CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN Symposia & Highlighted Events

Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat Fri 03/09/12
A Lecture and Book-Signing Event
March 9
Friday
1 - 2 p.m.
Linnaeus Room
Marty Wingate, author
$10

Category: Symposia & Highlighted Events

More than 35 million single-family homes sit on lots between one-eighth and one-half an acre—meaning neighbors on both sides and in back, with little or no scenery and a decided lack of privacy. Luckily, it’s possible to create a peaceful retreat—even in the most urban environment—with thoughtful garden design. Includes information on plant choices, hedges, buying and building different types of screens, tips on the most efficient and visually satisfying use of space, and much more. Lecture will be followed by an opportunity to purchase Wingate’s book and have it signed.

Top Horticulturalists' Go-To Books.

Barbara Mahany, of the Chicago Tribune, wrote in the article below, that top horticulturalists were surveyed from some of America's top gardens and asked what are the books that they turn to for inspiration and gardening answers.

1. "Manual of Woody Landscape Plants: Their Identification, Ornamental Characteristics, Culture, Propagation and Uses" (Stipes Publishing LLC) by Michael Dirr.
2. "Henry Mitchell on Gardening" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner Books). Essays from the late, great American garden writer.
3. "Tropical Flowering Plants: A Guide to Identification and Cultivation" (Timber Press) by Kirsten Albrecht Llamas.
4. "The Organic Lawn Care Manual: A Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn" (Storey Publishing) by Paul Tukey.

 Link to article: Books that grow on America's' best gardeners

Chicago senior community's garden gets help online

By Whitney Woodward Special to the Tribune
Residents with dementia at Chicago's Norwood Crossing senior community will have a new therapeutic garden to tend next year, thanks to supporters who read about the program online and then made financial contributions. In about two months, the non-profit raised more than $4,600 -- nearly half the cost of the garden -- through a Web site that helps connect potential contributors with non-profit organizations."These people would read our story and were touched by what we do," said Laura Curley, the executive director of the Norwood Life Care Foundation, which supports projects at the residential community. "They wanted to see it happen." Read more>