The West Chicago Garden Club

Kruse Garden May 2018

When T. S. Eliot wrote that “April is the cruelest month” he was voicing someone who, unlike our fellow gardeners, didn’t want to break out of the doldrums of winter.  However, this year his words certainly applied to us as we suffered through a cold, snowy, rainy month that offered little hope of spring.  Nevertheless, the Kruse crew turned out to start bringing the garden out of its winter sleep.  I was able to join them at the beginning of May to find everything in excellent shape.  Since I am only able to be there occasionally, I concentrated on weeding while the regulars worked on other chores as well.

While pulling up creeping Charlie, my mind wandered back to the early days in the Kruse garden.  We started out with the intention of restoring it to its original state.  We divided the garden into its separate historic areas and asked members to choose one to restore and maintain.  Dick and I chose the iris bed to the side of the path behind the garden shed.  We brought bearded iris from home, planted them and weeded throughout the summers.  Alas, they kept dying out because of the heavy shade from the pear tree.  We started replacing them with Siberian iris, but they weren’t holding up either.  Finally, we started putting in daylilies where we could and bought and planted some Azalea bushes.   About that time, everyone agreed that we weren’t going to be able to actually restore the garden unless the Kruse House board decided to cut down some of the trees.

Having given up on that idea and realizing that those of us still working  were getting burned out, the club decided that we needed to concentrate on planting things that were more easily sustainable and I am amazed at what a great job the new crew of volunteers have done.  They came along at a time when they were needed and saved a project that many of us feared might be doomed to failure.  I’ve enjoyed being able to join them occasionally and suggest that some of you might enjoy doing so as well. Just show up on a Wednesday morning for a few hours and the crew will find something for you to do.

In the meantime, I encourage you to come to our May meeting and see what a wonderful garden we have created.

— Barbara Darrah

Tags: Kruse Garden

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