The West Chicago Garden Club

By Ruth Kyme

Our June speaker Thom Skibble, will introduce us to the concept of permaculture.

Thom tells us:

I used to work as an event planner and that industry, along with many others, shut down during the pandemic.  I took advantage of that time off of work to return to college.  I started with a Sustainable Urban Agriculture class at the College of DuPage.  That opened my eyes to many things and I was hooked.

The Permaculture Research Institute defines permaculture as a system that integrates land, resources, people and the environment through mutually beneficial synergies – imitating the no waste, closed loop systems seen in diverse natural systems.  Basically it is a way to grow food by creating healthy ecosystems that solve problems like pest control, fertilizing, and more.  It combines my passion for growing healthy foods, integrating native plants, and helps to sequester carbon to fight global climate change.  I love sharing what I know and helping people grow healthy foods for themselves.  I have also been a member of the Northern Illinois Iris Society for over a decade and have several award winning Irises in my yard.  I am continuing my education and looking forward to continuing to develop a wholistic design style that provides food and looks beautiful.

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

By Marilyn Santos McNabb

The vast assortment of perennials and beautiful shrubs and trees are coming to life at Kruse Gardens after a fairly good spring rain!  The purple larkspurs are so stunning next to the bright orange poppies!  Both are reseeds from last year!  The blooms of the Persicaria next to the pond is like smoke coming out of the greenery! the rose campion is beautiful in its rich magenta flowers next to the double petaled feverfew!

On to the front of the house, the Shasta daisies are starting to open, the planters are gorgeous with the deep purple and green kale accompanied by white angelonia and purple stock!  The very tall pink snapdragons are almost done with its first batch of blooms, time to pinch back, gather and save the seeds, and in a few weeks will shoot their next beautiful buds!

On the side west side of the house, are beautiful stands of sweet peas and a great contrast of shades of green from the grasses, boxwoods and juniper! Oftentimes, we forget that the different textures of leaves, and shades of green, sizes of the leaves, add so much interest and impact to a simple driveway.

Lastly, stop by and view the art work reminiscent of ancient Olmec  statues carved between 1200BCE to 400BCE.  The Olmecs , an aztec term meaning rubber people, given to the inhabitants of the gulf coast, now known as VeraCruz and Tabasco, created heads, quarried and carved to commemorate their rulers. There are 4 total pieces scattered all over West Chicago.

We welcome you to visit Kruse House Gardens and if you are interested in working in the gardens we are there Wednesdays, 9:00 to 11:30am.

This amazing cake was courtesy of member Marilyn Santos McNabb

Originally posted on our Facebook page by our Publicity Director, Ruth Gauss.

At our club meeting last week we celebrated a very special moment. Billie Childress was given a Lifetime Membership to the club in recognition for all of her hours of service and dedication. We hope you were in attendance, but if not here are some information that our club president, Dan Beebe, shared about Billie’s time as a club member.

First seen on a 2002 Membership list (22 years), she jumped right in volunteering for the club.

In the last 22 years, Billie has been:

• Club President
• Vice President
• Program Director
• Plant Sale – Plant Acquisition & Digging Squad
• Workshop Presenter
• Public Art Coordinator
• Kruse House Garden Coordinator w/ Angie Sadauskus (starting 2007)
• Kruse House Garden Chair on the board once it became a position until her “retirement” at the end of 2023

For the Kruse House Garden, she has been Landscape Architect, Gardener, & an overall advocate. Billie, along with her dedicated crew of Kruse House Gardeners, was instrumental in making the garden into what you see today.

Tonight, I am pleased to announce, on behalf of the club’s board of directors and general membership that Billie Childress has been granted a Lifetime Membership in the West Chicago Garden Club.

In addition, the club has purchased a bench, to be installed later this year in a West Chicago Park District Park. This bench will bear the following inscription:

Honoring Billie Childress
for her passionate service
to the Kruse House Garden
and West Chicago Garden Club

Photographs compliments of Claudia Frost