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October through November 2010

As fall colors lend a spectacular hue to the city, the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park welcomes visitors from all over the world to its perennially beautiful grounds and popular programs. Here are offerings coming this fall, including hands-on workshops, lectures and a special garden walk:

Free adult hands-on workshop:
Garden Blogging for Beginners
Sunday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: Fourth floor conference room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Program: If you’ve ever thought about branching out into blogging about your garden, discover techniques for chronicling your thoughts online. Led by Ramon Gonzales, a.k.a. “Mr. Brown Thumb.” Note: Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497).

Lurie Garden/Art Institute free family workshop:
Magical Dwellings: Art and the Lurie Garden
Sunday, Oct. 10, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.
Location: The Art Institute of Chicago Ryan Education Center, 111 S. Michigan Ave., and the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park
Program: Learn how to create charming diminutive dwellings in this special joint workshop from The Art Institute of Chicago and the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park. Children ages 6 to 12 will explore concepts of architecture and outdoor structures, drawing on inspiration from great works at The Art Institute and spectacular scenery in the Lurie Garden. Note: Children must be at least 6 years old and accompanied by an adult. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497).

Free adult lecture:
What is Living in Your Soil – and Why Should You Care?
Thursday, Oct.14, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Location: First floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Program: Join Rex Bastian from the Care of Trees as he discusses fundamentals of soil biology and why living components of soil, including bacteria, fungi, protozoa and others, are important to plants and trees. Pre-registration is not required.

Free seasonal garden walk:
Saturday, Oct.16, 10 a.m.
Savor autumn’s blaze of glory and learn about seasonal changes in the garden during this walk in the Lurie Garden. Discover native plants, Chicago symbolism in the garden’s design and perennials that can be easily grown in the home garden. The seasonal walk is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is not required.

Free adult lecture:
Everything Comes into this World Hungry: Soil Making and Building
Thursday, Nov. 18, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Location: Fifth floor Millennium Park Room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Program: In this food-for-thought session, Nance Klehm – progressive ecologist, designer, urban forager, grower and teacher – will share her insights on various methods of transforming what is typically perceived as “waste” into components for building healthy soil. Pre-registration is not required.

Free adult hands-on workshop:
Healing Herbal Lotions, Balms and Salves
Saturday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: First floor Garland Room Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Program: Herbs are a treat for all the senses. Join the Lurie Garden’s Bonnie Tawse as she shares her best tips for creating and using soothing herbal lotions, balms and salves, especially as impending cold weather spurs the beginning of dry-skin season. They also make great gifts for the upcoming holidays. Note: Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497) to register.

Free family workshop:
Winter Wonders and Recycled Crafts
Saturday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Location: First floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.
Program: Children will learn about outdoor winter wonderlands and how the landscape is transformed during colder months. They also will create earth-friendly crafts (and possibly get a start on holiday gift-giving) using recycled materials. Note: Children must be at least 6 years old and accompanied by an adult. Pre-registration is required. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497).

The Lurie Garden is located at the southeast corner of Millennium Park, near the
corner of Columbus Drive and Monroe Street. Millennium Park is easily reached by CTA and adjacent public parking is available. Millennium Park is universally accessible to patrons with disabilities. For more information, visit .

Visit www.luriegarden.org for information about the Lurie Garden, including programming, four-season highlights, plant features and design elements.

Sue Markgraf and Lurie Garden’s new chief horticulturist Jennifer Davit were recently featured on WCPT Radio’s “The Mike Nowak Show”, talking about managing the garden. Mike recommends listeners visit Lurie Garden in Millennium Park this fall and introduces Jennifer and her horticultural background on air. She and Sue give an overview of Lurie Garden and its role as a sustainable destination - a “jewel” - in Chicago.

Click here to listen to the interview. (Mp3)

Mike Nowak’s weekly show covers all-things horticultural and environmental, and can be heard on Sunday mornings from 9 to 11 on 820 AM and 92.7 (north), 92.5 (west) and 99.9 FM (south).

Click here to visit The Mike Nowak Show web site.

Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, Sept. 23

Things are set to get a little more wild in Chicago as the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park welcomes acclaimed garden expert and author Rick Darke. Co-sponsored by the Winnetka Garden Club, his presentation, “All Things Wild and Sustainable in the New Global Garden,” takes place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 23 in the Millennium Park Room on the fifth floor of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

Darke, from Landenberg, Pa., will draw on his unique perspective and expansive background in landscape ethics, photography and contextual design. He will share his thoughts on creating and enjoying gardens as dynamic as they are livable and ecological. In his multi-media presentation, Darke will show examples of authentic, re-vegetative habitats-as-gardens, including notable progressive parks in Germany.

The Lurie Garden is an appropriate place for a discussion on global gardens and the creativity that results from a fusion of local elements and international talent: its four-season, sustainable design is based on an international competition, with a lead landscape architect from Seattle and a perennial planting designer from The Netherlands.

The Lurie Garden is located at the southeast corner of Millennium Park, near the corner of Columbus Drive and Monroe Street. Millennium Park is easily reached by CTA and adjacent public parking is available. It is universally accessible to patrons with disabilities. For more information, visit www.millenniumpark.org.

Visit www.luriegarden.org for more information about the Lurie Garden, including programming, seasonal highlights, plant features and design elements. For more information about Darke’s lecture, and to register, call 312-744-0078. For more information about Darke, visit www.rickdarke.com.

October through November 2010

As fall colors lend a spectacular hue to the city, the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park welcomes visitors from all over the world to its perennially beautiful grounds and popular programs. Here are offerings for fall 2010, including hands-on workshops, lectures and garden walks:

Free adult hands-on workshop:

Garden Blogging for Beginners

Saturday, Oct. 3, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Location: Fourth floor conference room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

Program: If you’ve ever thought about branching out into blogging about your garden (or your vision of gardening), discover how to get started chronicling your thoughts online. Led by Ramon Gonzales, a.k.a. “Mr. Brown Thumb.” Note: Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497) or visit www.luriegarden.org to register.

Lurie Garden/Art Institute free family workshop:

Dwellings: Art and the Lurie Garden

Saturday, Oct. 10, 12:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Location: The Art Institute of Chicago Ryan Education Center, 111 S. Michigan Ave., and the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park

Program: Learn how to create charming diminutive dwellings in this special joint workshop from The Art Institute of Chicago and the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park. Children ages 6 to 12 will explore concepts of architecture and outdoor structures, drawing on inspiration from great works at The Art Institute and spectacular scenery in the Lurie Garden. Note: Children must be at least 6 years old and accompanied by an adult. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. The workshop is free, although participants and family members/caregivers who are not members of The Art Institute of Chicago must purchase a ticket to the museum to attend. To register online, visit www.artic.edu/aic/education or call 312-857-7161.

Free adult lecture:

What is Living in Your Soil – and Why Should You Care?

Thursday, Oct.14, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Location: First Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

Program: Join Rex Bastian from the Care of Trees as he discusses fundamentals of soil biology and why living components of soil, including bacteria, fungi, protozoans and others, are important to plants and trees. Pre-registration not required.

Free adult lecture:

Everything Comes into this World Hungry: Soil Making and Building

Thursday, Nov. 11, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Location: Fifth floor Millennium Park Room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.Program: In this food-for-thought session, Nance Klehm – progressive ecologist, designer, urban forager, grower and teacher – will share her insights on various methods of transforming what is typically perceived as “waste” to heal or build soil. Pre-registration not required.

Free adult hands-on workshop:

Herbal Lotions, Balms and Salves

Saturday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Location: Fourth floor conference room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

Program: Herbs are a treat for all the senses. Join the Lurie Garden’s Bonnie Tawse as she shares her best tips for creating and using soothing herbal lotions, balms and salves, especially as impending cold weather spurs the beginning of dry-skin season. They also make great gifts for the upcoming holiday season. Note: Space is limited and pre-registration is required. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497) or visit www.luriegarden.org to register.

Free family workshop:

Winter Wonders and Recycled Crafts

Saturday, Nov. 13, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Location: Fourth floor conference room, Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St.

Program: Children will learn about outdoor winter wonderlands and how the landscape is transformed during colder months. They also will create earth-friendly crafts (and possibly get a start on holiday gift-giving) using recycled materials. Note: Children must be at least 6 years old and accompanied by an adult. Pre-registration is required. Call 312-742-TIXS (8497) or visit www.luriegarden.org to register.

The Lurie Garden is located at the southeast corner of Millennium Park, near the corner of Columbus Drive and Monroe Street. Millennium Park is easily reached by CTA and adjacent public parking is available. Millennium Park is universally accessible to patrons with disabilities.

For more information, visit www.millenniumpark.org.

Visit www.luriegarden.org for more information about the Lurie Garden, including programming, four-season highlights, plant features and design elements.

Chicago’s “Urbs in Horto” Provides Ready Source of Much-Needed Pollen and Nectar

Concerns about the mysterious national decline in the honeybee population - crucial in pollination of virtually all food crops - will be on the minds of many as National Honeybee Day approaches on Saturday, Aug. 21.Yet, honeybees are thriving in one surprising environment: the Lurie Garden, an urban garden in downtown Chicago. The garden’s perennial plants and flowers attract honeybees and dozens of other bee/insect species that help sustain the environment, beautify the gardens and supply honey.

Since it opened in July 2004, the Lurie Garden has become a haven for honeybees in a landscape that attracted few such winged creatures in preceding years. According to Jennifer Davit, the garden’s director, the Lurie Garden is an ideal place for honeybees to find the pollen and nectar they need to survive and carry on their pivotal role in the food chain.”Bees need a large area of one plant, preferably one square meter or larger,” she says.

“At the garden, we have large masses of plants and bees really benefit because they don’t have to fly as far and expend extra energy to eat.”The Lurie Garden is an example of how the honeybee population can survive and thrive, thanks to key sources of sustenance found there.”Bees need blooms throughout the season and are attracted to blue and purple flowers, which are Lurie’s signature colors,” Davit says. “Bees also prefer native plants, like those in this garden, because genetically-altered cultivars don’t often produce as much pollen and nectar.”Bees that buzz around the Lurie Garden make their home in several hives on the roof of the Chicago Cultural Center across North Michigan Avenue and, a few blocks away, at Gallery 37 and Chicago’s City Hall. Honey from those hives is collected and sold by the Chicago Honeybee Group, with proceeds designated to help the local urban honeybee population thrive.

Since bees started visiting the Lurie Garden, says Davit, the taste of the honey has become “minty,” due to the large presence of Lurie plants in the mint family. Honeybee colonies at the Lurie Garden have a positive impact on the environment, but do not cause a problem among the thousands of visitors to the popular attraction. Davit points out that she and other Lurie Garden horticulturists and gardeners are on site daily and have not been stung. Bees also are a regular part of free educational programs at the Lurie Garden, including the popular “Bee Walk and Talk in the Garden.”The Lurie Garden is located at the southeast corner of Millennium Park, near the corner of Columbus Drive and Monroe Street. Millennium Park is easily reached by CTA and adjacent public parking is available.

Millennium Park is universally accessible to patrons with disabilities.For more information, visit www.millenniumpark.org.

Visit www.luriegarden.org for more information about the Lurie Garden, including programming, four-season highlights, plant features and design elements.

Chicago’s public television station, WTTW-TV (Channel 11) featured The Lurie Garden’s “Wild Adaptations & Native Plants Workshop” as a great free thing to do with the kids on “Chicago Tonight” Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009; live at 7 p.m. The workshop was one of The Lurie Garden’s many featured family workshops over the summer.

Learn about the next family event on The Lurie Garden web site.

Watch the particular clip of “Chicago Tonight on WTTW’s web site. Also in this clip Time Out Chicago’s Around Town Editor Madeline Nusser gives The Lurie Garden a nice compliment, saying she visits at least once a week to eat lunch in the beautiful garden.

If there’s not a featured event event at The Lurie Garden, come anyway and have a picnic in downtown Chicago!

If you’re from Chicago and find yourself strolling through West Manhattan, New York, you may feel a little deja-vu. That’s because the High Line recently opened, giving NYC a little Windy City breeze. The High Line was originally designed in the 1930s to elevate freight trains off of the streets, similar to Chicago’s ‘L’ system. It has since undergone a major green overhaul and Section 1 is now a beautiful park. When all sections are complete, the High Line will be a mile-and-a-half-long elevated park, running through the West Side neighborhoods of the Meatpacking District, West Chelsea and Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen. The High Line has more Chicago influence than just the mass-transit connection, the planting designer was the same artist that designed The Lurie Garden: Piet Oudolf.

In fall 2008, High Line’s landscape team consulted with Oudolf on how to bring the garden to life, beginning by planting perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees. Oudolf chose species for their hardiness, sustainability, and textural and color variation, with a focus on native species. Many of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are incorporated into the park landscape. The 210 species in Section 1 bloom from late January to mid-November.

The Lurie Garden and the rest of Chicago’s Millennium Park is the largest green roof in the world, as it covers a structural deck supported by two reinforced concrete cast-in-place garages and steel structures that span the space above Illinois Central Railroad tracks. Ironically, the Industrial Revolution that brought about these railroad tracks as well as prosperity and wealth are now being re-tooled by an even larger and more important revolution: the green revolution.

Critics say building green roofs and parks over structures like these are akin to putting Band-Aids on old wounds. Well, maybe with enough Band-Aids the Earth can start to heal. In the mean-time, “walk it off” with a stroll through either garden; or get some desktop exercise and check out the beautiful pictures on the High Line Web site.

Photo Credits:
A panorama taken on the newly opened High Line Park in Chelsea, Manhattan by Gbarill
View of the west shoulder hedge and armature of the Lurie Garden by Alex Cheek

Posted on Apr. 15, 2009 on Simply Landscaping’s blog, the company that created The Lurie Garden won the top award from The American Society of Landscape Architects in the 2008 ASLA Professional Awards. Seattle-based Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd transformed a parking garage rooftop into a public botanical garden, located in Millennium Park in downtown Chicago, combining engineered elements with native Midwestern perennials.

 Read the blog post on Simply Landscaping’s website.

Looking for something fun to do this spring/summer in Chicago without breaking the bank? Chicago Sun-Times published an article on Apr. 1, 2009 highlighting Chicagoland events that don’t cost too much. Misha Davenport featured The Lurie Garden as the second item in the article “Bowling for dollars, and walking and viewing and zooming and eating and laughing and listening.” She said if you want to get in touch with nature, “Spring should soon be busting out all over Millennium Park’s Lurie Garden. The urban oasis takes the city’s Latin motto Urbs in Horto (City in a Garden) seriously. Highlights of the five-acre-garden include the 15-foot-high hedge that protects the perennial garden from the wind. Free guided garden walks are offered beginning May 10, or you can pack a lunch and take it on your own.”

Not only can you get in touch with nature or give that tree a hug this summer, you can do it for free at The Lurie Garden.

You can also see the first bulbs of the spring, taped on sight at The Lurie Garden by ABC 7 News Chicago, here.

The Lurie Garden and Chalet Landscaping appeared together in an article on the website of Perennial & Nursery News, Apr. 2009. The five acre Lurie Garden in Chicago’s Millennium Park was the inspiration for Chalet’s Top Ten Winning entry in the 2008 Perennials Marketing Contest sponsored by Plant Publicity Holland and the Perennial Plant Association.

Freya Wellin, perennial manager of Chalet Nursery, who achieved an outstanding display, said “I wanted to use an inspirational garden to show how to think differently about designing with sustainable perennials… As something to emulate, Lurie Garden, a public green space in downtown Chicago, fit the bill. The garden mixes natives with cultivated perennials to create a lovely meadow-like feel, while still being a controlled planting.”

To reach the display, Chalet customers had to walk through a metal archway surrounded by a variety of arborvitaes - similar to the experience at The Lurie Garden, which echoes Chicago’s classical architecture. Freya explains, “The body of the display was made up of one and three gallon potted perennials put in wedge shape display beds. each bed had two or more types of grass interspersed with three or more flowering perennials. The taller grasses were placed on the side of the display with the shorter ones in the middle which created vistas similar to those at The Lurie Garden.”

Both The Lurie Garden and Chalet also appeared together in the March/April 2009 issue of Chicagoland Gardening.

Roy Diblik, one of the leading plants-men in the United States, was featured on page 30 of the magazine, where they give a brief biography including the fact that more than 18,000 of his plants are in The Lurie Garden, where he worked closely with the gardens’ Dutch designer Piet Oudolf. Now an advocate for sustainable public landscapes, Diblik has also designed gardens for The Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, College of DuPage, Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, the Village of Fontana (in Wisconsin) and the Grand Geneva Resort & Spa in Lake Geneva.

Several of Chalet’s spring events appeared on page 77 in the magazine, including Favorite Spring-Flowering Shrubs, Vegetables 101, Plant of the Week Introductions, New and Under-used Perennials, Planting Perennial Communities (Apr. 9 or 10), Using Containers in the Landscape (Apr. 16 or 17), and Spring Lawn Care (Apr. 23 or 24).