Garden calendar
Demonstrations
• The Growing Place offers a demonstration on holiday decorating at 10 a.m. Saturday at its shop in Fox Valley/Aurora (north of Ogden and three miles west of Fox Valley mall on Montgomery Road). Call (630) 820-8088.
Celebrate fall
• The Chicago Park District hosts a Fall Flower Show on the Garfield Park Conservatory's Blue Stone Terrace, 300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago. The show, which runs through Nov. 5, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays. Admission is free. (312) 746-5100
Chicago Botanic Garden
The Midwest Daffodil Society Bulb Sale along with the Wisconsin-Illinois Lily Society Lily Bulb Sale and the Midwest Fruit Explorers Show and Sale are all from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today.
The Midwest Fruit Explorers Show and Sale is from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. today
The Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden holds a free Open House for its Garden Design Certificate of Merit program for prospective and current students from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The Duchess of Northumberland gives a lecture on "The Making of the Alnwick Garden" about transforming a derelict plot into a lush landscape at the Art Institute of Chicago at the Rubloff Auditorium at 230 S. Columbus Ave., Chicago, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Call (888) 618-0070 for reservations.
The Model Railroad Garden hosts a Halloween gathering from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 28 after which it closes for the season.
The garden is at 1000 Lake-Cook Road, just east of the Edens Expressway in Glencoe. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Admission is free. Special-event fees apply. Parking is $15, $7 on Tuesdays for seniors 62 and older.
For more information, call (847) 835-5440 or visit www.chicagobotanic.org.
Morton Arboretum
Giant Pumpkin carving activities for kids are from 1 to 4 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 28.
The Fox Valley African Violet Society Show and Sale is from 10 am. to 4 p.m. today.
The Gourd Works II show and sale is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Oct. 28.
The arboretum is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. The entrance is on Route 53 just west of I-355 and north of the Reagan Tollway.
Admission is $9 for ages 18-64, $8 for those 65 and older, $6 for children 3-17 and children 2 and younger are admitted free. On Wednesdays, admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $4 for children 3-17. For information, call (630) 968-0074 or visit www.mortonarb.org.
-- Scott C. Morgan