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Field Trip: Garfield Park Conservatory Gardens

Part of my work these days is scheming about how to tire out Miss Grace before I fall over from exhaustion. This is one of the most challenging projects I have ever tackled, hands down. Harder than the attic insulation removal project. Harder than the wood window restoration project. Why? Because I am never finished. Every day I begin ALL OVER AGAIN!

That sleepy little toddler who passed out in the middle of her applesauce last night? She has suddenly awakened with the energy of eight thousand turbo jet engines, is armed with an egg beater, and is headed straight for the toilet bowl. This scene and its variations will repeat themselves daily, much like the movie Groundhog Day.

In an effort to help burn off a little of that energy and get some garden inspiration for next year's project plan, we visited Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory last week. Designed in 1905 by Jens Jensen in collaboration with some very talented Prairie School Architects, the conservatory is a complex and beautiful green oasis within the city limits.

If you know me, you will recall that I am absolutely terrible with plants. The only plant that I would be able to keep alive is one that would either a) not need water, or b) have long tendrils that reached out to snag me by the ankle when it needed anything. I was born with a black thumb. It is a curse. But I can't help dreaming about a someday garden.

When that day comes (next summer maybe?), I will put myself in the very capable hands of Kurt Susanke for the plant life. I won't even pretend to know anything about flora.

But the design of the hardscape? The paths and walls and interesting little bits in and around the plant life? That I can do. So, I'm beginning to collect snippets and ideas for my future small, city garden.

I loved how a lot of the paths that meandered off of the main walkway through the conservatory were designed in very organic patterns, even when they were made out of inorganic materials. These stones...

Used bricks (salvage is a plus!)

The sea glass mixed in with these small stones. I'm obsessed with sea glass and bits of it end up in my pockets whenever I walk a beach.

True to the Prairie-design philosophy, the paths in the conservatory wind and curl and pull you through the glass houses filled with leaves and water and stone. This inability to see everything in the gardens at once compels you to explore them. Frank Lloyd Wright used this same technique in his home and studio in Oak Park, Illinois.

The conservatory isn't afraid to mix old and new. Among the decades old trees of the exterior gardens stands a funky support for climbing vines made out of modern rebar and concrete.

And this modern corrugated iron wall bridges one garden with another.

The artwork provided by Niki de Saint Phalle enchanted Grace. She ran from sculpture to sculpture. The garden provided the frame for these funny, festive pieces.

I loved the pattern that this tree (plant?) made on this stucco wall.

I can't wait to have a garden. Even if I end up killing it within a week, it will have been a glorious week.

Posted by jeanne on August 31, 2007 at 8:34 AM

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