Home and Garden – Page 24

At the end of the growing season, think back on your garden through the growing season to make notes for improving it next year. For example, planting some colorful alliums might fill a gap between the last spring tulips and the first summer flowers. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Make notes now for next year’s garden

By Beth Botts

October 31, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

As fall swirls toward winter, spend a little time out in the garden taking stock...

By simply raking fallen leaves onto your garden beds, you can provide your plants with a healthy, protective, soil-building layer of free mulch. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Don’t let fallen leaves go to waste

By Beth Botts

October 25, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

Nature never wastes a leaf.

Fall tree color at the Chicago Botanic Garden. (Jeff Carrion/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Peak fall color in Chicago area now on display

By Tim Johnson

October 24, 2026 at 5:00 a.m.

When you understand the basics of fall color and monitor the weather, you will be...

This pine tree’s leaves are needle-thin so they expose little surface area to cold, drying winds. It’s one of the ways hardy plants protect themselves from the effects of winter cold. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Hardy plants can handle bitter cold

By Beth Botts

January 11, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

A bitter cold spell, often caused by a dip in the polar vortex, may cause...

River Forest residents Connor and Karen Faust try to find the queen in a hive of bees rescued from a Naperville home that have become part of a new exhibit at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. (Steve Metsch/Pioneer Press)

Even in winter, bees creating a buzz at Brookfield Zoo

By Steve Metsch

January 7, 2025 at 5:02 a.m.

About 40,000 bees rescued from homes in Naperville and Lincoln Park are now buzzing away...

Adding a few native plants to your garden is one easy resolution to keep in the coming growing season. Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) provides habitat for monarch butterflies. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Resolve to plan ahead for this year’s garden

By Beth Botts

January 5, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

A new year is a good time to make some resolutions for a lovelier, more...

Wrap plant trunks with fine mesh hardware cloth or wire fencing with holes ¼ inch or less in diameter. (RJ Carlson / Chicago Botanic Garden)

Don’t let up on plant protection this winter

By Tim Johnson

January 4, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

Many gardeners drop their guard in winter, giving animals an opportunity to do significant damage...

Certain varieties of amaryllis may take more time to sprout. (RJ Carlson / Chicago Botanic Garden)

Large and showy amaryllis takes time to grow

By Tim Johnson

December 29, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Amaryllis flowers are dramatic, which is a big bonus for the winter months.

City contractors feed discarded Christmas trees into a wood-chipper on Jan. 9, 2013, at a recycling facility on the North Side of Chicago. (Chris Walker/baiduhai)

Christmas trees go on to do good

By Beth Botts

December 30, 2024 at 10:37 a.m.

When it’s time to say goodbye to your Christmas tree, where will it go?

Paperwhite bulbs do not need much space. (RJ Carlson/Chicago Botanic Garden)

Paperwhites are an easy indoor plant for winter

By Tim Johnson

December 22, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

One pot of paperwhites is usually plenty for one room.

Common winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a native species of holly that loses its leaves in winter but makes up for it with vivid red berries. (Beth Botts/The Morton Arboretum)

Get jolly for holly in your yard

By Beth Botts

December 21, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

The holly traditionally associated with Christmas is native to England and other parts of Europe,...

Little ones stare through the window of a Chicago store’s toy display in December 1936, watching the antics of a clown in the background and at the same time inspecting the goods on Santa’s counter. (Chicago Herald and Examiner)

Elaborate State Street windows display a memory of Christmases past

By Ron Grossman

December 16, 2024 at 6:46 p.m.

The Christmas window displays at State Street department stores once drew thousands of holiday revelers,...

A large planting of hosta around an oak tree that is not cut back. (Tim Johnson / Chicago Botanic Garden)

For winter interest in your garden, wait until spring to cut perennials

By Tim Johnson

December 15, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Many gardeners cut back their perennials much too soon in early fall and miss out...