2011 Chicago Flower and Garden Show Part 2--The Expected and the Unexpected

One of the things I expect, and enjoy, at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show is the use of tropical plants in landscape settings. This is something that can be done here in Chicagoland, I suppose, if you don't care if the plants die come the first frost, or if you are willing to dig them up to overwinter indoors. But the exhibitors do it to make a for a colorful and visually appealing show. Here are some of my favorite examples from this year:

Three views of the Meditation Garden, which included rows of braided Pachira aquatica with a Buddha sculpture at the far end. I also loved the rows of tall planted urns.

Display using Guzmania, Neoregelia, Asparagus, and Echeveria in a landscape with a bridge. This also something that could be done indoors, I suppose, if you have a conservatory.

Philodendron, Chlorophytum, and Hypoestes

Urns with Sansevieria, Calathea, Alocasia, Cordyline, and other tropical plants

Begonia

Anthurium and Guzmania among the pines

Okay, those were expected. Here is what I don't expect to see at the show:

Chickens! I know urban farming and chicken-keeping are all the rage, but I don't think I've ever seen livestock at the garden show before.

Koi (not totally unexpected in an exhibit promoting water features, I suppose) and a Turtle, which I found enchanting. I'm kind of weird that way. I always notice the plants at the zoo, and the animals at botanic gardens and garden shows.

Garden sculpture is not unexpected at a garden show, but I found this exhibit more captivating than many such displays that I've seen:

Bird Sculptures (but no chickens) in the exhibit called Silent Poetry: The Confluence of Stone and Plants, which also included the Anthurium pictured above.

Overall, I find it interesting that the three of the exhibits I enjoyed the most (the vertical gardens from the last post, the meditation garden, and the sculpture garden above) had nothing to do with the sports theme.