04/21/2021
Idaho Botanical Blog
03/04/2021
Welcome Home: The Steppe
By: Sierra Laverty, Adult Education Specialist
Welcome home! You live in a rare, complex ecosystem. The water you drink is the result of a 9-million-year old lake. The air you breathe is the output of hundre
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10/28/2020
Weed it and Reap | Less Lawn, Greater Value
By: Elizabeth Dicky, Education and Visitor Engagement Director
There are 50 million acres of turfgrass in the United States. For perspective—Idaho is 53 million acres. Home lawns provide a place for children to play a
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10/07/2020
Weed it and Reap – Fall Planting
By: Elizabeth Dicky, Education and Visitor Engagement Director
Fall is a wonderful time to add new perennial plants to your landscape. Fall plantings adjust to their new surroundings, getting set to actively grow in the s
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07/09/2019
A Word from the Koi Pond
By: Bob McKay, Pond Specialist and Gardener
Here at the Idaho Botanical Garden (IBG), the koi pond has had thick blooms of suspended, single cell algae and long, stringy blanket weed or "hair" algae. As I
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06/06/2019
Meat Eating Plants of Idaho
By: Daniel Murphy - Collections Curator
Plants have to eat, just like any other living thing. However, unlike other living things, plants make their own food using water, sunlight, and carbon dioxide.
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05/02/2019
The Amazing Adaptability of Native Plants
By: Anna Lindquist, Garden Lead and Native Plant Specialist
Imagine being stuck in one spot, subject to the elements, reliant upon the kindness of strangers to feed you, and unable to defend yourself should something dec
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04/03/2019
PRETTY TOUGH PLANTS: Discover the Plant Select® Program
By: Nell Frazer Lindqust, IBG Greenhouse & Nursery Coordinator
The Plant Select® program identifies, promotes, and distributes plants that are well suited for gardens in the Intermountain West. Created in 1997, the program
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03/21/2019
Idaho celebrates Week of the Young Child
By: Brandi Nyhof, Idaho AEYC outreach coordinator
The Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children (Idaho AEYC) is partnering with the Idaho Botanical Garden to host a family-friendly outdoor celebrati
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03/04/2019
Waking Up Your Garden
By: Elizabeth Dickey, Education and Visitor Engagement Director
Early spring is a great time to shake off the winter blues and get your garden ready before the busy warm season is upon us. Local gardeners have a few sayin
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02/12/2019
DIY: How to build a backyard greenhouse
By: Sierra Laverty, Adult Education Specialist
Building a small, backyard greenhouse can be a rewarding, easy, and even less expensive solution to indoor grow lights. A greenhouse can allow a home gardener t
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02/11/2019
Growing Your Own: As Easy as A-B-Seed?
By: Sierra Laverty, Assistant Horticulture Director
It’s hard to ignore seeds this time of year. Many gardeners’ mailboxes are stuffed with seed catalogs, heightening our anticipation of winter’s end. Dried
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01/14/2019
Gardening in a Changing Climate, Part III: A World Without Water
By: Sierra Laverty, Assistant Horticulture Director
Boise, Idaho—home to Idaho Botanical Garden—is known as the City of Trees. There is an elusive fact that our city's shade trees and lush lawns conspire to h
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12/04/2018
Gardening in a Changing Climate, Part II: A Horde of Locusts
By: Sierra Laverty, Assistant Horticulture Director
In the final days of October, we transplanted more than 100 vegetable seedlings into our raised beds and cold frame. Tucked under row-cover and a little plastic
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10/08/2018
Preparing Your Pond for Winter
By: Robert McKay, Gardener, Pond Specialist Certified Koi Keeper
Getting Your Pond Ready for Winter As we approach late October, the nighttime temperatures dance around freezing and the daytime temperatures struggle to get o
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10/01/2018
Literally – Check it Out!
By:
Did you know that our administration building houses a huge library of horticulture books? These books are free for members to check out. Here is a list of
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09/11/2018
Discover the Magic of Nature Camps
By: Wendy Irwin, Youth Education Coordinator
Summer at Idaho Botanical Garden means many things, from concerts, to weddings, to quiet moments spent at shaded picnic tables. For the Youth Education Staff a
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06/18/2018
It’s National Pollinator Week
By: Daniel Murphy
Thanks to Pollinator Partnership for providing these Pollination Fast Facts! What is pollination? Pollination is a vital stage in the life cycle of all flow
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06/15/2018
Interested in Saving Seeds?
By: Idaho Botanical Garden
Here are some very basic seed saving tips! Some of the easiest flowers to collect seeds from include: Chocolate flower (Berlandieria lyrata) Winecups (
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05/29/2018
Meet Mark Nagel Volunteer Beekeeper
By:
Hi Everyone! Let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Nagel and I am the new volunteer beekeeper at the Garden. I have been keeping bees for 6 years and am
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05/17/2018
30,000 Honey Bees!
By:
30,000 Honey Bees! Please welcome our newest IBG staff members…30,000 honey bees! Please welcome our newest IBG staff members…30,000 honey b
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02/14/2018
Plantoids at the Garden
By: Idaho Botanical Garden
Idaho Botanical Garden hosted the Plantoids Robotics Workshop In an unusual pairing of robotics and horticulture, the Idaho Botanical Garden hosted the Pl
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02/12/2018
Focus on Early Childhood
By: Idaho Botanical Garden
Project Learning Tree - Professional Development Workshop Focus on Early Childhood - March 16-17, 2018 Friday, 4:30-8:30 pm. Saturday, 8:30 am–3:30 pm with
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10/22/2015
“Birds & Blooms” Magazine
By:
Author Melinda Meyers with "Birds and Blooms" magazine names the Idaho Botanical Garden as her #2 favorite public garden in the nation!
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01/31/2014
Rethinking Idaho Landscapes
By:
The Idaho Botanical Garden and the University of Idaho continue popular and important community forum, Rethinking Idaho Landscapes on February 22, 2014. Keynote
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01/31/2014
Winter Interest
By:
We are well into winter in the northern hemisphere, and the plants in our landscapes have been dormant for weeks now. (more…)
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