Chicago Spring Fling redux

For quite a few years my winter treat was a day spent at Olbrich Botanical Gardens at the annual Horticulture Magazine Symposium. It was where I tracked trends, fought attacks of plant lust and worked at becoming a more informed gardener. But mostly I sat in the dark seeking inspiration.

With no snow in the forecast, a brief warming trend and no more Hort magazine symposiums, I decided we should seek inspiration further afield: with Dan Pearson at the Chicago Botanic Garden. Pearson is the wunderkind of contemporary landscape design, working on projects around the world and author of a new book — "Spirit: Garden Inspiration" — which was the basis for his pair of lectures we attended on Saturday. 

    

Dan Pearson watches the auditorium fill up before his talk Saturday.

While Pearson gave us plenty to look at and to think about, so did our walk through the CBG. Neither one of us had ever been there in winter, so we made a quick tour of some of the spots that had captured our attention last May when the garden bloggers descended en masse as part of their Chicago Spring Fling. 

THE JAPANESE ISLAND GARDEN:   

  

   

 

    

THE ENGLISH WALLED GARDEN:  A checkerboard of clipped boxwood alternates with herbs in the foreground while a bright blue bench rests in the shadow of the pergola.

 

 

    

MORE WALLED GARDEN: The sweep of the curved bench against the back wall is no match for the scene-stealing weeping Katsura tree in the center of the garden. Our winter visit gave us a close-up of the severe pruning this tree gets in order to keep it in bounds. We plan on treating our Katsura the same way.

 

 

 

 

    

BRANCHED BEAUTY: Winter is the ideal time to enjoy all the clipping, pleaching, topiary and assorted other pruning techniques that the CBG does so well — and that is one of the aspects of the garden that most appeals to me. 

 

 

 

    

PLANTS AREN'T THE ONLY THINGS THAT GO DORMANT IN WINTER.

 

 

    

WINTER REVELATIONS: Shapes, patterns and a softer palette that would be lost in summer, predominate at this season.

 

 

 

Comments

[Gail]

Linda and Mark, Thanks! What a wonderful treat! gail

[Pam/Digging]

It's marvelous to see the garden in winter. Thanks for revisiting some of my favorite sections in a starker season.

[Lisa at Greenbow]

What fun to see the garden during winter. That blue bench still looks inviting.

[JP]

I love the Katsura tree!

[Altoon]

It's wonderful to see the winter/summer images. I especially love seeing the Japanese island in winter, as the structure of trees and shrubs becomes clear against the snow.

[LINDA from EACH LITTLE WORLD]

It's not all that often that one gets to see distant public gardens in the "off" season. We enjoyed the experience and thought of all you bloggers who saw it with us in May. This was a way to share it with you.

[Mr. McGregor's Daughter]

Your photos show what a good job the botanic garden does of providing winter interest. The Japanese island in particular looks lovely in the snow. I'm glad you had reasonable temperatures for it.

[Janet]

I love seeing the contrasts between the seasons!

[Jean]

Lovely pictures Linda. And so cool to see the same places in two different seasons. It looks just as nice covered in snow (well almost but you can see the great bones every space had). I especially liked the photos of the Japanese island. How was the Dan Pearson talk?