The West Chicago Garden Club

Monthly Meeting: Behind the Scenes of the Horticulture Industry
2024-09-26 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago) | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Our September speaker will be Diane Blazek, Executive Director of All-America Selections and National Garden Bureau. Diane has been deeply (and happily!) immersed in gardening from an early age. From growing up on a small family farm to her small suburban lot, she is passionate about everything green. After spending 15 years with Ball Publishing, Diane moved to take on her current role where she can be even closer to the end consumer. Both organizations are in an exciting period of growth and influence both inside and outside the industry. Innovative ideas and progressive programs for consumers, garden communicators, public gardens, and a full range of growers and retailers have benefited home gardeners, master gardeners and hobby farmers.
Diane Blazek’s presentation is titled: Behind the Scenes of the Horticulture Industry: How Plants get From Here to There and Other Cool Facts about the Industry. Are you an inquisitive type? Do you like knowing “How was that made?” Or do you look at your garden and wonder how that plant came to be? Diane Blazek has been involved in the horticulture industry since 1993 and is ready to share some behind the scenes facts and figures about how plants get from the breeding fields and greenhouses to your garden. Along the way, a few fun facts are thrown in for an even more interesting evening.
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

Adopt-a-Highway Pickup
2024-10-05 09:00 - 11:00 | Park District on Hawthorne, 830 W. Hawthorn Lane, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
It is time for our Fall Adopt A Highway roadside pickup. We will be meeting on Saturday, October 5th at 8:45am in the parking lot of the Park District garage at 830 W Hawthorne Lane.
We will start our cleanup at 9:00am Expect to spend about 1 to 2 hours walking on relatively flat sidewalk & grass.
Once a year, all volunteers will need to sign a liability waiver stating that you won’t blame the city if you get hurt during the roadside pickup. Copies of the waiver will be available at Saturday’s event. In addition, all participants should watch the State of Illinois’ Adopt a Highway video that can be viewed by clinking on this link: AAH Video.
Orange safety vests, grabbers and garbage bags will be provided. Some roadside trash can be soggy, especially in the Spring, so please bring your own gloves to protect your hands. As the weather in April can be a bit unpredictable, please check the weather forecast and dress accordingly.

Kruse Garden Gardening Day
2024-10-12 09:00 - 11:30 | Kruse Museum & Garden, 527 Main Street, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
You all may be familiar with the garden that our club maintains at the Kruse House Museum 527 Main Street, West Chicago, but you may not have had a chance to contribute to its care personally. Here is your opportunity!! All club members are invited for the next weekend Kruse gardening day happening Saturday, October 12, 2024 from 9-11:30am with a break at 10am. Autumn will be in full swing but that doesn’t mean we will be done in the garden! Please come help us continue to maintain, weed and tidy our club-maintained garden. A regular “Kruse crew” gardener will be there to help direct you to areas of the garden that need tending. Every little bit of help makes a difference. As always, this is another way to earn some Garden Bucks.

Monthly Meeting: Bulb Bingo (Members Only)
2024-10-24 19:00 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Our annual Bulb Bingo event! Learn about the various types of bulbs as we play Bingo to win them. This event is for garden club members only.

Monthly Meeting: Potluck & Garden Bucks Raffles (Members Only)
2024-11-21 06:30 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Plans are still being finalized, so check your November newsletter for the latest details.
To avoid the Thanksgiving holiday, our November meeting will be held on the 3rd Thursday of November, one week earlier than our other monthly meetings. The November meeting is our annual business meeting, as specified in the Club’s bylaws. During the short business meeting, I will present a brief State of the Club presentation. Kerry will give the year-end Treasurer’s Report, and we will hold the election for the Club’s 2025 Board of Directors. We will also have our annual Pot Luck dinner, hosted by our Vice President, Janet Frogner. Several months ago, I mentioned that some of our traditional events, including the November meeting, would be experiencing some hanges due to the growth in the club’s active membership. The Board has decided that the annual Silent Auction will be replaced by two raffles. One raffle will be for Gift Cards to local nurseries, and the second will be for new and gently used items brought to the event by members, similar to what we have done in the past. Raffle tickets will be purchased using the Garden Bucks (‘real fake money’) that you have been earning all year while attending and volunteering at club events. Please start calculating the number of Garden Bucks you have earned and collect them from the Member Table at our September and October meetings. If you have any questions about Garden Bucks, please ask at the Member Table. Do not wait until November, as there is a lot going on, and we expect many members to attend.

Monthly Meeting: Seed Starting
2025-01-23 19:00 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Our first monthly meeting for 2025! Come learn about starting your own seeds. This program will cover both traditional seed starting and winter sowing.

Field trip: Native Gardens play at the MAC
2025-02-02 15:00 - 17:00 | MAC at College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Boulevard, Glen Ellyn, IL, 60137, United States
Registration is closed for this field trip.

Monthly Meeting: Butterflies
2025-02-27 19:00 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Presented by Vickie Burris

Members: Watch for POP-UP Potting Parties
2025-03-01 - 2025-04-30
Watch for emails from the club for information about the POP-UP Potting Parties for potting up annuals that are donated to the club. We do not receive much advance notice on these (usually only a couple of days in advance), but it is important to get the plants potted up right away. Emails are most likely going to come from our SignUp Genius email: SignUp@WestChicagoGardenClub.org

Monthly Meeting: 150 Ways to Create a Fantastic Yard
2025-03-27 19:00 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
150 Ways to Create a Fantastic Yard tailored to you. Details TBA

Members: Potting Party
2025-03-30 13:00 - 16:00, 2025-04-06 13:00 - 16:00, 2025-04-19 09:00 - 13:00, 2025-04-26 09:00 - 13:00 | Park District on Hawthorne, 830 W. Hawthorn Lane, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Member event for potting up plants for our May 17th Plant Sale. See newsletter for more information.

Adopt-a-Highway Pickup
2025-04-05 13:00 - 15:00 | Park District on Hawthorne, 830 W. Hawthorn Lane, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
It is time for our Spring Adopt A Highway roadside pickup. We will be meeting on Saturday, April 5th at 12:45pm in the parking lot of the Park District garage at 830 W Hawthorne Lane (Click
here for Google Map). We will start our cleanup at 1:00pm Expect to spend about 1 to 2 hours walking on relatively flat sidewalk & grass.
Once a year, all volunteers will need to sign a liability waiver stating that you won’t blame the city if you get hurt during the roadside pickup. Copies of the waiver will be available at
Saturday’s event. In addition, all participants should watch the State of Illinois’ Adopt a Highway video that can be viewed by clicking on this link: AAH Video.
Orange safety vests, grabbers and garbage bags will be provided. Some roadside trash can be soggy, especially in the Spring, so please bring your own gloves to protect your hands. As
the weather in April can be a bit unpredictable, please check the weather forecast and dress accordingly.

Kruse Garden Work Day
2025-04-12 09:00 - 11:30 | Kruse Museum & Garden, 527 Main Street, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
One of our main volunteer projects in the garden club is the care and maintenance of the Kruse garden in downtown West Chicago. We are expanding the volunteer opportunities by having a regular weekend garden day each month.
All members are welcome to help at any or all of these dates, no help is too small! Please mark your calendars and join as you’re able. Many gardeners have commented that they enjoy the camaraderie and have learned something new from time spent in the Kruse garden.
We will meet the second Saturday of every month, 9-11:30am, weather permitting. Please email WestChicagoGardenClub@gmail.org if you are interested in receiving updates on garden workdays and potential updates regarding weather. Note: we will NOT meet in May due to the many plant sale activities and we WILL continue to meet every Wednesday from 9 to 11:30am as we have done in the past.
Questions? Please see Kerry Perry or Christina Covarrubias

Monthly Meeting: Co-creating Gardens for Habitat, Health and Healing
2025-04-24 19:00 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Presented by Jeremy Ohems.

Field Trip: Tour Lilacia Park
2025-05-03 10:00 - 23:30 | Lilacia Park, 150 S Park Ave, Lombard, IL, 60148
We are planning a local field trip. We will take a tour of the park with a docent from the Lombard Historical Society. Lilacia Park is a horticultural showcase that features over 700 lilacs and 35,000 tulips.
Saturday, May 3rd—10:00am—$5 for Members/ $9 for Non-Members
Watch your email for more information.

Members Only Plant Sale
2025-05-15 17:00 - 20:00 | Park District on Hawthorne, 830 W. Hawthorn Lane, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Watch your email for details!

Plant Sale at Blooming Fest
2025-05-17 09:00 - 14:00 | Downtown West Chicago, Main Street & Galena Street, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Come early for the best selection! The rope drops at 9:00AM and the sale runs until we are out of plants or around 2:00pm.

Monthly Meeting: Birds in the Garden
2025-05-22 19:00 - 20:30 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
Presented by Pam Karlson.

Twilight Tuesday
2025-05-27 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-06-03 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-06-10 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-06-17 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-07-01 18:30 - 20:00, 2025-07-08 18:30 - 20:00
A chance for members to visit another member’s garden. Check your email for details.

Field Trip: Redbud Creek Farm & Hornbaker Gardens
2025-06-21 08:30 - 17:00 | St Andrew Lutheran Church, 155 N Prince Crossing Rd, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
$20 for Members
$30 for Non-Members
Register Online at our Square Store
We need at least 30 people to sign up by June 6 to make this trip possible!

Monthly Meeting: Ikebana
2025-06-26 19:00 - 20:30 | Kruse Museum & Garden, 527 Main Street, West Chicago, IL, 60185, United States
“Ikebana Demonstration” by E-Ling Lou
Weather permitting, this meeting will be held at the Kruse House Museum Garden.

Pot Drop Off at the Barn
2025-06-28 13:00 - 16:00 | “The Barn”, 30W150 Wilson Rd,, West Chicago, IL, 60185
On June 28th, we will open the barn at Kress Creek from 1 PM to 4 PM to tidy up the supplies from the plant sale and we will be accepting return of plant sale signs, any pricing sticks you may have and donations of miniblinds, pots and trays.﻿﻿
When you donate pots, please make our job easier by removing the tags and emptying dirt and other debris and sorting them by size before bringing them over to the barn. If you can help us sort the pots even for an hour, it will be greatly appreciated, and you will earn garden bucks for the donation of your pots and your time. Please use signup genius so we know you are coming
For more details, please see Page 3 of the June Newsletter
