Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden opened in 1972 as a beautiful place to visit, and it has matured into one of the world’s great living museums and leaders in plant conservation science. Every year, more than one million people visit the Garden’s 27 gardens and four natural areas, uniquely situated on 385 acres on and around nine islands, with six miles of lake shoreline. The permanent collection at the Garden boasts 2.6 million living plants. The Garden has 50,000 members—one of the largest memberships of any U.S. botanic garden. Its Lenhardt Library houses one of the nation’s best collections of rare botanical books.
The Garden’s mission motivates its many activities: we cultivate the power of plants to sustain and enrich life. The scientists in the Negaunee Institute for Plant Conservation Science and Action conduct a wide array of plant research throughout the world to protect plants and our planet. The Garden’s urban agriculture initiative, Windy City Harvest, grows more than 160,000 pounds of produce annually and builds healthy communities through its 15 urban farms and programs.
On land owned by the Forest Preserves of Cook County and managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society, the Chicago Botanic Garden belongs to the people of Cook County and serves the Chicago region as a resource for the beauty and restorative power of nature.