Antiques & Garden Fair

The Antiques & Garden Fair returns for the twelfth year to the Chicago Botanic Garden on Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 22, with a special preview evening on Thursday, April 19. While 24 display gardens bloom outside, more than 100 displays from dealers from Europe and the United States showcase the best in antique garden furnishings, botanical art and home and garden design.

Two speakers will give lectures during the Fair: David Easton at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 20 and David Howard at 11 a.m. on Saturday, April 21. Honorary Chair David Easton is one of the world’s most sought-after interior designers. While he has made his name as a new-classicist, his erudition of architecture and decoration is wide-ranging and continuing. He was most recently honored by his peers with the “Lifetime Achievement” award at London’s Design & Decoration Awards. During his lecture, A Design Journey of the Past, Present and Future, David Easton will take you on a journey of garden design from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to Ancient Rome and beyond.

Special Guest David Howard, former head gardener at Highgrove, will give the lecture, My Gardening Life, 40 years of gardening in the U.K. Listen to the man who worked closest to H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, on his extraordinary creation, Highgrove, one of the most important gardens in Europe and a foremost example of organic gardening. Howard trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and the Botanic Gardens, Gothenberg, Sweden.

Shoppers on the hunt for classical and contemporary furnishings, botanical art, and jewelry will find a variety of treasures in every price range. Staged in the Regenstein Center with tents over the Esplanade, Rose Garden and Courtyards, the Fair will feature antique dealers and garden-wares, plus magnificent and inspirational exhibit gardens. Complimentary floral arrangement demonstrations will be given on Saturday and Sunday at designated booths at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Indoor display gardens will interpret the theme “Around the Garden Table” and will be donated and installed by premier landscape designers. Craig Bergmann Landscape Design, Inc. will create an Asian inspired garden with a terra cotta paver floor, containers of plants and a round table draped in an Oriental rug surrounded by willow chairs in the Esplanade Tent. Rosborough Partners will create a curved walkway with terraces and dining elements on the North Stairs. William Heffernan Landscapes will use boxwood, silver and mirror to create a semi-private dining setting in a modern American style in the Krehbiel Gallery. Maria Smithburg with Manfredini Landscaping and Design will create four corner gardens with a striped floor of cerulean blue and white, square and rectangular planters and an archway in the Rose Garden Entry Tent. Schmechtig Landscape Company will suspend trellis sections to create four corner gardens around a dining table in the Rose Garden Tent.

Fair hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Advance tickets are available starting Feb. 15 online at www.chicagobotanic.org/antiques or in person at the Visitor Center. Tickets are $15 in advance; $12 in advance for members. A three-day pass is $20 for all. Single-day tickets at the door are $17; $14 for members. Children under age 16 are free with an adult. For safety reasons, strollers are not permitted in the Fair. Parking at the Chicago Botanic Garden is $20 per car; free for Garden members.

Lecture tickets are $65 per lecture in advance and $70 per lecture at the door; tickets for both lectures are $105. Garden members receive $5 off each price. All lecture tickets include a three-day Fair pass. Preview attendees may purchase a lecture ticket for $50 or both for $95.

The preview evening, featuring priority shopping and elegant fare, will be co-chaired by Cathy Busch, Jen Kasten and Peggy Swartchild. Preview tickets are available by phone at (847) 835-6944.

The Antiques & Garden Fair is produced in conjunction with Stella Show Mgmt. Co., New York. Co-producers of the 2012 Antiques & Garden Fair are Donna LaPietra, Jane O’Neil and Susan Canmann; artistic director is Bill Heffernan. Principal sponsor is BMO Harris Bank. Supporting sponsors are American Airlines and Blackman Kallick. Proceeds from the Fair benefit the Chicago Botanic Garden’s conservation, education and research programs.