Beer, beer, glorious beer in a glorious garden

You can find a lot of odd things in a gardener's refrigerator, but right now the oddest thing in mine is a large plastic bag of freeze-dried hops flowers. No, I have not given up garden writing for bootlegging. I am very seriously researching beer.

There could be many reasons to research beer, from a broken heart to a mortgage foreclosure to a visit from an old fraternity brother. But my motives are the loftiest: I am on the education subcommittee of the organizing committee for a craft beer tasting fundraiser for the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance to be held May 13.

I am perhaps not a natural for the craft beer part, being more or less a teetotaller. But I am totally your girl to sing the praises of the 102-year-old conservatory, which was revolutionary when it was designed by renowned landscape architect Jens Jensen and is spectacular today. And of the alliance, a nonprofit that provides support and programming there.

Among other things, the conservatory a sort of center for education about urban gardening in the city -- check out the workshops on the web site, especially the family programs. It has a children's garden where toddlers can crawl inside an immense seed and kids can learn how plants work.

For grownups, the conservatory hosts the annual Green and Growing Fair (held in April; make a note for next year), a festival for city gardeners. There is a demonstration garden that is all about gardening in the city, where you can learn close-up and hands-on about topics such as beekeeping and composting. There's a grass labyrinth and a lovely outdoor terrace and two perennial gardens, one inspired by the paintings of Monet.

So, about beer: On May 13 (a Thursday) from 5:30 to 8 p.m., six breweries that are members of the Illinois Craft Brewers Guild will each bring a number of their brews to be samples. Each person who attends "Beer Under Glass" gets a special souvenir glass, which can be refilled with one kind of suds after another. Those with a nose for this sort of thing will be able to discern subtle differences that no doubt can be disputed at length while strolling among the sansevierias and agaves or (if the weather is kind) checking out the view from the bridge over the lily pond outdoors.

There will be imaginative snacks from Oak Park's Marion Street Cheese Market and Chicago's Green Zebra vegetarian restaurant. And it all will be a locally grown and brewed, zero-waste, sustainable-as-we-can-make-it event.

The setting will be the splendid emerald palm-, orchid-, fern-, cactus- and cycad-filled conservatory rooms (nearly 3 acres under glass). If you have never been to the conservatory in the evening, you are missing magic. Wandering among the strikingly lit pools and dells after dark is one of my favorite parts of attending Master Gardener meetings there. Movie location scouts, check it out. You might enjoy it even more with a glassful of carefully brewed ale or lager.

And for those for whom atmosphere, spectacle, beer, food and good company are not sufficient attractions, there will be composting demonstrations.

So there you have it: Gardening, good works, great snacks, sophisticated suds, and the knowledge that you are supporting one of the most important green institutions in Chicago. The conservatory, at 300 N. Central Park Ave., is right on the Green Line for those who don't care to drink and drive. (Leave the kids at home; this is a 21-and-over event.) Register in advance and it's only $35. Have I sold you yet? Good. Click here.

Now I have to go find out why they need the flowers of a prolific woody vine to brew beer.

Got a garden question? I recommend you call or e-mail the Plant Clinic of The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, the Master Gardeners of the University of Illinois Extension or the Plant Information Service of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe .

All contents of this post are copyright Beth Botts. Feel free to link or share a brief excerpt with a link, but please do not reproduce photos or any other part of this blog without my express permission.