03/10/2022
Idaho Botanical Blog
09/12/2022
Entering the World of Flower Farming
By: Hannah Hegdahl, IBG Greenhouse and Nursery Coordinator
Have you ever experienced that romanticized idea of a flower farm? You’re picking flowers at sunset on a warm summer night, and everything is amazing. Behind
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08/08/2022
Weeds
By: Daniel Murphy, IBG Collections Curator
Weeds, like other plants in our gardens, begin their lives as seeds. Contained within the protective outer layer of a seed is a plant in miniature, awaiting the
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07/11/2022
The Magic of Drip Watering (Or, Delegation Skills for Bad Plant Parents)
By: Wendy Irwin, IBG Youth Education Manager
Being a Plant Parent If plant care falls on a scale between “helicopter” and “free range parent,” my personal style would be in the vicinity of, “Oh
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06/17/2022
The Best Annuals for Beginners
By: Hannah Hegdahl, IBG Greenhouse and Nursery Coordinator
Have you ever heard a plant described as an “annual” and had no idea what that meant? Most people are afraid to ask what they would consider an “obvious
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06/06/2022
Staff Highlight: Meet Erica!
By: Alissa Tarrant, IBG Content Coordinator
I got a text from Erica: "I'm going to water the veggie garden in 45 minutes!" Perfect time for an interview, right? If you haven't met Erica yet, she's I
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04/04/2022
Weed It & Reap: Garden Doodles
By: Wendy Irwin, IBG Youth Education Manager
Once when I was in school, a teacher who liked my drawings gifted me a large sheet of beautiful, heavyweight artist paper. Nice drawing paper isn’t cheap, and
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03/10/2022
Weed It & Reap: Growing A Gardener
By: Nell Frazer Lindquist, IBG Greenhouse and Nursery Coordinator
Working at the Idaho Botanical Garden, we often hear, “I can’t do what you do: I’m not a professional gardener!” While it’s flattering to be consi
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02/09/2022
The Horticulture Team – Favorite Plants & Memories
By: The IBG Hort Team
KRISTIN LITTLE, Horticulturist Pick ONE favorite plant? Not possible. I can give you a top three: Borage officinalis (also known as a Starflower) Geum
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11/18/2021
IBG Seeds for the Snake River Seed Cooperative
By: Daniel Murphy, IBG Collections Curator
Snake River Seed Cooperative is a collective of family farmers in the Intermountain West who work together to produce a wide diversity of locally-adapted seeds.
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06/29/2021
Weed it and Reap – Container Gardening
By: Idaho Botanical Garden
Container Gardening Want to grow plants in an area with no open soil, such as on a porch, patio, or by a door? Put them in a pot, half barrel, or other conta
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04/30/2020
4 Veggies that Won’t Feed Your Family (And 4 That Will)
By: Sierra Laverty, Assistant Horticulture Director
My social media feed has been full of folks showing their newly planted broccoli and lettuce, and carrot seedlings emerging from the soil. There’s a wave
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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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03/04/2019
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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11/05/2018
Gardening in Changing Climate, Part I: The Big Picture
By: Sierra Laverty, Assistant Horticulture Director
Rising sea levels. Extreme drought. Storms and hurricanes like we’ve never seen before. The effects of climate change can seem like the work of legend, but th
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10/15/2018
Beneficial Bugs in Fall
By: Sierra Laverty, Assistant Horticulture Director
In the spring and summer, any garden is awash with wonder. Annual and perennial flower buds open to reveal magnetic colors. The sound of crickets and cicadas ri
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10/04/2018
Creative Culinary Uses for Plants
By: Michele Lesica, Horticulture Director
The Idaho Botanical Garden recently hosted a new event called Bitters, Botany and the Big Screen, in collaboration with Red Feather Lounge and the Sierra Club.
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09/09/2018
Seeds, Saving for the Future
By: Anna Lindquist, Garden Lead and Native Plant Specialist
While flowers and fruits typically get all the glory in the garden, seeds are the real heroes. Without seeds, we would have no delicious tomatoes, no beautiful
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08/08/2018
Pollinators!
By: Anna Lindquist, Garden Lead and Native Plant Specialist
Working at the garden it is impossible to ignore the myriad of pollinators we have buzzing, flying, and swooping around us (including our new Bee mascot!). Many
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07/23/2018
Identifying the Goathead Monster
By: Daniel Murphy, Collections Curator
If you have spent much time on a bicycle in Boise, chances are you have been the victim of a goathead-induced flat tire. You probably even got a good look at th
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