The West Chicago Garden Club

“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!

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