Find wildflowers blooming soon
March is not a good time to leave Chicago for warmer climes.
No, March is the month of hope. It will get warmer. It will stop snowing, and spring will come. Soon.
Spring is one of the best times for viewing Illinois wildflowers, of course.
So you will want your copy of the third edition of "Kane County Wild Plants & Natural Areas" in time to get out hiking and looking.
This book by Dick Young, retired environmental director for the county, is available from the forest preserve district for $15 in person, $17.50 by mail.
The book will tell you what to look for and where to find it in this beautiful county on the west side of the Chicago area.
Call (630) 232-5980 to order.
We promise you'll see flowers here
Let's say you're the impatient or the doubting type. You want flowers now.
The place to go is the Chicagoland Flower & Garden Show. It opens Saturday and runs through March 16 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont.
You'll see and smell flowers there, not to mention trees and shrubs and water features.
Companies and organizations will set up real gardens for you to tour. And there will be seminars on topics from shade gardening to family gardening to vines and perennials.
Besides the regular garden market, homeowners can also check out products and services for your home at the Home Lifestyle Show.
On March 8 and 9, there will also be an art show to visit.
Admission is $12 on weekdays and $14 on the weekends. Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays through Wednesday and 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.
For details, visit www.chicagolandflowerandgarden.com or call (773) 435-1250.
The well-informed gardener starts here
If you want to learn more to enhance your own gardening, the Morton Arboretum offers the Midwest Gardening Symposium.
Also presented by Fine Gardening magazine, it will be Friday through March 9 at the arboretum in Lisle.
Witch hazels -- expected to bloom in March -- will be one topic.
Hellebores and their companions in the shade garden will also pop up in talks.
You can learn how to mix native prairie plants with styles like English gardening.
And Anna Ball, president of Ball Horticultural Company in West Chicago will talk about innovation and how gardeners can help the industry become more green.
The symposium offers chances to ask star designers about your own landscape issues. And there are a couple of workshops where you can figure out your own strategies.
Fees start at $123 for a single day, but members pay $113, and special rates are available for multiple days.
Visit www.mortonarb.org or call (630) 719-2468.
-- Deborah Donovan