As we celebrate the start of summer, Sophia invites you to read about the Garden’s role in nurturing a tree for the Jewish United Fund/ Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, prestigious awards our scientists have won, and important initiatives, including the new Plant Conservation Science Initiative.

Please click here to read Sophia's letter in full.

The recent President’s Circle event, Going Green as a Family, held May 30 on the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden was a big success! Thank you to everyone who participated and planted native plants along the Garden’s shoreline.

View photographs from this event (the password is “circle”).

Tenth Annual Gardens of Distinction

Sunday, July 19
2 – 4 p.m. or 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.

This is the President’s Circle signature event. You are invited to view one of Chicago’s most highly praised East Lake Shore Drive rooftop gardens. This magnificent garden was designed by the owner and Maria Smithburg, the noted Harvard-educated landscape architect and philanthropist.

Reservations are required, as space is limited. Please look for your invitation in the mail or call Paula Clair at (847) 835-8308 for more information.

Hard-Hat Tour of the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center

Friday, July 21, 2:30 – 4 p.m.

Meet Dr. Greg Mueller, the Garden’s vice president of science and academic programs, who will be your guide for a personal tour of the new Rice Science Center, which is under construction and is due to open to the public in September. This is an exclusive opportunity to tour the new facility, where the Garden will conduct its critical plant conservation research. Be among the first to view the building, interact with Garden scientists, and learn more about the research being accomplished at the Garden.

Reservations are required. Email or call (847) 835-6925 to make a reservation.

Family Summer Send-off
and Old-fashioned Ice Cream Social

September 13, 2 – 4 p.m.

The President’s Circle annual Summer Send-off returns, featuring Dixieland jazz, family fun-filled activities, and private greenhouse tours.

Rice Science Center Opening Dinner with Michael Pollan

Monday, September 21

Join us for the Grand Opening Benefit Dinner of the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center. Hear remarks by Michael Pollan, author of The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-eye View of the World and The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.

The Garden is embarking on an ambitious, critically important plant conservation initiative: Save the Plants. Save the Planet. The Rice Science Center is the first phase of a new 15-acre science campus devoted to plant conservation, research, and education.

Click here for more information on the Garden’s Plant Conservation Science Initiative.

Summer Evenings at the Garden

June through early September,
6 – 9 p.m.

Stay until 9 p.m. to enjoy (free!) live music, have a picnic dinner or dine in the Garden Café, and watch the sun set.

Farmers’ Market

First and third Sundays, June 7 – October 18, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Savor seasonal fruits and vegetables from local Midwest vendors, rain or shine. Admission is free! Standard parking fee applies for nonmembers.

Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden Open House

Saturday, August 29, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Visit the School’s (free!) Open House to learn about the wide variety of courses, certificates, and symposia offered at the Garden.

Spring at the Garden was not to be missed: year-to-date visitation is up 36 percent from last year. With 1,612 new memberships purchased at the Membership Desk, May 2009 broke all records for on-site sales not just for the month of May but for all time.

On behalf of the staff and board of the Chicago Botanic Garden, I am so grateful for your support. You help us bring joy to people’s lives and save the planet by saving the plants. Thank you so very much.

Please know I would love to hear from you at any time with your thoughts. Every day, it is an honor and privilege to serve the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Sophia Siskel
President & CEO
Chicago Botanic Garden