The West Chicago Garden Club

Our March speaker will be Amanda Thomsen. Amanda is a horticulturist, garden designer, author, and speaker. She is also owner of Aster Gardens, a small plant and garden shop in Lemont. Amanda has been working as a professional horticulturist, landscape designer and project manager for the last 20+ years. Her focus is bringing rule-breaking fun, a little kitsch and a lot of humor into an industry that is often thought of as stodgy and full of rules.

In this quirky presentation, “150 Ways to Create a Fantastic Yard Totally Tailored to You,”
Amanda is sure to give you and every gardener in the audience an idea or 15 or so. From things you never thought of to things you didn’t think you were brave enough to try- you will leave this presentation INSPIRED!

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

Our February speaker is WCGC member, Vicki Burris.  Vicki is a member of the City of West Chicago Environmental Commission and an active supporter of the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge.  She is passionate about restoring and providing a healthy environment for monarchs and other pollinators.

During her program, Vicki will talk about ways that we can help to increase the monarch butterfly population and prevent further decline.  She will share her knowledge to help us plan a butterfly garden including: sample plans, what to plant, and varieties of milkweed.

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

Three long-time club members will present our January program on Seed Starting: Methods to the Madness. Christina Covarubias, Jeff Handel, and Dan Beebe will share their personal experiences with starting perennial, annual, and vegetable seeds using different indoor and outdoor methods that allow gardeners to get a jumpstart on their gardens in the cold days of winter.

Christina will share her firsthand experiences with winter sowing. Borrowing from nature’s cold stratification process, when winter sowing, you don’t need sunny windows or grow lights, just some outdoor space. Christina will share tips on this “set it, and forget it” method of seed starting, which seeds are best to use, and when to start them

Jeff uses a more traditional indoor seed-starting method. He will cover the specifics of his setup, which seeds he has had success with over the years, and possibly some information on seeds and techniques that have not been very successful.

Dan uses methods similar to Jeff’s but on a larger scale. In preparation for the club’s plant sale and his gardens, Dan starts around 500 tomatoes, 500 peppers, 500 annual flowers, 250 herbs, and 250 other vegetables each year from seed. Dan will share information on the different growing methods, supplies, and tools he has used in the past, as well as some information on other indoor seed-starting methods he has been experimenting with.

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