Checking out Wilder Park Conservatory

 As we were planning girls weekend I realized that everything we wanted to do on Sunday opened at 10 or later which means we had time to kill after breakfast. If I did my research properly, I may had us explore DuPage County Forest Preserve a little before hitting the Graue Mill. I did however stumble upon the Wilder Park Conservatory in Elmhurst.

Wilder Park Conservatory is located in Wilder Park and is open 8-6 daily. There is a parking nearby and it is free to visit. It consists of several greenhouse as well as formal gardens outside with a wedding space.

Wilder Park was the perfect spot to sit and eat out donuts before starting our day. After we had our donuts, we checked out the conservatory. 

Inside the Conservatory there are native and exotic plants and small koi pond. 

I personally liked the stone archway that lead to more native plants.

Outside was a giant kaleidoscope. I love using these and watch the flowers transfer into geometric shapes.

The outside gardens were still a blaze of color in the late summer sun. Some were getting towards the end of the season but it was still lush and colorful. There were a lot of native plants. 

The garden was set up for a recent wedding. We didn't venture down. The arbor was beautiful.

Wilder Park Conservatory did not take us long but it was a great start to our day. Many other people thought so too. If you are in Elmhurst the Conservatory and park are definitely worth checking out. 

672. Plant a flower garden

 The more things I cross of the original bucket list, the harder it is to try to complete at least 5 items off each year. Last year I decided I wanted to plant tulips and confirmed that planting tulips would fall under the category of planting a flower garden. Heather said she would help me out with this endeavor.

We originally were going to plant my tulips in May or June. However after a Google search, it turns out you should plant tulips in fall when it gets around 50 degrees. So we waited until September. Heather and I made plans to hike the Ice Age Trail and plant tulips. We did hike the part of the Ice Age Trail but I forgot to remind Heather to bring her gardening tools so we couldn't plant tulips. Why would I own gardening tools? I like in an apartment and have minimal space and a black thumb. We set a new date in October and I reminded Heather to bring a shovel.

The hubby and I already bought tulips -- red ones. I wanted pink or yellow but red was what they had in the size bag we wanted. The bag came with directions. It was pretty simple.

Dig a hole several inches deep. 

Drop the a tulip bulb or two in the hole. Cover with dirt and water.

Then wait until spring to see if you have tulips. I was slightly worried we planted them upside down or they weren't grow because we didn't water them. I missed that direction. Oops.

We had a cold, wet spring and it took forever for the tulips and daffodils to break through the soil. I wasn't too worried about not seeing tulips in April when my daffodils weren't coming up yet either.

Slowly but surely I started to see tulip sprouts. We planted some by the daffodils and the front door and a couple by the tree by the garage. 

The bunnies found the ones by the daffodils tasty and ate them right down to the ground as they came up. All we have are some tulip leaves currently. I think they ate them stem with the buds. Next year I will need to get some dog hair or rabbit spray to keep them alive

The ones by the garage did not get eaten and slowly started to grow. We finally had a warm week of weather and yesterday I saw that they were going to open any time. 

At 9:15.. still tightly closed.

At 12:00.. just starting to open

At 2:30.. we have tulips.

I can now say I planted a flower garden. It was not hard work. Tulips and daffodils are pretty self-sufficient. I just let them be and the daffodils always come back every year so hopefully the tulips will too.

Will I try anything beyond tulips. Nope. I have to set a reminder on my phone to water the perennials every year so they don't die. Anything I actually have to take care is probably not going to survive. If I was rich I'd have peonies, hydrangeas, and roses taken care of by a gardener but for now I am I happy with tulips and daffodils.