Explore the Garden
• Aquatic Garden
• Bonsai Collection
• Bulb Garden
• Children's Growing
Garden
• Circle Garden
• The Crescent
• Dwarf Conifer Garden
• Enabling Garden
• English Oak Meadow
• English Walled Garden
• Esplanade
• Evening Island
• Fruit & Vegetable
Garden
• Gardens of the
Great Basin
• Greenhouses
• Heritage Garden
• Kleinman Family Cove
• Lakeside Gardens
• Landscape Gardens
• Japanese Garden
• McDonald Woods
• Native Plant Garden
• Plant Conservation
Science Center
• Plant Evaluation
Gardens
• Prairie
• Railroad Garden
• Rose Garden
• Sensory Garden
• Skokie River
• Spider Island
• The Trellis Bridge
• Water Gardens
• Waterfall Garden
Explore the Garden
• Test gardens for sun and shade
• Sundial sculpture
• Trellis bridge
Richard Hawke talks about the Lavin Plant Evaluation Garden and the Plant Evaluation Program.
Plant Evaluation Gardens
take a tour
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The Bernice E. Lavin Plant Evaluation Garden and the William Pullman Plant Evaluation Garden are the sites for the Chicago Botanic Garden's Plant Evaluation Program, where scientists study plants to determine which are best suited for midwestern gardens and those in similar climates. The Lavin Evaluation Garden provides the opportunity to evaluate plants in a sunny area and the Pullman Evaluation Garden provides a shady site in which to evaluate plants.
As part of the program, perennials, shrubs, and vines are trialed side by side for four to six years. Overall plant performance, winter hardiness, resistance to disease and insects, and more are recorded. At the end of the evaluation period, the detailed findings are published in Plant Evaluation Notes.
Concurrent with the Trellis Bridge project, the Lavin Evaluation Garden was redesigned to accommodate the end of the bridge. Its beds of concentric arcs were realigned in keeping with the entrance to the Plant Science Center, and the beds were expanded to the north to allow for additional growing space.
