The West Chicago Garden Club

By Ruth Kyme

Our February speaker is David Brooks, a professional naturalist with the Spring Valley Nature Center in Schaumburg. In his program, Backyard Birds and Bird Feeding, we will learn the “how to” of attracting a variety of birds to our property through properly maintained feeding stations and plantings that offer both food and shelter. The program will also include a who’s-who of common local birds and some of the migrating birds to be observed in the spring and fall.

Meeting Location: St Andrew Lutheran Church (NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road.)

Meeting Time:

• 6:45PM Arrive & Mingle
• 7:00PM Business Meeting
• 7:15PM Program

By Barbara Darrah

January was a long dark month this year. There wasn’t even enough sunlight to cause the snow to glisten. For the first time, our solar panels generated no electricity, and the extended subzero temperatures  knocked out the heat in our greenhouse. So, it was with excitement and delight one early February morning that I discovered the dancing yellow petals of the winter aconites in our front yard. Nothing beats these early reminders of spring as winter slowly begins to fade away.

Thus it was that I decided to make a journey to the Kruse garden to see the place where I first encountered these gentle reminders of spring’s renewal. Much to my disappointment, I couldn’t find any sign of them there. Don’t get me wrong; the garden still had the quiet beauty of winter’s simplicity. The unique shapes of the trees and the bushes stood out and the little frog prince by the pond gazed longingly for just a murmur of green.

At this time of year, we can feel winter’s dull and gray grasp beginning to weaken. There is a bit more sun, a few hints of green and the hidden secrets of new life shyly begin to appear. The lethargy that comes from winter’s darkness starts to lessen and new projects come to mind. I expect that the aconites will come back at Kruse, perhaps even a snowdrop or two, and in my mind the garden will begin to grow again.