The West Chicago Garden Club

Our May speaker will be Liz Omura, horticulturist at Cantigny in Winfield.  She is in charge of designing, planting and maintaining the beds in the Idea Garden at Cantigny.  In her presentation, Envisioning Garden Design, Liz will share with us her approach on how she designs a garden space -both at Cantigny and in her home garden.

Does your garden include functional areas for entertaining, wildlife refuge or a source for fresh veggies?  Does it incorporate a core mood of what you want your dream garden to feel like?  Does it include your favorite sensory experiences?  We’ll cover many of these elements in this talk and spark ideas on how to add these elements to your own landscape. 

Meeting Location: St Andrew Lutheran Church NE Corner of Prince Crossing & Geneva Road.

Meeting Time: 6:45PM Refreshments – 7:00PM Business Meeting – 7:15PM Program

By Keith Letsche

After delays by April’s cold and rainy weather, the Kruse House garden crew has been working diligently in May to get the garden in shape. The past two Wednesdays were spent trimming and removing dead branches and plant stalks and giving the garden a thorough weeding. Also last Wednesday, the front beds were planted for the summer with marigolds and alyssum. Next week the pansies and johnny-jump-ups in the front and side urns will be traded for clusters of summer flowers. Joining the Kruse House crew since last report is Christina Covarrubias. Not only will she be digging in the garden with the rest of the crew, but will be acting as the liaison between the Garden Club and the Historical Society and planning garden tours and other events to draw more people to the garden.

Although April’s lush rows of grape hyacinths are now gone, clumps of irises and other later spring plants are blooming in the front bed on the east side. In the backyard the branches of the redbud are coated with rosy blooms, one of the real treats of spring. And a new lattice screen, built by Kerry Perry and a friend of hers, has been erected in front of the condominium transformer at the end of the driveway. We are fast moving toward June when the garden will be at its height.

If you are interested in volunteering, our Kruse Gardeners are out in the garden (527 Main Street) every Wednesday morning (weather permitting). All are welcome!

Our April speaker will be Glenn Grosch.  Glenn is an experienced horticulturist and has been a certified arborist. He is an entertaining lecturer with strong academic credentials.  Glenn has been on the Chicago Botanic Garden teaching staff since 1997.

Glenn’s program, ‘Success With Woodies,’ will provide us with all the information we will ever need to know to successfully grow all types of woodies (trees, shrubs, deciduous, conifers). The presentation will cover details on site selection, plant selection, planting, pruning, fertilizing, watering and mulching. Some of the newer concepts on planting, pruning, and fertilizing will be a part of the program. Glenn will also give recommendations on his favorite woodies for your home garden.

Glenn was the speaker at our February 2020 meeting where he gave a presentation on Organic Gardening.