Hortiventure

It is always interesting to get a sense of what the attitude of a place is towards horticulture, if and how it engages with ecology and nature, especially cities, and then to see what those influencers are. Chicago’s reputation has always stood out as being a bit of a pro-green city, with the city (our equivalent of a local council) striving to make it the greenest and most sustainable city in the world. It boasts the most green roofs in the country (over 400 according to some claims), with the City Hall setting an example by establishing one of the first ones on their own roof to reflect their motto 'City in the Garden'. All of this was strongly advocated by a mayor called Richard Daley who served for six terms from 1989 to 2011, which current mayor Rahm Emanuel seems to be happy to carry on in the vein of. A bit like what mayor Michael Bloomberg did for art and horticulture in New York. Key figures like architect Frank Lloyd Wright who came to Chicago after the Great Chicago…

Noel Kingsbury's blog is one of the few that I follow and enjoy. He gives interesting thoughts and insights on gardening in terms of where it’s at, where it’s going especially on a more international level, and is really great at giving an overview on a topic and explaining the history of things in laymen terms. Stimulated by his writing I have wanted to write to him on many occasions. In one of his blog posts I read that sick of Brexit he was strongly considering moving to Portugal, where there was so much more flora to be explored and the potential of them to be realised, and if anyone was interested in seeing his garden whilst he was still there they should get in contact with him. I was in the States at the time but upon my return many months later, I saw that he mentioned that he was getting rid of some horticultural books in preparation of moving. So I decided it was now or never. after a little correspondence I asked him if it was still sensible to visit in December and he …

Chicago Botanic Garden is huge - 385 acres with 27 garden areas and ‘four natural areas’ and is interesting in that it is a chain of nine islands set in a forest preserve. It is immaculately kept, whilst I was there they had a Roberto Burle Marx inspired annual display, and unfortunately they had experienced some flooding and damage in the garden. Environmental issues like these is becoming more and more a common situation that many gardens have to face, and it is always interesting to see how gardens deal with it. It was clear where the damage was, a drift of Cotoneaster shrubs were rendered dead and the bottom of a row of box hedge had a dusty appearance and was a different colour to the rest of the bush. The best thing was that the garden instead of trying to hide the damage or being really apologetic about it, used it as an educational opportunity with simple signs informing the public of what had happened, and making them aware of the problems that can arise in changing climates.



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