The West Chicago Garden Club

Our next meeting will be January 27, 2022 at St Andrew Lutheran Church (NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road.) at 7:00 PM.  Guest are welcome to come and learn about our club.

Heather Prince has been a part of the green industry for more than 20 years, including experience at The Morton Arboretum, Chicago Botanic Garden, The Growing Place, The Pizzo Group, Wannemaker’s Home & Garden, and the American Horticultural Society. She is a professional garden writer and trained horticulturist specializing in
trees, shrubs and natives with a passion for connecting people with plants.

In her program, “Shady Characters: Nifty Plants for Shady Sites,” Heather Prince will explore the colors and textures of shade loving plants as we look at varieties and species for dry shade, moist shade, part shade, and dense shade.

We are planning to hold the January meeting in person as usual this month.  Masks will be required for this meeting and we will not be serving refreshments before the meeting in order to encourage everyone to keep their masks on.

Our October meeting is MEMBERS ONLY, No Guests!

Our October meeting on the 28th will be our ever fun “BULB BINGO” event!  As always our bulb bingo expert, Pauline, has ordered bulbs for our games and everyone that participates will go home with at least two prizes!   If you’re anything like me, you will be surprised when in the spring all of a sudden something new is popping out of the ground and I think to myself….”what is that?” and then I remember….”oh, it’s those beautiful bulbs that I won last year at my wonderful West Chicago Garden Club!

See you on the 28th, please come on time as we will have Mike from the park district speak first and Dan will have a short presentation and promptly start our bingo games.  Bring your own refreshments (coffee, soda or water and anything else that you want to snack on)

All-America Selections (AAS) is a 90 year-old non-profit, but don’t think of this as grandma’s organization! AAS is stronger and more encompassing than ever before. With almost 1000 varieties that have been declared as AAS Winners over the years, it’s almost guaranteed that you have some AAS Winners in your garden.

Come listen to Executive Director Diane Blazek as she gives a high-energy presentation about the AAS Trials, Display Gardens and shows you some tantalizing varieties you will want for your own gardens. 

Diane Blazekis the Executive Director of All-America Selections® and National Garden Bureau. For more than 30 years, Diane has been immersed in gardening both personally and professionally. She brings a passion to the subject based on a history in the field of horticulture publishing as well as a love for gardening and culinary exploration.

Growing up on a small family farm in northern Missouri, Diane spent years helping her parents plant, tend and harvest a large home vegetable garden. As the president and publisher at Ball Publishing for 15 years, she led the way in connecting the commercial side of the industry with consumers via the live focus groups called Consumer Buzz Live! Diane also managed Ball Publishing’s entry into consumer garden book publishing.

Since December of 2009, Diane has been leading both All-America Selections and National Garden Bureau through an exciting period of growth as they establish themselves as inspirational resources in the minds of garden communicators, public gardens, growers, garden retailers and home gardeners.

Join us at St Andrew Lutheran Church (NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road) at 7:00PM on Thursday, September 23rd.