Jardin de la Cité Prost

The next day, our friends introduced us to several, small neighborhood parks that have been introduced to the Parisian city landscape - something that was not available 20 years ago when they were raising their son. But over the past decade, the number of families with young children living in the city has increased. Paris' new mayor has worked to keep families in the city by providing more playgrounds and open spaces where everyone can enjoy their beautiful city.

In this case, several buildings in the 11th Arrondissement were demolished to make way for the Jardin de la Cité Prost, near the rue de Chanzy. Enclosed by a low iron fence, the garden is designed to demonstrate biodiversity by providing a natural pond, native plants and trees for songbirds and waterfowl.

This garden is very similar to the one proposed for the South Pond area in Lincoln Park. A boardwalk runs through a grove of small maple trees. The pond has water lilies and native grasses.

There is an open space for residents to sit and read or picnic. A hidden sandbox and play area keep children contained and entertained in the park while their parents visit with neighbors.

Paris, La Promenade Plantée

What better place to unwind after a long flight than a garden? Just a few blocks from our friends' apartment is an elevated walkway and garden called La Promenade Plantée (or the Couleé Verte). Built on an abandoned 19th century viaduct, the Promenade extends above the city from the Opéra Bastille to the Parc de Reuilly. One can stroll nearly 4.5 km along plantings of roses, lilacs and viburnum and under arches dripping with fragrant wisteria.

Near the Parc de Reuilly, Parisian families were picnicing on the grass while we passed through the gate to see tree peonies, hostas and climbing roses. A sweet-smelling clematis climbed up a cherry tree that had just finished flowering.


At street level, the viaduct has been restored and converted to house studios and galleries - known as the Viaduc des Arts. One can see artisans at work in their studios and purchase work from one of the many local galleries.

I miss the Lurie Garden and its wilder, more natural look. Paris' spring weather is ahead of Chicago by about two weeks, and I am hoping that I will return to the Lurie in time to see the tree peonies near the Cloud Plaza in full bloom.

Earth Day

Sunrise at 5:59 am. The garden is alive with avian activity. Aside from the usual grackles, red-winged blackbirds and robins, there are three kinds of sparrows - white-throated, song and field sparrows - scratching in the soil, looking for last year's crop of grass seed to eat. Under the low branches of Thuja (Arborvitae) in the Shoulder Hedge a wood thrush darts in and out of sight. A hermit thrush, migrating through the area, perches on the branch of an Cercis canadensis (Eastern Redbud).

In the Meadow, the buds of Narcissus 'Lemon Drops' (Daffodils) are nearly ready to open. A few more days of warm weather and they'll bring a creamy yellow to the garden, deeper than the 'Jenny' and 'Thalia' daffodils that are mostly white. Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke) is about 12 inches high, but its buds have yet to open and expose the wispy stamens that give its characteristic appearance. The Dodecatheon 'Aphrodite' (Shooting Stars) won't be out for another two weeks.

Muscari armeniacum 'Superstar' (Grape Hyacinths) in the Salvia River are filling in, giving a purple hint of the deep violet swath of meadow sage that will appear in late May. Anemone blanda (Windflowers) are opening - their petals, a paler violet than the grape hyacinths, provide texture and contrast.

Two species tulips in the Light Plate should open later today - a bright yellow Tulipa aucherina and the lipstick red Tulipa wilsoniana. Both are identified by their six-inch long, curvy leaves that lie along the soil.

In the Dark Plate, the first lavender flowers of the Epimedium grandiflorum, 'Lilafee' (Longspur Barrenwort) are showing. Its young leaves are nearly the color of its flowers, making it difficult to see if one didn't know where to look. The Astilbe chinensis, 'Maggie Daley,' is showing through the mulch, beneath a newly planted Cercis canadensis (Eastern redbud).

In the next week or two, the garden will be alive with color from the nearly 120,000 bulbs that are now planted in the Lurie. I hate to miss this spectacular display, but I am off to Paris to visit friends for a week. Hopefully I will see gardens as interesting and as varied as the Lurie while I am away.

Glory of the Snow!

Sunrise 6:37 am - Warmer temperatures overnight had begun to melt the snow as I entered the garden. I was anxious to see what Chionodoxa forbesii 'Blue Giant' would look like in the snow and I was not disappointed. The deep violet flowers were scattered over the icy landscape - more showy than when framed against bare soil.

The Meadow was a bright white coverlet, dotted with blues and pinks. Rosy buds of Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke), undaunted by their chilly blanket, poked their heads through the ice in groups of three. The petals of Scilla mischtschenkoana (Turbergen Squill) nearly matched the light blue shadows of the snow.

By late afternoon the snow had nearly melted and the garden was awaiting a warmer overnight rain.

February Snowfall

A new storm came down from Canada on Friday evening. All day Saturday snow fell lightly or blew off the lake so that by Sunday morning, a 3-inch blanket of new snow covered the garden and rested in the limbs of trees in the Shoulder Hedge. The photo above looks west with the Sears Tower in the distance.

Hakenochioa macra (Hakone Grass) is planted near the edge of the Cloud Plaza. With foliage that resembles bamboo,it makes soft mounds that add another texture to this part of the garden. But it really comes into its prime in the fall, when it turns the color of a copper penny that holds through the winter. Notice the shadows it casts on the snow.

More winter silhouettes are found in the Meadow - umber coneflowers, golden prairie dropseed and tall, rust-colored compass plants.





Other visitors in the garden.