The West Chicago Garden Club

Well Folks, our June meeting at the Kruse House was quite a meeting. And, due to the weather, it almost didn’t happen. We have to thank Donna and Kent Orlendeni for their assistance in setting up the chair and tables. And also a Thank You to Dick Darrah, who made the decision to go ahead with the meeting. As it turned out, it was a pretty good night, and from what I could tell a lot of members enjoyed the gardens, and the speaker.

The speaker at this meeting was a very creative lady who I think was named Nancy. This lady would take old used items and make them into something which was either useful, or decorative, or both. There was no end to the things this lady could make. She really inspired me to see if I could do as she did. I could not wait to get home and start making stuff.

My first attempt was one that I had made before, the tin can telephone. I thought my Grand Daughter would love it. So I got a couple of cans, cut off the tops, punched holes in them and put a string in them and I was ready to go. My Brother stopped over and saw me making my phone and we decided to give them a test. He took one of the cans and went around the side of the house, and we started talking. Then I heard him yell “Ouch”. He then came back holding his ear. Apparently I didn’t cut the top of the can too well and when he put it up his ear, well you know what happened. But hey, it was a small cut (two band aids); I then deposited the “phones” in the re-cycle bin.

My second attempt at “creative re-cycling” involved an old tennis ball which I found on my work bench. I decided that this would make a great set of ear protectors for when I cut the grass. So I cut the ball in half and screwed a piece of plastic on them. I put them on and out to the yard I went. As I was cutting the Parkway the cars going past me seemed to honking their horns, and yelling something. I don’t know what they were saying because I had my new ear protectors on. But when people started waving tennis rackets at me, I felt it was time to hang them

After two failed attempts, I decided to go into the house and have a cup of tea. But, I had no teabags. Another chance for me to re-cycle. I got some tissue paper, red and green Christmas type, some loose tea, some string from my failed tin can phone and my stapler. Now I had a very stylish teabag, time for tea. Up until this point I was not aware that the coloring used in tissue paper was not colorfast. I know now.

All things considered, I think that I will not try to re-cycle quite so much anymore. I hope you have better luck with your projects.

Happy Gardening,
Tom

Boom!

May and early June were sensational at the Kruse Garden.  It seemed as though nothing was coming back and then suddenly…boom! Plants woke up from the long, hard winter and exploded into bloom. First thing every Wednesday morning our team walks the garden. We look at what’s currently blooming, what’s starting to peek out and what tasks we want to complete.  You can hear our “oohs” and “aahs”…not unlike hearing a crowd watching fireworks.

The peony displays were spectacular!  The Single Shell Peony, donated by Billie, has large single flowers of delicate pink with yellow centers.  In front of the house is a lightly scented, semi-double flower peony, from Klemms Nursery, that stands upright over three feet.  Behind the garage, is a fabulous pink, full double bloom peony, original to the house. Its fragrance is incredible! The back and side gardens contain several other vintage varieties, including bomb-type flowers.

Rosa Glauca gave us an impressive show. The oldest rose in the garden, has fragile, clear pink flowers. The species name of glauca refers to the bluish-green coloring found on many of the leaves.

Other lovely shows were the Lemon Lily, the first lily to bloom in the garden. It looks like lemon sherbet…good enough to eat. The Orion Geranium has a vibrant blue-violet bloom and puts on a spectacular foliar display in autumn. Some gardeners believe Orion is a true rival of the pretty Rozanne Geranium also found in the Kruse garden.

Selecting the right plants for under the large tree in the front yard has been a challenge. The area is dry and shady.  We planted some Canadian Wild Ginger that will spread slowly, and we hope to have a dense bed in a few years.

Angie is our designer…she has a good eye for staging plants for texture, color, height and bloom time.  Billie is our walking plant encyclopedia and knows the Latin names as well as the common names.  They both really know their plants and how to care for them. Tom and I are learning a lot from them.

Come join us in the garden.  Help us tend the lovely plants or just stroll and enjoy.

Kerry, Billie, Angie & Tom

“I’m late, I’m late, I’m late for an important date,” said the White Rabbit in ‘Alice-in-Wonderland,’ hopping to his tea party. We at the Kruse garden were also late, not for a tea party, but for our spring clean-up. But we didn’t have the Rabbit’s spryness or enthusiasm.

Spring came early and caught us by surprise. In early April the one project that was done in the garden was the cutting and pruning of trees. We participated.

In mid-April I stopped at the Kruse garden and saw a lot of yellow in the distance—surely not! The daffodils couldn’t be blooming!  Perennials were coming up amid the leaves, dried flower stalks and debris from last year. I was quite startled and hesitant to look closely—maybe woodcocks were nesting in the grasses? Were rabbits thriving? Could foxes have made a den in the debris? I couldn’t bear to look up at the pear tree for fear pears were already hanging down. Spring had truly sprung and caught us unprepared. The time had come and gone when we should have slapped on our gardening gloves, bravely stepped into our Wellingtons, and firmly gripped those trusty rakes.

My dear friends that garden with me at the Kruse garden have been patient. We always work together. I’m very sure they were anxious to rake and haul and get a bit of spring mud on their shoes. They were looking forward to the bracing wind and lungfuls of fresh, biting air. And a little rain? Short of a thunderous downpour, it would not hinder, but be just a refreshing touch of spring.

I’m sure they’ve spent the many months studying, perusing gardening books, dreaming of beautiful garden vistas and fragrant roses. They have scouted out garden centers for trees. They’ve seeded and checked on the best prices and selections. They know of new equipment, better shovels, rakes and gardening methods. They know of new plants, better plants, great colors. They have a grip on hardier cultivars, hard scapes and soft scapes and every kind of garden décor. We had to go to the garden.

So finally we got our clean-up underway. The day was beautiful and the work went well. We finished up on a second Wednesday, dug some plants for the plant sale and planted some annuals. And of course we admired our work and congratulated ourselves on a job well-done. Oh, the joy of gardening!