The Real Wildlife Behind Vivid Creatures
The huge, whimsical sculptures in the Vivid Creatures art exhibition at The Morton Arboretum represent real animals that live in a Chicago region that is more wild than you might think.
Fall 2025
About the Arboretum
Trees: Stories from The Morton Arboretum
Read on to learn about local wildlife, the purpose of flowers, and how the Arboretum is teaching teachers and helping college students explore science careers, and go behind the scenes at a secluded research plot on the Arboretum grounds.
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Read more: The Real Wildlife Behind Vivid Creatures
There Are Many Ways to Be a Flower
When plants bloom in the woods, gardens, and prairies of The Morton Arboretum, lifting our spirits is just a side benefit. A flower’s real purpose is to reproduce, and they do it in a wide variety of ways.
Chicago Teachers Bring Home Lessons from Mexico’s Trees and People
Discover how a visit to a project that is saving endangered oak trees in Mexico enriches the classroom lessons of Chicago-area teachers nearly 1,700 miles away.
Summers of Science Open Up Careers
College students discover more than data when they spend a summer in The Morton Arboretum’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program. What they learn gives them tools and confidence for many scientific fields.
Plant Collecting Near and Far Helps Science and Improves Trees
Learn how plants found by researchers from The Morton Arboretum in Wisconsin’s Devil’s Lake State Park and around the world may lead to better trees for urban areas.
Explore Past Issues of Trees: Stories from The Morton Arboretum
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The Morton Arboretum is a nonprofit organization creating a greener, healthier, more beautiful world where people and trees thrive together.
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