Dancing Stones

Dancing Stones is another garden installation at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show that like Reflections and Hope for the Healing Planet is Asian inspired.

Paradise in a Parking Lot

The Paradise in a Parking Lot garden is a departure from gardens like Reflections, Rooftop Garden of the Future & Hope for the Healing Planet. When I first saw it I during the media preview of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show I thought to myself that people would either love it or hate it.

Hope for the Healing Planet Garden

The Hope for the Healing Planet Garden exhibit at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show is another Asian inspired garden. It has a more natural feel to it than Reflections because it uses a lot of wood.

Greening Up

I've covered the Reflections garden and the Rooftop Garden of the Future at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show. This exhibit is called Greening Up and it is a four-season garden set around a replica of a typical Chicago garage. The display was divided into four quadrants and each quadrant showcased a different garden style. The garage in the center of all these gardens has a living roof.

Rooftop Garden of the Future

The Rooftop Garden of the Future is very different than Reflections, the Asian themed garden, but in some ways they are very similar. I'm a sucker for modern design but I'm not sure how I feel about this rooftop garden. The part of me that likes the use of austere lines, reflective surfaces and sci-fi channel lighting drools over this garden.

Reflections Garden: Chicago Flower & Garden Show 2009

One of my favorite featured gardens at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show is Reflections: A Spirited Garden of Asian Inspiration. The Chicago Flower & Garden Show guide tells us; "Asian gardens are entrancing, serene spaces-tranquil and timeless. Generally small in scale, they achieve considerable effect with a minimum of resources, relying on eco-friendly materials artfully arranged. Decorative touches include a Buddha and lantern fashioned from natural stone, while Japanese maple, ginkgo trees and weeping larch add to the contemplative mood."

Usually, copy exaggerates to sell something but in this case I don't think the copy does the product justice. This garden can't really be described in words and my pictures don't do it justice. Amidst the noise of the crowds, sound effects and the distracting lighting this garden give visitors to the Chicago Flower & Garden Show a place to relax. I recommend visiting this garden later in the evening when he crowds have dwindled so you can really appreciate it.