Since moving into their Orland Park home 30 years ago, Kathy and Lee Miller have turned their eight acres into a paradise of flower beds, including a section that features an English walled garden built by Lee Miller out of stone the couple purchased in Arkansas.
“It’s a slate color and more like what you’d see in England,” said Kathy Miller.
Foxgloves, lupines, coneflowers, primroses, astilbes, violas, elderberries and wisteria are just a few of the horticultural highlights of the Miller garden. Rose-covered arbors, a pergola draped in flowering vines, herb and vegetable gardens and two greenhouses complete the bucolic setting.
“I like the sound of the birds. The garden has such a peacefulness as everything else gets so crowded (in the suburbs),” Kathy said.
All this serenity has come at a price, of course.
“We’ve worked pretty hard to make sure everything looks good,” she explained. “Our most in-depth gardening is done on the weekends. My husband is (gardening) eight hours a day on Saturday and Sunday, and I gave up tennis to work on it.”
The Millers also have a helper who works full time during May and June keeping the garden in order.
“That’s the only way we could do it,” she said. “There’s no way we could keep up with so much land. Living in the woods, there are always things falling from the trees (that need to be picked up). You have to be more particular for a garden walk.”
The results of such meticulous care by the Millers and others like them will be on display this summer as southwest suburban garden clubs sponsor walks. And although the homeowners do the dirty work, the benefits of garden walks spread throughout their communities.
“People like to get ideas for their own gardens on the walks. Even if you don’t have a garden of your own, you can live vicariously through another person’s garden,” said Patricia Schwalm, Web site director for the Garden Clubs of Illinois in Oak Brook (www.gardenglories.org).
“The biggest advantage is you get to see a variety of plants growing in different environments,” said Jeanine Gauen of Lemont, volunteer district director for the Garden Clubs of Illinois. “You talk to the gardeners and find out their growing secrets.”
“The gardens you see in magazines are often not representative of what we can do in this climate. You get to see real gardens,” said avid gardener Deb Terrill of Kankakee.
Terrill belongs to the Kankakee Kultivators Garden Club, which held its fifth annual garden walk, the Town and Country Garden Tour, June 18. The walk, which included six gardens along the Kankakee River, is a major fundraiser for the club.
“Many clubs use the money for civic beautification projects. It’s fun doing a project like the garden walks, and it gives something back to the community,” Gauen said.
The Kultivators last year gave $5,000, proceeds from the garden walk, for landscape and gardening projects at the Kankakee YMCA, the city’s housing authority, local schools and the county fair board.
“We didn’t start out (with the goal of) giving grants,” Terrill said. “The initial reason was to promote an interest in gardening. We really didn’t expect to make this much money.”
Of the 60 club members, Terrill said, “Every single one works on the walk. We limit the ticket sales ($15 per person) to 400 because of the pressure on the turf in the gardens. We have lots of calls at the last minute, and this year we began offering tickets two months in advance.”
Those who missed the Kultivators walk will have an opportunity to see other unique private gardens in Palos Park, Orland Park, Oak Lawn and Crete.
Six gardens, including the Millers’ in Orland Park, will be featured from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 28 when Palos Park Garden Guilds I & III host “A Walk in the Park.”
Esther Johnson of Palos Park has been a member of Garden Guild I for more than 30 years and is enthusiastic about this year’s selection of gardens.
“They’re all different and really outstanding,” she said. “One is a waterfall garden, and another has a garden wall that contains artifacts from (the owner’s) travels. Anyone who likes gardens or nature will enjoy the walk.”
An 18-year member of Garden Guild I, Muriel Benz of Palos Park said the guilds hope to raise $2,500 each to be used for community projects and college scholarships.
“This year we got 500 trees to give to local kindergarten students and villagers,” Benz said. “That’s our contribution to Palos Park. It helps youngsters learn what it means to plant a tree.”
Funds also go to Nature Conservancy projects in and near Palos Park and to support Garden Clubs of Illinois’ projects throughout the state.
“All proceeds go back to the community,” said Meg Baldermann of Palos Park, Garden Guild III’s president. “There’s such an interest in gardening. It gives the community a chance to visit local gardens and see what grows well. We’re showcasing the best of what can be done.”
And as the guilds make philanthropic plans, Louise and Jack Howe are furiously at work weeding, mowing, trimming, fertilizing and mulching to get their Palos Park garden in tip-top shape for the walk.
“I can’t tell you how many loads of wood chips we’ve brought in and how many flagstones we’ve rearranged,” Louise Howe said. “It’s backbreaking, but it’s kind of fun.”
She began gardening in 1991 with three small pots of perennials on her property, which covers three-quarters of an acre. The garden has grown to include a 2,000-gallon pond that’s home to 13 koi (each of which has a name) and gardens for shade and sun.
“I’m working on it two full days a week and every evening. As soon as you finish cleaning up one area, you realize you have to go back and deadhead (remove dead flowers) in another,” she said. “We hope that people will come and enjoy the walk. After the 28th, I’m not doing a thing.”
Gourmet baked goods, crafts and live music will be available at the Palos Park Village Hall the day of the garden walk. Tickets for the walk are $15 and include a box lunch.
The Oak Lawn Garden Club will hold its walk from 1 to 5 p.m. July 12. Tickets for the walk are $5. Included in the five gardens featured will be two ponds, perennial flower beds, ornamental grasses and a moon garden filled with white flowers that glow at dawn and dusk. Two of the featured gardens were winners of the club’s 1997 Beautiful Yard Contest.
The handiwork of club president Roberta Janet will be on display.
“I have a white garden with columbine, phlox, hibiscus, begonias, goatsbeard and iris,” Janet said. A vegetable garden, fish pond and flower beds dot the perimeter of her yard, which keeps her busy three to four hours a day.
“I’m either pulling weeds or moving things,” she explained. “We’re about three weeks early (because of the warm weather). You might see a lot of my fall flowers blooming by the walk.
“Sometimes I work a lot, and sometimes I relax by my pond,” said Janet, who likes to take a break between removing the spent flowers from her perennials. She admires the four other gardens on the walk as well.
“There’s a little country garden, and another one has a patio and shows what can be done with a small garden. They’re very creative,” Janet said.
The Oak Lawn Garden Club purchased an $800 bench for the village and gave $100 to a local animal shelter for landscaping with last year’s proceeds. Club members have made laminated bookmarks with pressed flowers that will sell for $1.50 each. The club hopes to donate money from this year’s walk to the village to purchase trees.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 15 and 16, the Garden Society of the Crete Woman’s Club will hold “A Day in the Country” featuring five gardens, including lunch in the display gardens at Plum Creek Nursery in Crete. Owner Ruth Tamminga says this is the sixth year for the walk, which attracts about 300 people each day.
“It’s well-organized. We have a variety of gardens every year. One of them on this year’s tour is a country garden designed by Marcy Stewart-Pyziak, a well-known designer from Manhattan. We have a tent at the nursery, and there’s music. It’s just a lovely outing, and having lunch here finishes the whole experience,” Tamminga said.
Visitors will lunch among the nursery’s theme gardens that include a prairie landscape, hummingbird and herb gardens, beds of day lilies and a butterfly garden. In the middle of the nursery is Tamminga’s 1879 farmhouse with a white garden.
“(The graden walk) gets bigger every year,” said Pam Hoffman of Crete, president of the Crete Woman’s Club. “It’s an enjoyable outing because we have gardens that are spread throughout the area. We have inquiries before we even get it off the ground.”
The Crete Woman’s Club expects to raise about $4,000 from the walk, which will be used for local scholarships and donations to nursing homes, schools and youth groups Hoffman said. Reservations are required for the luncheon.
“You pick up such great ideas. It’s difficult to imagine what a 4-inch potted plant will look like when you get it home from the nursery. But when you see it in another’s garden, you get a sense of how it looks when it’s in full bloom, healthy and established. Even if you’re not a gardener, it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon,” Baldermann said.
Baldermann admits that although the garden tours can be inspiring, “I come home most times and gnash my teeth that my plants don’t look like that. There are so many different garden techniques and styles. It’s like an extension of the home tour where you get great decorating ideas, only it’s outdoors.”
Terrill suggests that those who plan on attending a walk come prepared.
“Wear comfortable shoes and clothing. And bring a pad and pencil because you’ll want to ask questions and write down ideas,” she said. “And bring your camera.”
WHERE TO MOSEY AMONG THE POSEYS
“A Walk in the Park,” 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 28. Tickets are $15 and include the garden walk and a box lunch. The tour begins at the Palos Park Village Hall, 8901 W. 123rd St. Tickets are available at The Trumpet Vine, 12228 S. Harlem Ave., Palos Heights, and Wild Birds Unlimited, 13012 S. LaGrange Rd., Palos Park, and Prudential LT Blount Realtors, 8100 W. 119th St., Palos Park. Call 708-448-3247 or 708-448-7737.
Eighth Annual Garden Walk, 1-5 p.m. July 12. Tickets are $5 and available at Pam’s Flower and Gift Shop, 4823 W. 95th St., Oak Lawn. Call 708-424-4846 or 708-424-2303.
“A Day in the Country,” 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., July 15-16. Tickets are $14 and include the walk and a box lunch at Plum Creek Nursery in Crete. Reservations must be made by July 9. For ticket information, call Plum Creek Nursery at 708-672-7999.
