2014 Operating Plan
Living Plant Collections Division
The Chicago Botanic Garden’s living collections will establish the standard for excellence in their selection, content, and care. The collections will serve a large and varied constituency through their
accessibility, their display, and the expertise of their staff. Procedures and policies to renew and build the collection over time will be established. The Garden will be a leader in creating the best
documentation system possible and in unlocking information for the public, both on-site and online.
Goals
Objectives
1. The Garden’s plant collections, adapted to the regional
climate and landscape, will be accessible and useful to its
many publics; will achieve defined standards; and will continue
to deepen through specialized collections that support research.
The Garden will conduct a vigorous program of national and
international plant exploration to diversify the collections,
collect plant types better adapted to our climate, and create
collections of excellence.
1.1 Increase the Garden’s Living Plant Collection’s genetic diversity and
public outreach.
1.2 Conduct Collections-based research.
Deliverables
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2. The Garden will lead the world in living-plant record keeping
and public access, both physically and virtually. It will also be an
essential resource about plants and plant science for its many
constituencies, including the public, educators, landscape
architects, scientists, and local agencies and municipalities.
2.1 Create the best-curated living plant collection in a North American
public garden.
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3. The Garden will remain committed to serving the needs of all
its partners and advocates, in particular the people of Cook
County. The Department will proudly communicate the model
public-private partnership that the Chicago Horticultural Society
and the Forest Preserves of Cook County have built together.
3/03/2014
3.1 Implement a comprehensive supplier-diversity plan that meets the
president’s goals.
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Increase the number of taxa in the Garden’s permanent plant collections by 250 net taxa
(currently 9,800). (Add 150 new woody plant taxa and 200 herbaceous perennial taxa.)
Identify all plants in the Plant Production area that need to be saved and find places for
them in the collections.
Plan the next five years of international collecting with the Plant Collecting Collaborative.
The curator of woody plants will participate with Ornamental Horticulture Research staff on
a domestic plant-collecting trip.
The curator of woody plants will present results from the Climate-Change Modeling and
Urban Tree Adaptive Plant List at APGA.
The curator of herbaceous perennial plants will learn field-collection planning and techniques
from conservation staff while on a collecting trip.
Produce an interim report for Hamamelis evaluations.
Establish a pilot program in the Heritage and Home Demonstration Gardens to have
horticulturists edit data in the records (also curators for the entire Garden).
Identify, create a list of, and propagate declining herbaceous taxa in the collections.
Reach a final decision on the genera in the Garden’s Specialized Collections and the number
of taxa in each.
Verify the willow collection.
Implement the Garden’s Tree Conservation and Duplicate Taxa plans.
25 percent minority-owned
10 percent woman-owned
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