On this special episode of Growing at ReimanGardens, Butterfly Wing Curator, Nathan Brockman, takes a unique look at butterflies under Ultraviolet (UV) “light.” UV light is a type of wavelength that is shorter to those found in visible light. It cannot be seen by humans without the aid of special tools, such as black light. Certain species of insects can see ultraviolet patterns exhibited by plants and other insects which go unseen by most mammals. On this episode, Nathan briefly describes visible and UV light then shows examples of butterflies and flowers which exhibit an ultraviolet pattern.
The butterflies from the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing displayed in the video include; Postman Butterfly (Heliconius melpomene), Tiger Longwing (Heliconius hecale), Numata Longwing (Heleconius numata), Sara Longwing (Heliconius sara), Sapho Longwing (Heliconius sapho), Ismenius Longwing (Heliconius ismenius), Common Mormon (Papilio polytes), Emperor Swallowtail (Papilio ophidocephalus), and Constantine’s Swallowtail (Papilio constantinus). For more information on ReimanGardens please visit www.reimangardens.com.
The second part of this two-part series on holiday decorating features Betsy Eness, the indoor horticulturist, demonstrating how to make evergreen garlands. She uses white pine, noble fir, Austrian pine, and balsam fir. Next, she explains how to make a ribbon bow to use in the garlands and then shows a few creative ideas of how to use the leftover pieces of evergreens and cranberries to create centerpieces. Other tools necessary to make these are cylinder vases, paddle wire, floral wire, and scissors.
This episode of Growing at Reiman Gardens is the first of a two-part series on homemade holiday decorations. The indoor horticulturist, Betsy Eness, demonstrates how to make elegant kissing ball decorations. She creates one type of kissing ball using cranberries, ribbon, Spanish moss, greenery, and glitter and the other is decorated with Christmas-colored potpourri petals. Extra materials needed are foam balls, a metal plant stake, floral wire, floral water tubes, glue gun, quilting pins, and craft glue.
In this week's episode of Growing at Reiman Gardens, outdoor horticulturist, Ed Moran, teaches a class on how to make festive mixed green wreaths from fresh evergreens. The conifer clippings he includes in his wreaths are Douglas Fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), Noble Fir (Abies procera), Silver Fir (Abies alba), Arbor Vitae/Eastern Red Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), White Pine (Pinus strobus), and Juniper (Juniperus sp.). He also includes a few broadleaf evergreens, such as Camellia (Camellia sp.), Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora), and Holly (Ilex opaca). The simple process he demonstrates creates a beautiful and impressive wreath.
In this week's episode of Growing at ReimanGardens, assistant director, Lisa Orgler, hosts the conservatory change-out of December 2007. It shows the time-lapse version of the change-out condensed from 8 hours to 8 minutes! You can watch the bustle of the workers change the scene from cardinal and gold to a tropical sanctuary.
In this week's edition of Growing at Reiman Gardens, Sarah Rummery, our outdoor horticulturist, teaches us the methods used when planting your bulbs for next spring. Listen in on how to prepare the bed space, how far down and apart to plant the bulbs, and even a few hints on keeping those pesky rabbits and deer away from your, soon to be, beautiful flowers!
Have you been searching for a flowering plant to add beauty to your fall garden? Mums are very hardy in autumn weather and provide vibrant colors. In this week's video of Growing at Reiman Gardens, the indoor horticulturist, Betsy Eness, uses mums to demonstrate how to pinch the buds off of plants in order to produce a variety of sizes and appearances of flowers.
On this episode of Growing at ReimanGardens; Nathan Brockman, Butterfly Wing Curator, introduces us to a unique species of butterfly, Greta oto, commonly called Glasswing or Clearwing. This distinctive butterfly has clear wings that are lacking the usual tiny overlapping scales that most butterflies have to create their colors and patterns seen. To learn more about this interesting species, tune in now!
Are you having trouble keeping the Japanese beetles away? Are you looking for unique fall plants to put in your garden? In this episode of Growing at ReimanGardens, Ed Moran, the outdoor horticulturist, highlights particular plants that make a fall garden vibrant. These plants include ornamental grasses and native flowers and shrubs. Next, Nathan Brockman, the entomologist and butterfly wing curator, explains how we use pheromone traps to lure the Japanese beetles (Popillia japonica) away from the specific plants they prefer and to reduce their presence in the gardens.
The plants Ed highlights are Zebra Grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'), Goldenrod (Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'), Henry's Garnet (Itea virginica), Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale 'Mardi Gras'), Pink Turtlehead (Chelone lyoniia 'Hot Lips'), Red Fountain Grass (Pennisetum setaceum rubrum).
This week on Growing at Reiman Gardens we visit with Sarah Rummery, an outdoor horticulturist at Reiman Gardens, for a quick introduction in to ground covers. Sarah will highlight some of the different types of ground covers found at the Gardens and briefly discuss some of their uses in a landscape. The plants highlighted in this episode include: Bugleweed (Ajuga), Periwinkle (Vinca minor), Lily Turf (Lirope), Jacobs Ladder (Polemonium), Creeping Juniper (Juniperus horizontalis), Pig Squeak (Bergenia cordifolia), Perennial Geranium (Geranium), and False Forget-Me-Not (Brunnera).
The biofuel industry and stustainable gardening are both very popular topic these days. This week on Growing at Reiman Gardens, Aaron Steil, the Education and Plant Collection Cordinator at Reiman Gardens explains the gardens Biowalk tour. Individuals which participate in the Biowalk tour see what biorenewable plants look like, learn about their cultivation requirements, weigh the issues that surround biorenewable plants, learn about our new Sustainable Rose Garden, and how you can incorporate sustainable practices in your own garden.
This self-guided tour includes a free audio tour that you can take using your cell phone.
This self-paced cell phone tour allows you to call at anytime from anywhere and hear more information about biorenewable plants and sustainability in the garden.
Growing at Reiman Gardens is a new weekly video which will feature the butterflies, the flowers, the events, and anything else going on at Reiman Gardens. The videos will be uploaded onto YouTube and available for all to see. Check back at our website each week for an updated video or go to www.youtube.com and search for Reiman Gardens yourself. In this week's Growing at Reiman Gardens video Sarah Rummery, Outdoor Horticulturist, highlights the blossoming hydrangeas at Reiman Gardens and then Nathan Brockman, Butterfly Wing Curator, shows time lapse footage of the Blue Morpho butterfly (Morpho peleides) as it emerges from its chrysalis.
Growing at Reiman Gardens is a new weekly video which will feature the butterflies, the flowers, the events, and anything else going on at Reiman Gardens. The videos will be uploaded onto YouTube and available for all to see. Check back at our website each week for an updated video or go to www.youtube.com and search for Reiman Gardens yourself. How are your geraniums doing? What about your magnolia tree in the front yard? This episode of Growing at Reiman Gardens features our outdoor horticulturist, Ed Moran, giving tips for scented geranium growth. Then we hear from Nathan Brockman, the gardens entomologist, who teaches us about and how to treat the Magnolia Scale, an insect which can be found here at Reiman Gardens and maybe your garden as well.
Growing at Reiman Gardens is a new weekly video which will feature the butterflies, the flowers, the events, and anything else going on at Reiman Gardens. The videos will be uploaded onto YouTube and available for all to see. Check back at our website each week for an updated video or go to www.youtube.com and search for Reiman Gardens yourself. Ed, an Outdoor Horticulturalist for the Gardens, is the host of this week’s show, which highlights the Garden Railroad and the historical significance to Iowa State University. So take a look to see what’s going on!
Growing at Reiman Gardens is a new weekly video which will feature the butterflies, the flowers, the events, and anything else going on at Reiman Gardens. The videos will be uploaded onto YouTube and available for all to see. Check back at our website each week for an updated video or go to www.youtube.com and search for Reiman Gardens yourself. Nathan, the Christina Reiman Butterfly Wing curator, is the host of this week’s show, which highlights an uncommon butterfly found in the gardens this summer as well as the enormous effort put forth by staff and volunteers during the Conservatory change out on July 8th. So take a look to see what’s going on!
