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
• Aquatic plants
• Birds and aquatic wildlife
The Water Gardens serve as a backdrop for Carillon Concerts in the summer.
Water Gardens
take a tour
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The Water Gardens in the Great Basin, consisting of tens of thousands of native and ornamental plants, extend gardens into the water in a way never seen before at a botanic garden.
An array of aquatic and semiaquatic plants that range from native grasses to sedges help prevent erosion on the miles of Chicago Botanic Garden shoreline. Lotuses and waterlilies provide color and drama during the summer months and well into autumn.
The Water Gardens blend beauty with environmental sensitivity. Lush growth at the water’s edge provides a rich ecosystem for birds, insects, fish, turtles, and other wildlife. At the same time, the shores of the Great Basin demonstrate ways to restore and protect shorelines of lakes and ponds.
