Find spring now at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show
Most gardeners are ready to get a jump-start on the joy of spring, with its vibrant florals, their sweet scents, and the soothing sounds of flowing garden fountains. And yes, the blooms are already out - thousands of them, in every color imaginable!
The Chicago Flower & Garden Show, presented by Mariano's, is in full bloom at Navy Pier. Among its 20 featured gardens, Home and Garden Marketplace of shops, cooking demos and floral-arranging competitions, the show's How-To Garden lets you roll up your sleeves and try some of the tricks to creating beauty - whether you've got a large yard, a small planting bed or even a balcony planting box.
Here are five things you won't want to miss at the show.
1. Animal magnetism
Keep the camera ready when you come face-to-face with a butterfly whose wingspan measures 14 feet. Or the 11-foot-tall peacock. And the 33-foot-long snake! But they're all friendly creatures - floral topiaries, actually, featuring pansies in a rainbow of colors plus exotic ornamental grasses and bamboo palm.
They're part of Brookfield Zoo's first flower show garden, and all surround a huge floral centerpiece of orchids, calla lilies, flamingo flowers and more that represent the zoo's famous Roosevelt Fountain. What a great spot to shoot a selfie!
Visitors can also check out two real-life creatures the zoo will bring both show weekends, Saturday and Sunday March 12-13 and March 19-20, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Amid the fun are opportunities to connect with wildlife and other aspects of nature, which is part of Brookfield Zoo's mission. "Our display will be very engaging and offer suggestions on ways to attract pollinators to home gardens, while also communicating their importance, some of the problems they are facing and ways people can help," says Andre Copeland, the zoo's interpretive programs manager.
2. Small is the new big
Anyone who assumes small garden spaces can only accommodate plants and maybe some hardscape gets the chance to see how a small bed could be landscaped five different ways, each involving a water feature. A circular garden by Aquascape of St. Charles is divided into six, pie-shaped vignettes. It displays one blank "canvass," and five other areas of the same size, each designed quite differently but all incorporating a water feature: either an ecosystem pond, a "Bonsai" pondless garden, Spillway Bowl, an urn garden and a Northwoods waterfall. The display proves that spaces small in size can be big in beauty and variety.
"Water features don't have to be big ponds stocked with lots of fish or stunning waterfalls," says Aquascape's Brian Helfrich.
Allen Stubitsch of Midwest Pond Design in Mundelein agrees, saying some features are a mere 3 feet long. But big or small, these ponds, bubbling rocks and such create a multisensory experience in the flower show's Unilock Hyacinth Garden he has built.
"The fragrance alone of the hyacinths is fantastic. That plus the flowing water sounds and the visual of the water. It creates a relaxing experience," he said.
Stubitsch equates incorporating water features as "painting with stones" and says he selected stones based upon their hues to complement the hyacinths' colors.
3. New food, new plants
After the featured gardens inspire your green thumb with unique designs, get information on the newest plants and foods.
From the National Garden Bureau in Downers Grove, Diane Blazek presents "New Varieties Straight from the Breeders to You." Among the edibles she'll describe is the yellow Pepper Escamillo, which has excellent taste either raw, cooked or fire-roasted, It has a compact size and high yield. Super Moon is a white pumpkin, perfect for fall holiday decor. Geranium brocade cherry night offers striking foliage with large double blooms of cherry pink, while Geranium brocade fire, with its nonstop display of orange flowers, is ideal for combination planters and landscapes.
These four plus five other plants comprise the nine winners of the All-America Selections for the 2016 garden season.
Also new this year and on display in two featured gardens are three rose varieties.
Coming into the general market this year is a rose that's perfect for a gardener who cannot decide what color to select. Polynesian Punch Meidoscope is a compact floribunda that brings orange, pink and yellow together in one bloom. Also new is Sultry Sangria Sprosul with a unique purple to pink color. Both are from grower Star Roses and Plants/Conard-Pyle.
Weeks Roses has added to its "Downton Abbey" collection that celebrates the popular TV show. The two newest collection members are the floribunda Violet's Pride and shrub rose Edith's Darling. Both will be 2017 introductions. Flower show visitors this year will find the entire four-rose collection in containers in the Sculpture Garden.
4. New ideas, new techniques to try
Gardens can be as simple or complex as you want, and still be functional and beautiful. To learn the best ways to keep your garden looking great, more than three dozen seminars, how-to presentations and potting parties with nationally recognized experts simplify the entire gardening process.
Ever tried growing a "living wall?" Noted author and TV gardener Shawna Coronado of Warrenville shares the secrets of creating stunning vertical gardens, including what plants to use, the choices for hanging them on a wall, watering, best soil and so much more. She says most people put vertical gardens on a fence that does not receive full sun all day. Her recommended three ornamental edibles for part shade: kale, Swiss chard and blood beet, which features beautiful, red foliage that'll "knock your socks off," she says.
Coronado's suggestions, in her seminar, "Living, Laughing and Gardening with Less Pain," stem from her development of arthritis, which limited her mobility and forced her to learn about gardening choices that were less physically challenging.
Other seminar topics run the gamut from great plants for cold climates, eco-beneficial gardening, great conifers, herbs and vegetables, containers and the best annuals.
5. Everything else!
The Kids Activity Garden is bigger and has more educational programs than ever before. Children learn how to make biodegradable pots using forms made of corn products, and then plant the pots. There's a program to learn about flower symmetry and dissect flowers. A community art project has children sewing natural materials onto a canvass. And when they start to fidget, kids can always play in the swing set.
Some of the area's best known chefs demonstrate how to take your garden's edibles and turn them into sumptuous meals. The Home and Garden Marketplace has nearly 100 vendors of fine garden tools. There's even a cake decorating contest on the final weekend.
Finally, after you're flower-powered out, sink into a comfy chair and enjoy a glass of wine with friends. And dream of the garden you're going to create for yourself.
If you go
What: Chicago Flower & Garden Show, presented by Mariano's
When: March 12-20: 10 a.m. through 6 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday; 10 a.m. through 8 a.m. Thursday through Saturday
Where: Navy Pier, Chicago
Tickets: Adults: $17 weekdays, $19 weekends. Adult evening pass: March 17-19: $10. Children: Ages 5-12: $5 (any day during show). Group rates available.
The Show: 20 walk-through featured gardens, a home and garden marketplace, seminars, how-to, hands-on activities, cooking demonstrations, Kids Activity Garden, cake decoration contest.
Information and schedules: www.chicagoflower.com
Transportation: Public transportation is recommended. Navy Pier parking $20 flat rate every day, for a 24-hour period. Alternative parking within walking distance to Navy Pier (and a trolley runs on weekends): $15 (when validated at pier) at 540 N. State and 300 N. Water Street. SpotHero app connects drivers to discounted parking. New users downloading the app enter promo code FLOWER2016 for an extra $5 off the already-discounted rates.