I hope to get a day to spend in Chicago next week. One think I want to go to is one of the conservatories. But which one is better? I know Garfield is the larger of the two, but size isn't everything.

In this case it is. There is much, much more to see if you have more than a passing interest.

However, the Lincoln Park Conservatory is nice and the gardens around it are lovely too. It's right next to the zoo and near the lake.

Garfield Park is a longish drive from the downtown area (not sure where you'd be coming from) or a fairly long ride on the L. Also, not in the greatest neighborhood, but it is much better than it used to be. There is probably nothing else in the area that would be of interest, but the conservatory itself is great. There have been some amazing installations there in recent years (Chihuly, Niki de Saint Phalle) with the sculptures among the plants. Not sure if anything special is going on this summer.

I have a question. When will you be coming and do you have access to a car? If you are coming during nice weather (pre-Halloween) and are driving, I actually suggest that you go to the Chicago Botanical Gardens instead. The gardens are open year round and are fantastic. The have a Walled English Garden, Japenese Islands, Sensory Gardens, Vegetable Gardens, Handicapped Gardens, etc. etc. You could easily spend an entire day and never see the same area twice.

They have tram tours and green houses as well.

http://www.chicago-botanic.org/

I will be there next weekend. I thought about the botanical garden, but what I really want to see is tropical displays and orchids and such. Is that something the botanical gardens offer?

The Botanical Gardens have 3 green houses with some orchids, tropicals and cacti but probably not as much as you are looking for. Their mainstay are the outdoor gardens. It depends on how much time you want to spend. Lincoln Park and Garfield Park are in the city and you will spend a few hours getting there and looking around. The Botanical Gardens are outside the city and you can spend the entire day there. The greenhouses would not take you longer than 45 minutes to an hour. There is a lovely watergarden collection with water lilies and lotus blossoms. There is also a waterfall garden that might help in the exotic tropical feel.

http://www.chicagobotanic.org/visit/index.php

Just checked. Garfield Conservatory is having a tropical show this summer. If it's tropicals you want - Garfield Park is probably the way to go.

http://www.garfieldconservatory.org/shows.htm

That's what I am thinking. I just have to decide how I want to get there - should I fuss with the Green line and worry about safety, or rent a car and also get to see Frank Lloyd Wright?

Safety won't be an issue in the daytime. But the Frank Lloyd Wright house is worth renting a car to see.

With the car, it will be easier to drive around the neighborhood (the blocks around the FLW house) to see his other houses, and also to hop over to see Unity Temple.

IIRC, the visit to the house gets you (or can get you) a walking tour of the neighborhood.

The Green Line to both the Conservatory and Oak Park is perfectly safe.

sorry for this pedantic post.

It's the Chicago Botanic Garden

not botanical, not gardens

this pedantic post brought to you by a friend of mine who had his reception there and had to get the invitations proofread by the Garden to ensure they got it right.

Your right, although I tend to think of the Garden in terms of their many gardens.

Lincoln Park conservatory is lovely as is Chicago Botanic Garden. I would not go to Garfield for safety reasons. The other two are very safe and in nice areas of the city and suburbs.