Weekender
Gary Graham’s Chicago
Chicago is top of my list of places to go.
As a horticulturist, it stands out for me as having great green infrastructure, green roofs and pocket parks galore, and thousands of acres of preserved natural landscape along the shore of Lake Michigan.
In the 1980s, I did a year’s internship in the Chicago Botanic Garden.
A visit to it in Glencoe, on the city outskirts, is a must for both serious gardenistas and reluctant weed-pullers. Its Japanese islands with ancient cloud-pruned pines are a sight to behold.
I always prefer to stay with a friend,
for the inside track on where to go, eat, and hear the best blues music.
Chicago has great street food,
and deepdish pizza and hot dogs can be consumed on the hoof, but if you want proper sit-down food, try out Smith & Wollensky for red meat and ridiculously large potatoes. After the Phoenix Park,
Millennium Park is one of the coolest green urban spaces to visit. Piet Oudolf, one of my favourite garden designers, was heavily involved in a space that holds back the urban spread from the lake front. A highlight is Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate sculpture, known as the Bean, which appears in millions of selfies.
Chicago Parks District holds the city true to its motto of
Urbs in Horto meaning ‘city in a garden’. They do it so well, and that’s why I love it! Gary Graham is a judge on RTE’s ‘Super Garden’ and festival director of Bloom, which runs from May 30-June 3, Phoenix Park, Dublin. See bloominthepark.com In conversation with Sarah Caden