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Chicago Botanic Garden's Plant Evaluation Program Receives American Public Gardens Association's 2008 Award for Program Excellence

Media Only:
Julie McCaffrey
(847) 835-8213
jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org

GLENCOE, Ill. (July 11, 2008) — The Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plant Evaluation Program received the American Public Gardens Association’s (APGA) 2008 Award for Program Excellence during this year’s annual APGA conference in Pasadena, Ca. This award is presented to an APGA institutional member who has displayed a truly innovative spirit in the development of new programs and has pioneered in one or more of the disciplines appropriate to public horticultural institutions, including education, conservation, development, botany, gardening, horticulture, research, extension or administration.

“What started as a small plant evaluation program in 1982, is now widely regarded as the preeminent ornamental plant evaluation program in North America,” said Richard Hawke, plant evaluation manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden. “It is also one of the few programs in the United States that formally evaluates plants and disseminates the results.”

The goal of the Garden’s Plant Evaluation Program is to determine, through scientific evaluation, which plants are superior for gardens in the Upper Midwest. Plants are rated on ornamental qualities, cultural adaptability, winter hardiness, and disease- and pest-resistance. It is the intent of the program to study and recommend plants that are readily available in area nurseries.

The results of the plant evaluations are written up by Richard Hawke in Plant Evaluation Notes, and distributed to researchers, horticulture professionals and the gardening public—reaching hundreds of thousands of readers with each issue. The Plant Evaluation Notes is the Garden’s principle vehicle for reporting results and is broadly distributed both in printed and electronic formats.

In 2006, the program’s mission expanded to include comparative trials of potentially invasive taxa such as Miscanthus and Polygonatum, the results of which will inform the public about taxa that pose threats to our natural habitats and those that are safe for cultivation.

As evidence of the program’s high regard, evaluation programs modeled on it have been initiated at Mt. Cuba Center in Delaware and Atlanta Botanical Garden. This level of service to public horticulture earned Richard Hawke the Perennial Plant Association’s 2005 Academic Award for exceptional leadership in education to students, green industry members and the garden public.

For more information on the Garden’s Plant Evaluation Program, call (847) 835-5440 or visit www.chicagobotanic.org/research/plant_evaluation.

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Editors, please note: The Chicago Botanic Garden's newsroom is online at www.chicagobotanic.org/pr. For digital images, contact Julie McCaffrey at (847) 835-8213 or at jmccaffrey@chicagobotanic.org.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, one of the green treasures of the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, is a 385-acre living plant museum featuring 23 distinct display gardens surrounded by lakes, as well as a prairie and woodlands. With events, programs and activities for all ages, the Garden is open every day of the year, except Dec. 25. Admission is free; select event fees apply. Parking is $15; free for members. On Tuesdays, senior citizens age 62 and older pay just $7 for parking. The Garden is located at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Ill. Visit www.chicagobotanic.org, or call (847) 835-5440 for seasonal hours, images of the Garden and commuter transportation information.

The Chicago Botanic Garden is managed by the Chicago Horticultural Society. It opened to the public in 1972 and is home to the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden, offering a broad array of adult classes in plant science, landscape design and gardening arts. Through the Division of Plant Science and Conservation, Garden scientists work on plant conservation, research and environmental initiatives that have global impact. The Center for Teaching and Learning brings the wonder of nature and plants to children, teens and teachers. The Garden's Horticultural Therapy and Community Gardening programs provide nationally recognized community outreach and service programs. The Garden is also breaking new ground in urban horticulture and jobs training through a 15-acre project in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago called Windy City Harvest. The Chicago Botanic Garden is accredited by the American Association of Museums and is a member of the American Public Gardens Association (APGA). In 2006, the Chicago Botanic Garden received the Award for Garden Excellence, given yearly by the APGA and Horticulture magazine to a public garden that exemplifies the highest standards of horticultural practices and has shown a commitment to supporting and demonstrating best gardening practices.