Love in Bloom

Love In Bloom
 

June 3 – September 24, 2023
The flirty side of summer

Long, brighter days have us oh-so-in-love with each other and the plant world. Picture flirty meet-cutes—Love Seats, poems on the spot, evening jazz, and more.

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Find new ways to connect

Friendships, romances, family bonds, and random connections blossom in the heady days of summer.

Plant Connections

Find out how plants connect with each other and their ecosystems via stories and displays, some of which are interactive. You’ll learn about relationships between sloths and seeds, fungi and roots, and more. See below for a list of displays and where to find them:

  • Changing Relationships: Sloths & Seeds          
    Viburnum Walk
  • A Balanced Diet: Plant Nutrients         
    Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden
  • Underground Network: Fungi and Roots         
    Between the Esplanade & Model Railroad Garden
  • Plant Relationships Explored         
    English Walled Garden overlook      
     
 

Goodman Theatre Presents:        
In My Granny’s Garden

Sunday, August 20  
10:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.  
Corn! Green Beans! Collard Greens! Cabbage! Audiences of all ages can enjoy a rich sensory experience as Granny explains why the food that comes out of her garden tastes so good.

 

Grandparent's Day

September 10   
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.  
Grandparents and grandchildren will be invited to write and draw what they love about each other on special tags that will be hung on display and more.    
Learn more

 

Labor of love

Read or listen (via QR codes) to love letters to the Garden in English and Spanish written by some of our besties—volunteers. We’re only blushing a little. The 14 notes are scattered throughout the Garden.

 

Take a (love) seat and see what happens…

Our eight tête-à-tête benches are intimate spots with built-in planters—perfect for flirtation, conversation, contemplation, and more. Find them:

  • Esplanade patio
  • Regenstein Learning Campus
  • Thomas English Walled Garden
  • Native Plant Garden
  • Sycamore Grove
  • Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden
  • Stone Family Picnic Glade (beginning in July)
  • Farm on Ogden
 

Need a conversation starter?           
Look on each love seat for nature-based poetry including the poem below.

 
“The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver        
Bench location: English Walled Garden

Who made the world?        
Who made the swan, and the black bear?        
Who made the grasshopper?        
This grasshopper, I mean—        
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,        
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,        
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down—        
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.        
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.        
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.        
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.        
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down        
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,        
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,        
which is what I have been doing all day.        
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,        
Tell me, what else should I have done?        
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?        
Tell me, what is it you plan to do       
with your one wild and precious life?

Read more Love in Bloom poetry

 
 

That summer feeling

Meet someone new or reconnect with loved ones at our Love in Bloom special events.

After Hours Buzz

6 to 8 p.m.
August 10 & 24, September 14

Our scientists and other experts highlight plant connections; cocktails and light appetizers included. Fee applies. Buy tickets

Love In Bloom

Poems While You Wait

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
August 5

No topic is too silly or sappy—ask a poet using a manual typewriter to tap out a Love in Bloom-themed poem personalized for you. Why not a sonnet about a garden bonnet? Look for teams of poets in three locations at the Garden.

Music on the Esplanade: Garden Love Songs

6 to 7:30 p.m.
August 2 & 30

Relax on the water’s edge with live jazz music featuring themes of love and nature.

“Jazz music is full of expressions of love, desire, vivacity, hope, transcendence, triumph in abject circumstances, energy, joy, confidence, excitement—the stuff of life.”
—Josiah Boornazian in his essay “What’s the True Meaning Behind Jazz Music?”

Love In Bloom

Al fresco dining and more

Save time for Garden-fresh eats with the best views around at places including the Rose Terrace Beer Garden, and soak up summer at the Garden.

Love In Bloom Connections – Bee FlowerLove In Bloom Connections – Couple Walking
Love In Bloom Connections – Lilypads
Love In Bloom Connections – Waterlilies
Love In Bloom Connections – Butterflies
Love In Bloom Connections – CoupleLove In Bloom Connections – Yellow FlowersLove In Bloom Connections – After Hours Drinks
Love In Bloom Connections – BirdsLove In Bloom Connections – Mom and Baby
 

Come see what's blooming at the Garden this summer.

Love in Bloom

Supported by

NorthShore University HealthSystem

 
 

ITW

North Shore Gas

Scott Byron & Co.

 
 

Ball Horticultural