It opened to the public in 1972, and is home to the Joseph Regenstein Jr. School which offers educational classes and certificate programs.

The architectural design for the Chicago Botanic Garden began with the creation of the master plan by John O. Simonds and Geoffrey Rausch.

[5] The Chicago Botanic Garden opened the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center on its ground on September 23, 2009.

The garden also leads the Plants of Concern initiative to monitor rare species in northeastern and southern Illinois.

[9] Today's gardens incorporate food and paper scrap composting, sustainable irrigation, and a minimal use of fertilizer and pesticides.