The West Chicago Garden Club

Another year at the Kruse Garden—the shrubs are larger, the trees taller, perennials have filled in the bare spots, the need for annuals—very minimal.  Over-all the garden has structure, spring bulbs, summer flowers and fall color.  In October we put the garden to bed.

Looking back at the start of our work, we are pleased in having incorporated many features of old gardens, though with some tweaks in plant material.

In the early part of the 1900’s people gardened more for food and the flowers in the garden were those which were care-free or herbal, medicinal, etc.  Shrubs as lilacs, peonies, bridal wreaths, mock oranges, etc. were grown many times as specimens, not part of a shrub border, with of course, the family standing in front for pictures.  The early gardeners also prized some labor-intensive plants as dahlias and canna lilies, and certainly would not have put golden rod or joe pie weed into their flower garden.  Garden circles in the middle of the lawn were popular, with uniform plants around a specimen plant in the middle edged with bricks, stones, or little fencing. Continue Reading »