Places to Explore • Illinois
A look back at winter color: intricate orchid portraits, playful displays, and discoveries under glass.
Brian visited the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Orchid Show across several years, collecting photographs of flowers in an extraordinary range of colors and forms. He remembers this collection as coming from two or three different show years.
These are highlights from those earlier visits, not photographs of the upcoming exhibition. The exact years have not been assigned to individual images, and the plants and arrangements may be different when you visit.
A winter tradition in Glencoe
Despite its name, the Chicago Botanic Garden is in Glencoe, approximately 20 miles north of Chicago. Its entrance is at 1000 Lake Cook Road.
The Garden continues to present its seasonal Orchid Show. The next announced exhibition is Orchids in Orbit, February 6–March 21, 2027, using orchids in displays inspired by outer space. Brian’s photographs on this page come from earlier shows.
Look closely and the appeal extends beyond color: dots, veins, frilled edges, and unusual flower shapes reward a slower look.
A little orchid science
Epiphytic orchids use trees as a place to grow. They are not taking food from their host: rainfall and runoff help supply water and nutrients. That is one reason orchids can appear on branches and suspended supports in greenhouse displays.
The Garden’s orchid conservation research looks beyond the flowers to their relationships with pollinators, soils, and fungi. Understanding that network helps scientists work toward protecting wild orchid populations.
The show includes cultivated orchids and hybrids. A photograph of a display plant does not establish its species, parentage, or native range.
Decorative parasols, sweeping groups of blooms, and colorful arrangements make the wider views part of the experience. These displays belong to earlier shows; each year brings a different design.
Rounded petals offer a close look at everything from delicate veins to bold splashes of burgundy. Compare the whole flower with the close-ups of its intricate center.
Pouch-shaped lips, striped upper sepals, and sometimes long twisting petals give these orchids a very different silhouette. These are cultivated show plants; they should not be confused with a record of wild orchids growing at the Garden.
Star-shaped flowers, ruffled edges, tiny golden sprays, and pansy-like faces show how varied orchids can be. Captions describe visible features where a reliable species or hybrid name is unavailable.
Not every flower or unusual plant in these visits was an orchid. Bromeliads, hibiscus, pitcher plants, and striking foliage added their own color and texture.
The collection also includes quiet outdoor views: water, stone paths, bridges, and bare branches. These photographs offer a glimpse of the broader Garden around the indoor displays.
Before you go
Chicago Botanic Garden
1000 Lake Cook Road
Glencoe, Illinois
Use the Garden’s official directions and map to plan your arrival.
Orchids in Orbit
February 6–March 21, 2027
Daily, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
As of October 23, 2026, general ticket sales are scheduled to open January 19, 2027. Check the official page for current ticket and parking information.
The 2027 listing includes Tuesday sessions from 8:15–9:45 a.m. and 4:15–5:45 p.m. Check booking details and photography guidelines before bringing equipment.
Choose your visit using the current event listing. The photos here preserve earlier designs and blooms, and are not a checklist of plants on display today.