Field Trip: Chicago Botanic Gardens 4/28/10, Part 1

Today, I visited one of my favorite places, the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, Ill. For now, I'd like to share a selection of the photographs I took in the Tropical, Semi-Tropical, and Arid Greenhouses. Part 2 will consist of pictures from the outdoor gardens.

First, the Tropical Greenhouse:

Entrance to Tropical Greenhouse with Aechmea 'Loie's Pride' lining the walkway and Begonia heracleifolia hanging in the distance. This picture, as with all that follow, shows more detail when clicked.

Closer view of Aechmea 'Loie's Pride'

Closer view of Begonia heracleifolia

Pachystachys lutea

Musa (banana) flower

Dracaeana deremensis 'Limelight'

The sign says Aglaonema 'Silver Queen' but there were no Aglaonemas of any sort anywhere near this planting. I'm hoping that the Garden staff knows the difference between Aglaonema and Stromanthe 'Burle Marx,' the patterned plant in the picture.

From the Semi-Tropical Greenhouse:

A large Abutilon cultivar

Justicia brandegeana 'Variegata.' This was absolutely gorgeous in person.

Thunbergia alata 'African Sunset'

Gardenia jasminoides. Exquisite fragrance. I never understood the fuss over these until I smelled one for myself. And apparently even with the optimum care the Botanic Garden has to offer, these primadonnas of the indoor plant world still suffer from a touch of chlorosis.

From the Arid Greenhouse:

Echinocactus grusonii with some Euphorbia milii and Aloe



Agave americana, with its flower stalk growing out of the roof of the greenhouse, as seen in the picture above this one

Adenium obesum

Aloe ammophila

Euphorbia 'Welcome Home'

Because I am a lover of tropical plants, particularly those that will grow well indoors, my favorite areas of any public garden are the greenhouses. I will probably post more pictures from the CBG greenhouses as the months progress.

New Plant for me, New Tree for the Cats

I was feeling a bit down on Saturday, and so I thought, what better pick-me-up than browsing at a nursery? I was looking for ideas for my outdoor containers, and of course, I'm always up for a new houseplant. This is what I brought home:

Fatsia japonica variegata

I've been wanting a Fatsia japonica for a while, and I like white variegation in plants. They aren't offered for sale much around here, so I knew I had to take a chance on one, even though they are, like Hedera, notorious spider-mite magnets. This plant will be spending a considerable amount of time outdoors, from early spring to late fall, since they are fairly hardy (to USDA Zone 7, I believe.)

And speaking of the outdoors:

Peppermint is looking wistful, because I won't open the front door for him. Since we no longer have dogs, we've closed the doggie door permanently, and he and Luke are now indoor cats. The local field mouse population is breathing a sigh of relief.

Which brings us to this:

Peppermint plays with a dangling feather toy, while Luke sniffs at the catnip embedded in the scratching pad

Since they can't go outdoors, we decided that they need something new to enjoy indoors, so we treated them to a new cat tree. I've also started a crop of cat grass for them, so they have greens to nibble on.

What A Difference Six Months Makes

Earlier this month, around the tenth of April, I put the remains of my Hedera helix collection out on the porch. This was well in advance of my local average last frost date (May 15.) However, since the original Hedera helix species is hardy in the ground around here, I figured that my potted cultivars could handle the light frosts we get this time of year. They are on a covered porch, and if a hard freeze was forecast, I could always bring them inside for the night.

Here is what I brought inside last October:

Seventeen happy Hedera helix cultivars

Here is what I put out this month:

Eight somewhat bedraggled Hedera helix plants, four of which I didn't even have last fall. Sigh. The Pelargonium seems much unchanged since last fall, having spent the winter blooming intermittently in my bedroom window.

I lost several plants to spider mites this winter, including some of my favorites. My success the previous winter made me overly optimistic, I guess. Those mites are the devil incarnate. In fact, they are the reason I put the plants out so early. I figured the mites would find the fresh, chilly air discouraging. (I also washed the plants with a soap/water/alcohol solution before putting them out.) Despite the setbacks, I am determined to replenish my collection.

Outdoor Garden, April 13-Today

More pictures from my front yard:

Bed around my maple tree. The front of the bed (east side) is pretty full, as are the north and south sides. The west side, seen here, was only recently converted to a planting bed and needs a bit of work.

Close up of one of the purple Heuchera varieties, which can be seen in the picture above

Emerging Hosta, from the north side of the tree

Lamium maculatum variety

Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff.) Both this plant, and the Lamium above are from the densely planted east side of the tree. There is also a maple seedling here that I need to remove. My yard is full of these this year.

Bed below the kitchen window, with barely opened tulips on the 13th.

Same bed from a different angle, a few days later, with the tulips in full color

Inside one of the tulips

A miniature strawberry plant (Fragaria variety) from the same bed as the tulips, with yet another maple seedling needing removal. While this plant is supposedly an ornamental type, it does produce a few tiny, tasty little berries each year.

Six out of Seven

The title of this entry began as "Four out of Five," then progressed to "Five out of Six," before winding up as it is now. I have a Hoya carnosa 'Krimson Queen' which I believed to have five old bloom spurs. (Hoya blooms appear on the same spurs year after year.) I noticed the other day that four out of these five spurs showed signs of preparing to bloom, with each one slightly more advanced than the next. I thought a series of photos documenting this progression would make a nice post. Today, I counted again, and discovered one more old spur. Happily, it also had buds, and fit right into the progression I had planned. Then, while I was turning the plant to take the pictures, I discovered yet another spur, this one brand new, on a section of vine that hadn't even put out leaves yet. This too, fit nicely into the series, being further along than five of the seven, but not as near to blooming as the last.

Spur Number 1: This one doesn't show any signs of budding, yet

Spur Number 2: Just beginning to bud

Spur Number 3: Buds are just a little bigger

Spur Number 4 (bottom) and Spur Number 5 (top)

Spur Number 6, surrounded by Chlorophytum orchidastrum 'Fire Flash' leaves. This is the brand new spur I discovered today.

Spur Number 7: This one is the nearest to full bloom, though not there yet

My Hoya Carnosa 'Krimson Queen,' a bit crowded in my bedroom window

Here, in a previous post, is a better picture of this Hoya, along with some other varieties.

Neo Neoregelias

There is no further use in pretending. I'm not only a crazy plant lady, but a fickle one as well. I'm saying Sayonara, Solenostemon. Hasta la vista, Hedera. Arrivederci, Aloe. Bromeliads are my new true love. (Okay, I'm kidding, mostly. Even though I've had a frustrating winter with coleus and ivy, I still love them, and will probably acquire a few more of each over the next couple of months. My aloes haven't given me any trouble whatever, and I'm always on the look out for something new and interesting.) But I'm loving the Broms more and more these days.

I picked up this as yet unidentified Neoregelia last week at Lowe's. It was a reward for having finally taken care of some banking business I'd been avoiding. (I hate dealing with banks for anything more than simple deposits.) I had seen it a week or so beforehand, when I was at Lowe's for some more utilitarian reason, but failed to purchase it. Since the bank is in the same neighborhood as Lowe's, I promised myself that if I took care of business, I could buy the plant if it was still there. It was. Edited to add 04/15/10: In the comments, Mr_Subjunctive identified my plant as Neoregelia 'Ardie'

Neoregelia 'Ardie'. This is a large plant, at least a foot across.

And then there is this petite beauty:

Neoregelia 'Mo Peppa Please.' The colors are even richer and more varied in person.

One of its two pups

This was an eBay auction win. No rationalization for this purchase; I just saw it and wanted it, so I bid. I'm not crazy about the name, though. Lots of cultivar names are puns or other attempts at cleverness, and I'm mostly okay with that. I love wordplay of all types. But something about the use of dialect in this case rubs me the wrong way. What's next: Neoregelia 'Pass Da Salt, Yo'?

And as further proof that I was joking about saying au revoir to Aloe, here is a plant I bought earlier last week:

Aloe arenicola. This was a nursery purchase.

A closer view, showing the adorable spotted leaves, and an aerial root

I love it. I've never seen an Aloe with aerial roots before. I've found that aloes can be a trifle difficult to propagate vegetatively, unlike many other succulents. These roots have the potential to make things much easier.

Outdoor Garden, April 9-11

Some pictures from my garden from this past weekend:

Daffodils (Narcissus cv.) with some past-their-prime Crocus

Closer view of one of the flowers from the picture above

Vinca minor

Crowded bed with Narcissus, Tulipa, Allium, Iris, Aquilegia (the last three not in bloom) with a Lysimachia nummularia (Creeping Jenny) border

Walkway to front door with the Narcissus from the above pictures on the upper left, and the crowded bulb bed on the upper right

Grape Hyacinths. I believe these are Muscari armeniacum, though I have planted other varieties.

Forsythia, planted by Bob about 9 years ago

Anemone pulsatilla, also known as Pulsatilla vulgaris, (common name: Pasque Flower.) It was right on "schedule" as the blooms first opened on Easter weekend.

A red variety of Pulsatilla

As the spring progresses, and my garden fills out, (and I do a lot more maintenance) I will continue to post more pictures.