Art in the Garden

With the opening of the new Modern Wing and the Nichols Bridgeway at the Art Institute of Chicago, a new program for school children was created by the staffs of the AIC and Lurie Garden. Through the Art & Garden Tour, students can explore the ways in which artist and landscape architects use similar design elements in their work.

First, students spend time with museum educators looking at landscape paintings from the collection of the AIC and discussing the techniques artists use to interpret the natural world. The students then walk across the footbridge to the Lurie Garden and spend time with naturalists in the garden, examining the similar characteristics in landscape design and looking at the garden as a work of art.

Sixteen students from McCracken Middle School joined us in the garden this morning. They are all members of the Garden Club, spending one day each week this summer to care for the vegetables they planted. When the crop is ready for harvest, they will donate the food to a local food bank. These young gardeners recognized many of the plants in the Lurie Garden and were eager to learn about the various design elements used here. They were especially interested in those plants that attract butterflies, since they will soon be creating a butterfly garden at McCracken.

On Tour Today - Just Opening

As you stroll through the garden today, your head will undoubtedly turn toward the stands of deep red Hemerocallis 'Chicago Apache' (Daylily) in the Light Plate or to the many species of Echinacea purpurea (Coneflower) in shades of pink, orange and greenish white. You might want to photograph the 4-foot tall, lavender blue Perovskia 'Little Spire' (Russian Sage) mixed with bold, silvery Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master). But if you take a closer look, you will find plants that are just beginning to open for their August showing.

In the Dark Plate, near the middle of the south path, Scutellaria incana (Hoary Skullcap) is just beginning to show its lavender blue flowers on loosely branched 3-inch spikes. Another member of the mint family, this native makes soft mounds 3 feet high that will continue blooming into September. Small white hairs on its square stems give it the "hoary" description to its name. When dry, its seed head looks like a tiny helmet or skullcap. Directly behind this grouping is a subtle plant, Salvia glutinosa (Sticky Sage). Its similar mound shape and pale yellow flowers make it a good companion for the skullcap.

At the top of the north stairs and overlooking the Seam, Helelnium autumnale 'Rubinzwerg' (Sneezeweed) is opening its daisy-like flowers that are the color of roasted tomatoes with darker centers. This North American native is a member of the aster family and can grow to four feet. Its common name was given because its stamen parts were used as an ingredient in snuff, not because it was an allergen. Currently, two ornamental grasses are neighbors to the sneezeweed - Sporobolis heterolepis 'Tara' (Prairie Dropseed) and Molinia litoralis 'Transparent' (Moor Grass).

A dozen garden signs will be out identifying Agastache 'Blue Fortune' (Giant Hyssop), Liatris spicata (Blazing Star) and Silphium laciniatum (Compass Plant) among others. Free tours are offered from 10 am to 1:30 pm and last about 20 minutes.

Salvia River is Cut Back

This week the Salvia River was cut back to the ground. Although this swath through the Light Plate may look barren, we can all look forward to a second blooming in mid-August. It will only be a few weeks until the rich violet-blue spires of Salvia 'Blue Hill,' 'Wesuwe,' 'Rugen' and May Night' will again be making their way through the river.

What's Blooming? Bright White

When used in a garden, white can enhance the colors of nearby plants. Just as black can highlight neighboring colors in a painting, think of Mondrian or Max Beckman, white plants call attention to their neighbors. And when the garden is a riot of color, white blooms give the eye a place to rest, to distinguish one color from another.

Liatris spicata 'Alba' (White Blazing Star) can be found in the Light Plate near the Seam, growing among stands of two varieties of Coneflower - 'Orange Meadowbrite' and 'Rubinglow.' Its 3-foot spires stand like sentinels in the garden. Notice how the other variety of L. spicata, the pink-violet Blazing Star, blends into the background.



New to the garden this year is Parthenium integrifolium (Wild Quinine or American Feverfew), also blooming in the Light Plate near the White Blazing Star. This plant is a Missouri native that grows well as far north as Wisconsin. When established, this plant will grow to 4 feet, its white, wooly flowers creating a screen to highlight the coneflowers.

In the Meadow, white Echinacea purpurea 'Green Edge' (Coneflower) blooms at the south end of both the Light and Dark Plates. A delicate ring of green florets at the base of the cone is what gives this plant its name. This sturdy coneflower is shorter than the other varieties planted in the garden, and it makes a nice contrast when interplanted with silvery Rattlesnake Masters.

Up in the Dark Plate, a stand of Hemerocallis 'Gentle Shepherd' (Daylily) brightens the shade from a Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia 'Chicago Blues') near the Cloud Plaza. A screen of white Veronicastrum 'Diane' (Culver's Root) will soon flower, adding more highlights to this part of the garden.

As you stroll through the garden today, pay attention to what white plants can do for a garden. Tours begin 10 am at the south end of the Seam.

What's Blooming? Companions

"Structure is the most important component in a successful planting," wrote Piet Oudolf in his book, Designing With Plants. Indeed, Oudolf believes that by concentrating on the structure of each plant, one can create a garden that is interesting to look at through several seasons, not just during bloom time. This was one of the principles employed when he designed the plantings of the Lurie Garden - selecting plants for their shape and structure to make interesting combinations.

One such combination can be found in the Dark Plate where he used plumes and spires at the south stairs. In the foreground, is a stand of an ornamental grass, Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' (Feather Reed Grass) in bloom this month with pinkish bronze inflorescences. It will grow to six feet, creating a screen to highlight the spires of Digitalis ferruginea (Rusty Foxglove) blooming in front. This Digitalis has smaller blooms, doesn't require staking, and makes a nice companion to the reed grass screen. Above and behind these plants, creamy white plumes of Persicaria polymorpha (White Dragon Knotweed) add another dramatic screen, calling attention to the tips of the Feather Reed Grass.

In the fall, the Digitalis will turn a sienna brown; the Calamagrostis inflorescences will blow out to buff-colored plumes; and the plumes of the Persicaria will become a lighter version of the Digitalis.

Tours begin at 10 am today. Look for signs pointing out Liatris spicata 'Alba,' Monarda didyma 'Scorpian,' and Agastache 'Blue Fortune.'

New in the Garden - Leadplant

Purple spikes of Amorpha canescens make their first appearance in the garden this month. This native perennial is slow to develop, so that in past years its foliage was the only evidence that the plant was in residence. The leaves and stems are often covered with tiny white hairs, making the leadplant seem to be covered in lead dust. Evidently its common name was given at a time when most of us were familiar with lead dust.

A true prairie plant, the leadplant habitat extends through the entire Central U.S. to the Canadian Provinces. Its central root can often extend 15 feet, facilitating recovery from fire. Leaves are bipinnate, 4 to 12 inches long with up to 50 half-inch leaflets compacted along the stem. Flowers ranging from dark to light violet cluster along 6-inch spikes at the ends of major branches.

A good viewing spot for this plant is from the northeastern bench of the Light Plate where the garden turns a corner north to the Shoulder Hedge. You will find it growing between a mix of ornamental oregano and sea lavender on its right and 'Purple Rain' meadow sage on its left.

Finding Blooms on the Garden Tours

Today as you stroll through the garden, look for a vibrant medley of blue and violet perennials located in the Transition Area of the Dark Plate, overlooking the Seam. Here is a good example of the way in which Piet Oudolf used plant shapes to add interest to the garden.

Three kinds of globe-shaped flowers are interplanted for a natural look : bright blue Echinops bannaticus 'Blue Glow' (Globe Thistle); red violet Monarda didyma 'Scorpian, (Bee Balm); and the smaller, burgandy-clored Knautia macedonica (Knautia). In contrast, vertical spires of flower clusters define the space and draw the eye upward: lavender Veronica longifolia 'Evelyne' (Speedwell) at under 2 feet and the taller Veronicastrum virginiatum 'Temptation' (Culver's Root) that can grow to nearly five feet.

In bloom at the corner of the path, just south of this spot, is Astilbe chinensis 'Maggie Daley' (Astilbe), named for the first lady of Chicago. This violet lavender Astilbe is more compact than other varieties in the garden, standing about two feet tall with spires of branched pannicles that are densely covered with flowers. Its foliage is a deep green that is tinged with bronze. Maggie Daley will bloom late into summer, contrasting with the lavender spires of the Giant Hyssop across the path. This planting was an experiment last year - the garden staff tried to find another plant that could tolerate this sunny location.

Down the path and to the east of Maggie Daley is a 7-foot tall plant with huge, lettuce-green leaves - Inula magnifica 'Sonnenstrahl' (Fleabane). This perennial is magnificent if only for its foliage. Atop its sturdy stems are bright yellow daisy-like flowers with drooping petals, giving the appearance that each is wearing a grass skirt. Look beyond this planting to see similar yellow flowers of Silphium laciniatum (Compass Plant).

Garden Tours are from 10 am to 1:30 pm and last about 20 minutes. In addition to the plants mentioned above, look for Allium 'Summer Beauty,' Echinacea 'Orange Madowbrite,' and Stachys officinalis 'Hummelo.'

Fireworks

The City of Chicago puts on a spectacular fireworks display each July 3rd - the idea being that the public can stay home on the Fourth and enjoy its neighborhood displays.

At the same time, the Lurie Garden has its own display of fireworks in the Meadow. Allium christophii, Star of Persia, is a stunning plant that blooms in June. Its globe-like flower clusters can be more than 6 inches in diameter. Each flower has a metallic lavender sheen when it first opens and deepens to amethyst as it matures. A sturdy stalk less than 2 feet high supports the clusters. By now, the starbursts have often dried to a golden color, detached from the stem and roll about the garden like tumbleweeds of stars.






Fireworks in the garden
- or fireworks in the sky.