Chicago Botanic Garden
Located at 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, Illinois, USA, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a 385-acre (1.56 km2) living plant museum situated on nine islands featuring 23 display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. The Garden is open every day of the year, except December 25th. Admission is free.
The Chicago Botanic Garden is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings information on nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening provide community outreach and service programs. Through the Institutes of Plant Conservation and Ornamental Plant Research, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives.
The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.
The mission of the Chicago Botanic Garden is to promote the enjoyment, understanding and conservation of plants and the natural world.
North American Host for World Environment Day 2008
The Chicago Botanic Garden has been chosen by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the sole North American host for World Environment Day 2008 with the theme, "CO2—Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy."
On June 5, 2008 at the Garden and venues around the world, events will highlight resources and initiatives that promote low carbon economies and lifestyles, such as improved energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, forest conservation, and eco-friendly consumption.
Over thirty non-profit, academic, cultural and environmental organizations will participate in the Knowledge and Action Marketplace[1]on the Garden's Esplanade. Visitors will find displays and representatives discussing products to help green homes, local carpools, volunteer and community conservation programs, classes on green gardening, the use of CFL light bulbs, vehicles that run on used vegetable oil and even appliances that pop popcorn using solar energy.
Organizations participating in the event include the Center for Neighborhood Technology, offering car-sharing information; CNT Energy, working with ComEd to provide information about Watt Spot, a program to assist homeowners who want to pay market price for electricity; Northern Illinois Energy Project, providing free CFL lights; Chicago Wilderness and Openlands, with information about local conservation and restoration programs; and Horrigan Urban Forest products, highlighting the best uses for reclaimed wood from urban trees.
The Garden will also be hosting its first International Climate Change Forum[2] on that day, featuring national and international experts including Dr. Ashok Khosla, former Chairman on the UNEP; Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund; Mary Grade, former Regional Administrator for EPA region 5; Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Commissioner of the Department of the Environment for the City of Chicago; John Rowe, Chief Executive Officer of the Exelon Corporation; Arthur J. Gibson, Vice President of Environment, Health & Safety for Baxter International and Arthur Armishaw, Chief Technology and Services Officer for HSBC-North America.
Entries from UNEP’s International Children’s Painting Competition[3] will be on exhibit throughout June at the greenhouse galleries, located in the Regenstein Center. More than 700 entries were received from which the first and second place North American winners were selected. Chicago-area and North American winners will be featured.
Plant Conservation Science Initiative
Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, the Garden’s 200 scientists address threats to endangered flora, train plant conservation leaders and research plant conservation policy. Programs and research focus on the collection, evaluation, introduction and preservation of plants within the context of threats such as climate change, global warming and human impacts.
In 2007, the Chicago Botanic Garden announced plans for a three-phased initiative that will create a 15-acre (61,000 m2) science campus located at the south end of the Garden. In 2008, the Garden will break ground for a 36,000-square-foot (3,300 m2) Plant Conservation Science Center, named for Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice. The Rice Center will be built with a sustainable design, with certification at the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold level. It will include a green roof-top garden, seven research labs, an expanded herbarium, a new seed bank area, new classrooms and seminar rooms, twenty offices for research scientists and a public gallery that will allow visitors to see behind-the-scenes conservation science at work. A bridge from Evening Island will connect the main garden to this new campus. Visitors will be able to see scientists at work in labs, walk to the green roof top garden, and observe the Tall Grass Prairie millennium seed bank. The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center is planned for completion in spring 2009.
The Chicago Botanic Garden conserves rare plant species, and is working with regional, national and international organizations on behalf of plant conservation. The Garden is a partner in the Seeds of Success project, a branch of the Millennium Seed Bank Project managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The goal is to collect seeds from 1,500 tall grass prairie species of the Midwest for conservation and restoration efforts. The Garden is also a partner in the Plants of Concern initiative to monitor rare species in Northeastern Illinois.
The Garden is a member of Chicago Wilderness, a consortium of 200 local institutions dedicated to preserving and restoring Chicago’s natural areas, as well as the Center for Plant Conservation, a group of 30 other botanic gardens and arboreta committed to conserving rare plants from their region.
In trial and demonstration gardens, indoor greenhouses and laboratories located in the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Resource Center, Garden horticulturists test plants to determine those that are best-suited for local gardens.
Joseph Regenstein, Jr., School of the Chicago Botanic Garden
An education program that began in 1990 as a series of classes for adult learners is now an academic institution offering 500 classes in subjects covering plants and people, gardening, nature and the environment, garden design and the botanical arts. In collaboration with universities, the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden now offers students degree accreditation; courses taught by scientists and teachers knowledgeable in the fields of plant biology, conservation and horticulture; and a 385-acre (1.56 km2) campus and field site.
Degree Programs offered at the School of the Chicago Botanic Garden:
L.E.A.P. Ph.D. Program – Landscapes, Ecological and Anthropogenic Processes (LEAP) is a Ph.D. program offered by the University of Illinois at Chicago in partnership with the Chicago Botanic Garden. Launched in 2005, the program fosters understanding of ecological processes in human-altered landscapes. The goal is to understand how human activities relate to the native species of plants and animals.
Northwestern University Masters Program – The Chicago Botanic Garden and Northwestern University have developed Master’s programs emphasizing plant conservation biology. This programs focuses on plant population biology, plant systematics, molecular biology, plant ecology, research design, invasive species, economic botany, ethics in biological research, plant population genetics, bioinformatics and soil ecology.
Masters Program in Natural Resources and Environmental Science – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, has partnered with the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden to offer students graduate degrees in disciplines related to natural resources and environmental sciences. Areas of study include managing soil and water quality, urban forestry, resource ecology and human-landscape interactions.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Bachelor’s Program in Horticulture – The University’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES), is partnering with the University’s Office of Continuing Education, Chicago area community and city colleges, The Morton Arboretum, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Oak Brook Multi-University Center, in offering students the final years of coursework needed to complement their associate level courses and earn a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture. This is first horticultural bachelor’s program offered by either a private or public institution in the Chicago area.
Garden facts
The Chicago Botanic Garden is one of the United States' most visited public gardens and a center for learning and scientific research. Each year 760,000 people visit the Garden. It has a membership of 50,000, the largest of any U.S. public garden. More than 1,000 volunteers assist with all aspects of the Garden’s mission, from planting and propagating natural areas, to teaching educational programs and staffing public programs and exhibitions. The Chicago Botanic Garden is only one of 10 public gardens accredited by the American Association of Museums, recognizing its living collection of 2.4 million plants.
The 23 display gardens and three native habitats include:
The Aquatic Garden – This garden shows plants that grow in water through winding boardwalks over the lake. There are 31 varieties of water lilies and nine varieties of lotus in bloom during the summer and early fall. The plants are all hardy to the Chicago and Midwest.
The Bulb Garden – contains over 75,000 bulbs, including rare and unusual varieties.
The Circle Garden – This 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m2) garden displays annuals suited for a typical Midwest garden. At the center of the Circle Garden is afountain with 32 cascading plumes of water.
Dwarf Conifer Garden – This garden contains rare species such as one of the largest weeping Norway spruces in the Midwest, a 30-year-old thread leaf false cypress, and a Horstmann’s Silberlocke Korean fir. Work has begun on a redesign of the Dwarf Conifer Garden and is scheduled to re-open in June 2008.
Enabling Garden – This 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m2) garden shows structures, tools, techniques and programming to help people, of any age or ability, garden. The Enabling Garden features plantings that stimulate the senses, displays of adapted tools, hanging baskets on pulleys, vertical gardens that increase the ease of gardening, and planting beds and containers raised for comfortable reach.
English Walled Garden – Six English gardening styles are showcased in the English Walled Garden. This garden features more than 50,000 herbaceous and woody plants, with columns, fountains, runs and other garden ornamentation.
Japanese Garden – This particular garden is made up of special plants and bushes and rocks that symbolize the culture of the garden. It also has two bridges, the most popular one being the zig zag bridge which is supposed to slow down visitors so they can enjoy the garden.
English Oak Meadow – Each year the English Oak Meadow features native and exotic annuals. The gently sloping hillside, with its fragrant annuals under a collection of oaks, serves as a natural division between the Dwarf Conifer and English Walled Gardens.
Esplanade – The 2.8-acre (11,000 m2) Esplanade is a new garden and plaza with public spaces and intimate areas. Its landscape provides a view of the Garden’s northernmost lake as well as fountains, waterspouts and pools.
Crescent Garden – Composed of concentric tiers shaped by hundreds of evergreen boxwoods, the Crescent Garden changes its planting beds every season.
Evening Island – Evening Island was designed in the “New American Garden” style to display the expanding horticultural collections of the Chicago Botanic Garden. The style is categorized by sweeping use of perennials and ornamental grasses. In the center of the island stands the Butz Memorial Carillon, whose tones signal the hour and provide summertime music.
Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden – This is the largest display garden of its kind in the Midwest. The nearly 4-acre (16,000 m2) garden features displays, as well as education facilities and exhibits.
Greenhouses – There are Tropical, Semi-tropical and Arid. They feature 9,000 exotic plants with informational displays.
Heritage Garden – This garden provides visitors with an introduction to the history garden and plant nomenclature. It is a replica of Europe’s first botanic garden in Padua, Italy, and is divided into four quadrants each representing one of the four corners of the earth. The beds contain plant families ranging from the fern family (one of the least complex), to the aster family (one of the most complex). The focal point of the garden is a sculpture of Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist and taxonomist known as “the father of botany.”
Lakeside Garden – The Lakeside Gardens cover a total of 2 ¼ acres and encircle the Great Basin Lake. They comprise a major collection of flowering trees, shrubs and perennials.
Landscape Gardens – This garden features eight garden styles and settings, to demonstrate how different types of landscape can thrive in Midwest gardens. It features the rock, traditional border, cool color/stream, ericaceous and easy-to-grow gardens, as well as the formal, informal and fragrant herb gardens.
Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden – Also called Sansho-En (the Garden of Three Islands). It is designed in Japanese style with over 280 types of plants conducive to gardening in the Midwest. It is a four-season garden with curving paths and pruned trees, framing distant views of lakes, grassy hills, woods and gardens beyond. The three islands are Keiunto, Seifuto and Horaijima.
Mary Mix McDonalds Woods – This is the Chicago Botanic Garden’s 100-acre (0.40 km2) naturally occurring oak woodland community of plants and animals, restored for the public to experience some of the native communities that once covered the Midwest. The woods include numerous plant communities such as wetland depressions, a small prairie remnant, a wooded moraine and savanna areas.
The Plant Evaluation Gardens (Sun and Shade) – The Chicago Botanic Garden staff evaluate more than 7,200 plants each year for bloom size, color, cold hardiness and disease and pest resistance. The results provide information and resources for the scientific and professional community, as well as for Midwest gardeners.
Suzanne S. Dixon Prairie – six prairies that represent the native prairies once common to northeastern Illinois, each with its own topography, soil conditions and native plant species:
- Black earth and plants taller than 8 feet (2.4 m) are characteristic of the tallgrass or mesic prairie that once dominated Illinois.
- The bur oak savanna is an open grassland prairie that incorporates clusters of native bur oak trees and the flowering plants growing around them.
- The sand prairie is a re-creation of the type of prairie found naturally at the southwestern end of Lake Michigan, where the shoreline encompasses low dunes with a marshy habitat sited between them.
- The steep, sloped gravel hill prairie is a dry, exceptionally well-drained area with slightly sandy or gravelly soil. Plants found here are lower to the ground and flower earlier than tallgrass varieties.
- The wet prairie is located close to the water’s edge and contains plants well suited to a marsh setting.
- The fen prairie is a re-creation of an unusual wetland where the water contains a high degree of mineral salts leached from underground limestone.
Native Plant Garden – This garden encompasses three areas: a woodland garden that displays native plants preferring part shade, from tall trees to spring ephemerals; a prairie garden, featuring sun-loving native prairie plants; and a habitat garden, which features native plants for bird and butterfly nesting and food sources.
Model Railroad Garden – This outdoor exhibition takes visitors from coast to coast with model trains, miniature representations of America’s best-loved landmarks, and small-scale gardens. The 7,500-square-foot (700 m2) Model Railroad Garden features 16 garden scale trains on 1,600 feet (490 m) of track. The buildings have been handcrafted with natural materials, including twigs, bark, leaves, acorns and pebbles. The landscape is made up of over 5,000 tiny trees, shrubs, groundcovers and flowering plants in 250 varieties. This garden is open from mid-May to late October.
Krasberg Rose Garden – Visitors entering this garden will see 50,000 plants representing 367 rose varieties, all hardy and well –suited for growing in the Chicago area. The only informal, free form rose garden of its kind in the United States, the collection is the largest in the Midwest.
Sensory Garden – This garden appeals to more than just the eyes with plantings of color, fragrance, form and texture. Visitors can touch the soft, fuzzy, silver-gray leaves of a lamb’s ear plant, enjoy the smell of a butterfly bush, and hear the distinctive rustle and pop of a saw tooth oak tree.
Skokie River – The Skokie River Corridor is a living laboratory to explore concepts of biodiversity, ecology, landscape and aesthetics. It is located along the western edge of the Chicago Botanic Garden, surrounding the one-mile (1.6 km) stretch of the Skokie River. The area includes 197 native plant species, all of local origin, growing in and along the river, including 32 sedge and 22 grass species.
Spider Island – This island offers a secluded space for contemplation, with dramatic water views. Ringed by birches, alders and serviceberries, a meadow of native plants, including bottlebrush grass, black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower, is at the heart of the garden. Along the islands shore grow 20 species of water plants such as blue flag iris, lizard’s tail and pickerelweed.
Water Gardens – The Water Gardens ring the Great Basin Lake and contain a major aquatic plant collection of 114,000 aquatic plants.
Waterfall Garden – This garden has 10–12 foot falls with water tumbling into small pools at the base of each drop. Paths and bridges enable visitors to walk to the top of the waterfall.
Bonsai Collection – This collection is regarded by bonsai experts as one of the best public collections in the world. It includes 200 bonsai in twenty-seven styles and more than 60 kinds of plants, including evergreen, deciduous, tropical, flowering and fruiting trees.
42°8′54″N 87°47′24″W / 42.14833°N 87.79000°W
Notes
See also
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- Morton Arboretum
- North American Plant Collections Consortium
External links
