Archives of the Chicago Horticultural Society: Publications

Call Number: QK73.U62C458 2007
Accompanied by charming and accessible text, the floral centerfolds of Journey to Nine Islands invite the reader to participate in the world of the Chicago Botanic Garden—one of the nation’s most visited public gardens and a preeminent center for learning and plant science. This remarkable volume showcases these lush and extraordinary gardens with 96 pages of beautifully reproduced full-color photography—capturing images from Chicago Botanic Garden sites as diverse as the English Oak Meadow, the Rose Garden, the Prairie, and the exquisite Heritage Garden. The breathtaking images featured in this volume represent only a small portion of the stunning blooms on view year-round at the Botanic Garden—a magisterial landscape that changes with the seasons, welcoming plants like the late-blooming sawtooth sunflower in the early autumn and the panicle hydrangea in the heat of midsummer. A fascinating read for the weekend gardener, a thoughtful gift for your favorite flower lover, and beautiful, portable reference to the wonders of this urban oasis, Journey to Nine Islands is an impeccable companion to this national treasure.

Call Number: QK73.U62C459 2007
In 2006, the Garden developed a new exhibition destined to become a family holiday tradition, Wonderland Express. This indoor railroad garden, alive with whistling trains and cascading waterfalls, is landscaped with miniature and full-scale plants and flowers. The exhibition features familiar Chicago landmarks, intricately handcrafted from plant materials gathered from around the world.

Call Number: QK73.U62C451 2015
Formed in 1890, during the heady days before the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the Chicago Horticultural Society boasted members with names deeply rooted in Chicago history: Buckingham, McCormick, and Palmer, among others. Today, as it leads the Garden in a model public-private partnership with the Forest Preserves of Cook County, the Society’s horticultural practices have exceeded the vision of its founders. Chicago and Its Botanic Garden: The Chicago Horticultural Society at 125 is a lushly illustrated and thoughtful history of the Society and its evolution from a producer of monumental flower and botanical shows, through a fallow period, to the opening in 1972 of the Chicago Botanic Garden, a living museum and world leader in horticulture, plant science and conservation, education, and urban agriculture. Author Cathy Jean Maloney combines meticulous scholarship with a flair for storytelling in a narrative that will delight everyone from casual strollers of the grounds to the volunteers, professionals, and scientists who compose the influential society.

Call Number: SB433.5.C55 2012
With fresh, elegant photography, this stunning volume presents more than sixty living bonsai masterpieces from the renowned collection of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Each patiently nurtured tree is presented at the peak of its seasonal beauty; each embodies the quiet energy and beauty of the art of bonsai. In an engaging opening essay, the book introduces the practice and philosophy of bonsai, its spiritual resonance, and its horticultural sophistication. Then alongside each tree's portrait, is a short, thoughtful discussion of the species and style of the tree as well as its individual history and character. Readers will cherish this superbly conceived and designed book while gaining a new appreciation for the living masterpieces that inspired it.