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So much is happening at the Chicago Botanic Garden!
In this section, you'll find almost everything about us.
Collections
The most striking aspect of the Chicago Botanic Garden is its physical face: beautifully designed gardens brimming with two million plants. Twenty-three different gardens showcase the best plants for the Midwest in a variety of beautiful settings. Three native habitat areas, including a woodland, prairie and river habitat, feature native and endangered flora of Illinois.
Education
Educational programs of the Chicago Botanic Garden foster appreciation and understanding of the remarkable world of plants. The School of the Chicago Botanic Garden offers classes, symposia, certificate programs and a Plant Information consultation service. Community activities include school programs, community gardens, horticultural therapy to promote wellness and workshops throughout the Chicago area.
Science
From the laboratories to the lakes, the evaluation gardens to the native habitat areas, the Garden conducts research of many kinds. The Garden's science program, with research in both ornamental horticulture and plant conservation, has dual goals:
• To develop, evaluate and introduce the best plants for Midwest gardens
• To conserve the rarest plants of the Midwest and beyond
Admission
Free
No pets allowed.
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Parking
$8.75 per car (including tax)
$5.75 for senior citizens on Tuesdays (including tax)
$36 per commercial bus (including tax)
$16 per commercial van (including tax)
No charge for prearranged school groups on buses.
As of January 1, 2001, a countywide tax applies to parking lots in Cook County.
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Vital Statistics
23 gardens and three native habitat areas
385 acres total
81 acres of waterways
9 islands
6 miles of shoreline
15 acres of prairie
100 acres of woods
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Annual Visitation
900,000 people
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Hours of Operation
8 a.m. to sunset daily
Closed December 25
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Food Services
The Garden Café
Serving breakfast, lunch and snacks in the Gateway Visitor Center. Open daily except December 25 and Thanksgiving Day.
8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays April 1-October 31
8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays April 1-October 31
8 a.m.-4 p.m. November 1-March 31
Extended hours on carillon concert Mondays and during December
The Grille
Outdoor dining on the Café decks
Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Friday to Sunday (April 1-September 29)
Dinner: 5:30-8 p.m. Saturday & Sunday (June 8-September 29)
5:30-7 p.m. on Mondays for carillon concerts (June 24-August 19)
Rose Terrace Ice Cream Shoppe
11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. daily
June 8-September 29
Hours are subject to change depending on weather.
Picnics
Picnicking is allowed only in the picnic area adjacent to Parking Lot 2.
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Tram Tours
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Adult $5 |
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Senior $4 |
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Child $3 |
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Members $1 off |
Grand Tram Tour
Trams run daily April through October.
Basic tram schedule:
10 a.m.- 3:30 p.m., every 30 minutes
Subject to change due to weather.
Additional trams run on weekends and holidays.
For schedule information, please stop by the Information Desk in the Gateway Visitor Center or call (847) 835-8208.
Grand Trams depart from the Gateway Visitor Center and provide a 45-minute narrated overview of the entire Garden. Trams are wheelchair-accessible.
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Bright Encounters Tour
Trams run April through October
10:15 a.m. - 3:15 p.m. hourly
The Bright Encounters Tram Tour uses a small tram that seats 18 people, including one in a wheelchair. Designed for people with mobility impairments, it provides an intimate 45-minute tour of the Garden's main island.
Tram tickets for both Bright Encounters and Grand Tram Tours may be purchased at the ticket booth outside the Gateway Visitor Center.
Group Tours
Tour packages are available to give your group the perfect visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden. Walking tours are tailored to suit a group's interests, and special tram tours highlight an overview of the entire Chicago Botanic Garden. Packages, which can include meals or snacks, may be planned for any group's needs. For information or to book a tour, please call (847) 835-6949.
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Library
Approximately 17,000 volumes & videos
Open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday
Closed Sundays & holidays
Members have borrowing privileges.
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Garden Shop
Gateway Visitor Center
Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas & New Year's Day
Extended hours during Celebrations
Gifts, books and educational materials are available for purchase. The Garden Shop offers a 10 percent discount to members, and all sales benefit the Chicago Botanic Garden.
Wheelbarrow
May through September
Open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekends
10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays
Fruit & Vegetable Garden
Tool Shed
May through September
Open 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. weekends
10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays
Enabling Garden
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Plant Information
Gateway Center
9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Saturday (March-October)
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday (November-February)
Garden professional staff and Master Gardener volunteers can help you succeed in your gardening efforts. Through individual consultation and with the aid of numerous references and publications, you can get help with selecting the right plants, identifying insect and disease problems and finding specific plants in the Garden.
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Membership
Membership Desk, Gateway Visitor Center
Open daily 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Membership Office (847) 835-8215
Besides supporting the Garden, members receive many exciting benefits, including free parking, a quarterly magazine, special discounts and invitations to members-only events. Join the Garden today.
For more information, call (847) 835-8215.
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Plants in the Collections
| Trees |
9,955 |
| Bulbs |
818,916 |
| Shrubs |
46,308 |
| Succulents |
28,449 |
| Cactus |
410 |
| Perennials |
927,791 |
| Aquatics |
15,073 |
| Vines |
13,505 |
| Ground Covers |
103,643 |
| Epiphytes |
708 |
| Annuals |
1,351 |
| Total |
1,966,109
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Gardens & Native Habitat Areas: 26
Aquatic Garden, Bulb Garden, Children's Garden, Circle Garden, Dixon Prairie, Dwarf Conifer Garden, Enabling Garden, English Oak Meadow, English Walled Garden, Evening Island, Fruit & Vegetable Garden, The Greenhouses, Heritage Garden, Japanese Garden, Lakeside Gardens, Landscape Gardens, McDonald Woods, Native Plant Garden, Rose Garden, Sensory Garden, Shade Plant Evaluation Garden, Skokie River, Spider Island, Sun Plant Evaluation Garden, Water Gardens, Waterfall Garden.
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Wildlife Sighted
34 species
Mammals: Big Brown Bat, Hoary Bat, Little Brown Bat, Red Bat, Silver-Haired Bat, Beaver, Gray Chipmunk, Eastern Cottontail, Coyote, White-Tailed Deer, Red Fox, Mink, Prairie Deer Mouse, White-Footed Mouse, Muskrat, Opossum, Raccoon, Cinereous Shrew, Short-Tailed Shrew, Striped Skunk, Eastern Fox Squirrel, Eastern Grey Squirrel, Southern Flying Squirrel, Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel, Meadow Vole, Woodchuck.
Reptiles and Amphibians: Bullfrog, Red-Eared Slider, Garter Snake, American Toad, Midland Painted Turtle, Musk Turtle, Snapping Turtle, Spiny Soft-Shelled Turtle.
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Accessibility
Wheelchairs are available free at the Information Desks in the Gateway and Education Centers. Accessible parking is located in parking lots #1, #2 and #3. Nearly all areas of the Garden are accessible.
Photography Permit
Permits are required of groups, including wedding parties and prom groups, who use the Chicago Botanic Garden as a backdrop for photographs. Photo permits are $100 and are available at the Information Desk in Gateway Visitor Center.
Facility Rental
The Chicago Botanic Garden has the perfect spot for nearly every party, meeting and event. Indoors and out, cozy and grand, facilities at the Garden offer great settings for events ranging from small private celebrations to large corporate parties. Find out about the facilities to suit your event. Call (847) 835-8370.
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Giving to the Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden relies on contributors to provide for its living collection of plants, as well as its range of education and science programs. Numerous opportunities exist for supporting the Garden, including contributing to the Annual Fund. President's Circle ($1,000 and above) is a special group of Garden friends. For information on the Annual Fund or the benefits of a gift club, call (847) 835-6835 or e-mail donations@chicagobotanic.org. You can make a donation online.
The Garden also offers unique and lasting ways to recognize and remember family and friends at special times—birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, times of personal accomplishment—and as expressions of sympathy. For information on our tribute gift program, call (847) 835-8333 or e-mail tributes@chicago botanic.org. Make a tribute gift to the Garden online.
Sponsorship at the Garden
Your company can be a part of our growing garden through sponsorship opportunities. As a sponsor of Chicago Botanic Garden events and festivals, you receive recognition in numerous ways and experience an array of benefits. Sponsorship at the Garden offers tremendous visibility and promotional value. For more information, call the Sponsorship Department at (847) 835-8235.
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Volunteers
More than 800 volunteers support the Garden's programs. A range of volunteer opportunities include options indoors and outside, seasonal and year-round. Tending plants, teaching classes, leading tours and assisting in the library or offices are some examples. To volunteer, call (847) 835-6800.
Chicago Botanic Garden Staff
The Chicago Botanic Garden employs more than 200 staff members in jobs ranging from horticulturist to education specialist to carpenter. For current job openings, click here. For further information, call (847) 835-5440.
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History
The Chicago Horticultural Society has been promoting gardens and gardening since 1890. The Society's flower shows, victory gardens, horticultural lectures and more have touched generations of Chicagoans. With the ground-breaking for the Chicago Botanic Garden in 1965 and its opening in 1972, the Society created a permanent site on which to carry out its mission. That mission encompasses three important components: collections, education and research.
For More Information
General Information: (847) 835-5440
Continuing Education: (847) 835-8261
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, Illinois 60022
(847) 835-5440
TDD (847) 835-0790
Accredited by the American Association of Museums
Member of American Association of Botanic Gardens and Arboreta and Association for Science-Technology Centers
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