Before you visit, check the weekly fall color report or call the Bloom ‘n Color Hotline, 630-719-7955.

We can’t predict exactly when trees and shrubs change color. The timing varies year to year. We can only witness the transformation as it is happening. So, whether you’ve come here a hundred times or just a few, it’s time to put autumn at the Arboretum on your “must-do” list—and enjoy the color show again, for the very first time.

Rosalind Creasy began her horticulture career in the 1970s as a landscape designer and restaurant consultant. Her book, The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping, hailed by The Wall Street Journal as the best garden book of 1982, will be released in an updated version in late Spring 2010. Join with us for this incredible opportunity to hear from Roz about her passion.

Register online or for more information, call 630-719-2468.

ROSALIND CREASY: THE BEST IDEAS FROM 30 YEARS IN THE LOCAL ORGANIC FOOD MOVEMENT
Rosalind Creasy, Author and Landscape Designer
Long before you saw red chard in containers, Ros Creasy was researching and writing her first book Edible Landscaping. Ros shares her global perspective on conservation, lifestyles, sustainable landscaping and, of course, great food.
Thornhill Education Center
Sunday, March 28 / 2–4-pm
Limit 100 $46 (non-members $54) – HL 300

CONNECTED TO THE EARTH: A CELEBRATION DINNER WITH SPECIAL GUEST, ROSALIND CREASY
Organized by the Geneva Green Market, Slow Food City’s Edge, Heritage Prairie Market and Classic Fare Catering
In the tradition of Ros Creasy’s approach to conservation and healthy food, local organic markets and chefs come together to put on a delicious early spring feast. The evening includes a booklet of recipes with local sources and bibliography. Cash bar available.
Ginkgo Restaurant
Sunday, March 28 / 5-8 pm
Limit 100 $50 – HL310

GARDEN DESIGN ON A DIME: QUICK SOLUTIONS FOR COMMON PROBLEMS
Karla Lynch, Manager of Horticulture Education, The Morton Arboretum
Solve common design problems and perk up garden beds and smaller parts of your property without developing an entire landscape plan. Preparation materials will be sent to registrants.
Thornhill Education Center
3 Thursdays: March 11, 18, 25 / 1–3:30 pm
$104 (non-members $120) Limit 16 – HL910

INSECTS AND DISEASES OF WOODY LANDSCAPE PLANTS
Donna Danielson, Plant Clinic Assistant, The Morton Arboretum
Learn symptoms and methods of control for the most common pests in our landscapes. This class includes lecture, lab work and a field trip.
Thornhill Education Center
Saturday, March 27 / 1-4 pm
$163 (non-members $198) Limit 16 – HL422

Imagine a legendary artist, perhaps Monet, designing your garden. What incredible beauty would result! Get ready for spring at our annual get-together with gardeners, plant people and designers from around the country. Check out the numerous presentations and concurrent sessions, plus a daily Speaker’s Reception where you will have more time with our presenters.

March 5-7, The Morton Arboretum hosts its 17^th annual Midwest Gardening Symposium. “This year’s theme focuses more on the garden as an artistic expression of the owner,” says Karla Lynch, Arboretum Manager of Horticulture Education. “We look at how to set up your space and select appropriate plants that support the flow of the garden.”

Register for one or two days of educational sessions and/or Sunday’s tour and workshop. Costs range from $85-$256 depending on day, presentation and tour.

Register online or, for more information,  call 630-719-2468.

The symposium features 20 presentations by national and local experts. The symposium is customizable to the needs of the individual gardener. More sessions than ever before will allow gardeners at all levels to learn about design, garden care, plant selection – or a little of all! Highlights include:

* Landscape designer and author Gordon Hayward, Friday’s opening speaker, presents Art as Inspiration for Garden Design. He will show how to celebrate the visual language garden designers share with painters and artists such as Cezanne, Monet and Matisse. By looking at fine paintings, learn how you can choose your garden style and take home a new understanding of how to bring it all together.

* In Let Art Inspire Your Garden: A Tour and Workshop, you will visit the Chicago Art Institute with Hayward to observe paintings that illustrate the principles of art composition. Then, leave downtown via train and return to the Arboretum for a guided walk and slide presentation that will illustrate the design concepts from artwork observed.

* Wisconsin nurseryman, poet and plant propagator, Mike Yanny shows Saturday’s attendees how to have fun discovering the latest tree and shrub selections in Great Woody Plants for Discerning Gardeners. Always on the lookout for natives and exotic plants that can bring something new and special to a landscape, Yanny will share his observations and recommendations for plants that can fill important niches in today’s smaller and more sustainable gardens.

Other presentations include:

1. Landscape designer Andrea Green who will introduce ways to create a rain garden that is beautifully unified with a more traditional and managed garden style.

2. Abbie Rea, Arboretum Assistant Manager of Horticulture, will help participants gain a better understanding of certain plants’ design characteristics in Creating Beautiful Borders.”

3. Research Librarian Rita Hassert will team up with landscape designer, Laverne Bohlin, to lead a unique design adventure during Garden History and Style: An Overview in Books and Pictures.

4. Donna Danielson, MortonArboretum Plant Clinic Assistant, will provide a list of do’s and don’ts with Plants You Love to Hate – A Plant Clinic Perspective.

5. Arboretum Head of Collections and Curator Kunso Kim will deliver a talk on his favorite selections from the Dwarf Conifer Collection.

6. Kris Bachtell, Vice President of Collections and Facilities, will provide a glimpse of  the future by looking at trees and other plants in the trade or under evaluation through Chicagoland Grows, a unique partnership involving the Arboretum and others that introduces regionally appropriate plant cultivars.

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door where they’re serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. Like fine single-malt scotch, it’s rare. In fact, it’s even rarer than single-malt scotch. You can’t find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has 10,000 calories in every sip? It’s not as if you’re going to turn into an eggnog-alcoholic or something. It’s a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you think. It’s Christmas!

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That’s the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they’re made with skim milk or whole milk. If it’s skim, pass. Why bother? It’s like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people’s food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year’s. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you’ll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don’t budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They’re like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you’re never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple. Pumpkin. Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you don’t like mincemeat, have two apples and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it’s loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it! I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don’t feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven’t been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

Commit the following to memory. Make it your holiday motto:

“Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body but, rather, skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming. WOO HOO what a ride!
- Anonymous

All proceeds support the Nature Artists’ Guild and Morton Arboretum programs.

See trees from an animal’s point of view! Explore the 11 human-scale animal homes installed in three different habitats: the wetland, woodland and prairie. Hop on the anmial tram, vote for your favorite animal house, listen to a free auido tour of each of the animal houses habitats on your cell phone, find cool animal gifts in the Arboretum Store.

The Guest House (left) welcomes you and will give you a taste of the intriguing animal houses in the woodland, wetland, and prairie habitats.

Come on in and get your free “Walk on the Wild Side” Adventure Guide, packed with all sorts of activities to start the fun. Check out our latest gallery of photos. You might also enjoy a clip from Channel 7 featuring our Animal Houses.

See what they’re saying at Windy City Guide.

The Sara Lee Foundation is the Healthy Lifestyles supporting sponsor of Animal Houses.