Top

Floradise

A lifestyle blog by Marette Flora

Summer Stroll at the Chicago Botanic Garden

 

 

If you’re ever going through a stressful time, a walk around the Chicago Botanic Garden might be in order. I was overwhelmed and emotional recently, and I finally asked for help. My mother-in-law drove to Chicago to spend a week with us helping in any way she could. And boy did she help. She worked on our yard. She took the girls to the park so I could get work done or shower. She helped feed and take care of both of them. She helped Graham empty and clean our old apartment so he could turn over the keys. And most importantly she was there for us as emotional support. On one of her last days here we decided to thank her with a trip to the Chicago Botanic Garden. She is a garden and nature lover (It runs in the Flora family!), so we knew she would be in heaven.

 

It happened to be the most perfect summer day for a family walk. I had only ever visited the garden during the fall and I enjoyed seeing it in a different yet just as colorful season. Lately I have been gathering ideas from all sorts of sources on how to update my front and back yards as well as my home. The Chicago Botanic Garden is the perfect place to get that inspiration.

I felt right at home in the cactus greenhouse, one of several greenhouses at the garden. V, who is herself an Arizona girl like me, was right at home, too.

I fit right in walking around another greenhouse with my palm print shorts.

We had lunch at the cafe in between exploring Chicago Botanic Garden. I gobbled up a garden burger in 10 seconds flat. It was delicious!

We let the garden paths led us around to our next discovery. V wanted to carry around our map, which we didn’t really use. After walking around for what seemed like miles, we made a pit stop in the gift shop, where my sweet mother-in-law bought us a pineapple plant to add to our collection. She really is an angel.

 

I think after this visit the garden became my favorite place in the Chicago area. Honestly, I could share about a hundred more photos of this place, but you should really just experience it for yourself. And lucky for me we liver closer to it now that we bought our home.

Chicago Botanic Garden has free admission but parking is $20 or more. It’s definitely worth it!

Have you been to the Chicago Botanic Garden?

Pin this post:

Related posts:

Night of 1,000 Jack-O’-Lanterns
Fall at Chicago Botanic Garden

 

Free in Chicago: Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory

I’ve wanted to visit Lincoln Park Conservatory since we moved to Chicago three and a half years ago, but I didn’t make it until this summer. My cousins visited for a week recently and I thought they’d enjoy Lincoln Park Zoo.

The Lincoln Park Zoo and the Lincoln Park Conservatory are both free. I would suggest both to visitors and locals looking for affordable things to do in Chicago, especially for families. You can pack lunches and enjoy your food just about anywhere, and you can save by either taking public transit or using SpotHero to find a lower-cost parking spot nearby. (Parking at the zoo is a bit expensive at $20-$35.) Use my SpotHero link and you can get a $7 credit!

There are upgrades happening at the zoo right now, including improvements to the lion enclosure. It was a 90-degree and humid day, so after strolling along and enjoying shaved ice, I suggested going into the conservatory for some shade.

I could have spent a lot longer wandering around the conservatory and the zoo if it weren’t too warm for the baby to be outside that long. I suggest that you have kiddos in strollers you bring a clip-on fan and plenty of sun protection during the summer. We took many breaks in the shade, too.

The conservatory is beautiful and peaceful.

You can find plenty of picnic and photo opportunities outside of the Lincoln Park Conservatory, too! I love finding new views of the city that I haven’t seen before.

 

Have you visited the Lincoln Park Zoo or Conservatory? Add it to your Chicago list!

Related posts:

Lincoln Park Zoo Visit

Lincoln Park Zoo, Take 2

Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

 

 

Plant Collection & Earth Day Plant Haul

 

The best way to spend a morning is on the patio drinking coffee, basking in the sunshine and enjoying the company of my plant babies.

I recently got ahead of myself and started planting my little patio garden. It was the first nice day in Chicago so you could probably understand my excitement. I just couldn’t wait anymore!

We have two patios at our apartment. In the front (facing the building’s garden), we plant the flowers and other plants, and we grow our veggies on the back patio. (Sometimes if we have a plant that requires more sun I will move it from patio to patio, though.) I’ve read that it’s smart to have flowers in your vegetable garden to attract bees, so I plan to move at least some flowers to the back.

We kept most of our plants alive over the winter with the help of a grow light. We moved all the non-veggie plants inside into a corner of our living room. The only plants we lost: an avocado plant, a succulent that was accidentally ripped out, and morning glories.

These were most of the plants we started with, including a bonsai tree, bamboo and succulents.

Lowe’s Plant Haul

Our first additions this year were Dianthus plants, tulips and pansies.

Our veggie seedling choices were red, yellow and green peppers; jalapenos; lettuce; spinach; strawberries; and tomatoes.We grow these, with the exception of the tomatoes and strawberries, in the Patio Pickers garden bed** (ours doesn’t have the wheels). I decided not to grow basil and oregano this year because last year I ended up with excess amounts of them and I don’t really need that much of either.

The strawberries are in the container they came in for now.
We use two of the Patio Pickers containers.

Edible Plant Sale Haul

After my initial veggie seedling shopping trip in early April, I wanted to add more. The first weekend of the Peterson Garden Project’s Edible Plant Sale took place on Earth Day weekend, so we paid it a visit to see what we could find. The line was already snaked around the one-room sale when we arrived just after opening time, so we quickly grabbed a few plants: chives, garlic chives, red onion and cilantro. I would have grabbed more, but we are limited on space. What was important to us was supporting a local organization that gives back to the community.

We reused small pots we already had to plant them.

 

Gethsemane Garden Center, Chicago

We next headed to our favorite garden shop in Chicago to find more flowers and other plants. Gethsemane Garden Center is a magical place.

 

Their greenhouse has an amazing selection of succulents and bonsai trees, two of our favorites. When we walked into the greenhouse, Graham said, “I could spend all my money here.” He was in heaven. After much deliberation, Graham decided on a water jasmine pre-bonsai tree and a bamboo palm.

I decided to put together more potted succulents like I did last summer. I grabbed four of the bigger succulents and a pretty blue/green pot to be their new home. Victoria picked out yellow snapdragons and I loved some red Ranunculus. I also picked up more mini potted plants to replace what was killed over the winter.

I still need to find cute pots for these.

 

 

Victoria loved shopping for plants. She gravitated toward yellow flowers.

These orchids were beautiful, but Graham recently bought me some.

 

 

Potting your own succulents

Instead of paying a ton of money for potted succulents or terrariums at farmers market, I use what I see an inspiration to make my own. You can find succulents at any garden shop for about $3-8 each depending on the size. Then find a nice pot you love and plant them yourself. Planting advice is plentiful on Pinterest, though I question some ideas I saw recently, like placing them on a shelf where it looked like they didn’t get much light. I love most of the ideas as long as the babies are getting the sun they need.

My humble advice on transferring succulents to a new pot:

  • Wear gloves, duh!
  • Plant the largest succulent first.
  • Place your largest succulent first and work around it.
  • If it helps, draw out where you want them to go.
  • Spray the soil with water first. Then place, add more soil and spray with water again.
  • It may also be a good idea to keep the succulent in the pot it came in and place that in a larger pot. You can then top with soil or pebbles.

What are you growing this year? 

Taking a Stroll Through Garfield Park Conservatory, Chicago

One of my remaining Chicago summer bucket list items was to visit a conservatory. I know you can visit Lincoln Park Conservatory and Garfield Park Conservatory during all seasons, but I wanted to say goodbye to summer by strolling through a garden.

Graham and I had a day off together on Labor Day for the first time in a few weeks, so of course we made the most of it. We had breakfast together, took care of stuff around the house, went to Garfield Park Conservatory and enjoyed a lake cruise at sunset.

I originally planned for us to visit Lincoln Park Conservatory, but Garfield Park’s seemed larger and had free parking. Sold! We spent our afternoon admiring the various houses at the conservatory, including Desert House, which is full of desert flora, and the Fern House, which has a pond in the center. I was impressed with the collection of plants at the conservatory. It was a lot larger and more beautiful than I had expected. You could easily spend a whole day there if you pack a picnic basket. When the weather is nice you can enjoy your meal at one of the many picnic tables behind the Desert House or in Horticulture Hall. Best of all, the conservatory is open every day of the year and it’s free. (You can leave donations at the door.) One room has photos of the conservatory’s history. It was designed in 1906, and you can see how it’s changed in its lifetime. I also liked the Urban Demonstration Garden that shows how to grow plants in an urban environment.

 

 

 

 

 

Graham and I love plants and we hope to have a business related to flora someday, so visiting gardens and conservatories inspires us to make our dreams a reality. It also gives us ideas for growing our plants and for arranging them. After we walked around for a couple of hours, we made our way to the gift shop to see if we could take some plants home. The selection wasn’t as big as we’d hoped, but we did grab a candle, some toffee and cold beverages. We needed refreshments after walking in the warm houses! The gift shop attendant was a lovely woman who offered us samples of another flavor of toffee. It was the perfect sendoff after a lovely experience. We will definitely be back!

The Desert House made this Arizona girl feel right at home.

 

 

Check out my video of the visit to Garfield Park Conservatory and subscribe to my channel to see more videos!



Have you been to Garfield Park Conservatory? What did you think?

Related post:

Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory, Chicago

Experiencing Fall at Chicago Botanic Garden

Experiencing Fall at Chicago Botanic Garden

One of my fall bucket list items was to stroll through a garden before it gets too cold in Chicago. Graham and I made that happen Sunday with a visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe.

For some reason my Chicago newbie mind had pictured the garden being located near the lake in the Lincoln Park area. I was probably thinking of the Lincoln Park Conservatory. Instead, we drove north to the suburbs about 17 miles away.
It was a quiet day at the garden on the cool, cloudy day. Most people seemed to be leaving when we arrived in the afternoon. Our first stop was the cafe for some food before our walk. With a sandwich, cookie, and chips in our bellies and a coffee/chai latte in our hands, we set off to explore the garden. When you step into the garden, you immediately get the sense that someone took the time to walk to every point, turn in every direction and make the view from there exactly perfect. Every single plant, statue, and display seems to be in just the right location. I lost count of how many times I noted how beautiful the grounds are. Everything seemed so serene.

 

Chicago Botanic Garden
Photo by Marette Flora

The corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum or Titan Arum) is a popular attraction at the garden right now. It was supposed to bloom in the summer but didn’t until recently. This is what the flower looks like now.

 

Benches and other places to rest are scattered everywhere, so you can stop to take in the view. And you’ll want to do that. I liked to pretend the garden was my backyard.

 

Chicago Botanic Garden

You’ll cross several bridges if you take the time to stroll the entire garden. We actually got a little lost at one point. We walked to Evening Island, found ourselves on the trail to the parking lot and walked back into the garden through the visitor center.

 

I looked for signs of fall everywhere we walked.

 

 

Once we made it back into the garden, we walked through what had been a fall family event toward the fruit and vegetable garden.  Along the way we spotted from geese, a gorgeous walkway, an apple orchard, and lots of blooms.

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we walked toward Spider Island, meant to be a quiet, contemplative area. We whispered to each other, “Stop talking. Contemplate!”

Graham and I could not stop taking pictures of the flowers.

 

We circled back to the Regenstein Center to see the Bonsai trees, Graham’s favorite.

By this point it was past 6 p.m., and the garden was closing at sunset. We saw maybe two or three people at the end of our visit. It was nice having so much time alone in such a beautiful setting.
Graham captured a moment when I was completely in love with the garden.

I would highly recommend visiting the garden on cooler days when it’s likely less crowded. We had wished we had bikes to ride around the grounds, though they aren’t allowed on all pathways. I remember saying it’d be nice to rent a canoe or kayak there, too. As we walked, I spotted about 10 perfect wedding, engagement and photo session locations. The garden is hands down the most beautiful, peaceful place I’ve seen in the Chicago area yet.

Details: Admission is free, and parking is $25-30. The garden has plenty of bike racks and offers bike rentals.

Related post:

Summer Stroll at Chicago Botanic Garden

The Sights of Rogers Park, Chicago

Flowers grow in front of brick buildings and along driveways. Bumble bees and butterflies keep busy, floating from bloom to bloom. Lightning bugs flicker about at dusk.

Rogers Park, Chicago

Sunset and skyline admirers walk on the pier. On a clear day, the distant towers of the Loop are visible. Sometimes they are obscured by a haze. If a storm is clearing up, the clouds transform from bright orange to red to pink to purple.

Rogers Park, Chicago

People watchers might comment on how lucky people are to be on a boat on such a lovely day before redirecting their gaze to the waves.

Rogers Park, Chicago

Seagulls hang out on the sand, looking for scraps to eat.

Rogers Park, Chicago

Rogers Park, Chicago

Bright murals decorate underpasses and walls.

Rogers Park, Chicago

Sunlight creeps through the leaves.

Rogers Park, Chicago

If these are the sights of the season, I never want summer to end.

What is Spring?

My idea of spring has always been 80 degrees and sunny. Spring starts in February in my Arizonan experience. It’s baseball and hiking and outdoor brunches.

In Chicago, and many other places, spring is actually in the spring. It’s rain and sun, followed by more rain and then more sun. It’s unpredictable, fluctuating.

I’m learning that I had no idea what spring was until I moved here.

Spring means 50 degrees and foggy one day and 85 and sunny the next. It means seeing the trees start to sprout yellow-hued leaves that in a blink turn bright green. It’s watching the brown, muddy ground transform into grassy patches with tulips galore. It’s seeing bright blooms juxtaposed by the brick and cement of the city.

I love spring.

); ga('require', 'displayfeatures'); ga('require', 'linkid', 'linkid.js'); ga('set', 'anonymizeIp', true); ga('send', 'pageview');