posts back I mentioned planting bulbs.  Now is the time! I plant my spring booming bulbs in the fall when the temperature drops and the ground is still workable.  You can plant up until the ground freezes and you should wait until the temp gets down below 55 degrees.  Keep your bulbs in a… Continue reading Planting Bulbs

Building a New Garden

I just finished a nice-sized garden for a friend and wanted to share the process with everyone.  Here is what the space looked like when we started… As you can see there is no garden, just lawn.  My friends had a specific design in mind for the new garden.  They wanted a break between the… Continue reading Building a New Garden

Perennials For Your Display Garden

So this post will wrap up the travel series showing a bunch of perennials we saw on our trip to The Berkshire Botanical Garden, which, by the way, is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the nation! Here are two exceptional plants, each special in their own way.  The first is Arum Italicum, Italian Lords-and-Ladies, which does… Continue reading Perennials For Your Display Garden