Balancing the Busy with the Quiet City Garden

A white wall covering an entire square block of downtown Portland offers a glimpse through windows to the street. The windows wouldn't be there were it not for a Portland ordinance, since a traditional Chinese garden would be a complete refuge from the activity outside.

This majestic garden, carefully created near Portland's small but lively Chinatown, is little different from what might have greeted you during the Ming dynasty in China. It is an authentic Suzhou-style garden, grown out of a friendship between Portland and Suzhou, China.

Each element in the garden, be it water, stone, plants, buildings, or poetry and symbols inscribed, was carefully created to convey artistic effect and symbolic importance.

As the designers from China note, when the Yin and the Yang are in balance, harmony results. For this reason, having a garden retreat in Portland or any other city is critical to the well-being of its inhabitants.

Luckily for many in the United States, these special retreats are coming into their own. Portland isn't the only city to build such a retreat recently, and urbanites in other areas have enjoyed garden retreats established long ago.

If you should travel, or are lucky enough to live near to one of these special places, be sure to put yourself and your day in balance by taking advantage of one of these or other great gardens.

Portland Chinese Classical Garden
Located at Northwest Third and Everett, this garden unfolds a changing look season by season. It is home to hundreds of rare and unusual plants, nearly 100 specimen trees, water plants, bamboo, and orchids. The Portland Classical Chinese Garden began as a dream in the early 1980's. It became more focused when Portland and Suzhou, China, became sister cities in 1988, and the idea of a building a Suzhou-style garden in Portland became a goal. The majority of the materials used in the construction of the garden originated in China. Approximately 65 workmen from Suzhou created the structures, and the garden was completed at a total cost of approximately $12.8 million. The majority of the plants in the Garden are indigenous to China; however, they were grown in the United States. The mission of the garden is to create an oasis of tranquil beauty and harmony to inspire, engage, and educate our global community in the appreciation of a richly authentic Chinese culture.
www.portlandchinesegarden.org

Chicago Botanic Garden
The Chicago Botanic Garden is at 1000 Lake Cook Road in Glencoe, Illinois, approximately 25 miles north of downtown Chicago. The most striking aspect of the Chicago Botanic Garden is its physical face: beautifully designed gardens brimming with two million plants. Twenty-three different gardens showcase the best plants for the Midwest in a variety of beautiful settings. Three native habitat areas, including woodland, prairie, and river habitats, feature native and endangered flora of Illinois. The size itself is impressive at 385 total acres, including 81 acres of waterways, nine islands, six miles of shoreline, 15 acres of prairie, and 100 acres of woods.
www.chicago-botanic.org

Phipps Conservatory
Phipps Conservatory was a gift to the City of Pittsburgh from industrialist/philanthropist, Henry Phipps. He wanted to "erect something that will prove a source of instruction as well as pleasure to the people," and the result was Phipps Conservatory, his best-known legacy. When the Conservatory opened on December 7, 1893, it was the largest conservatory in the United States and had the finest collection of tropical plants, acquired from the Colombian Exposition in Chicago. From 1893 on, the Conservatory gained distinction as a repository of horticultural excellence--a distinction that exists today. The facility consists of a "crystal palace," one of the largest and finest botanical conservatories in the country. The Conservatory and Botanical gardens are located at One Schenley Park in the Oakland neighborhood.
www.phipps.conservatory.org

Japanese Tea Garden and Conservatory of Flowers
Both located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden and Conservatory of flowers are accessible retreats from San Francisco's busy streets. Visit the bridges, goldfish ponds, pagodas, and flowering cherry blossoms in the Japanese Tea Garden, a five-acre legacy from the 1894 Midwinter International Exposition. Or come to the 1879 wood and glass Conservatory of Flowers greenhouse, designated as a city, state, and national historic landmark. Ever since the Conservatory opened to the public in 1879, it has been a San Francisco icon. Extraordinary horticultural and botanical displays create a spectacular living museum of rare and beautiful tropical plants under glass. The 1500 species of plants at the Conservatory represent unusual flora from more than 50 countries around the world.
www.conservatoryofflowers.org

Cleveland Botanical Garden
Cleveland Botanical Garden's mission is grounded in the belief that quality-of-life can be improved through a better understanding of the interdependence of plants, people, and the environment. Recently reconstructed, the Cleveland Botanical Garden is poised to make a significant impact on issues of environmental stewardship and sustainable community development. The facility consists of the Eleanor Armstrong Smith Glasshouse, the Nona Whitney Evans Memorial Reading Garden, the Hershey Children's Garden, The Japanese Garden, The Mary Ann Sears Swetland Rose Garden, The Western Reserve Herb Society Garden, the Woodland Garden, and the Living Exhibit Gardens. Located in University Circle near colleges and museums, the garden is sure to provide a welcome retreat and learning experience for students, visitors and residents.
www.cbgarden.org

Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Growing from its humble beginnings as an ash dump in the late 1800s, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden has come to represent today the very best in urban gardening and horticultural display. The garden is filled with 52 acres of plants that people use to sustain and enrich their lives. The garden is located on Washington Ave. in Brooklyn's Prospect Park near the Brooklyn Public Library.
www.bbg.org

Huntington Gardens
In tony San Marino, just outside Pasadena, California, you'll find the astonishing Huntington Gardens, a soothing botanical experience that railroad baron Henry Huntington laid out on his estate beginning in 1903. Landscapes include the Japanese, desert, rose, camellia, palm, subtropical, jungle, lily ponds, herb, and Australian gardens. Specialized displays include the North Vista, the Zen and bonsai courts, the art gallery rockery, the desert garden conservatory, and many more. Besides the gardens, the grounds shelter a premier research library and several art galleries that regularly mount significant shows. Accessible from Los Angeles via freeway or the Metro Gold Line.
www.huntington.org

The American Garden Museum
Explore gardens across America
www.americangardenmuseum.com

Other Gardens:

Denver Botanic Gardens
www.botanicgardens.org

Missouri Botanical Garden
www.mobot.org

Cheyenne Botanic Gardens
www.botanic.org

New York Botanical Garden
www.nybg.org

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
www.sbbg.org

Eric Miller is the New Colonist Editor.