What is Tru Blooms Chicago?Jump to Top

Tru Blooms Second Harvest is the sister to Tru Blooms Chicago, a groundbreaking community initiative led by the City of Chicago and custom fragrance development company Tru Fragrance. It will transform public and neighborhood green spaces into growing spaces for plants and flowers whose distinctive, fragrant notes will be captured in a limited edition perfume. Tru Blooms Second Harvest will bring the city of Chicago back together to fulfill a mission of sustainability, urban beautification and economic development through the planting of flowers and gardens specifically for use in a fragrance.

• Flowers will be grown throughout the Chicago region beginning in May.
• Chicago farmers employed through organizations including Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest, Green Youth Farm and Cook County Vocational Rehabilitation Impact Center urban agriculture programs; Growing Power and Growing Home will cultivate the flowers throughout the growing season.
• Perfumers will capture the essential oils and essence of the flowers, in order to fashion a fragrance infused with unique notes only found in Chicago.
• Tru Fragrance will design, package and distribute the women’s perfume to retailers.
• A limited number of bottles of the Tru Blooms Second Harvest Eau de Parfum will be created. It will be available for pre-order beginning of October, and will be on sale at participating Chicago-area retailers in November 2013.

Tru Blooms Second Harvest Eau de Parfum will be available for pre-order in October  and will be at select retail locations November, 2013. For a complete set of retailers go to Find a Store.

Tru Blooms Chicago is being supported by the following organizations:

• City Organizations
  • Sustainability Office at the Mayor of Chicago’s Office
  • Chicago Park District
  • City of Chicago Departments of Housing and Economic Development, Aviation, and Cultural Affairs and Special Events
  • City of Chicago Bureau of Planning and Zoning
  • Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture
• Non-Profits
  • Chicago Botanic Garden’s community gardening programs – Windy City Harvest, Cook County Vocational Rehabilitation Impact Center and Green Youth Farm
  • Growing Home
  • Growing Power
  • NeighborSpace
• Business/Retail Community

Tru Fragrance aimed to work with all types of gardeners on the Tru Blooms Second Harvest initiative. Currently, gardens/flower beds in Grant Park; Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest, Green Youth Farm and Cook County Vocational Rehabilitation Impact Center urban agriculture programs; Growing Home’s Englewood garden and community gardens managed by NeighborSpace throughout the city are participating in the project, for a total of two acres of plants and flowers in 27 gardens.

The expert perfumers at Tru Fragrance selected flowers which flourish in the Chicagoland climate including but not limited to:

• Roses: Rosa Damascena Bulgaris
• Lavender: Lavandula angustifolia
• Patchouli: Pomostemom cablin
• Rose Geraniums: Pelagonium

Tru Blooms Chicago First Harvest Eau de Parfum will be designed, created and produced by custom fragrance development company Tru Fragrance of Willowbrook, IL. Backed by more than 42 years of experience creating, manufacturing and marketing private brand fragrances for niche and specialty retailers worldwide, Tru Fragrance has worked with high profile retailers including The Buckle, Charming Charlie, Francesca’s Collections, Charlotte Russe and several others. To see a sampling of the complete portfolio, visit www.trufragrance.com.

Tru Blooms Second Harvest Eau de Parfum will be created from the oils and essences of flowers grown throughout the city of Chicago in spring/summer 2013. Like the flowers and gardens themselves, which, along with their growing conditions, can never again be perfectly duplicated, the fragrance is truly one-of-a-kind.

Suggested retail prices for Tru Blooms Second Harvest Eau de Parfum:

• 50ml (1.7 fl. oz.) bottle, $39
• 15ml (0.5 fl. oz.) roll-on, $19