Chicago Starts New Garden Show

Garden in a City, a new garden and landscape design show focusing on urban horticulture and community greening, will debut in Chicago, Ill., May 13-21, 2006.

The show will provide a unique experience, whether you want to take home practical ideas for the garden, shop for plants and gardening accessories, learn more about how greening improves communities and quality of life, or just walk among display gardens designed by some Midwest landscape designers, landscape architects and landscape contractors.

Garden in a City will feature display gardens demonstrating how to design and plant gardens in urban settings such as bungalow backyards, townhouse balconies, decks, fenced yards, vertical gardens and container clusters. The show will feature practical, grassroots approaches to gardening in urban areas and small spaces and showcase greening of public environments such as boulevards, building rooftops and plazas. Designers and landscapers will compete for cash awards.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley welcomes all show participants, vendors and visitors, saying residential gardening and the greening of our communities is vital to the quality of life in metropolitan areas across the nation.

“I’m truly looking forward to Garden in a City, a new show and the first of its kind in the United States,” said Daley. “Garden in a City is yet another demonstration that Chicago has gained an international reputation for its efforts to preserve and protect the natural environment and supports our goal of becoming the most environmentally friendly city in America.”

In addition to gardens, the show will feature hands-on gardening demonstrations and workshops, a marketplace for plants, the latest in tools and accessories and amenities such as garden cafes and play areas for children with interactive features that work in small spaces. The show will be staged in-ground inside a tent the size of two football fields on Chicago’s Grant Park’s Butler Field, with easy access by public transportation and ample parking at a discounted rate.

The show is organized by the City of Chicago, the Chicago Park District, the Parkways Foundation and the Park District’s philanthropic partner. Target is also the presenting sponsor.

Ball Horticultural Company is also a sponsor of this event and will be organizing a display of container gardens that will be featured at the show. The company is also supplying Easy Wave petunias that will be used to plant the entrance bed outside the tent where the show will take place.

For more information visit www.gardeninacity.org.