Annual Outdoor Gardens in Chicago's parks

Discover the 75-acres of magnificent gardens that enhance Chicago’s parks.  Each year, the Chicago Park District and Moore Landscaping, Inc. work to create natural master pieces throughout various areas of the city's parks.

Each year, approximately 143,000 tulips and pansies are planted for the spring in parks along Michigan Ave. and Lake Shore Drive. Over 12-acres of annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs are planted in Chicago’s gardens throughout the city. In May and June, all the spring flowers and bulbs are removed for the summer annual flower installation. Summer annual beds are intricately redesigned every year using more than 375 different varieties of flowers and tropical plants to provide a unique blend of color and texture for maximum visual impact with close to 500,000 summer annuals installed each year.

Since the development of Chicago’s earliest parks, gardens have been an integral part of the Chicago Park District and are a top tourist attraction. Chicago’s front yard is a spectacular site to see beginning late April and throughout the summer and early fall. Visit the following outdoor gardens displaying thousands of flowers surrounded by sculptures and waterfalls:

Douglas Park
• Formal Gardens, Corner of Sacramento Ave. & Ogden Ave.
• South Entrance, Corner of Sacramento and 19th Street

Grant Park
• Buckingham Fountain Flower Gardens, 500 S. Lake Shore Dr.
• Cancer Survivors Garden, Upper Randloph St. just east of of Daley Bicentennial Park Fieldhouse
• Congress Median Garden, Center Median off of Congress Pkwy., between Columbus Dr. & Michigan Ave.
• Congress Plaza Gardens, Michigan Ave. & Congress Pkwy.
• Congress Triangle Garden, Center triangle on Congress Pkwy. & Michigan Ave.
• Logan Monument Formal Gardens, Corner of Balbo Ave. & Michigan Ave. - across from the Hilton Towers Hotel
• Art Institute Gardens, on Michigan Ave. and Jackson
• North President’s Court, Columbus Dr. & Congress Pkwy. – just north of Congress Pkwy.
• South President’s Court, Columbus Dr. & Congress Pkwy. – just south of Congress Pkwy.
• Spirit of Music Gardens, Corner of Balbo Ave. & Michigan Ave. – just north of Balbo Ave.

Humboldt Park
• Formal Gardens, Corner of Humboldt Blvd. & Division St.

Jackson Park
• Perennial Garden, South of the Museum of Science and Industry between Cornell Dr. & Lake Shore Dr.

Lincoln Park
•Grandma’s Garden, Corner of Stockton Dr. & Webster Ave. (3 blocks long)
• Great Garden, West of Lincoln Park Zoo off of Stockton Dr.
• Rowing Lagoon Flower Garden, West of Lake Shore Dr., north of North Ave., at south end of the lagoon

Marquette Park
• Demonstration Gardens, 6743 S. Kedzie Ave. – along circle drive thru park

South Shore Cultural Center
• Formal & Herb Garden, 7059 S. South Shore Dr.

Washington Park
• DuSable Museum Flower Gardens, 740 65th Pl. – at the DuSable Museum

Washington Square Park
• Fountain Garden, 901 N. Clark St.