baiduhaiChicago News, Sports & Business

Home > Reviews

Headshot for Beth Botts - Original Credit: John Weinstein

Beth Botts

Beth Botts is a staff writer for The Morton Arboretum, a 1,700-acre outdoor museum and garden of trees near Lisle. She works with the Arboretum’s horticultural and scientific staff to provide practical, reliable garden advice in her weekly column. The author of two books, she writes and speaks widely about trees, gardening and nature. She was an editor and reporter at the baiduhai for more than two decades.

All Stories

Vivid red fall color is one of the attractions of chokeberry shrubs such as Iroquois Beauty™ black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa ‘Morton’), a cultivated variety selected at The Morton Arboretum. (The Morton Arboretum)

Chokeberry shrubs sparkle in all seasons

For a shrub that offers bright fall color, spring blooms and food for wildlife, it’s hard to beat a chokeberry. “The berries are a useful food for birds, especially in...
Wait to prune deciduous shrubs such as this dogwood until the plants are entirely dormant, with all their leaves fallen. Dormant pruning time may come later in autumn than you are used to. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Wait until plants are dormant to prune

There’s no safe date when you can assume trees and shrubs will be dormant. As our climate has changed, autumn has tended to be warmer and last longer.
Unpredictable autumn weather may threaten houseplants that have been outdoors, such as this Neon pothos. Bring them inside once temperatures fall into the 50s at night. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Stay alert for the first freeze

Although the National Weather Service says the average first freeze date at O’Hare Airport is Oct. 19, a freeze has occurred there as early as Sept. 22.
Trees in the Chicago region usually change to their vivid fall colors between the end of September and late October, as they prepare for winter dormancy. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Look out for fall color change

Changing climate is making our weather more volatile and extreme overall, with more periods of drought. That makes fall color less predictable.
Veronica is one of the spring- and early summer-blooming perennials that are best divided in fall. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Divide perennials while soil is warm

As a general rule, fall dividing is best for plants that bloom in spring or early summer, such as woodland phlox, veronica, daylilies and daffodils