The West Chicago Garden Club

I went over to the Kruse Garden on Sunday, November 3rd to check out the fall colors and I was not disappointed. The berries and the foliage on the Viburnum was beautiful!! Then I noticed the brilliant yellow on the Ginkgo tree with the many leaves gathered at its base. The recently planted Coralberry shrubs were delightful with their little purple berries and pinkish leaves. The Amsonia with its bright yellow foliage lit up the garden. I was surprised the Begonias were still going strong their bright red flowers were a constant all season. Lastly, I loved the Oak Leaf Hydrangea with its leaves of multiple shades of red and burgundy and the dried flowers that reminded me of pinecones. It was a great fall stroll through the Kruse Garden.

November seems to be the perfect time to put the garden to bed and take stock, and plan for next year. I do that at home, and that’s what we did on our last gardening Wednesday. We walked the gardens and discussed, what worked, what needs to be divided, moved, removed, or added. It was fun to have varied ideas and thoughts and opinions. Gardens are a work in progress, looking forward to gardening next year to see the gardens evolve. If you have some free Wednesdays next year, you are always welcome to join the group. You don’t need to commit to every Wednesday. We always welcome an extra pair of hands, bring your gloves and dig in.

by Christina Covarrubias

October brings more signs of changing seasons, brisk breezes, (sometimes) cooler temperatures, shorter days, and a riot of new colors appearing in the garden. Plant growth slows down, we as gardeners slow down, but things do not have to be blooming to be growing. A lesson for plants and people alike!

While walking around the Kruse garden you may see bright, red berries from viburnum and chokeberry shrubs, resilient flowers still in bloom from Japanese anemones, ageratum, Rozanne geranium, boneset, caryopteris shrubs, beautyberry shrub, lespedeza shrubs, aconitum, and ALL the many asters from east to west and north to south.

As we begin to put the garden to bed for the next season we have to pause to recognize some outstanding plants that survive our once-weekly tending. These plants include the coleus donated as plugs from Cantigny. Who knew they tolerated such dry, dry, dry conditions? The red batwing begonias in containers, fully 28-30 inches tall and gorgeous.

Finally, an honorable mention goes to our newest “archeological discovery” buried flagstones edging a central garden bed above the pond and leading down a path several feet. It may not be quite as exciting as when Christine Baxter, Dick and Barbara Darrah (among others) found the hole that was the pond or the stone steps buried in the hill! Still, the “Kruse crew” composed of our West Chicago Garden Club members continue to preserve this lovely little corner and discover garden design from over 100 years
ago. Come visit the garden any day during daylight hours. Come garden whenever you can Wednesdays 9-11:30am.

By Keith Letsche

The Containers: The Gardens within the Garden at Kruse

White alyssum overflows in abundance
from this contemporary-styled urn by the
front steps of the house

Thinking of the Kruse House garden brings to mind rock-terraced rows of summer phlox, rudbeckia, cone flowers, and other tall perennials. But then there are the containers, bits of garden within the Kruse Garden, bursting with coleus, ornamental cabbage, and other flashy annuals that are in distinct contrast to the clumps of natives that predominate in the beds. Placed at strategic points, like the main entry to the house or the end of a bed, they draw the eye to these points or ornament what would otherwise be a baren space.

In the most spectacular urn of all that
anchors the front street-facing bed, a
canna flames over brightly colored
coleus.

Unlike the recovered rock terraces, the containers are a modern addition to the Kruse garden. The Victorian penchant for garden urns having faded by the time of the Kruse House’s building in 1917, virtually no outdoor pots or urns appear in historic photos of the grounds, and although a number of trellises survive from when the Kruses lived in the house, no containers do. The containers therefore give a contemporary feel to the garden, but not enough to distract from the overall sense of its historical nature. So, the next time you are at Kruse, stop and look at—and even sniff—the planted containers.