Chicago Botanic Garden

Chicago is filled with breathtaking sights, from Lake Michigan to the historical architecture all over the city, but one of my very favorite things about living here is all of the green space. It's quite a change from Los Angeles to have so many public parks and open space in the very heart of the city, and I'm always so charmed by all the flowers planted along the city's streets.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is the very epitome of everything I love about green spaces in Chicago, so you'd better believe that I took my mom there when she visited last month. Somehow, I knew she'd enjoy all the flowers, plants, differently-themed gardens, and gorgeous scenery just as much as I do. Bonus: it was like having my own personal photographer! (Warning: approximately one zillion photos ahead...) I even convinced her to be in a few photos, which is a rare occurrence.

The Garden is up in the northern suburbs of the city, so I opted to drive, though if you're coming from central Chicago, it's pretty easy to take the Metra from Ogilvie Transportation Center. There's a parking fee of $25 on weekdays and $30 on the weekend, but no other admission fee, which makes it quite a bargain if you carpool with a couple of friends or take the Metra. It's a beautiful place to just wander around and enjoy nature, but they also have some wonderful paths if you're looking for a nice place to get some outdoor exercise. I can already tell that I'm going to run out of synonyms for 'beautiful' before I finish this post.

At 385 acres, there's too much at the Garden to see in a single day, but we made a valiant effort! Our first stop after the Visitor Center was the fruit and vegetable gardens. This is a real treat: I always end up seeing veggies I've never heard of or seen in real life, and it's a great way to find out what's in season.

We wandered through the tree fruit orchard and saw a little exhibit of apple and pear trees that have been trained to grow in small spaces. There are loads of signs scattered throughout with interesting facts about the plants and best practices for cultivating them, and I noticed so many more species of birds than I typically see around my apartment!

The fruits and veggies are located on one of the Garden's many islands, which meant we were also surrounded by gorgeous views the entire time we were exploring them. They had a wonderful mini-exhibit on bees, which are absolutely vital to pollination and thus to all of the food that's grown in the world. I learned that bees only collect pollen from one species of plant per trip from the hive, which absolutely blew my mind!

Don't let my brooch mislead you: this is where apples come from!

After that, we headed to the Regenstein center to check out the bonsai collections and the winter garden. The winter garden has tons of tropical and semi-tropical plants inside its greenhouses, and I'm told it's at its peak in March, which means I'll have to brave the nasty Chicago weather next year to see it! I was quite impressed at what was blooming in mid-May, though: a cacao plant, lots of palm-tree-adjacent things, and some truly epic flowers!

And so many ferns!

We walked by the lake for a bit before heading into the English walled garden. All I could think of the entire time we were there was that line from 'I am the Walrus' ("sitting in my English garden waiting for the sun/if the sun don't come, you'll get a tan from standing in the English rain.") There were tulips everywhere, so I was delighted, and we experimented with some full-sun photography. (Verdict: challenging, but rewarding.) There were tons of pretty benches beneath the walls, which made it an ideal place to sit and relax.

So many daffodils!

Entrance to the English Garden.

Flowerpalooza!

After the English garden, we peeked into the rose garden, but nothing was really blooming, so we snapped a quick photo and moved on.

We ended with one of my favorite places: the Heritage Garden, with its statue of Carl Linnaeus. Linneaus came up with the binomial nomenclature system for classifying living things, and the Heritage garden is a demonstration of his taxonomic principle in action.

One side of the Heritage Garden has plants arranged by where they grow: plants that are found in the same region are planted together. The other side of the garden has those same plants organized according to the classification system Linnaeus pioneered: plants that are more closely related (e.g. plants in the same genus or family) are grouped together, so you'll see species of ferns from all over the world, then a different type of plant. I think it's a really fantastic way to demonstrate how scientists turn their observations of the world into an orderly system. It's also super pretty!

We had a wonderful time at the Chicago Botanic Garden, and I'm already planning what we'll see during our next trip there! They have some preserved prairie there, which I know my mom would just love, and I'd also like to take her through the Japanese garden and the Plant Science Center. I can't wait till her next visit!

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