Chicago Botanic Garden

In celebration of #IndigenousPeoplesDay, join us today for a Free Admission Day at the Garden. Preregistration is required for nonmembers. Additionally, read “Luschiim's plants,” available in the Lenhart Library and in several e-book libraries, including the Garden’s Horticulture Library Consortium: https://chgobg.org/4h2Y05U

Happy #Oaktober! Wonder why planting oak trees in Illinois is encouraged? Matt Evans, managing ecologist at the Garden’s Negaunee Institute, shares the history of oaks in our region, both past and present, and explains why this data shows that oaks are vital to biodiversity.

In celebration of #NationalHispanicHeritageMonth, conservation scientist Hector Ortiz Cano shares his personal story and explains how he connects ancestral plants, traditional farming techniques, and cultural heritage in his work at the Garden’s Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science & Action. Learn more: https://chgobg.org/3NmqB8p

We are thrilled to have the important work of the Garden’s Windy City Harvest VeggieRx program, created in partnership with Lawndale Christian Health Center and University of Illinois Chicago Partnership for Health Promotion, featured in the New England Journal of Medicine. VeggieRx is a produce prescription program where prescriptions are provided by health center clinicians to patients with diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes, many of whom are also experiencing food insecurity. Learn more about the program and results to date: https://chgobg.org/3Aqf9FG

A rare orchid was recently rediscovered by the Garden’s Plants of Concern rare plant monitoring program in partnership with Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The pink lady’s slipper (Cypripedium acaule), a dazzling orchid that has not been seen in Illinois since 1999, is known for its slipper-shaped blossom. Learn more about this species, and what is being done to ensure that this population of the elusive orchid doesn’t disappear again: https://chgobg.org/3WJfgVC

We are thrilled to share that Botanic Gardens Conservation International today announced that The Morton Arboretum and the Chicago Botanic Garden have been selected to host the 9th Global Botanic Gardens Congress in Chicago in summer 2027. The Congress is the only global congress dedicated to botanic gardens and this is the first time it will be held in North America in 27 years. Delegates from among the world's 3,000 botanic gardens will participate in the conference with a theme focused on the role that botanic gardens play in habitat restoration in the wild, as well as in urban built environments. https://chgobg.org/3SETUGl #ConservationEvents #Chicago #GlobalConservationNetwork #PlantConservation.

Negaunee Institute scientists, in partnership with colleagues from National Tropical Botanical Garden, Martin-Luther-Universit?t Halle-Wittenberg, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and Yachay Botanical Garden published a call for more funding and research dedicated to pollen banking in the July issue of Nature Plants. Learn more about this critical tool for preventing plant extinctions and conserving the ecosystems that sustain life on earth: https://rdcu.be/dOVbl.

Mark your calendar! The American Horticultural Society's National Children & Youth Garden Symposium, one of the country’s longest running and most highly respected gardening conferences for youth educators, will be held July 8-11, 2024, in partnership with the Chicago Botanic Garden. Every year, the Symposium brings together educators, landscape architects and designers, staff at botanic gardens, non-profits, and more from around the country who are all working to engage children with gardens and the natural world that surrounds them. The 2024 Symposium, themed “Stories in the Garden,” will offer 26 interactive learning sessions, from basic building blocks to advanced topics, addressing pre-K-12 learning. Additional information and registration are available online at https://chgobg.org/4bO5vug. Photo credit: Tess Wilhem (c) American Horticultural Society

Interested in joining our team? Check out the seasonal and year-round positions in urban agriculture, visitor experience, conservation science, and more now available at the Garden, and apply today: https://chgobg.org/3K6cJ0o

Why do species go missing? It’s hard to know. That’s why collaborators from the Garden and other institutions built a tool that guides land managers through an investigation, asking why a species failed, and how to successfully reintroduce it. Learn more: https://chgobg.org/3vN6dZa