For years I had 'Visit the Chicago Botanic Garden' on my bucket list; I crossed it off last week. In all the years my son and his family lived close by, in Evanston, I never went there. The grandchildren were little and there were more pressing places to take them, such as the aquarium, the circus, Millenium Park, and the Children's Museum. A visit to the city, this time for the 2018 Garden Communicators' Conference, provided the perfect opportunity. When I registered for the conference, I scheduled a free afternoon with the express purpose of going there. I took an Uber with my friend and fellow Brit, Jenny Rose, who decided to accompany with me. We had limited time, so Jenny Rose suggested we 'do the flower bits' and forego the vegetable garden, dwarf conifers, and bonsai. We started with the Heritage Garden, spent quite a lot of time in the English Walled Garden (go figure), walked around numerous water features, and finally explored the Native Plant Garden.
On our way to the circular space of the Heritage Garden, we passed striking blooms of red rose mallow. I was to see this plant repeated in several other areas.
On our way to the circular space of the Heritage Garden, we passed striking blooms of red rose mallow. I was to see this plant repeated in several other areas.
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| Stunning red blooms of Rose Mallow Hibiscus |
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| Rose Mallow Hibiscus |
The Heritage Garden
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| The Heritage Garden |
I particularly enjoyed the water feature in the center of the Heritage Garden. Indeed, there were lovely ponds throughout the botanic garden. Here are a few of them:
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| Top left and bottom right: Heritage garden. |
The English Walled Garden
The English walled garden was designed by the renowned English landscape architect John Brookes, who intended a profusion of flowers typically seen in a traditional English country garden. I feel, however, it tends toward a more formal style. Boxwoods are evident. I'm not showing the Checkerboard Garden as the boxwoods were in need of a good pruning. We were surprised that the overall garden maintenance was less than we expected for a pubic garden. I was (nearly) tempted to pull weeds.
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| One of six unique garden rooms |
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| Surprise lilies Lycoris squamigera were everywhere |
Native Plant Garden
The Native Plant Garden is divided into three parts. We visited the mini-prairie-garden part with its sun-loving native Illinois plants. There is a much larger prairie garden in another area that I would like to see one day.
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| Native Plant Garden |
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| Flowering spurge Euphorbia corollata |
Following, I've grouped by color some favorite blooms that I saw that day:
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| Bottom right, Clematis. |
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| Bottom left: Daylily Hemeracallis 'Autumn Minaret |
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| Bottom right: Hydrangea paniculata Vanilla Strawberry™ |
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| I love the color of this waterlily. 'Plum Crazy' is a great name |
In the physics garden section of the Heritage Garden I was reminded that I didn't plant borage this year, one of my favorite herbs, loved by bees. I love that blue color. Next year ...
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| Borage Borago officinalis |
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| Blue Glorybower Clerodendrum ugandense |
I didn't have my camera with me because the weatherman threatened rain, so the pictures were taken with my iPhone. I have shown a very small part of these magnificent gardens. Now the Chicago Botanic Garden is back on my bucket list for a revisit to see more.
Happy Gardening,
Pamela x
Happy Gardening,
Pamela x
I love reading your comments. I hope you leave one so I’ll know you visited!
I look forward to visiting your blog in return.
What a delightful article, Pam! Absolutely enjoyed reading it and admired your pictures!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tatyana. It's amazing how far phone cameras have advanced, isn't it? Sometimes I feel I do better with the phone than with my DSLR. Unfortunately, the resolution isn't high enough to use for anything other than social media.
DeleteCongratulations on crossing an important item off your bucket list. Wonderful pictures!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dorothy. Ditto my reply to Tatyana about the photos. As for my bucket list -- maybe one day I WILL go to the Chelsea Flower Show!
DeleteGlad you managed to get it ticked off your bucket list even if it is back on there once again. I love a walled garden, I don't know what it is about them which attracts me but I can never resist. I'm surprised that you have to sow borage seeds each year, it's such prolific self seeder that I only had to sow the seed once and I was never without again, whether I wanted it or not.
ReplyDeleteI love a walled garden, too, Jo. My daughter found a beautiful one for her wedding. Actually, I don't usually have to plant borage, as you say it reseeds, but we cleared out the area where it grew last year, and moved in new soil.
DeleteHi Pam
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago Botanic Garden looks so inviting and the clarity of your pictures using a cell phone. (Cell phone, get me, all Americanised). I had been using a very old mobile phone and just updated it to a smart phone, well its taken me a week to get my head around the basics, haven't tried or know how to use the camera function as yet.
Don't forget, Alistair, my advanced age. If I can do it, you can master that smart phone.
DeleteI am so happy for you that you finally got to see the Chicago Botanical Garden and thank you for sharing it. It’s on my bucket list too! The photos you took with a cell phone are wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lee. I just wish I could use the phone camera for my newspaper articles -- resolutions too low.
DeleteHello Pam, it has been over 20 years since we visited the Chicago Botanical garden. I don't remember much about it, really, but I would like to go again someday. Thank you for the photos to refresh my memory. (I know what you mean about seeing weeds in a public garden, it makes me want to pull them, too.)
ReplyDeleteI hope you get back to Chicago, Karen. I plan on returning some day.
Deletebeautiful! Especially the waterlilies and hibiscus.
ReplyDeleteI know how much you love hibiscus, Emdah. You would love this garden.
DeleteNow this garden is on my bucket list too! Wow.
ReplyDeleteThere is such a sense of accomplishment when you cross off an item on the list.
DeleteIt is beautiful, isn't it? Your photos really do it justice, too. It's been a while since I've been there. The ponds are so gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI like garden visits for the ideas I get. I need that 'Plum crazy' water lily.
DeleteWow, I could have looked at another whole post on this garden! I'm glad you made the time to visit, it sounded like a fun getaway for the two of you.
ReplyDeleteI always love seeing water gardens towards the end of summer. The lilies are always so amazing.
I did the exact same thing - my flight wasn't until Friday evening so I spent a good chunk of the day at the Botanic Garden. It was wonderful & I thoroughly my time there. I'm a bit of a dawdler and often feel as if I only scratched the surface when I go to these types of gardens as part of the tours. I still didn't see everything, of course, but I made a plan of the "important" bits that I wanted to see and was able to stick to it.
ReplyDeleteIt's tantalising to have to choose which bits you can make time for. But plenty to look forward to next time.
ReplyDelete