Updated: 1/27/2012 
Chicago Botanic Gardens
Glencoe, Illinois
Description

With "wows" around every corner, the Chicago Botanic Garden is a 385-acre living museum featuring 23 display gardens, including Evening Island, Fruit & Vegetable, Japanese and English Walled. Ths mission of the Chicago Botanic Garden is to promote the enjoyment, understanding and conservation of plants and the natural world.

History

The Chicago Botanic Garden broke ground in 1965 with an unlikely site but a rich heritage and a powerful ambition to make a mark on the gardens and landscapes of the Chicago area. The Garden's organizational success was swift, and the splendors of the physical site developed more quickly than most observers believed possible. Today, the Chicago Botanic Garden counts among the nation's leading institutions dedicated to horticulture and plant research.
The astonishing growth of the Chicago Botanic Garden is the result of successful work on many levels, including striking seasonal displays, wide-ranging scientific work and extensive plant collections - all sited and housed in what has evolved as a grand laboratory of landscape architecture. Now more than ever, the importance of landscape and garden design at the Chicago Botanic Garden is being highlighted and appreciated because of several new projects by designers of international stature. World-class design at the Chicago Botanic Garden is nothing new. From its founding, the Garden has hired leading architects and has inspired influential designs, beginning with the master plan and early gardens by John O. Simonds and Geoffrey Rausch. In the decades since its creation, the Garden's design has grown continuously in grandeur and reputation. Now, its pedigree is being validated again with major new projects that elaborate on early principles and in some cases redefine new concepts in contemporary garden design.

Governance

The Chicago Botanic Garden is owned by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It first opened to the public in 1972. The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of theAmerican Association of Botanical Gardens & Arboreta and the Association of Science-Technology Centers.

Library

Access: General Public

Appointment required: False

Hours of Operation

The Garden is open every day of the year, except Dec. 25. From June 2 through Sept. 5, 2005, extended hours are from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Admission
Museum Type(s)
DISCLAIMER
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MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

March 15 - 18, 2025

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Ohio Museum Asociation 2025 Annual Conference - Athens

March 29 - 31, 2025

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North Carolina Museums Council 2025 Annual Conference

March 30 - 31, 2025

Raleigh, North Carolina

Arkansas Museums Association 2025 Conference

March 31 - April 3, 2025

Washington, Arkansas

New York Museum Association 2025 Conference in Ithaca, NY

April 5 - 8, 2025

Ithaca, New York

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