Public Botanic Gardens & Arboreta Near Chicago

Chicago's official motto is Urbs in horto (meaning "City in a Garden"). Here are some of the best places to see gardens in and around the city!

Garden City State Acres Miles
Ladd Arboretum Evanston IL 23 3.9
Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe IL 385 3.9
Lincoln Park Conservatory Chicago IL 3 13.7
Lincoln Park Zoo Chicago IL 35 13.9
Garfield Park Conservatory Chicago IL 5 15.3
Lurie Gardens Chicago IL 5 16.7
Morton Arboretum Lisle IL 1700 26.4
Cantigny Gardens Wheaton IL 29 27.8
The Gardens at Ball West Chicago IL 6 29.6
International Friendship Gardens Michigan City IN 100 51.7
Taltree Arboretum & Gardens Valparaiso IN 360 54.9
Boerner Botanical Garden Milwaukee WI 1000 59.2
Fernwood Botanical Garden & Nature Preserve Niles MI 105 73.6
Rotary Botanical Gardens Janesville WI 20 75.5
Wellfield Botanic Gardens Elkhart IN 36 94.7
Madison Olbrich Botanic Garden Madison WI 16 105.9
University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum Madison WI 35 107.6
Purdue Arboretum West Lafayette IN 24 123.5
Frederik Meijer Garden & Sculpture Park Grand Rapids MI 158 124.8
Fell Arboretum at Illinois State University Normal IL 490 127.9
Bickelhaupt Arboretum Davenport IA 14 128.8
Illinois Wesleyan University Arboretum Bloomington IL 80 129.2
Leila Arboretum Battle Creek MI 72 129.9
Luthy Memorial Botanical Garden Peoria IL 5 135.2
Mabery Gelvin Botanical Garden Mahomet IL 5 136.8
University of Illinois Arboretum Urbana IL 160 141.3
Vander Veer Botanical Park Davenport IA 33 151.2
Dubuque Arboretum & Botanical Gardens Dubuque IA 52 154.9
Slayton Arboretum Hillsdale MI 14 159.6
Green Bay Botanical Garden Green Bay WI 47 168.3
W. J. Beal Botanical Garden East Lansing MI 5 171.2
Christy Woods Muncie IN 18 178.6
White River Gardens Indianapolis IN 3 180.9
Springfield Washington Park Botanical Garden Springfield IL 20 189.6
Dow Gardens Midland MI 110 205.0
Nichols Arboretum Ann Arbor MI 123 205.4
Matthaei Botanical Gardens Ann Arbor MI 300 208.7
Botanic Garden at Historic Barns Park Traverse City MI 25 210.2
Hilltop Gardens at Indiana University Bloomington IN 5 212.6
Hayes Arboretum Richmond IN 355 217.3
For-Mar Nature Preserve & Arboretum Burton MI 383 219.3
Schedel Arboretum & Gardens Elmore OH 17 232.2
Cedar Valley Arboretum & Botanic Gardens Waterloo IA 35 235.4
University of Northern Iowa Botanical Center Cedar Falls IA 243.1
Wegerzyn Gardens MetroPark Dayton OH 243.3
Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory Detroit MI 243.4
Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden Cincinnati OH 85 265.5
Boone County Arboretum Union KY 121 268.5
Missouri Botanical Garden St. Louis MO 75 275.4
Schoepfle Garden Birmingham OH 70 282.7
Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens Columbus OH 62 284.9
Yew Dell Botanical Gardens Crestwood KY 33 286.6
Franklin Park Conservatory & Botanic Gardens Columbus OH 88 289.6
Shaw Nature Reserve Gray Summit MO 2441 298.6
Western Kentucky Botanical Garden Owensboro KY 9 300.7
Reiman Gardens Ames IA 17 302.6
Des Moines Botanical Garden Des Moines IA 14 304.3
Better Homes & Gardens Test Garden Des Moines IA 305.7
Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest Clermont KY 14000 308.8
Dawes Arboretum Heath OH 1800 313.5
Iowa Arboretum Madrid IA 378 314.3
Cleveland Botanical Garden Cleveland OH 10 317.9
Brenton Arboretum Dallas Center IA 141 322.8
Clary Gardens Coshocton OH 20 329.3
University of Kentucky Arboretum Lexington KY 100 330.1
Holden Arboretum Willoughby OH 3600 332.6
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Chaska MN 1137 350.5
Baker Arboretum Bowling Green KY 115 359.0
University of Guelph Arboretum Guelph ON 410 393.3
Royal Botanical Gardens Burlington ON 2700 407.0
Cheekwood Botanical Garden Nashville TN 7 418.3
Humber College Arboretum Etobicoke ON 250 425.7
Toronto Botanical Garden Toronto ON 4 438.0
Niagara Parks Botanical Gardens Niagara Falls ON 99 446.5
Memphis Botanic Garden Memphis TN 96 497.2
Botanical Gardens at Asheville Asheville NC 10 527.4
Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden Belmont NC 380 599.2
Atlanta Botanical Garden Atlanta GA 30 602.7
United States Botanic Garden Washington DC 604.8
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden Henrico VA 50 625.4
Longwood Gardens Kennett Square PA 1077 646.7
Chanticleer Garden Wayne PA 27 657.7
Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn NY 52 719.4
New York Botanical Garden Bronx NY 250 721.0
Montreal Botanical Garden Montreal QC 190 743.8
Brookgreen Gardens Murrells Inlet SC 9100 756.2
Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden Dallas TX 66 807.2
Tower Hill Botanic Garden Boylston MA 132 817.4
Fort Worth Botanical Garden Fort Worth TX 109 833.7
Denver Botanic Gardens Denver CO 23 911.9
Kanapaha Botanical Gardens Gainesville FL 62 912.3
Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens Boothbay ME 270 919.0
ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden Albequerque NM 36 1127.8
Naples Botanical Garden Naples FL 170 1155.3
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden Miami FL 83 1211.2
Red Butte Garden & Arboretum Salt Lake City UT 100 1246.2
Desert Botanical Garden Galvin AZ 140 1443.0
Las Vegas Springs Preserve Las Vegas NV 180 1518.9
Bellevue Botanical Garden Bellevue WA 54 1712.9
Washington Park Arboretum Seattle WA 230 1718.3

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Plants which are well-adapted to our local climate are most often field-grown (outside). Field-grown plants are generally cheaper and have the advantage of already somewhat acclimated to our cold winters, but that means they’re not artificially far along in the spring and tend to bloom at the normal time in our area.

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