The West Chicago Garden Club

By Christine Gisela

Don’t be fooled to think that Fall is here just because stores have ghosts and goblins and Halloween candy everywhere. Summer is still going strong and the Kruse House gardens have an abundance of blooming annuals and perennials to prove it. The containers by the front door have a beautiful display of annuals with color in hues of pink to purple and dapples of variegated green.

Our winter sown hollyhocks on the side of the house are growing strong amid the marigolds and cosmos.
The marigolds, alyssum, and zinnias by the front sign couldn’t be happier. The newly planted Tulip tree is
doing well, setting it’s root system for the upcoming dormant season. The back garden continues to display an array of color from the phlox, black eyed Susan, and coneflowers. These perennials are also in bloom in the bed by the comment box along with some moon flowers and zinnia.

A few weeks ago, we removed the two cotoneasters in the front bed by the driveway. It’s much more open now and a perfect spot to showcase the newly planted Limelight Hydrangea and perennials.

Stop by and take a peek, the plants will be so excited to see you, to show off their beauty and splendor.

All are welcome to join the Kruse Crew any Wednesday 9-11:30. Come check out the garden anytime.

By Marilyn Santos McNabb

Gardening this July is not easy, with the excessive heat and all the heavy rain, we struggle to keep up with the weeding, pruning, and deadheading! After the successful removal of a huge pile of “garden debris” The Kruse Crew did manage to install a couple of imaginative compost bins, one made of dog play fences and garden fence panels; the other a donated compost bin from Kerry! We will continue to find other means to collect and compost our garden trimmings to showcase how these methods can be applied to other people’s yards.

What do we, the Kruse Crew, do in July? We deadhead, cut back plants to encourage a second flush of blooms, check what plants need to be divided in the fall, what plants need to be moved because they’ve been crowded out, admire the color combinations of the pots, eat cake and cookies during breaks, or just enjoy how the garden is coming about!

Talk about application! We want to focus our attention this month on the educational side of volunteering. We continue to learn not just from our monthly speakers, visits to other’s gardens on our Twilight Tuesdays, field trips to different nurseries but also from *each other*! Kruse house is the application side of all this knowledge, not just to showcase the Museum but to showcase plants, techniques, color combinations, and color successions that you might be apprehensive in starting in your own home.

In volunteering, we learn firsthand what the most aggressive weeds are, what to plant in the front of the garden, the back of the garden, what colors go well, when to divide plants, winter-sowing, composting, etc! We experience firsthand successes and failures! So, if you want to get your hands dirty, join us for a couple of hours, maybe weekly, maybe once or twice a month, a couple times in the summer, we don’t ask for much! You might gain a new plant, some seeds, or a tremendous knowledge of gardening! If you have questions or are interested in volunteering, please talk to Christina, Kerry, Dee, Jean Ann, Chris, Barbara, Mary A, Judy, or Marilyn at the President’s picnic.

Note: Our July meeting is for Members Only.  If you would like to visit our club, please come to our August meeting which is open to all.

Our July meeting is our traditional annual President’s Picnic. The first picnic was hosted in July
1999 by one of our early club presidents, Carole Bates. She provided some basics and everyone was asked to bring a dish to share and your own food to grill. We all had a such a wonderful time and we continue to hold our President’s Picnic every July. Our venue has changed over the years and members only have to bring themselves for a fun evening of food and lively discussions with fellow gardeners.

If you submitted your RSVP for the Picnic, you should receive an email with all the details by Tuesday, July 21st. If you do not receive an email, please contact us at WestChicagoGardenClub@gmail.com so we can figure out what happened and get the information sent to you.