At the heart of every museum are its collections. Living plants are the Chicago Botanic Garden’s primary collection, its foundation and reason for existence. Successful plant collections like the Garden’s, possessing breadth, depth and museum-quality documentation, offer opportunities for scientific research and education for the public and professionals.

The Garden’s 2.2 million plants representing 8,310 taxa also form a beautiful environment. They are displayed in landscape settings across 385 acres. One-third of the site is horticultural displays while another third is native habitats and the remaining third is lakes and facilities.


Did you know:

• Human life depends on plants. People use plants for food, medicine, clothing, shelter and oxygen. The Garden’s plant collections reflect the multifaceted importance of plants.

• The Midwest has challenging growing conditions, with temperatures ranging from 104º F to minus 27º F and little snow cover to insulate against winter cold. Garden collections are representative of plants found in an analogous climatic band around the world.

• Garden soils in Illinois today present a challenge as they are often disturbed and compacted, have a high clay content and are alkaline, with an average pH of 7.5. The Garden exhibits the most appropriate horticultural plants and native plant communities to use under these conditions.

• At a time when plant diversity is waning, the Garden has one of the fastest-expanding plant collections in the world. The collections strive to emphasize diversity not only to ensure comprehensiveness but also to maintain valuable genetic material for scientific research.

The Plant Collections Department acquires, documents, conserves and studies plants and their native environments. Research results are disseminated through lectures, symposia and publications. Acquiring genetically superior plants for the Midwestern United States and coordinating the scope of the plant collections throughout the Garden’s displays and educational programs is a primary focus of the Plant Collections Department.


Find out more.
Plant Collections Department



Plant Collections Department | Specialty Plant Collections | Quick Facts
Perennial Plants | Woody Plants | Bonsai
Living Plant Documentation | Collections Staff
Collections Symposia, Field Days & Internships
Collections Database