Garden Walkers Endure Extreme Heat to See Village in Full Bloom

Over 100 garden walkers showed up for the Sunday, despite incredibly hot temperatures in the village. Starting at the , participants enjoyed a tour of various gardens throughout the neighborhood.

Mary Deering, program coordinator at Evergreen Park Public Library, said that the organizers began to recruit gardeners from the community in January so they would have adequate time to prepare their gardens for the event.

Proceeds from the Third Annual Blossoms for Books Garden Walk go to the Evergreen Park Public library, to support its robust programming schedule throughout the year.

“It’s a great community attraction,” Deering said, “A lot of friendships have been made because of the garden walk. The people who participate really feel apart of the community, since to a lot of people see the library as the community’s home.”

The coordinators have tried to get new gardens every year but have allowed a couple of repeats due to their popularity in the gardening community.

Attendees began at the library where they picked up their map and had the chance to cool down from the 95 degree heat with Evergreen Park resident, Penny Nichols. Nichols showcased a number of quilts from the library’s Weekend Quilters class.

Nichols said, “We thought that this would be a good connection because I truly believe that gardeners in the summer are quilters in the winter.”

Outside of the library, some attendees visited with avid gardener, Bob Elrich, while he watered the Monarch Way Station Garden.

“This garden is just an example of turning a piece of land that is basically nothing and turning it into something amazing,” Elrich said, while showcasing some of the plants.

All of the plants featured in the garden attracted butterflies in some way. Elrich picked up a couple of black swallow-tail caterpillars and said, “They aren’t safe here. So, I will bring these home with me, protect them and wait for them to turn into butterflies before I set them free.”

After leaving the library, garden walkers still had nine other gardens of varius shapes and sizes to visit. At most homes, walkers were greeted with refreshments.

While looking over into Jerry and Donna Hall’s Koi pond, garden walker, Joan Goliak said, “Meeting the gardeners is a great experience for me because they are all eager to share their experiences. This is my second year coming and it is nice to see people’s unique interpretations of gardening.”

Gardeners were more than willing to share tips and secrets on how their gardens have come this far and even described new projects that they'll be working on in the near future.