2009 St. Charles IL Symposium
| Wednesday – July 15th: | |
| All Day: | Board Meeting at Aquascapes Inc Headquarters in St Charles, Il |
| Thursday – July 16th: | |
| 8:30am: | Bus Departs |
| 10:00am: | Chicago Botanic Gardens Tour – Glencoe, IL |
| 10:00 am: Buses arrive at CBG Visitor Center. Bob Kirschner welcomes guests to the Garden as they disembark. Guests proceed to Regenstein Center and assemble in Linnaeus Room; Bob will give a brief PowerPoint overview of CBG's aquatic gardens and programs | |
| 10:30am: Bob will lead us on tour of CBG's aquatic gardens |
|
| Noon: Box lunch on McGinley Pavilion or in the Linnaeus Room
if the weather's bad. |
The Chicago Botanic Garden, with its world-renowned plant collections and displays,
has become one of the country's most visited public gardens and a preeminent
center for learning and scientific research. Opened to the public in 1972, the
Garden features 23 display gardens and three native habitats, uniquely situated
on nine islands surrounded by a 60-acre system of lakes. Over 750,000 visit
the Garden each year to gain an enhanced appreciation of the natural world and
to view our diverse collection of 2.4 million plants. Since 1999, the Garden
has been systematically rejuvenating its 5.7 miles of lake shoreline using innovative
bioengineering techniques that rely heavily on dense stands of healthy shoreland
vegetation (over 1/4-million plants!) to control erosion and improve aquatic
habitat. Permanent and seasonal plantings of hardy and tropical water lilies,
lotus, and other emergent plants round out the Garden's aquatic displays. Bob
Kirschner, the Garden's Curator of Aquatic Plant and Urban Lake Studies, will
lead our group on a tour of the Garden's aquatic collection including the Great
Basin Water Gardens, the Aquatic Garden, and the recent aquatic rejuvenation
in the Japanese Garden.
The Garden continues to strive to meet the lofty goals set more than a century
ago. The Chicago Botanic Garden, with its world-renowned plant
collections and displays, is one of the country's most visited public gardens
and a preeminent center for learning
and scientific research.
The Chicago Horticultural Society was founded in 1890. At its heart was the
understanding that the city of Chicago was incorporated with the Latin words
Urbs in Horto, meaning "city in a garden." The Society hosted nationally
recognized flower and horticultural shows and supported Chicago's lakeshore
improvements and park system. www.chicagobotanic.org
| 1:15pm: | Bus Departs |
| 2:00pm: | Garden Center Tour - Lurvey’s |
| For more than 20 years, professional contractors and homeowners have come
to depend on Lurvey for everything that grows and goes in the landscape!
Their 9 acres include pond products, nursery stock, pavers, sod, to one
of the most complete lines of natural stone. |
|
| 3:30pm | Bus Departs for Pheasant Run |
| 6:15pm | Bus Departs |
| 6:30pm: | Dinner Hosted by Aquascape at the home of Greg & Carla Wittstock |
| Join Greg & Carla Wittstock as they invite you to their backyard paradise. Dinner will be a casual affair. | |
| 9:00pm: | Bus Departs |
| Friday – July 17th: |
|
| 8:30am: | Bus Departs |
| 9:00am: | Biotope Tour at Elgin Community College |
| The Elgin Community College greenhouse does not use fertilizer or pesticides.
In it are several ecological systems involving flowing water and selected
plants and animals to maintain wholesome conditions. This greenhouse
and the Aquatic Nursery use biological engineering to maintain a healthy environment.
Outside the greenhouse is the pool in the hall. This large pool has
been used for 30 years to bring life into the classroom and to all
those passing down the hall. Students and staff stop by regularly
to observe plants growing and flowering; frogs breeding; tadpoles becoming
frogs; and countless colorful fish eating and breeding. It's
a touch of nature in a modern building, which is both air conditioned
in the summer and heated throughout our long, harsh winters. This
pool has no filter and thrives because of three high-output lights.
Over the years, it has been used as a laboratory facility for zoology, environmental
biology, and botany classes. The flora and fauna change with subject-matter
in classes. |
|
| 10:00am | Bus Departs |
| 10:30am | Aquatic Nursery Tour |
| The Aquatic Nursery was the first nursery of its kind in the Chicago area.
It began a few years before the International Water Lily Society was organized.
This nursery is unique in that it is high above the nearest stream and the
fifty pools are connected by a flow through system. There are no filters,
no rock beds, and no chemicals are used for algae control, yet the
water is clear and algae free. These conditions are maintained by
biological engineering. This non-technical system employs one pump
and selected ducks, fish, snails, tadpoles, and plants to maintain
water quality. When you tour the nursery, you will appreciate
the inter-relationship of this system. We have the largest selection
of aquatic plants and animals in the Chicago area, and we are a NURSERY,
not a garden center. |
|
| 11:30am: | Bus Departs |
| 12:00pm: | Lunch at Giordano’s Pizza Restaurant |
| Giordano’s is known for their world famous stuff pizza. One of Chicago’s
great pizza locations! |
|
| 1:15pm | Bus Departs |
| 1:30pm: | Ball Horticulture Tour – West Chicago, IL |
| The Gardens at Ball made their debut in 2005 as part of Ball Horticultural
Company's Centennial Celebration. Completely redesigned and implemented
in just over one year, these 7.5 acres at the company's headquarters in
West Chicago, Illinois, now feature the world's wealth of horticultural
introductions and improvements in a botanical garden setting. What began
as simple row trials in 1933 has truly become an amazing destination - The
Gardens at Ball. While rarely open to the public, The Gardens at Ball provide
lots of inspiration and information for growers, retailers and landscape
professionals. |
|
| 3:00pm: | Bus Departs |
| 3:15pm | Garden Center Tour - The Planter’s Palette – Plants for Garden Artistry |
| The Planter’s Palette is dedicated to helping people make the most
of their outdoor spaces. The vast selection of wonderful colors, textures,
fragrances, and forms make it easy to paint a garden with beauty. Most of
the plants are grown in our greenhouses and production facilities enabling
us to offer a season-long supply of fresh, vigorous plants.
In a country-like setting graced by mature trees, The Planter’s Palette offers gardeners a unique setting to shop for ornamental plants. A stroll through the garden center reveals a colorful array of perennials, annuals, herbs and vegetables. It’s the best place to find unusual new varieties as well as old-fashioned favorites. Roses, flowering shrubs, and ornamental grasses are also available to add structure to the garden. Treasures abound at the Garden and Gift Shop. Arbors and benches, statuary, and fountains compliment any setting. Browse through the large selection of containers from glazed ceramic to lightweight resin and everything in between. Friendly, knowledgeable horticulturalists are ready to assist gardeners in finding the best plants for their homes. The Planter’s Palette Perennial Festival Saturday, July 11 –
Sunday, July 19 Held each year in July, The Planter’s Palette Perennial
Festival celebrates perennials in the garden. Experience endless inspiration
in temporary display gardens designed by our staff to demonstrate the
many ways perennials can be combined with other plants in the landscape.
Of course, no festival would be complete without specials on plants and
garden décor, free popcorn and lemonade, and lots more fun! |
|
| Evening: | On your Own |
| Saturday – July 18th: |
|
| All Day: | Classroom Sessions & Silent Auction |
| Evening: | Awards Dinner at Pheasant Run |
| Sunday – July 19th: | |
| 9:00am: | Bus Departs for Aquascape Pond Tour |
| St. Charles is the Water Garden Capital of the World! We will take you
on a tour of approximately 4 – 5 water features built by Aquascape,
Inc. Lunch will be provided with the tour. |
|
| 9:15am: | First Stop - Tour of the Pond at Aquascape Headquarters |
| Aqualand is home to Aquascape, Inc.’s corporate headquarters. This
256,000 square foot LEED® silver-level certified building sports the
largest sloping green roof in North America. The roof has over 65,000 plugs
of native plants including Black-eyed Susan, Aster, Grey’s Goldenrod,
Wild Blue Lupine, Sand Coreopsis, and much more. Rainwater runs off the
roof into a retention pond for efficient storm water management. The grounds
of the building’s east side include a 250’ x 90’ ecosystem
pond constructed to replicate the Illinois watershed – complete with
a Monet water lily garden of 200+ lilies, a 10-foot waterfall over a craggy
bluff with grotto for behind-the-falls viewing, a vanishing pond edge near
the southern waterfalls, underwater fish cave, stepping stones that traverse
the midsection of the pond to a grassy peninsula, a permeable patio with
underground rainwater harvest storage system, outdoor grill and fire pit,
putting green, and much more.
The west side of Aqualand showcases an inspiration gallery for residential outdoor living. Known as the AquaGardens, hardscaping, pathways, pergola with seating, bubbling urns and fountains, pondless waterfalls, ecosystem ponds, and bogs are nestled amidst ornamental shrubs and perennials. Large koi skim beneath water lilies |
Other stops as yet to be determined for this day.
