Spring at Chicago Botanic Garden

Late spring in the Chicago Botanic Garden was a world of color.  Flowering crabapples, rhododendrons, peonies, tulips, and hundreds more varieties  of flowers were all in bloom.

Above is an urn with "Mandarin Lights Rhododendron."

Rhododendrons and azaleas are in the same family.  This is "White Lights Azalea."

"Mist Maiden Rhododendron" was one of the most elegant with lush petals of white

fading into pink and rose.

"Mist Maiden Rhododendron"

"Ice Queen White Rhododendron"  This bush was in the English Walled Garden.

"Northern Hi-Lights Azaleas"

Rhododendrons and azaleas are usually warm climate flowers and you find them in

Maryland and North Carolina and Georgia.  But efforts have been made in recent years
to develop varieties which can withstand the cold winters of Chicago, or to find varieties
 in cold climates around the world.  These azaleas from Koreau are doing well.
They are on the Japanese Garden Island.

Early Compact Korean Rhododendron; hardy to Chicago climate.

Pale lavender azaleas.

Pink peony.  Usually I miss these flowers because they bloom after the tulips and early

spring flowers.  But this year I was fortunate, and a number of peony bushes were

blooming in the Garden.  This blossom is nearly 10" in diameter.

These are Chinese Tree Peonies.  Their name is a misnomer, because they grow only four
feet high.  But their woody stems survive through the winter; they do not die back to the
ground in the fall like bush peonies or garden peonies.

A cluster of pink peonies.

Beautiful rose-hued peony.  These are some of the largest and most lush flowers
in the Garden.

Peony Bush in bloom.

Deep rose Chinese Tree Peony.  The contrast of the dark color of the flower and the
light color of the leaves is very dramatic.

"Winston Churchill" Narcissus.  Many varieties of daffodils, narcissus, and jonquils
had finished blooming, but late varieties, like this one still filled beds.

"Lemon Chiffon" Narcissus with small yellow throat.

Flowers were planted in pots as well as the grounds.  Here is a pot of purple Persian Buttercups / Ranunculus along with a few tulips.

Chicago certainly has one of the largest collections and most varieties of Persian

Buttercups / Ranunculus of any garden.  They are beautiful as individual specimens

as well as full beds of flowers, and they come in every color.  They are hardy,

long-lasting, and easy to grow.

Lavender Persian Buttercups.

Pink Persian Buttercups.  They come as single flowers, doubles, and more.

White Persian Buttercups, which are often used in bridal bouquets.
The foliage is feathery and light.

Peach Persian Buttercups

Yellow Persian Buttercups

White Persian Buttercups with black centers.

"Yellow Lupine" were blooming in the English Garden.  These tall stalks are
four feet high and they bloom for a long time.

Purple and Blue Lupine were blooming in the Heritage Garden.  Lupine come in
every color, so you can easily choose the background color for your garden.

Planters of many kinds are found around the gardens.  This one is at the entrance to
the Enabling Garden and features pansies, sweet alyssum, and snapdragons.
The Enabling Garden demonstrates how you can have a garden at home without having
to bend over or kneel on the ground.  It has raised flower beds of many kinds.

Tulips come in early and late varieties.  This was late spring, so we got to enjoy the large,
brilliant late blooming tulips like this "Dordogne Triumph Tulip" mixed with "Apricot
Moroccan Toadflax."






Dordogne Tulips and Moroccan Toadflax.

"Roi du Midi" are tall, single late tulips with "Belarina Nectarine Primroses" below.

"Roi du Midi" yellow tulips.

Queen of the Night" black tulips make a wonderful contrast with bright yellow
and orange tulips.

"Antoinette Tulips" were a special variety this year which open as bright yellow with
white edges, the way I saw them on my first visit.  By two days later, when I visited again,
they have changed to deep yellow, pink, orange, and tangerine.  Every one is different
and burning with color.

"Antoinette Tulips" in changing mode.

One of the other unusual tulips was the "Ice Cream Tulip."  This starts out as a tight bud in
pink and green.  And then it opens, like an ice cream cone, and a big, thick pure white
tulip with many petals emerges out of the center.  It is luscious enough to lick!

"Ice Cream Tulips" fully open, with yellow centers.

"Ballerina Lily Tulips" are large, tall, late tulips with stripes of orange and deep rose.
Their petals flare open like lilies.

A bed of "Ballerina Tulips" along the wall by the Rose Garden.

Ballerina Tulips in front, then Blue Stock, and then Dordogne Tulips.

Orange Balloon Tulips, late blooming and large and round.

Visitor beside "Mandarin Lights" rhododendron bush.


__

__

Conservatory at Longwood

In addition to all of the outdoor gardens, Longwood also has a conservatory, which

actually consists of three large glass-walled showrooms and sixteen greenhouses open

to the public.  There are many other working greenhouses.  This was all created by

Pierre Dupont in the 1930s.  The flowers are changed continuously all year long; as

soon as a flower begins to wilt, it is taken out and replaced by other fresh blooming

flowers from the greenhouses.

Pink "Stock" flowers.  These are old garden stand-bys, but with new varieties

and colors.

"Katz Ruby Stock" is a vibrant new color I have never seen before.

"Royal Sunset" Asiatic Lily is a beautiful new variety.  These are much larger than the

daylilies in our home gardens.

"Sunny Bonaire" Asiatic Lily is a large and very fragrant flower.

"Sunny Bonaire" Asiatic Lily

"Icelandic Poppies" have become very popular recently.  These are the "Orange

Champagne Bubbles."  The flowers float atop 14" wire-thin stems.

"Champagne Bubble Icelandic Poppies"

"Dalmatian Peach Foxglove"  Foxglove comes in many color and is very useful in gardens

because of its height ( 5 feet or so).  They make excellent backdrops for gardens.

This is an "anthurium;" they used to exist only in pink or white.  Now they exist in almost

every color and arew often used for borders.  They are also known as "Flamingo Flowers."

This variety is known as "Utah."  A number of recent varieties are named after states and cities.

One of the side aisles of the main showroom.  The "trees" are Marguerite daisy plants

which have been carefully trained so that a single daisy stem is the "trunk" of the tree,

and all the flowers are open on top.  Below them are another variety of anthurium,

"Dakota," in purple, liver, and dark red.

These pale pink anuthuriums are called "Alabama Pinks."

"Dakota," the darkest reds of the anthuriums.

Huge baskets of "Big Leafed Hydrangea" in white hung from the ceiling.

Beautiful clusters of pink "Big Leafed Hydrangeas" were along a wall.

Pots of dark blue "Big Leafed Hudrangeas" lined a hallway.

"African Daisies" were in the Mediterranean Greenhouse.

"Orange Parfait" is one of the many hibiscus blooming in the Rose and Hibiscus Greenhouse.

"Candy Striper" is a very large Chinese hibiscus.

"Fifth Dimension" is a popular exotic hybrid hibiscus.  A number of people have a hobby

of raising hibiscus and crossing varieties to see what new colors can be achieved.

A striking new variety will be sold to a nursery, which will use grafting rather than

seeding to duplicate the new variety.  The plants are not consistent in seeding and often

revert to the original rather than propagating the new. 

"Tahitian Sunset" exotic hybrid hibiscus.

The central space in the main exhibit hall looking into the North Room.

Pink "Gerbera Daisies" grow in the Mediterranean Greenhouse.

Soft pink and lavender "Gerbera Daisies."  Gerbera daisies have usually been bright

and bold in the past; now softer, more delicate colors are being produced.

Longwood currently has 4,000 varieties of orchids and is looking to gradually increase to

10,000.  Several greenhouses are devoted to raising them.  For the public, there are two

greenhouse rooms always filled with blooming orchids.  Each morning, a worked

brings several new blooming plants to replace any that are beginning to wilt.

These are Phalaenopsis Orchids.

There is always a volunteer from the AOS (American Orchid Society) on hand in the

orchid display to answer questions or make suggestions if you wish to raise orchids.

They also sell many orchid plants during special sales to raise money.

This is a very rare Green Fringed Orchid.

A pair of "Phalaenopsis Orchids."

Some "Cattleya" orchids.

"Canterbury Bells" make wonderful backdrops and covered with bell-shaped flowers.

"Canterbury Bells"  They come in blue, pink, white. and lavender.

"Gardenia," member of the jasmine family.

Looking into the North Display Room.  Baskets of flowers hang from the ceiling.

"Bloomingdale's Bicolor Orange Persian Buttercups."  Or "Ranunculus"

Until now, these have always been big balls of a solid color - pink, yellow, orange.

But now they have developed varieties with two colors.

"Bloomingdale's Orange Bi-color Persian Buttercups / Ranunculus."

The delicate shades of orange and peach are very beautiful, and they were used as border 

flowers for other displays.

"Painted Tongue / Salpiglossis" were used in a number of urns.

"Cream and Ochre Salpiglossis"

"Lavender, Red, and Yellow Salpiglossis"

"Sangria" Arthuriums, really intense red and also quite small, in comparison 

to other anthurium.  These are about three inches long and waxlike.

A yellow Bird of Paradise in the Mediterranean Greenhouse.

Pale lemon "Clivia / African Lily" in the East Greenhouse.

"Guzmania" in the Main Showroom.

The North Showroom with hanging baskets, reflective pool, and urns of
Salpiglossis on either side.

Well.  That's Longwood in April.  It will be completely different in June and in
September and in November (chrysanthemum festival).  It is well worth a visit.


__

__