Michigan Gardener - Your guide Great Lakes gardening: Garden Event Calendar / Expert Advice / Plant Profiles / Tree Care

PLEASE NOTE: In the autumn of 1995, we hatched the idea for a free, local gardening publication. The following spring, we published the first issue of Michigan Gardener magazine. Advertisers, readers, and distribution sites embraced our vision. Thus began an exciting journey of helping our local gardening community grow and prosper.
After 27 years, nearly 200 issues published, and millions of copies printed, we have decided it is time to end the publication of our Print Magazine and E-Newsletter.

Chicago Botanic Garden hosts orchid show

January 7, 2014 • Leave a Comment

Paradise Jewel 'Flame' (Photo: By Dougie WII via Wikimedia Commons) — Paradise Jewel ‘Flame’ (Photo: By Dougie WII via Wikimedia Commons)

The Chicago Botanic Garden Orchid Show will provide an infusion of warmth and color to guests visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden this winter. The event will run daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 15, through Sunday, March 16, 2014.

Visitors will enter the exhibition through an orchid-and-palm allée, then view a large orchid tree surrounded by other displays. The greenhouses will be filled with orchids on trees, in the ground, and suspended on hanging structures. The effect will give visitors the feeling of being surrounded by colorful, fragrant blooms. Guests can also wind their way through orchid columns as they read about conservation efforts.

This showcase of unusual and stunning orchids will give visitors the opportunity to learn about one of the largest, most diverse and revered flowering plant families.

The Illinois Orchid Society will have experts on hand to answer questions, provide re-potting services, and offer a marketplace every weekend.

For more information, click here.

Stunning macro photography of bees

January 3, 2014 • Leave a Comment

Megachile fortis (Photo: Sam Droege via Flickr)

We discovered these fascinating macro photographs of bees and other insects by Sam Droege, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Bee Monitoring Lab. Friend or foe, all are interesting to look at. Check out his gallery on Flickr.

Rock Garden Expert to Speak at Fernwood

December 25, 2013 • Leave a Comment

Fernwood Botanical Garden in Niles, Michigan welcomes Denver Botanic Gardens’ rock garden expert, Panayoti Kelaidis, on Saturday, January 4, from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. He will present “The Gardener’s Year: Journey of a Rock Garden Plantsman.”

Kelaidis, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens, was the designer of its Rock Alpine Garden, one of the best collections of alpine plants in North America. Past president of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the American Rock Garden Society, he received the Award of Excellence from National Garden Clubs, the most prestigious award given by the organization. He also received the 2000 Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal from Swarthmore College, one of the highest honors in American horticulture.

Kelaidis will present a lively lecture chronicling his love of rock garden plants and how the journey of gardeners is personal, but often can lead to much more. He speaks about his own interest in plants at a young age, which led to a career in gardening, world travel, and plant exploration.

This special program is $25, and Fernwood members are admitted free. Please register by Friday, January 3. For more information, please visit www.fernwoodbotanical.org.

Digital Editions