Monday, March 24, 2008

Spring Arrives in Chicago!

. . . Well, in the the conservatories it has, anyway! Yesterday Middle Child and I went to the Garfield Park Conservatory. We had a wonderful day together. This shot is from the Show House, where azaleas, stock, daffodils, and hydrangeas were blossoming profusely. The scent in the conservatory was thick, sweet, and delightful.

Tune in later this morning, when my mom will be guest-blogging with part two of Grandpa's Contraption, the true story of my Great-Grandfather's amazing home made garden contraption!

13 comments:

  1. Wow ... I can just imagine how wonderful that was to walk around in .. the scents .. those beautiful flowers .. just lovely ! I'm very jealous .. it is snowing here this morning .. BIF sigh !
    Joy
    Thanks for this pretty post !

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  2. It's something to look forward to.

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  3. I can close my eyes and almost smell the "alive" scent in your photo.

    The sun is shining here and the birds are making a racket! 33 degrees though is still a bit nippy so I'll wait until the sun warms up a bit before I bundle up and head out there.

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  4. What an awesome photograph; it looks like it would make a stunning watercolour painting, for those with that talent. Spring will find us eventually, though, have courage....

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  5. How wonderful to feast your eyes on all that color! I live in a rural area where there are no flower shows... but I enjoy seeing the photos.

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  6. I'm ashamed to admit I've never been to the Garfield Park Conservatory. After seeing your photo, I know I've got to get myself over there.

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  7. Joy, I can't begin to tell you how wonderful it was. Too bad we can't smell through our computers. (well, maybe not too bad sometimes!) Anyway, it was fantabulous.

    The weather here's not very spring-like either, but today I don't mind as much. I'm sorry you're having snow. :(

    Jane Marie, Isn't it though? And in the meantime, a visit to an indoor garden is a nice mini-vacation from brown, snowy, and drab.

    Oh Melanie, it was just the therapy I needed. I feel like I've had an attitude adjustment and now I have a couple hundred pictures from there to pretend with too. (I think I might have gotten a little carried away with the camera, that just proves how spring-starved I am!)

    I'm glad the sun is shining in your garden. It makes a world of difference. We had sun yesterday (today too) and that made the time we spent outside a little less nippy.

    Jodi, It was like walking into a
    3-D Monet! My visit to the Conservatory was like attitude surgery. My hunger for color and scent and sunshine and warmth was sweetly satisfied (temporarily.) I got my fix.

    I highly recommend a trip to an indoor garden, and I think I'll be making it a part of my future winter routine.

    Connie, I wish you had an indoor garden close enough to visit occasionally during winter.

    As much as I fantasize about living in the country, having beautiful gardens nearby in the winter is a perk of city life.

    I'll be sharing more photos from the conservatory in future posts. My next post I think I'd show pictures from some of the water features they have there.

    MMD, I hadn't been there since I was kid growing up on the north side. I'm so glad I went, and I plan to go back repeatedly. It's a lovely Chicago landmark, and a treat for all the senses.

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  8. Anonymous11:38 AM

    Mom, such a great idea to go to the conservatory! I had an amazing time with you. Maybe some day I'll have a little patch of dirt (hey, in the city, I'll be lucky for 6'x9', but I've learned you can do a lot in a little space anyways ;). Sorry up to this point I have had a black thumb (I am where perfectly healthy plants come to die). But I'm sure you can teach me a thing or two.

    By the way - here is a little clip of the Coqui frogs we heard yesterday: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54-FzuE-w0U

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  9. Anonymous11:41 AM

    Of course, the link didn't post correctly (copy and paste, delete the space before the F):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54-
    FzuE-w0U

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  10. You planned a lovely day for us sweetie, and I had a wonderful time with you too.

    You come from a long line of gardeners so someday if you want to grow things in your future little patch of city soil, I'm sure you'll be successful and I'll be glad to help!

    PBS, I think on Nature last night, did a segment on coquis in Hawaii. They're not native there, and Hawaiians are generally not keen on their presence for a number of reasons including their chirping.

    Now I'm all curious about Puerto Rican tree frogs! Isn't it funny how something you don't give much thought to suddenly comes into your awareness more than once in a short period of time?

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  11. I bet it was nice at Garfield Park conservatory. I can almost smell the humidity and warmth. That was where the Chihuly show was wasn't it? I went there to see all the beautiful glass. It was wonderful.

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  12. Love the colors of this garden..what I use in mine..pinks whites lavenders all yummy to me!
    sunkissed in Arizona NG

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  13. Lisa, yes, that was where the Chihuly exhibit was held. He made some glass lily pads for one of the lagoons in the conservatory, and I took pictures of those. I'll post them some time soon. After our trip I visited Chihuly's website. His glass art is really beautiful.

    Naturegirl, I just love those colors too. Walking into this room with all the pink, purple, yellow, blue, and white was like walking into a French impressionist painting.

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