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.'