Chicago Botanic Garden: fabulous flora in Glencoe
Few cities can rival the sheer beauty and scale of Chicago’s Botanic Garden. Flourishing on 385 acres in the north suburb of Glencoe, the lovely public garden is one of the most visited in the nation, attracting more than three quarters of a million people annually.
Opened to the public in 1972, the botanic garden contains 23 individual gardens, 81 acres of waterways, nine islands and a whopping 2.3 million plants. More than 255 species of birds call the gardens home, along with bats, butterflies, coyotes, deer, shrews, turtles and countless other animals native to Illinois.
A staff of 240 and more than a thousand volunteers keep the mammoth gardens manicured — no small task considering the size and beauty of the Japanese, English, Bonsai and Rose gardens. Visitors can explore the curving, tranquil paths of the five-acre "Evening Island," as well as the privacy of secluded "Spider Island." Feel the textures of the trees and flowers of the Sensory Garden, and walk through history in the Heritage Garden, which is modeled after a garden in Padua, Italy, that dates to 1545.
The Botanic Garden offers hundreds of adult education classes on topics ranging from gardening to sketching. Programs for school-aged children are also available, including summer camps and after-school programs. Check the Events Calendar for details.
- by D.J. Siegel, Chicago Reporter for HelloMetro
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