The West Chicago Garden Club

By Barbara Darrah

I looked out the window this morning and saw an exquisite winter landscape.  There was a new skim of snow over the old which reflected a bright blue sun filled  sky .   It is early in March and the latest polar vortex has our temperatures plunging and I am thinking of spring.  Why?  Because I know that under that dead -looking  landscape,  life is stirring.  Microorganisms  are busily enriching the soil.  Roots  are writhing and bulbs and corms are sleepily starting to move.

Also, I was at last week’s garden club meeting and felt the fervor starting to build in me to get out there, begin planting and enjoy the “Simple Pleasures”  of the garden.

This is the time when I ‘m grateful that I live in the Midwest.  I have had time to rest and regenerate my gardening genes (and jeans) and am itching to get started.

Dick and I visit other gardens during the summer and get ideas for “next year” but we often forget over the winter.  Nina Koziol’s  pictures reminded us of the glorious  Cocoa Bean  plants we saw at Cantigny .  We also discussed putting some blue flowers over by the bee hive.   We are thinking about more Japanese Forest Grass – much more.  Out come the seed catalogues and here go our imaginations again.

Finally, I am going to make more efforts to stop weeding, sit back and enjoy  the view – not only in our own garden but at Kruse House as well.  We have convenient  benches there and you might enjoy stopping in as well,  especially this summer  when the butterfly art appears.  Ours is almost done and we have had lots of fun planning and putting it  together .  I read that butterflies might have originally been called flutter-bys and over time the initial letters  were reversed.  I love the image of them fluttering by.

With this image in mind,  I hope that by the time you read this,  I can truthfully wish all of  you a Happy Spring.

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