Winter Flower Show: Escape the cold at the Garfield Park Conservatory

CHICAGO - A good way to escape the cold this winter is by taking a trip to the Garfield Park Conservatory.

There, they have the Winter Flower Show going on, complete with poinsettias and silver trees.

"The Winter Flower Show is our annual show that opens on Thanksgiving, runs through Jan. 7 And it's a room filled with poinsettias. Great companion plants, cut trees, trees with lights, all sorts of ornaments," said Matt Barrett, Chicago Park District Deputy Director of Conservatories. 

One can get lost in the sea of green and pink and reds. It's a nice break from the gray, bleak, Midwest winter. 

"Once the weather does take a dip, it's great to come here. You walk into the palm house, which is our largest size. It's about the size of a football field with a 65-foot roof. It's 85 degrees, it's humid, you do not feel like you're in Chicago. Take your coat off. You start to just feel that humidity. It's just a great escape during the winter," said Barrett.

This year's theme of the Winter Flower Show is celebrating 25 years of the Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance — a nonprofit that helps connect this conservatory to the community. 

"They help the conservatory keep its doors open, keep it, keep it running, and it was formed in 1998 when the conservatory suffered some serious damage in the neighborhood community. People came together and said, ‘We need to form this, we need to save this gem,’" said Barrett.