Looking for something to do with friends or guests from out of town over the 4th of July? Why not check out the free Garfield Park Conservatory, which is hosting its Summer Tropical Flower Show, offering visitors an up-close look at an assortment of tropical plants, including various begonias and hibiscus.
The Garfield Park Conservatory’s Summer Tropical Flower show is a great place for Chicagoans to get ideas for their own summer gardens. While tropical plants cannot withstand Chicago 
winters, most of the plants found in this show can be grown outdoors during the summer. This year’s show features more than a dozen dark and purple-leafed plants, including Black Magic Colocasia, Stobilanthes, and Red Shield Hibiscus. Expanding the foliage palette are nearly twenty different varieties of Coleus. Visitors can learn how to use dark foliage to set off brighter plants and flowers or simply add depth to an otherwise flat planting bed or container.
The hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesdays) at the Garfield Park Conservatory, and it is located at 300 N. Central Park Ave. in Chicago (MAP).
The Conservatory will be open on Sunday, July 4 and it is always free admission.
Phone:(312) 746-5100
Website: garfield-conservatory.org.
