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How To: Forcing spring-flowering bulbs to bloom in winter

Did you know you can enjoy colorful, fragrant, and cheerful spring blooms in the middle of winter? Many spring-flowering bulbs can be forced to bloom indoors by following a few simple steps.

Native American Heritage Month: The Three Sisters and working with nature

For many Native American communities, three plants have played a vital role in indigenous agricultural practices – corn, beans, and squash. Known as The Three Sisters, these plants demonstrate how people can benefit from working with nature rather than against it. Who are the Three Sisters? Photos by Robin Powell, Gerrit Davidse, and Tom Incrocci…

Leave the Leaves this fall season

During the early winter months, the colorful fall foliage we enjoyed just days before begins to find its way into our yards and lawns. For some, these leaves become an eyesore, but for the bugs that stay with us throughout the winter, they play a vital role. Why leave the leaves? As your gardens fade…

Plant Profile: Ozark Chinquapin

Once a common sight, Missouri’s native chestnut tree, Castanea ozarkensis, provided food for people and animals as well as wood for furniture and musical instruments. Now, the tree, also called the Ozark chinquapin, is unfamiliar to most Missourians. In the early 20th century, chestnut blight wiped out millions of Castanea ozarkensis. The remaining trees grow…

“What is that?!”: Botanical oddities found in home gardens

The botanical world is full of beautiful, remarkable sights and processes that can leave us in awe. But there are also some peculiar plants, mutations, and botanical diseases and disorders that can spark our curiosity or even send a shiver down our spines. Our horticulturalists at the William T. Kemper Center for Home Gardening have…

Death Plants: Plants and their symbolism in graveyards

Throughout history, plants have played a symbolic role in human burial practices as parts of graveyard landscapes and on individual tombstones. The meaning of each plants can vary depending on religious affiliations. As part of a research project done through the William L. Brown Center and University of Missouri St. Louis, Tonia O’Neal put together…

Hispanic Heritage Month: The Garden’s St. Louis Team

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re having a month-long series focused on our work in Latin America. This week, we’re shining a spotlight on some of our St. Louis-based researchers – people dedicated to unraveling the secrets of Latin American plants and ecosystems. A Century-Long Quest The journey of our Latin American research is…

Hispanic Heritage Month: The Garden’s Bolivia Program

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re having a month-long series focused on our work in Latin America. This week, we’re learning about the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Bolivia program! The Heart of Our Mission in Bolivia Our Bolivia program, like other Latin American initiatives, aims to understand and preserve the rich variety of plant life…

Wild Crops of America

As our natural food supply faces threats from climate change and habitat loss, crop wild relatives have been a recent research darling. Crop wild relatives can provide genetic diversity that modern agriculture lacks, offering better resistance to disease and pests. Much research on these wild species has taken place in distant locales, like Kyrgyzstan, which…

Hispanic Heritage Month: The Garden’s Peru Program

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re having a month-long series focused on our work in Latin America. This week, we’re learning about the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Peru program! Leading the team is Program Director, Rodolfo Vásquez (below, first from left in front row), and Program Manager, Rocío Rojas (below, second from left in front row)….

Trying Chaya: Introducing a Superfood in Madagascar to Address Food Insecurity

In many parts of Madagascar, crop farmers face a food shortage every year between harvests. To try to help with this issue of food insecurity, the Missouri Botanical Garden is starting a trial introducing a super food to farmers: chaya, a perennial spinach-like crop native to Central America. The hope is that once a few…

Plant Profile: Cascade Mums

While mums (chrysanthemum) are a popular in the late summer and fall thanks to their ability to withstand temperature changes and their variety of colors, cascade mums can add a whole new layer of creativity and beauty to a garden. Growing these beautiful blooms does require quite a bit of planning and the right tools,…