The West Chicago Garden Club

By Barbara Darrah

I’m sitting in front of a cheerful fire, a glass of wine in my hand, a dozing cat on my lap and my best friend at my side. I look out the window, past the bird feeders, at the winter remnants of our garden. I am not saddened by this barren view because I am taking this time, like the garden itself, to pull my roots back down into myself and let my imagination kindle thoughts of the coming spring and summer. Should we plant something new? Should we cut back an overgrown bush? We all dream of getting out there in the warm sun and getting our hands dirty once again.

I think it would be hard to be a gardener if you couldn’t have this chance to settle into the warmth of this winter hibernation. We need this time to contemplate the bare bones of our surroundings and picture the changes that we can make to enhance this small part of the world that we call our own.

Of course, those of us who volunteer at Kruse House are imagining our “second” garden as well. We are always thinking of ways to improve it without forgetting our ultimate goal of keeping its maintenance low. It’s actually fun to get together for a few hours on a Wednesday morning. We would love to have any of you who occasionally can spare an hour or so to come and join us. Or if you want to stop by any time and pull a weed or two – Welcome.

In the meantime , we can all revel in good food, warm fires and the pleasure of the crisp winter air and dream about the coming spring.

By Kerry Perry

Although it’s the dead of winter, spring planting catalogs started arriving in the mail Jan 2nd. The nurseries and big box stores have already put out starter pots, soil, gardening tools, etc. What an inspiration to think spring!

Since 1998 the Kruse House Garden has been our Club’s community service project. The garden was resurrected, restored and has been tended by many hard-working and dedicated club members. Last year’s garden was spectacular and had an increased number of visitors.

The Kruse Crew game plan for 2020: Add more dirt and mulch to the beds. Replace Smoke Bushes that succumbed to some sort of rot. Thin the lilac bushes to promote new growth, yet retain branches to bloom this year. Add colorful perennials – Japanese Forest Grass, Aralia Cordata and Hibiscus.

The Crew meets regularly Wednesday mornings, weather permitting, May through October. But volunteer anytime that fits your schedule. Stroll through the garden and pull a few weeds or pick up litter that may have blown in. Dead head spent blooms and toss them on the compost pile.

Every little bit helps.

by Billie Childress

2019 Volunteers (Billie is taking the photo)

We’re at the end of the year and what a year it was!

I do not exaggerate when I say the Garden was the “best ever”.

Many things coalesced to bring that to fruition, but the most important factor by far, was these skilled and dedicated gardeners! These folks put in a lot of hours creating and maintaining the garden and they must be recognized as the bedrock to our success. Many thanks to Kerry, Shirley, Jan, Barbara, Chris, and Keith! You are the BEST!

We planted 200 of these tulip bulbs in the garden this fall. I think they will be a delight to behold next Spring! That may sound like a lot of work but it went pretty quickly. We put 5 bulbs in a hole and found places where we could put in three (sometimes five) holes together. We sent for the bulbs from John Scheepers. They were really nice big bulbs! I liked them so much I put in 200 at my house too!

Thanks to Barb Bizzarri for donating this nice bench to the Garden! It’s not unusual to see visitors sitting there when I go at random times during the week to feed the kitties. It’s a great addition to our garden!

Speaking of VISITORS….I wish I had a count, but I’m confident that we had more visitors in the garden this year than any other since the club took on the Garden as our Community Service project twenty years ago! And that increase in visitors was largely due to the spectacular garden art on display this year! Lots of people came to see the artful butterflies our members created, and enjoyed the garden while they were there. We hope they were all inspired to do some gardening of their own after their visit. Many thanks to Janine, Pauline, Marcy, Jodi, Dick, Barbara, Pamela, Jan, Jean Ann, Tom, Barb B, Barb M, Ruth, Kurt, and Kerry for the your artful creations! They were “frosting on the cake”!