The West Chicago Garden Club

We’ve been busy at the Kruse Garden the past few weeks doing the Spring clean up; weeding, dividing, removing (editing), planting, trimming and cutting back. The evidence, the growing mountain of yard waste in the driveway. Hopefully, it will be removed soon.

It’s wonderful to see some new faces showing up to help make the garden more beautiful. It’s always great to get some new garden perspective, and additional hands to accomplish all to the tasks.

I took a brief Mother’s Day stroll through the garden to admire the hard work that has gone into the garden and to just enjoy and see what’s in bloom. When you are there working you get so focused on the job at hand that you don’t always see the overall beauty of the garden. The lilacs are blooming; most
coming to the end of their peak. They are still so fragrant and beautiful. You can find the lilacs along the driveway and along the fence. I didn’t realize how many Camassia’s we have coming up and how spread throughout the garden they are. They combine so well with the dwarf yellow iris, allium and brunnera to name a few. Camassia is a perennial herbaceous plant the grows from a bulb and can grow 24-48 inches tall.

The bridal veil shrub is still blooming in the front of the house and along the fence line, not my personal favorite shrub but seems very fitting in the historic home. The containers throughout the garden are awaiting the addition of the summer annuals. The Nepeta or catmint is starting to bloom. I found some trillium in bloom, celandine poppies, columbine, sweet woodruff, brunnera and many others. I encourage you to take a walk through the Kruse Garden and enjoy! The peonies are getting ready to pop!

As a reminder everyone is welcome to join the gardening fun at the Kruse Garden on Wednesday’s 9am to 11:30; bring your gloves and your favorite gardening tool.

Our West Chicago Garden Club Plant Sale will be on Saturday, May 17th from 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM. It will be at the heart of the West Chicago Blooming Fest in Downtown West Chicago.

Most of our plants come from our members’ gardens or are raised in their greenhouses. You will find Natives, Annuals, Perennials, Vegetables, Herbs, and even some small shrubs and trees.  We have many different varieties of Peppers and tomatoes – both Heirloom and Hybrid.

The sale will be held Rain or Shine! Arrive early for the best selection – the tent opens at 9:00am sharp.

The Festival is along Main St. in downtown West Chicago.  Our tent is on Galena St with the entrance on Main St.

A PDF Version of the flyer is available to download.

By Ruth Kyme

Our April speaker will be Chicago-based gardener Jeremy Ohmes.  After acquiring a certificate in Horticultural Therapy from the Chicago Botanic Garden in 2018, Jeremy started Wild World Gardens to share his love of gardening with others and to help them transform their landscapes into beautiful and beneficial ecosystems filled with food, habitat, and connections to local wildlife. He has worked with patients at Schwab Rehabilitation Center and students at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center to combine therapeutic horticulture with creating habitat for struggling species. And he is convinced that gardens can heal and support the whole community of life. 

Jeremy believes gardens can be meaningful spaces for healing and connection. For many years, he stretched out his green thumb with vegetables and herbs and then he discovered the need for more backyard biodiversity. He replaced his front lawn with a pollinator garden and got lots of strange looks from his neighbors. But he also received a lot of interest from friends and curious passersby. 

How do you feel when you dig in the dirt? What do you experience when you sit in a garden? There is little doubt that gardening has many therapeutic benefits and that caring for plants is wonderful for our physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. But what happens when we extend that healing to other species, too? This presentation will show how our gardens can be wild and restorative sanctuaries for humans and nonhumans alike. In Jeremy’s presentation, Co-Creating Gardens for Habitat, Health and Healing, we’ll discuss  and learn how you can create home gardens with native plants and how your landscape—no matter how big or small—can support your health and wellbeing as well as the local environment around you.

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