On Friday Judy and I visited the Chicago Botanic Garden (CBG); it’s been a great place to visit since the pandemic struck. Since last June, CBG has been open to the public on a time-reserved basis. Getting our entrance passes online has been easy each time we’ve tried it. Here’s a link from our first visit to CBG after the reopening last year.
After walking through the Welcome Center we found this mass planting of Tulips on the Esplanade. It’s hard not to love any mass planting of Tulips, though this mix of pink, purple, and yellow is not my favorite. But hey – it’s a nice day and we’re in a beautiful garden, so let’s not quibble.
We walked past the Rose Garden, where not much was going on, and visited the English Walled Garden, where spring annuals, Redbuds (Cercis canadensis), and some other flowering trees were in bloom. The fountains were not yet operational. but hopefully that will change with warmer weather.
Overall I thought the standard of care was very close to pre-pandemic levels, which must not be easy since the volunteer program is still frozen.
For years our favorite walk has been from the English Walled Garden to Evening Island, then back across the bridge to the main part of the garden. On the way we pass through an area dubbed the English Oak Meadow, often the site of eye-popping masses of blooms.
Don’t know the names of the varieties, but isn’t this fabulous? I have to say, this has been a very good spring for Daffodils in the Chicago area. (Actually, I do wish there had been more signs around to ID plants – but hey, I’m sure staff are already working their fingers to the bone, so this is a minor point.)
That blue in the background is False-Forget-Me-Not (Brunnera macrophylla).
On the bridge to Evening Island. CBG’s 385 acres are designed around a large water feature that curves throughout the entire garden, so you are never far from a view that is framed to include water.
Evening Island has a Carillon Tower on a small hill. There is a modest lawn that provides a play area for kids. In early spring the lawn is full of clumps of Snowdrops.
The core of Evening Island is a naturalistic planting of perennial flowers, grasses, and shrubs. You can see the clumps of ‘Karl Foerster’ Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis acutiflora) are already greening up. That bridge over there leads to the Plant Evaluation Garden.
Near the Carillon Tower we came across a mass planting of Grape Hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) at the base of a shade tree.
Nearby, another mass planting of Grape Hyacinth, this time mixed with the sky-blue cultivar ‘Valerie Finnis’. I love how they look through a screen of red stems and young leaves (some compact variety of Red Twig Dogwood?).
We left Evening Island on this serpentine bridge.
On the other side of the bridge there is a woodland garden that was another favorite spot for Judy and I in April and May. It’s still a wonderful garden, but it has changed. It used to be dominated by Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica), Bleeding Heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis), and various ferns. Of these, only the Virginia Bluebells remain in substantial numbers. I wonder what brought on the change?
In place of the old standbys, we noticed lots of Bochara Iris (Iris bucharica), a variegated species of Solomon Seal (Polygonatum – just emerging) and some kind of Mayapple (Podophyllum).
By now we were getting tired so we headed back to the entrance, stopping to pay homage at the statue of a friendly Linnaeus. We’re so glad that CBG is open to the public and recovering from the damage caused by last year’s temporary closure. We used to visit CBG all the time, especially when our kids were small. Now that we are both vaccinated and essentially retired we intend to become frequent visitors once again.
gardeninacity 
Let me know when you want to go and I’ll drive!
Thank you for sharing this. I truly enjoyed it.
Really beautiful.
That statue of Linneaus is wonderful. There’s no question he’d enjoy that beautiful garden; I certainly would. I need to bestir myself and get to a couple of the gardens around here that I’ve never visited. It’s not the time or distance, it’s the traffic battles to reach them. My Urban Animal days are over! My favorite photo is of the Grape Hyacinth seen through the red stems. It’s lovely.
Are you having normal traffic there? It’s been lovely when we’ve been out to have no traffic – a positive side effect of covid – but it’s beginning to come back.
To be honest, except for some timed openings at places like museums and the occasional business that requests facemasks, it feels pretty normal here — and, yes, traffic is back to pre-pandemic levels. I’m glad for that, because it means kids are back in school and people are returning to work.
Yes, the grape hyacinth are RAD!
The mayapple looking plant is Syneilesis aconitiflia, shredded umbrella plant. Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh sells it.
Thanks for the ID! Though I will never buy anything ever again from PDN.
I agree but I say never say never. I find it best to order from a nursery that’s a zone colder than myself to ensure the plants are tough enough.
I enjoyed these masses of spring blooms. Iris season is just beginning here.
Such a beautiful place!
Thank you for the vicarious and beautiful tour!
Thanks for letting us come along on your tour of the CBG. Lots of beauty!
What a gorgeous tour ! Such a beautiful place to breath and relax in while enjoying so many interesting plants. I really loved seeing those grape hyacinth .. that blue just jumps out at you. Funny seeing Valerie Finnis .. I have an artemisia with the same ID name.
Gorgeous, love the spring colors, thank you for sharing your photos🌻⚘🌷🌹
Looks like you had a wonderful day trip surrounded by gorgeous landscape and plantings. It’s amazing how we appreciate some of the things we took for granted before Covid.
You lucky devils having such a wonder filled garden so close to visit. Love all of those spring bulbs blooming. That tower is interesting too.
Beautiful! We spent the day at Longwood Gardens outside Philadelphia with my daughter and her boyfriend. Gardens were spectacular and so happy to finally all be vaccinated so we can all get together again!
Btw, the tulip path was spectacular! Every grouping was more stunning than the last.
Would love to see that!
That’s an interesting but ominous idea about what happened to the Bleeding Heart. Unfortunate that CBG is not doing more to educate folks on the invasive jumping worms.
What a glorious place! Hard pressed to pick a favorite. Probably the daffodils.
It is nice to have a guided tour Jason! And good news that you are retired. All those daffodils really are a joy to see. 😃
The daffodils are just glorious, I hope they really cheered you up. I love the American take on the “English” walled garden. Muscari are fragrant, I wonder if you managed to smell the large patch that was planted tat the base of the tree by the Carillon tower?
For some reason we did not.
Thank you for the spring tour of the CBG. I’ve never visited at this time of year-wow! Wish I lived closer. Living in Michigan was hardly close, but I did get there a few times. Living in Maine now makes it seem rather un-doable.
Hope to see more pics from your next visits.
PS:The news about the jumping worms is terribly ominous.
I’ve heard there is a nice botanical garden in Maine as well.
A real treat to tour the garden through your eyes. Thank you.
What a lovely garden–thanks for the tour!
Yes! I’ve never been there this time of year, but hmmmm…I need to put it on the calendar for next April/May. Just gorgeous! That umbrella plant is interesting.
I enjoyed the tour of your Chicago Botanic Gardens and full credit to the staff for keeping up with the spring planting during COVID.I think people need public gardens even more since COVID.
I used to love visiting the gardens in the U.K. but there are no gardens to visit in this area. It looks a lovely garden to visit in different times of the year. Amelia
I think these sorts of public gardens are maybe more of a big city thing in most countries, the UK being perhaps the major exception.
It’s so lovely to be able to see glimpses of the CBG again through your photos – I so enjoyed my time there! Once again, it’s yet another botanical garden that I would love to go back to and spend more than a few “measly” hours exploring 🙂
How lucky you are being able to visit such a beautiful space. Loved all the mass plantings. The friendly Linnaeus is just charming.xxx
It’s a lovely place! The vibrant and refreshing blooms are a sight to behold indeed! The daffodils remind me of my old office which had a patch of these colorful beauties on the entryway.
Now that we are retired I hope to visit about once a week. I love to notice the new flowers as the season goes forward.