The Elmhurst Garden Club will be showcasing six homes on Sunday, July 13, for what President Lynn Dowiarz calls “our biggest fundraiser,” aptly titled “An Afternoon in the Garden,” which will also include a vendor fair/craft boutique.
Dowiarz and Garden Walk Committee Chair Lillian Pagano shared details about the walk, with Dowiarz saying that, ironically, she ended up joining the garden club after her garden was chosen for the walk one year not long after the COVID-19 pandemic. She remembers people driving by her house to check out her garden as a possible entry.
“The people were just so nice on the walk,” she recalled, that the experience compelled her to join, and now, a few short years later, she is the club’s president.
Dowiarz and Pagano related that the selection committee typically chooses six homes for the garden walk, with Pagano saying that it is “normally private houses,” although some public gardens have been featured over the years.
When asked how the gardens are chosen, Pagano replied that “It’s all different things,” but the most important criterion is, “It’s got to have good access in and out.”
Dowiarz agreed, saying “They [the committee] like to see it accessible in and out.”
Both club members said the committee gets suggestions for the garden walk from neighbors, social media and club members (whose gardens have been selected over time)—who often drive around looking for unique gardens that stand out.
Pagano said variety of plants and flowers, color, and even the use of garden ornaments that make a garden pop are factored in when selecting the gardens, and she used the words “unique” and “kitschy” to describe some of them, adding that it’s really about “the feel people get when they go look at it [a garden].”
Pagano also noted that the committee chooses gardens that offer something interesting and maybe even inspiring, but at the same time, “You don’t have to have a professional come out and do your yard.”
The bottom line for her though, is that “Sometimes it’s hard to pick.”
Calling Pagano “very organized,” Dowiarz said that “She’s done a heck of a job.”
Dowiarz said proceeds from the garden walk and fair are partly used for scholarships for five Illinois resident college students who are planning to major in horticulture-, agriculture-, environment- conservation- and other related fields. One York High School student also receives a scholarship that she said is to be used for a summer experience that focuses on one of the same types of topics.
According to its website, the club has awarded 127 scholarships totaling over $255,000 since 1999, including $26,545 last year alone.
Proceeds also go toward holiday decorating at the Elmhurst Public Library, maintaining an herb garden at Wilder Park, contributing to horticultural development at the Elmhurst University Arboretum, mentoring the York High School Garden Club, improving and maintaining the campus grounds at the Ray Graham Community Learning Center in Elmhurst and contributing to the Elmhurst Cool Cities Coalition for public environmental programs.
A list of the gardens will be available upon the purchase of tickets, which are $25.
The vendor fair will be held at Wilder Park, 211 S. Prospect Ave., Elmhurst. The garden walk and vendor fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Visit elmhurstgardenclug.org for a link to purchase tickets.
About the Elmhurst Garden Club
The Elmhurst Garden Club not only contributes to educational scholarships and local causes, but plants and maintains an 8,800-square-foot herb garden at Wilder Park called Elizabeth’s Friendship Walk Herb Garden, in cooperation with the Elmhurst Park District.
The club’s Garden Therapy meets at 1 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month except for July and August, at Epiphany Lutheran Church, located at Vallette and Spring roads. Members work with clients of the Adult Day Care Center, helping them make a floral arrangement or plant to take home.
At the Ray Graham Community Learning Center in Elmhurst, club members established, and maintain, a sustainable garden for the center’s participants, including a butterfly garden, certified Monarch Waystation, landscaping projects and a greenhouse program.
Visit elmhurstgardenclub.org for more information.