© Janet Davis
A few years ago, while at a garden
communicators’ symposium, I visited the Chicago Botanic Garden for the very
first time. It was 
the middle of
August, and the herbaceous borders and prairie gardens were at the peak of
bloom. We piled out of our tour buses
late in the afternoon and after a quick tour of some of the highlights, we were
escorted into the dining tent. As we
ate, I gazed longingly out into the dying light, wishing I could skip dinner
and keep touring. In fact, I was so
enchanted with the garden – and so disappointed at the brief time we were given
to explore it – that the next day I
played hooky from the conference, rented a car, and returned to the garden
along with a photographer friend who shared my feelings. I came home feeling so appreciative that I
took the time to tour it in a more relaxed manner. But I still didn’t see it all, and it’s definitely on my
“must-return” list for another year – or ten.
The
Chicago Botanic Garden is located in Glencoe,
Illinois, 25 miles north of Chicago. It
sits on 385 acres, creatively laid out over nine unique islands surrounded by
81 acres of lakes. There are 23 display
gardens and 3 native habitats that appeal to every type of gardener. These include the Regenstein Fruit &
Vegetable Garden; the Japanese Garden; the English Walled Garden with its
gorgeous perennial borders; the Suzanne S. Dixon Prairie featuring indigenous
wildflowers and prairie grasses; the Sensory Garden, with its sights, sounds,
textures and perfume; the Buehler Enabling Garden, displaying techniques and
tools to assist people of 
any age or ability
with gardening; and the Oehme Van Sweden-designed Gardens of the Great Basin,
including spectacular Evening Island, with its massed displays of grasses and
flowers.
“World-class” doesn’t begin to describe the
Chicago Botanic Garden. Each year it
attracts more than 750,000 visitors; it has the largest membership of any U.S.
public garden; and it includes a 900-member volunteer force to assist with
planting and propagation, teaching and staffing events and festivals. Extending over the size of 294 football
fields 
are 2 million
plants, including 10,000 trees, 820,000 bulbs, 925,000 perennials and 165,000
aquatic plants – not to mention annual flowers!
As well as being a beautiful garden and tourist attraction, Chicago Botanic is a world-renowned leader in horticultural research, conservation and education. Many gardeners were recently introduced to those programs through the success of a brand-new strain of purple coneflower called ‘Meadowbrite’, the work of the garden’s Dr. Jim Ault. There are numerous trial and demonstration gardens, indoor greenhouses and laboratories that allow CBG horticulturists to work on their various fields of research.
Chicago is part of the long-gone tallgrass
prairie that once dominated much of the eastern plain states and Canadian
provinces, but was subsequently lost to settlement and the farmer’s plow. Chicago Botanic 
is very serious
about doing its part to restore a little wilderness and protect the heritage of
native prairie plants for generations to come – this is evident in the Dixon
Prairie and in pragmatic concepts like the Native Plant Garden that shows
gardeners how to use natives in artful combinations. It is also why the garden is contributing the seed of 1,500
tallgrass native species to the Millenium Seed Bank, launched in 1997 by the
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in England – a project intended to collect, preserve
and catalogue seed from 10% of the world’s plant species by 2010.
There is a vibrant calendar of programming events at Chicago Botanic Garden to engage the community each season. For example in 2003’s Great Chef Series, more than thirty top Chicago chefs prepared inspiring dishes in the Fruit & Vegetable Garden, one for each Saturday and Sunday from spring through summer. There are art displays and workshops and more than 400 classes in gardening, botanical arts, landscape design and natural studies. There are also certificate programs in plant conservation biology, ornamental plants, healthcare gardening, naturalist studies and Midwest gardening, as well as outreach programs with community and school gardens.
If you go to the Chicago Botanic Garden, allow yourself an entire day. It won’t be nearly enough, but it will whet your appetite to come back for more!
The Chicago Botanic Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Illinois. It is open every day of the year except Christmas Day, from 8 am to sunset. For further information, call 847-835-5440 or visit their website.