About the Chicago Botanic Garden
Mission
The mission of the Chicago Botanic Garden is to promote the enjoyment, understanding, and conservation of
plants and the natural world.
The Garden continues to strive to meet the lofty goals set more than a century ago. The
Chicago Botanic Garden, with its world-renowned plant collections and displays, is one of the country's most visited public gardens and a preeminent center for learning and scientific research.
The 385-acre Garden features 24 display gardens and four natural areas, uniquely situated on nine islands surrounded by lakes.
HISTORY
The Chicago Horticultural Society
was founded in 1890. At its heart was the understanding that the city of Chicago was incorporated with the Latin words Urbs
in Horto, meaning "city in a garden." The Society hosted nationally recognized flower and horticultural shows
and supported Chicago's lakeshore improvements and park system.
After a period of inactivity, the Chicago Horticultural
Society was restarted in 1943. In 1963, the Chicago Horticultural Society was granted 300 acres of forest on the outskirts
of the city, and the Chicago Botanic Garden established roots. With the groundbreaking for the Garden in 1965 and its opening
in 1972, the Society created a permanent site on which to carry out its mission. The mission encompasses three important components:
collections, education, and research.
ARCHITECTURE
From its founding, the Garden has hired leading architects, beginning with John
O. Simonds and Geoffrey Rausch, who created the master plan. Edward Larabee Barnes designed the Education Center as the Garden's
first building in 1977. The Malott Japanese Garden, Sansho-En, was completed in 1982. The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant
Conservation Science Center, which opened in 2009, was the work of designer/architect Booth Hansen. Throughout its existence,
the Chicago Botanic Garden has developed gardens and educational facilities with a meticulous eye toward its original mission.
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