Education — Center for Teaching and Learning

Educational Publications

Available through the Chicago Botanic Garden are a number of publications with information to help you start a school garden program, get information on the best plants and annuals to plant in your garden, or even create your own enabling garden with the Garden's own horticultural therapy publication, Garden for Life. Proceeds from the sales of these items help to support the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Items available to order

PHOTO: Best Practices Manual cover Summer Science: Reaching Urban Youth Through Environmental Science

This manual is the product of the Chicago Botanic Garden's experience in developing, delivering and evaluating intensive summer science programs for underserved urban youth in the metro-Chicago area. This best practices manual can help support the efforts of other museums, nature centers and youth education organizations to deliver youth programs that excite students about science and learning.

$15 each

Click here to order.

PHOTO: SGI cover The Chicago School Garden Initiative:
A Collaborative Model for Developing School Gardens That Work

Want to learn the ins and outs of starting a school garden program? The Chicago Botanic Garden's 73-page how-to guide covers everything from building support to designing a garden. Find more information and resources online at our site, School Garden Wizard as well.

$15 each

Click here to order.

PHOTO: NSG cover Proceedings of the 1st National School Gardening Symposium

Held on July 11-13, 2002 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, Illinois, and Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Co-sponsored by the Chicago Botanic Garden and the United States Botanic Garden. Find more information and resources online at our site, School Garden Wizard as well.

$10 each

Click here to order.

PHOTO: Green Connections cover Green Connections: A Research Assessment of Community Gardening in Chicago

A joint project of the Chicago Botanic Garden and the City of Chicago, featuring the results of an in-depth research study that gathered information from Community Gardening leaders and volunteers.

$10 each

Click here to order.

Garden for Life publications

Learn easy-does-it techniques for your own enabling garden. Pick up tips on creating raised beds, container gardens, sensory plantings, vertical gardens and more.

$3 each

These items are currently available through the Horticultural Therapy program. Click here to order Garden for Life, or other Hort Therapy information.

Plant Facts publications

What are the best annuals and bulbs for the Midwest? What are the secrets of growing tomatoes and other vegetables? Find out with handy Plant Facts guides from the Garden.

$2 each

Click here to order.

PHOTO: PE Notes cover Formerly available for purchase only, Plant Evaluation Notes, detailing specific plants in multi-year trials at the Garden, are now available for free download to help you in your gardening efforts. Get the most recent results on roses, clematis, goldenrod and more in PDF form.

Click here to download Plant Evaluation Notes

If you would like to order multiple copies for distribution, you may still do so by downloading the PE Notes Order Form and selecting the issues of interest. Proceeds from the sales of these items help to support the Chicago Botanic Garden.