The West Chicago Garden Club

By Mary Anderson

“April is the cruelest month.”

I had always heard this quote and thought it referred to April’s fickle weather, especially the prospect of snow showers right when you thought we just couldn’t get any more. But I found out T.S. Eliot was way darker—he was writing about a character in his poem who was so melancholy and despondent he rejected the rejuvenation that April represents. How could anyone hate a swath of grape hyacinths or a joyful bouquet of daffodils?
Poor man! He really needed a gardener for a friend….

The gardeners at the Kruse house definitely celebrate a new season of growth each year. But cruel April didn’t allow us to get started outside, as our first April date was 38 degrees with gusty winds. So we spent our time in the Kruse house basement winter sowing and preparing for a future day of planting sprouted seeds: zinnias, hollyhocks, coneflowers, alyssum, among others. You can find them soaking up the sun and rain by the back steps at the Kruse house, and later on in various beds where we are confident they will flourish.
The next week we started clean-up. And on our Second-Saturday-of-the-Month Volunteer Day, we continued in earnest. We tackled the Spurge Scourge, trying to get all the underground runners of this particular variety of spurge that is poisonous. We also identified some trees that winter winds battered and we had to cut them down. Power saws! And debris!

2nd Saturday Volunteers

We called the landscaping company that mows at the house and they brought a truck for us to fill up. And we filled it!
So now we’re almost set to get to the fun stuff. We have plans for the border garden, including a hosta hill; we are looking for ideas for the front planters; we are looking forward to Wasco coming to plant the new tulip tree; and we want to add to the fencing along the east side (no Tom Sawyering when we paint it!).

And we are just anticipating seeing the garden in its glory from month to month over the Spring and Summer and Fall, never once considering April’s introduction to Spring as anything except glorious! We’d love to share all this with others, so come by to visit the garden any time.

And something else I learned recently: Being in nature can boost your attention span. The benefits are many! Be inspired to join in.

Tags: Kruse Garden

By Barbara Darrah

It’s a little difficult to write about Kruse this week. I’ve been out of the country for a week. When I left, the temperature was in the sixties. The daffodils were bursting out of the ground. Now they are covered with snow and it is well below freezing. Well, that is spring in the Midwest.

In Istanbul, it was early spring, but they had canceled their tulip festival and everything in the palace gardens was BIG – grasses, trees and ponds – so I am still missing our small ponds and flower filled borders.

During the last few weeks, the Kruse crew has met for coffee and discussions of this year’s plans. Because so many of us were traveling in March, we decided to postpone spring cleanup. What a good idea since everything is now covered with snow. However we will be back in April so if you have an hour or two on a Wednesday or Saturday morning, we would love to have you join us.

By Christina Covarrubias

A February garden in West Chicago should be difficult to discuss. However when you find a weekend with 50-60 degree temperatures it’s easy to survey the garden and take time to admire the winter landscape. Sadly, no early spring bulbs or ephemerals were popping up despite the unseasonable weather.

The Kruse garden, at 527 Main Street, belongs to the original house built in 1917 and presumably the garden dates back closely to that time. Past Kruse garden volunteers describe uncovering stone paths buried in layers of soil, digging a hole to find the hole belonging to the goldfish pond (though we don’t keep goldfish)and explained the north hillside was originally a rock garden. This long established garden offers visual interest in hardscaping, mature trees and perennials left standing from the past season.

As always you are welcome to walk around the garden any day of the week; parking behind the garage. You are also welcome help garden with our wonderful Kruse crew starting in April on Wednesdays from 9-11:30am or the Second Saturday of every month from 9-11:30am. Commitment to come every time is NOT required to join the fun.