Chicago Botanic Garden

for immediate release

Chicago Botanic Garden Volunteers Present
29th Annual Roadside Flower Sale

Chicago Botanic Garden, Sept. 11 – 13

 

Media Only:
Julie McCaffrey
(847) 835-8213, direct
jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (Aug. 12, 2009)—The volunteers of the Chicago Botanic Garden are pleased to announce their 29th annual Roadside Flower Sale from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, through Sunday, Sept. 13, in the Regenstein Center’s Burnstein Hall. Throughout the year, Chicago Botanic Garden volunteers can be seen on any given Wednesday on roadsides and natural areas harvesting hundreds of flowers, grasses, pods, and colorful foliage. Their finds are carefully dried and combined into hundreds of floral arrangements, wreaths, potpourris, bouquets and notecards, and sold at the sale. All proceeds from the sale benefit the Garden’s world-renowned conservation and education programs.

Visitors may attend free hands-on dried flower arranging workshops, taught by professional floral designers and experts at the Garden. Participants learn how to preserve nature by creating beautiful dried floral arrangements, bouquets, and wreaths. All arrangements created in the workshops become the property of the Chicago Botanic Garden and will be sold at the Roadside Flower Sale. Workshops will be held from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. daily Tuesday, September 1, through Thursday, September 3, and from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Friday, September 4, in Burnstein Hall. Participants can attend an unlimited number of workshops but are asked to please register in advance by calling (847) 835-8392.

“The workshops are very popular and provide a wonderful, hands-on opportunity to learn flower arranging techniques, while at the same time supporting the Roadside Flower Sale,” said Judy Cashen, the Garden’s director of volunteer services. “Even experienced participants who have attended the workshops in past years will register for several classes so they can get new ideas and learn from different instructors.”

Each year, the sale proceeds benefit Garden programs and projects. Over the last few years, projects and purchases have included expansion of the Production Greenhouses, gardening tools for volunteers in the display gardens, and reference books for the Lenhardt Library and Plant Information Services.

Volunteers are seeking donations of the following items for new craft projects: unusual baskets and ceramic containers and vases. Anyone interested in donating items may call Volunteer Services at (847) 835-8392.

Also that weekend, enjoy the Illinois Gourd Society Show and Sale, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in the Regenstein Center. Then, learn new cooking techniques at the Garden Chef Series, with chefs Chris Macchia of Cocco Pazzo in Chicago, on Saturday, and Christopher Tong of My Private Chef in Chicago, on Sunday. The free cooking demonstrations take place in the open-air kitchen of the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.

Admission to the Garden, the Roadside Flower Sale, Illinois Gourd Society Show and Sale and Garden Chef Series is free. Parking is $20 per car; free for Garden members. For more information about other events at the Chicago Botanic Garden, call (847) 835-5440, or visit the Garden’s website at www.chicagobotanic.org.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the green treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 23 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $20 per car; free for Garden members. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. A program of the Chicago Botanic Garden, Windy City Harvest is an organic vegetable and plant production enterprise that provides instruction in sustainable horticulture and urban agriculture to residents of Chicago’s North Lawndale and West Side neighborhoods.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). The Chicago Botanic Garden is also host to Botanic Gardens Conservation International-U.S., and a member of the Center for Plant Conservation. In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.