Something "Wicked" this way comes at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show.
Think rival witches Elphaba and Glinda in floral fantasies inspired by the Tony-wining musical. Dressmaker's dummies serve as stand-ins, modeling gowns woven from real blooms and greenery.
The more sedate "Miss Saigon" garden features a koi pond while the "Bye, Bye Birdie" garden is abloom with birdhouses.
When the 16th annual flowerfest opens Saturday at Navy Pier, 28 theatrical gardens are the designated showstoppers. The show runs through March 14 in Festival Hall at Navy Pier.
For show director Tony Abruscato, Chicago Shakespeare Theater's garden is irresistible. An apartment-dweller who grows rosemary, thyme and basil in balcony pots every summer, he keep lingering by the Friar's herb plot of "Romeo and Juliet" fame. But he has eyes for the plants, not Friar Laurence and Juliet's gorgeous costumes.
"My creative director just said to me, 'Quit fluffing the rosemary,'" he said, laughing.
Produced by Special Events Management, the 2010 petal-palooza invited theaters and drama-minded venues to team with landscape and garden designers in keeping with the theme "Cultivating Great Performances." Venues that rolled up their sleeves include Lookingglass Theatre, the Shedd Aquarium, American Girl, the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Park District and Chicago Botanic Garden.
The fruits of their labors pay tribute to the Bard, Broadway, and homegrown hits like Lookinglass' adaption of "Alice in Wonderland." Note: Off with your head if you fail to admire the towering Red Queen, a study of scarlet ajuga, sedum and begonias designed by Christy Webber Landscapes.
In the wake of the show's disastrous hiatus -- attendance wilted when former managers transplanted the pier fixture in 2007 and 2008 to Rosemont, Ill. -- ESI is redoubling efforts to re-establish ties with Navy Pier, green thumbs and serial plant-killers. Hence the whimsical "theatrical" gardens, and a larger base of vendors. More than 200 exhibitors registered for the show, up from 160 last year.
The layout of the 180,000-square-foot show is daisy-fresh, too. Landscape architect Terry Guen, whose credits include Millennium Park, designed a green-carpeted, boulevard-style walkway that meanders through the theme gardens, a welcome change from the last show's warehouse ambience.
"Before, it was, 'My feet hurt. My shoes hurt.' There was a concrete floor," said Guen, of Terry Guen Design Associates in River North. "I guarantee this is what (a flower show experience) is supposed to be like."
By their nature, fantasy gardens are impractical. Few visitors will rush home to recreate Lookingglass' croquet lawn, featuring plastic flamingoes as mallets. So Abruscato asked each team to incorporate three down-to-earth elements that guests can apply to their own balcony or back 40. Eco-minded suggestions touch on recycled materials, water conservation and new concepts like space-saving tiered gardens. The components are sign-posted in gardens and listed in show programs along with landscapers' and dealers' contact information.
Kid-friendly attractions include an insect petting zoo and potting parties, plus live chickens at "State Fair," a Leisurewoods-Cypress Group collaboration spotlighting urban and suburban chicken farming. Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences will showcase kids' theater in an activity garden with readings of "The Three Little Pigs" and other tales.
Then there's the crayon-bright salute to "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." Former Purdue landscape architect Greg Pierceall designed the raised-planter garden, starring all-new varieties of flowers and vegetables. Fiber artist Sandy Adams wove the scene-stealing, multi-hued flower coat on display. "It's crazy, but that's what the theater is about," said Pierceall, now at Joliet Junior College.
As is tradition, five dozen experts will offer horticulture-centric workshops throughout the show while nearly three dozen chefs demonstrate recipes in the Garden Gourmet corner. Programs are free with show admission. Speakers include columnist-author-TV host Joe Lamp'l ("The Twenty-Five Dollar Victory Garden"), authors Jean Ann Van Krevelen and Amanda Thomsenco ("Plant or Purchase: Which Edibles and Why?"), and Massachusetts radio host C.L. Fornari ("Perennial Maintenance:The Need to Do, The Nice to Do and The Nuts to Do").
The 2010 Chicago Flower & Garden Show, Saturday through March 14
Where: Navy Pier, E. Grand Ave., Chicago
Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $15 weekdays, $17 weekends; children ages 4-12 are $5 daily. Discounted parking is available for $14.
FYI: Call (773) 435-1250 or visit www.chicagoflower.com
* Tickets to Friday's preview benefit (6 to 9 p.m.) are $135 per person and include cocktails, hors d'oevres and live entertainment. Proceeds benefit the Parkways Foundations, Friends of the Park, Chicago Gateway Green and the Chicago Botanic Garden.
