NGS Calendar - 2015

NGS meetings are usually held on the first Thursday of the month at 7:00 P.M. at the Warren Park Field House, 6601 N. Western Avenue in Chicago. Warren Park Field House is located on the east side of Western Avenue (2400 west) at Albion Avenue (6600 north) between Devon and Pratt Avenues. Parking is available at the Field House. There is no January meeting held.

Meetings are free to NGS members; a nominal fee is charged to non-members. Refreshments are served.

Calendar items before September are at end of page.

September

• Thursday, September 3, 2015, 7:00 P.M., Warren Park Field House; Chicago Area Insects and Your Garden. Join us for a slide presentation by Lloyd Davidson, PhD, professor at Northwestern Univeristy and nature photographer, of his photos of landscapes, insects and other invertbrate creatures.
  

October

• Thursday, October 1, 2015, 7:00 P.M., Warren Park Field House; Plant and Plant-Related White Elephant Exchange. Please bring your books, garden furniture, unused tools and other garden objects in clean and usable condition. Also plants, seeds, and house plants. There will also be a Question and Answer Time. This is our opportunity to share our knowledge and experience.

November

• Thursday, November 5, at 7:00 P.M. , Warren Park Field House; Our guest speaker, Kimberly Pancoast, is a Botanical Illustrator from Lill Street studios. She will present The History of Botanical Illustrations, the Scientist as an Artistic Observer. We had our plant exchange at our last meeting and we will have a continuation of the plant exchange at our November meeting, so bring your perennials. A $5.00 fee will be requested of non-NGS members. Refreshments will be served.

December

• Thursday, December 10: Warren Park Field House; Time 6:00 PM; Annual Holiday Party; open to NGS members and spouses/partners.

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February

• Thursday, February 5, 7:00 P.M., Warren Park Field House. The Gardens of Spain and Ireland. NGS members, Alice Dunlap-Kraft and Lucy and Bob Radycki, share their photos of recent visits to Ireland and Spain.

March

• Thursday, March 5, 2015, 7:00 PM, Warren Park Field House. Siting for Rain Gardens-Attracting Butterflies. Speaker: Julia Bunn. Julia Bunn is a Landscape Designer with the Spirited Gardener, Inc. and produced a TV show that looks at the historical connection and contemporary practices of people in their gardens.  She holds an Ornamental Plant Certificate from the Chicago Botanic Garden and is presently President of the Landscape Design Association (LDA) and a member of the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association (MELA).  As U of I Extension Service Master Gardener in the 1990's, Julia worked on school and NeighborSpace community gardens.  Julia is growing her business of designing private gardens for residences, some condominium association properties and rain gardens.  She is a proponent of harmonious growing methods using herbs, vegetables, native plants, perennials, shrubs and trees.
  

April

• Thursday, April 2, 2015, 7:00 P.M., Warren Park Field House; Rosehill Nature Center Update; Speaker: Tim Czarnecki, 40th Ward Chief of Staff
  

May

• Saturday, May 2, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Warren Park Field House; Nature and Garden-themed Arts and Crafts Fair and Plant Sale Fundraiser, Warren Park Field House, 6601 N. Western Ave, Chicago.The fair will benefit the educational and community service projects of the organization. A variety of artisans will be selling their creations and NGS members will be selling donated perennials and houseplants. A raffle of donated items from the artisans will be held.
• Thursday, May 7, 7:00 PM, Warren Park Field House; Cottage Garden Designs for the Midwest; Speaker: Nina Koziol. A long-time contributor to the Chicago Tribune's Home & Garden section, and a columnist (Gardening 101) and feature writer for Chicagoland Gardening magazine, Nina teaches garden design and horticulture classes at the Chicago Botanic Garden, the Morton Arboretum, and for other organizations and clubs. Her articles have appeared in Organic Gardening, Fine Gardening, Old-House Journal, Old-House Interiors, Aquascape Lifestyles and other publications. She is the 2005 recipient of the Garden Writers Association award for newspaper writing and the co-author of "The Historic Homes and Gardens of Lockport, IL 1838-2000" for the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Born in Paris, she made her first garden visit – to Versailles – as an infant. She holds a degree in education and environmental science and gardens on a “deer-infested acre” on the fringes of Chicago.
  She and her husband Ron use organic practices on their exurban garden on the very outskirts of this Midwestern metropolis, not far from a herd of cows and a bevy of draft horses. Their garden features borders and beds designed for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds, a resident family of fox, two pairs of bluebirds in summer and a 1100-square-foot vegetable garden.
  When they're not weeding, reading, fishing, hiking, bird watching or writing, they're sure to be out back, watching the sun set and debating over the exact names and heights of the cloud formations.

June

• Thursday, June 25, 2015, 6:30 P.M.; Midsummer Garden Party at Lee Holohan's; Open to NGS members and spouses/partners only.

July

• Friday, July 17, 2015, 9:45 A.M.; Tour of Lurie Gardens, Millenium Park, Chicago. Join us for a tour of the Lurie Gardens in Millenium Park. We are meeting at the garden on Monroe Street across from the Art Institute at 9:45 A.M..

August

• Thursday, August 6, 2015 6:00 P.M., Summer Picnic, Warren Park Lawn
• Saturday, August 23, 2015; Tour of Roland Kulla Gardens and Lunch