Julie McCaffrey is media relations manager at the Chicago Botanic Garden and is responsible for promoting the Garden's programs and events through traditional and social media. Julie holds a B.A. in English from Northern Illinois University and an M.S. in Communications from Northwestern University.
( Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune / July 16, 2014 ) Oluwapelumi Ajayi, 15, waters vegetable beds at the Chicago Botanic Garden’s urban farm in Washington Park last month. Sophia Shaw, the botanic garden’s CEO, hopes the Obama presidential library will settle on the South Side and include a garden.
As April 10th gets closer with each passing day, our excitement builds for the Garden’s first spring party, the Antiques & Garden Fair Preview Evening. We talked with Cathy Busch, one of the co-producers of the show to get an inside look at what they have in store for us!
Cathy, you have supported the Garden’s Antiques & Garden Fair for years as a Co-Producer. What do you like best about it?
I have always thought of this event as the unofficial kick-off to the spring season in Chicago–whether Mother Nature cooperates or not! The past few months spent in the polar vortex were grueling and our hope is that people will be inspired to step out and reconnect with friends they haven’t seen in a while. There’s a celebratory feeling about the whole weekend, beginning with the preview party, where guests have the first chance to shop. It’s a chance to see beautiful objects, think about new ways to live and entertain well this summer, or just feel part of a welcoming community. We hope people will visit the Garden, this year especially, and feel the winter blues fade away.
Hors d’oeuvres will be served on new rolling carts this year.
A great party needs great food and drinks. Do you know what’s on the menu this year?
Our caterer again this year will be Jewell Events Catering and they always pull out all the stops for this party. Their creative and culinary team really understand Preview—the importance of shopping, socializing and sampling! They’ve devised charming new garden carts this year that will stroll through the aisles so the food comes to you! We happen to believe that if you’re well fed, you’re in a good mood! The seasonal food complements all the other influences at the show—it’s a complete sensory experience.
The Isle of Man is creating a Men’s Lounge for this year’s preview party.
This event has done a great job attracting women to shop and have a fun night with girlfriends. What about the men?
We absolutely hope the men will come! New this year at the preview party will be a Men’s Lounge assembled by the creative team at Isle of Man America in Chicago. They’ve thought of everything to entertain the guys: vintage motorcycles, humidors and sporting equipment, custom furniture and good scotch—just a lot of cool masculine stuff. For the men who also stroll the booths, there will be fabulous food and drinks circulating throughout the fair. No one will go home hungry!
What’s so special about a Fair at the Garden?
The setting is what really sets us apart from other national shows. The Chicago Botanic Garden is a cultural gem and a leader among national gardens. Being there, surrounded by hundreds of acres of natural beauty when spring is just beginning to show its promise is pure magic. We hope first-time visitors will fall in love with the Garden and come back often to see the gardens grow more and more beautiful as the seasons progress.
Tell us about the speakers who will be appearing at the Fair this year. Quite a lineup!
We are so excited about this year’s speakers! Miles Redd is one of the hottest talents in interior design today. His fresh and fearless approach to design, his exuberant use of color, and his ability to mix periods and styles are inspiring. He’s oozing with talent and, oh, by the way, he also happens to be incredibly nice. His friend, Danielle Rollins, is a star in her own right too! As the reigning guru of entertaining and author of the stunning book, Soiree, Danielle claims a successful party is all in the details and we will be there with our pencils sharpened taking notes.
My well-mannered English bulldog. Well-groomed is another story!
You have exquisite taste and have made your home a great space for entertaining. Have you found any items at the Fair and how do they create a great space for entertaining?
There are so many tempting objects to drool over at the show! I’ve managed to pick up a few things over the years—some fun mid-century pieces that are easy to mix, unique silver and gifts. I’m also a sucker for vintage Lucite. My favorite find is definitely a goofy stone English bulldog statuary that lives in our backyard. Our bulldog, Rose, just can’t figure it out, terrorizing it until she collapses from exhaustion. The statuary has far better manners and is better looking than the real thing for sure.
Bette is part of Big Blooms by Paul Lange
Are you anticipating any trends this year? What will you be watching out for at the Fair this year?
Old school garden statuary and antiques will never go out of style, but I think we’ll see more mid-century offerings this year because living with them is so easy and chic—nothing too precious or off-limits.
I’m excited about some of the incredible new talent appearing at the Antiques & Garden Fair this year—Janus et Cie for chic outdoor furniture and acclaimed New York photographer, Paul Lange, with his giant blooms, to name a few.
We can hardly wait for the über-charming design star, Miles Redd, to hit the Antiques & Garden Fair on April 11!
In order to whet our appetites for all things Miles, the fabulously talented Redd graciously agreed to answer a few of our questions—a little hint of what’s to come when he comes to town. All we can say is buy your lecture tickets now so you don’t miss this design legend in the flesh!
Miles Redd Photo by Patrick McMullan
There is an art to mixing materials, periods, and styles in order to create interest and harmony. You get it right every time. What’s your secret?
I think Picasso said it best: “good artists copy, great artists steal!” I really love to look at the masters, past and present, and really, it is simple; you imitate what turns you on. Also, a feeling in my gut helps a lot!
We’d say you’ve definitely mastered old Hollywood glamour! Does your background in film and set design influence you as an interior designer?
When I was young, blockbusters were among my best friends. I do love the interiors of films in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s. They give you a fantasy of what they want it to be, rather than how it probably was, and you know, often it is better—the fantasy, that is!
Which designers inspire you and your work today? Which “up and comers”?
That is a long list, but here goes: Nancy Lancaster, Albert Hadley, Syrie Maugham, Elsie de Wolfe, Francis Elkins, Jansen—and then today I love what Studio Peregalli is doing, and I think Daniel Romualdez has lots of style, and David Kaihoi—a very talented guy in my office—is a terrific springboard. (His apartment was on the cover of House Beautiful and worth a Google search!) Do you think will have staying power in the business?
Danielle Rollins and Miles Redd begin to dress the table in his garden. Photo by Quentin Bacon.
We read that you enjoy the view of your garden from your bedroom. What kind of garden have you created in New York City?
Very much a French architecture—it’s all about clipped hornbeams and boxwood and deep turquoise treillage—very architectural, with no flowers…my kind of garden.
You must adore hunting for unique furniture and objects through dealers at shows like this one. What advice do you have for someone shopping an antiques fair?
If you love it, and the price is right, seize the moment! The worst is regretting something you should have gone for!
A master bathroom designed with Hollywood glamour by Miles Redd. Photo by Paul Costello.
Spring isn’t progressing very quickly outside, so we stopped by the production greenhouses to find out how spring is growing behind the scenes. Tim Pollak, outdoor floriculturist, was excited to show us what it takes to grow thousands of the spring annuals and vegetables that will soon be planted outdoors.
Tim told us we are growing 73,000 spring annuals and vegetables this year to be planted outside in the gardens in April. If you like pansies and violas, you are in for a treat, as we’ve planted almost 30,000 of them! A lot of planning goes into scheduling when to start seeds, thin them, transplant them, and harden them off to be ready when each horticulturist needs them. The production team of more than 50 staff members and volunteers makes it all look easy, but I’m guessing with this harsh winter, it hasn’t been easy.
Just one of the wows visitors will see this spring are the hayracks that hang over the bridge from the Visitor Center to the main island. Staff members and volunteers just recently spent 12 hours planting them with 1,200 plants. They will grow safely in the greenhouses until the weather gets warm enough to bring them outside. Can’t wait!
Click on the video link above or watch on YouTube to learn all about getting ready for spring!
We learned about some of the more unusual orchids featured in the Orchid Show (purchase tickets here) when we toured with Boyce Tankersley, director of living plant documentation.
Dendrobium Comet King ‘Akatsuki’
Boyce told us we have 183 taxa of orchids in our plant collections and 53 of those are straight species found in the wild. Of course, none of our orchids are wild-collected because that does damage to the species, so the orchids we acquire are propagated through tissue culture. We display the orchids that do best in our greenhouse growing conditions, and most of those do best in the Tropical Greenhouse.
Some of the orchids Boyce shows us in the video below are Vandas, which are native to the Philippines and other islands in Southeast Asia.
Boyce shared his love of Dendrobiums and revealed a goal to visit an area of the Himalaya Mountains where they cover the oak trees. But watch out: Boyce warns us of leeches in the area! (Don’t worry, we don’t have those in our greenhouses!)
Finally, we examined an interesting ground orchid, Phaius tankervilliae ‘Rabin’s Raven’, which is growing very well in our greenhouse conditions.
Vandamanuvadee
Phaius tankervilliae ‘Rabin’s Raven’
Click on the video link above or watch on YouTube to get the full tour!
