2025 News
Inside and Outside the Garden
Opening Day, 2025
The Garden is now open for returning members. If you did not attend the annual meeting, you can pickup your key on Mondays only from 8-9 am.
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If you use the Compost Station, plot 63W, for your garden debris, please be sure to separate it and place in the appropriation bin.​​
Meditation Garden Enhancement
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At this year's Annual Meeting, a new design for the garden's meditation area was introduced. The new design was done by volunteer UC Student Nico Rose. The Meditation Garden is one of the first plots seen after entering the RBVG. This new design, approved by the Board this past January, is dramatic in aesthetics but still maintains the simplicity of our garden. Board Member Ana Sokovic is leading this project and volunteers will be needed to transfer and replant some of the existing plants and to help plant new ones. Many thanks to Nico for his vision!
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PAC CONFERENCE 2025
Presented by the Chicago Park District in collaboration with the Park Advisory Council (PAC) Partners, this FREE conference will be a day of networking, workshops and resources for PACs from across Chicago. Park volunteers will assemble for this annual conference to learn best practices from experts, network with their fellow PAC members, and be inspired by the work Park Advisory Councils are doing in parks across Chicago.
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Members of the RBVG Board will be presenting at this year's Conference. We would love our members to attend, support the presentation, connect with, and learn from our fellow city gardeners. Click here to sign up. Registration is free!
Green Teacher Network
The Green Teacher Network is holding its first event of 2025 on Saturday, April 5th. Green Teacher is a collaboration between several Chicago environmental organizations that aim to teach ecological education through connection. Members are encouraged to attend and learn how other city gardens are placing their own "respect for the Earth" into action. Link to Network's site below for more information.
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Rainbow Beach Park Redevelopment
Link here to read about the City of Chicago's plans for redeveloping Rainbow Beach Park.
Our Pollinator Stations Matter
A recent New York Times article reaffirmed why every garden needs to protect pollinators, something the RBVG has been doing throughout its history. Currently our Garden has six plots designated specifically as pollinator stations. These areas, along with the required flowered borders for members' plots, and the main pathways, make our garden a haven for bees and butterflies every season. You can read the article, See How Butterflies Are Surviving or Not, in Your Area in the NYT; copies of it will be available at the Annual Meeting and posted on the Garden's Information Board. See how butterfly populations in the Chicago area are doing and feel pride in what our Garden has done and continues to do to keep these important members of nature and the world safe.