Spring is in its full glory at the Chicago Botanic Garden as more than a million blooms are unfurling one after the other each in their own time. Though the crocuses and most daffodils have ceased blooming, other spring flowers are opening their buds to take their place.
For example, fragrant crab apples are in full glory in May, with peonies and lilacs, depending on the specific cultivar, blooming in May or June.
Each season is different depending on amount of rainfall, temperature and other factors. The garden grows plants from different parts of the country that grow well in this region, ensuring a continuous bloom of perennials through the end of spring and into summer.
“Spring is truly a spectacular time to walk around our 385 acres,” said Fred Spicer, the garden’s executive vice president and director.
Spicer said in late April and early May, 70 redbuds were at their peak blooming in the Regenstein Learning campus, plus a unique pink cultivar called ‘Pauline Lil’ was blooming in the Walled Garden.
For some species, “we are running ahead of the typical spring blooming time,” he said. For example, crab apples, a typical May bloomer, started to flower in the English Walled Garden at the end of April.
Other crab apples opened in early May in the Gardens of the Great Basin, and other varieties continue to bloom in mid-May, followed by irises, peonies and lilacs.
The Botanic Garden is open daily until 7 p.m. All visitors — including members — must register for timed entry. Face coverings are required when six feet of social distancing cannot be maintained, including on congested pathways, whenever indoors, and when talking with staff. A face covering is required in the Garden View Café and Garden Shop.
Here are some blooms to look for at the Garden from mid-May into mid-June. Bloom times vary annually, so these are only guidelines. To find out what’s in bloom the day you visit, check chicagobotanic.org/inbloom/highlight. The site is changed often to reflect what’s in bloom at the garden.
Irises
Some special irises open as early as March and April at the Garden, but many are blooming in May, some continuing into June.
Irises have three upright petals and three downward petals, which are called sepals. Those known as bearded irises, have fuzzy soft beards called falls lining the petals.
Look for Again and Again, a bearded iris with soft yellow blooms, or Blue Temptation, a bearded iris with soft purplish-blue blooms, among many others at the Bulb Gardens.
Caesar’s Brother on Evening Island is “not to be missed,” Spicer said. It’s what’s known as a Siberian iris, as opposed to the bearded irises. A clump of these irises yields deep violet flowers blooming in late spring. The Siberian irises have thin, swordlike leaves and smaller petals compared with the bearded irises.
Peonies
The peony’s name comes from Greek mythology, which says a Greek god became jealous of his pupil, and that Zeus saved the pupil by turning him into a peony.
Peonies typically bloom in May and June. Tree peonies bloom first, with the other types called herbaceous or garden peonies following a week or so later. Tree peonies are not really trees, but woody shrubs. A tree peony called Age of Gold, with red and gold flowers covering the entire plant, blooms in May.
An herbaceous peony called Beautiful Señorita has pink and white blooms that often can be seen in full blossom in June. Red Charm has double, deep red flowers that bloom the end of May to early June.
A good place to look for peonies at the garden is in the English Walled Garden, according to Spicer.
Lilacs
The Chicago Botanic Garden has more than 50 varieties of lilacs, known for their intoxicating scents. They begin opening their blossoms about the second week of May through the middle of June. Sugar Plum Fairy produces soft pink blossoms and can be found in the Landscape Garden.
Lilacs can be found in the Sensory Garden. An unusual lilac called the Boomerang, which has purple flowers, blooms in May and then periodically on and off again in summer after the rest of the lilacs are no longer blooming. It can be found in the Japanese Garden.
Roses
As spring melds into summer, the roses bloom. The Botanic Garden features more than 5,000 of these popular plants at the 3-acre Krasberg Rose Garden. The biggest, showiest display of blooms happens right around Father’s Day and the first day of summer. Its next showiest display will be in September.
It’s Showtime: Spring 2021 at the Chicago Botanic Garden
When: 8 a.m.-7 p.m. daily, timed entry registration required
Where: Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe
Tickets: Free admission, parking for nonmembers is $25-$30 per vehicle
Information: 847-835-5440, www.chicagobotanic.org/spring
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
