The West Chicago Garden Club

The West Chicago Garden Club announces its 14^th annual plant sale on Saturday, May 21st. The sale is held in conjunction with the City of West Chicago Blooming Fest in downtown West Chicago.  The only fundraiser sponsored by the club, the sale also provides a way for members to share their plants and their love of plants with the greater West Chicago community.  The offerings are a combination of annuals, perennials, and woody plants, most of which come from members’ gardens.

The club works throughout the winter and early spring to collect pots and plants from members.  In addition to members digging their own plants in March, the Digging Squad visits members’ gardens to aid in getting plants out of the ground and to the potting site.  The club is grateful to the West Chicago Park District for the use of space and materials at Manville Oaks Park for storing pots, soil, and plants.  Over a period of 4 weeks in April, members also gather at this site for Potting Parties to lovingly pot up each plant, ensuring the plants are well established prior to the sale.  Last year approximately 2500 perennials were prepared and given a new start at Manville Oaks.

The sale draws new and repeat customers from well beyond the West Chicago area for the quality and variety of plants offered, which includes many varieties native to northern Illinois.  This year the club is working on providing more vegetable plants, to respond to the increasing interest in vegetable gardening.  The members assist customers with plant advice and other help during the sale.

The WCGC plant sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  Prices may be discounted later in the afternoon in order to sell all merchandise, but most patrons come early for best selection.  The plant sale will be located at the Wayne and Helen Fox Center, 306 Main St, West Chicago.

Warm weather annuals can be found at garden centers very early (The Growing Place offers them the first weekend of May) but they must be kept warmer than 40 degrees to avoid damage or stalling of growth. Warm weather annuals include: impatiens, begonias, caladiums, marigolds and manymore. Cool weather flowers have been available since early April and include: all perennials andannual petunias, allysum, pansies, dianthus, dusty miller, diascia, stocks, callibrachoa and nemesiato name a few. Those plants can handle temperatures down to freezing. After May 15th there is less likelihood of frost although the last chance for frost is May 24th! Be ready to listen to the weather and plan to cover warm weather annuals with a sheet or plastic if needed. Tomatoes, peppers and basil are also very cold sensitive. Continue Reading »

After a major cleanup at the Kruse garden, two truckloads of branches, leaves, and garden debris were hauled away. Spring bulbs started pushing out of the ground, many seemingly appearing overnight. The daffodil buds are starting to open; some so rounded and plump as if saying they are happy in their location. Somewhere in the back of memory was a glimmer of a poem about daffodils. Punching in “daffodils poem” Google came through with the most well-known poem on daffodils.

Daffodils

I wonder’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host of golden daffodils…

By William Wordsworth [1804]

Over 200 years ago, William, at the age of 34, admired a flower that we still see in our gardens. Actually, the daffodil name is recorded from the 16th century, the name, aphodile from Medieval Latin. Just think, King Henry Vlll of England, strolled and admired it in his gardens, and called it Lent lily or daffydown dilly. Other names are narcissus, jonquil, fleurde coucou, perillon. In Wales it is the national emblem. Continue Reading »