Chicagoland Gardening Magazine

The year ended on a high note for many Chicago gardeners as they assembled at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in December to receive their awards in the city’s annual Landscape Awards Contest. It was a high note for us, too, since it turned out that three of the first place winners had already appeared in the pages of Chicagoland Gardening: Nancy and Mike Block for their tiny but floriferous Mt. Greenwood garden (“Tight Squeeze” Sept/Oct '08), Bernice Pink for her downtown high-rise balcony sculpture garden (“Backyard on a Balcony” Nov/Dec '04), and Loretta Downs, who raises monarch butterflies by the hundreds at her Bucktown two-flat garden (“Butterfly Mom” May/June '09). The garden of St. Ignatius College Prep on Roosevelt Rd., which appeared in last year’s Jan/Feb issue, received a second place award (“Taking the Garden to School”).

Also winning awards were two other gardeners whose home gardens we have featured in the past — Laury Lewis and John Young, who received awards this year for new projects in the Sheffield neighborhood and in a downtown high-rise, respectively.

Obviously (and please excuse us for tooting our own horn, here), Chicagoland Gardening has been bringing you stories about the best and brightest for lo, these many years. Clearly we’re the go-to folks when it comes to the best gardening in Chicagoland.

And in case you were wondering, 2011 marked the 55th year of the city’s garden contest. Let’s hope it continues for another 55.

Carolyn Ulrich
Editor

Look Down

We often hear that winter is a time to appreciate trees—their shapes, the color and texture of their bark, the lines etched against the sky by their branches. All true, of course. But those are usually big trees we’re talking about. What about small — really small — trees? As in bonsai.

The weekend of Jan. 27 to 29, the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe will host a “Three Friends of Winter” exhibit of deciduous bonsai trees from its collection. The title references the Japanese tradition in which the three friends are pine, bamboo and plum, all of which will be incorporated into an interior Japanese garden. Each bonsai will be exhibited with an accent object such as suiseki, an incense burner, statuary, or pottery on contemporary-design cottonwood benches made from trees felled within the Garden. Family activities and lectures included.

Time for Lilies

For several years the Wisconsin-Illinois Lily Society has been hosting a series of free Sunday afternoon lectures on lilies and related topics, beginning in January. The lectures continue this year but instead of just one venue, there will be four in the greater Chicagoland area and one in Milwaukee. The first will take place January 29 at the Northbrook Public Library, 1201 Cedar Lane, Northbrook, when Woodruff Imberman, president of the society, presents "How To Grow Great Lilies on the North Shore." 2 p.m. Free. Info: 847-733-0071.

Family Fun

Living in the western suburbs? Check out the offerings at the Trailside Museum of Natural History, 738 Thatcher Ave., River Forest. Many family programs and nature walks. On Jan. 15 they’re offering “Native Seeds to Native Plants,” a seed-starting workshop. 1 p.m. $2. Advanced registration required for some programs. Info: 708-366-6530 or email: trailsidemuseum@yahoo.com.

Forge Ahead into 2012

In recent years the Porter County Master Gardeners Association has been putting on the hottest garden show in town. Once a modest seed exchange, it now gathers in more than 2,000 enthusiastic area gardeners who brave the elements to hear the distinguished speakers, see the exhibits and come home with a plant or two. We’ll be there as usual, selling subscriptions, and we love to chat. This year’s show will take place Jan. 21 at the Porter County Exposition Center in Valparaiso. This one really is worth the price of admission.

What to Do in the Garden

Although winter has started off mild, that’s not likely to last and if you have precious plants like rhododendrons, Hydrangea macrophylla and a hybrid tea rose that would benefit by a little protection, it’s not too late. Wrap them with burlap (yes, it’s ugly but it can make the difference between life and death) and fill the space with leaves. Piling up leaves at the base of the plant helps too, but wind will blow them away. The burlap can hold the leaves in place.
Use care when purchasing a snow-melting product. Avoid using salt if possible. To read up on the subject, see Beth Botts’ article in the Nov/Dec. 2011 issue.
Feed the birds. Suet cakes quickly attract downy woodpeckers. Goldfinches require black niger seed. Since the males look gray during the winter, you may not realize you have them.
Plan to add woody plants that will bring wildlife into your garden this coming year. Every spring the returning robins chow down the berries on my next door neighbor’s crabapple trees. Highbush cranberry (Viburnum opulus) and its cousins are other good choices for feeding the birds.
And speaking of wildlife, have you considered snakes? In our upcoming March/April issue, there will be a story about the joys of having snakes in your garden. I kid you not.
Pore over the garden catalogs. Make wish lists and then pare them down to something affordable