Web Exclusive :: The 2008 Chicago Show of Summer

One of the most exciting of the many summer events at the beautiful Chicago Botanic Garden occurs every three years when Show of Summer, a major Garden Club of America Flower Show, bursts forth with bloom and verve.

Chicago area clubs from Barrington, Lake Forest, Winnetka (both the Garden Guild and Winnetka), Kenilworth, and Evanston host the Show. These beautiful villages and towns stretch along Lake Michigan like a green necklace and summer is the peak of the growing season. The cool nights and long days produce amazing specimens: the 2008 show boasted more than 700 exhibits. The Exhibitors Guide elicited a spirited response from the entrants with the theme of “Tapestry: The Interwoven World.” The schedule of classes, stitched together four years previous to the show, delved into the interwoven stories of fabrics, quilting, and the Silk Road, the very essence of civilization woven through time.

The Chicago Botanic Garden, situated in Glencoe, Illinois, is the ideal venue for “spinning” the tale of this remarkable event, as it is in itself a major attraction for tourists and nearby residents alike. Set in a gorgeous 385-acre garden situated on nine islands with its lakes, ponds, theme and study gardens, and state of the art facilities, it is “a leader in plant conservation, education, and research,” states Sophia Siskel, President and CEO. The Flower Show, with its own educational exhibits of conservation and children’s classes, is a partner in the continuing education and necessity of gardening and self-reliance into the future. The Garden has 25,000 aquatic plants alone and three native habitats. It was festive with colorful annuals woven, as it were, into the landscape in harmony with the Show. The Garden has grown into one of the most visited in the United States with an astounding total of 760,000 enjoying the garden each year. In 2004, more than 12,000 people attended the Show of Summer.

For the recent 2008 Show, many cultures were represented with narrative stories told through the ages, reinterpreted through the textures and colors of fresh foliage. Weaving is a woman’s tale, and the deft hands of many generations were created afresh in a new medium, a living tapestry of design in fresh flowers. Chairs Mimi Olsen, Gail Hodges, and Pam Benz of the Garden Guild of Winnetka sent entrants to the Internet to unravel the tales of times present and past.

The Narrative Impulse asked that exhibitors choose an historic tapestry to inspire a design. The choices were broad—from the well-known Unicorn tapestry to the modern design made by formerly unemployed women from the Cape of Africa who recreated the Keiskamma Tapestry, which tells the tale of the history of South Africa and encircles the walls in Parliament Hall there. Oriental tastes of the 19th century were represented by the Royal Elephant, portraying a magnificent elephant caparisoned in finery, drawn from tales told by Jesuits returning to Europe from romantic India. A modern Navajo weaving design by Kenneth Noland represented our Native Americans.

Other classes included Lace, an interpretive miniature class suggesting lace and The Fabric of Time in which the exhibitor could choose her own fabric. Flying Carpets were depicted in the horticulture division by the Chicago area hostess clubs, each with an Afghan Arzu carpet hung behind a large square wooden box in which compatible plant material was planted. (The Afghan Arzu rugs have their own history to weave. They are crafted by a non-profit organization to assist Afghan women in breaking the cycle of poverty; the patterns are both traditional and modern, each hand-woven with traditional natural dyes.) Arzu means “hope” in the Dari dialect.

Hopeful entrants placed their floral designs, among them, Elvira Butz, who won two blue ribbons with her two entries. Elvira (Garden Guild of Winnetka) has won several Fenwick Awards over the years, and she regularly travels into exotic places, bringing back unusual plant material for her arrangements. In addition to the blue ribbon in The Narrative Impulse class, her design in The Fabric of Time won the Best in Show, the Swift Medal, and the Fenwick Medal. Her winning interpretation, using ceremonial bark, a giant bean pod (Entada gigas) and other exotic materials, represented the virtual offerings to venerable ancestors linking the natural and supernatural worlds. (Elvira had brought the pods back from Madagascar twenty years ago.)

All in all, fabrics from the ends of the Earth and arrangers from all over the country joined in the 2008 Show of Summer to weave a spell through the artistry of plants, textiles, flowers and to display a creative spirit that told a tale of timeless beauty and inspiration.

Winter 2008 | By Gay Estes | Photos courtesy of the Chicago Botanic Garden