Garden Group Has Full Schedule of Events

The Rogers Park Garden Group (RPGG) is always plotting for potting. Beautification of the world we live in is what they're all about, and they've got some nice events coming up for you. I've been to some of their events and they are always fun. Meet some new people, get engaged, spread the beauty. Click here for the full RPGG calendar. Beautiful Window Boxes All Year Long, Northtown Garden Society Thursday, Mar 5 at 7:00 pm 2009 Treekeepers Classes Saturday, Mar 7 at 9:30 am Chicago Flower & Garden Show Saturday, Mar 7 at 10:00 am Landscaping City Parkways Monday, Mar 16 at 7:00 pm Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...

Planting The Seeds

Just a reminder to members of the Rogers Park Garden Group that it's time to renew your RPGG dues! (Ah, in a perfect world we wouldn't need to worry about such things, but it's not a perfect world. Which is a perfect reason to at least spread some beauty in it.) The RPGG says, "If you haven't yet renewed your dues, won't you please take a moment and do so now. We've worked to make it easier through PayPal or you can download the membership form and send it in." Be sure to visit RPGG's beautiful, greatly improved website today. You'll find gardening tips, beautiful photos, news and much more. Chicago News Bench Merchandise Chicago News Bench RSS Feed

Photo du Jour, 02-24-09

Sept. 28, 2008: Rogers Park Garden Group annual sidewalk sale and membership drive at W. Jarvis and N. Greenview.

Visit their newly redesigned website. CNB RSS Feed

Unique and Beautiful: Garden Group Calendars Now Available

GET YOUR ROGERS PARK GARDEN GROUP (RPGG) CALENDAR & NOTE CARDS THIS SUNDAY! Rogers Park Holiday Shoppers' Bazaar Sunday, November 16, 11 am - 5 pm High Ridge YMCA, 2424 W. Touhy Ave. RPGG 2009 calendars and note cards will be available for sale at the Rogers Park Holiday Shoppers' Bazaar this Sunday at the High Ridge YMCA from 11 am until 5 pm. (Please visit the RPGG's web site.) Shop for holiday gifts locally and in support of neighborhood not for profit organizations including the American Friends Service Committee, Bright Endeavors, the Earnfare Artists of Devcorp North, the Enterprising Kitchen, Greenheart, Malia Designs, Rangi Mingi Gallery, the Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society, Search Development Center, and Thresholds. These organizations and others will be selling great gift items from olive oil, candles, drawings, and natural soap and spa products to women's bags and accessories, jewelry, and artwork. We did a fair bit of holiday shopping at this lovely event last year. RPGG calendars are $20 each; note cards are $10 for a packet of 8 cards and envelopes. Both the calendar and note cards feature Rogers Park gardens and landscapes, beautifully photographed by our own Martha Meyer, whose photographs can viewed here. Quantities are limited so get them while they last!

Your Hidden Garden

QUESTION: Is there a space near you that could become a garden? ANSWER: Probably! The Rogers Park Garden Group is calling for proposals for our 2009 community gardening project. In 2007 the RPGG tackled the circles at Loyola Park, and in 2008 RPGG members and volunteers took on the Metra stop at Greenleaf and Ravenswood. Next year's project could be with you and your neighbors. What's involved? Find a space in the public way from Devon north to the city limits, the lake to Ridge Ave. It can be private or public property but you must obtain permission to garden the space. Gather five (5) neighbors, friends, coworkers, fellow parishioners - any group of five people willing to spend some time to garden the space and then maintain it (these are Chicago Park District requirements). Prepare a simple proposal by requesting the RFP from the RPGG at rpgardengroup@comcast.net. The RPGG believes that the only way for public gardening projects to take root and grow is for neighbors to be involved which is why the RPGG doesn't do everything for these projects (but does a lot!). The RPGG will be your partner and will help you prepare the site, navigate city regulations, design and select plants, and solicit volunteers for preparation and planting. The RPGG will also help you fundraise but you also need to help find funding. In 2007 the RPGG raised over $400 plus in-kind plant donations for Circle Park and in 2008 the RPGG raised over $2500 for the Metra garden project). Have questions? For more information contact the RPGG at rpgardengroup@comcast.net. You can also visit the RPGG Web Site here... The proposal deadline is Nov. 1, 2008. The winning proposal will be determined by majority vote of the RPGG membership.

Pot Sale Near Alderman's Office

That's right, a pot sale will take place near the alderman's office. More specifically, it will be across the street, in front of Charmer's Cafe at W. Jarvis and N. Greenview in Rogers Park, Chicago. There will be many items other than the pots, of course. Garden tools, clothes, crafts, furniture, art, and more. Click on the poster (left) to see a larger image with more info. Here are the basics: Sunday, Sept. 28, 2008 11:00 am - 2:00 pm 1500 W. Jarvis (at Greenview) street parking but steps away from the Jarvis CTA Red Line station

Gardening Events in Rogers Park

Here's a reminder from the good folks at the Rogers Park Garden Group. Also, don't forget to check their upcoming events on their beautiful web site. Don't miss a terrific shopping opportunity to get great deals on plants, yard materials, patio furniture, garden-themed items, and bid on items donated by local businesses and artists (start that holiday shopping early!) - and it all benefits RPGG community gardening projects. The RPGG will also unveil our 1st (hopefully) annual RPGG calendar and note cards featuring gardens and landscapes of Rogers Park, photography donated by local artist Martha Meyer. To make the sale a success, however, we need your donations. What can you donate? Perennials, house plants, pots, tools, furniture, art, baskets, books - any garden-themed item that you don't need any more but that someone else might fancy. We have lots of plastic pots on hand if you need them for plants you'd like to dig up and divide. This year we are offering a "free for the taking" section that will include common day lilies and hostas, which can be dropped off the day of the sale. Garden of Treasures Sale & Fundraiser Sunday, September 28, 11 am - 2 pm Jarvis Square The deadline for donating plant items for the Garden of Treasures Sale & Fundraiser is Thursday, September 25. Email the Rogers Park Garden Group now at RPGGseptember@gmail.com to let us know what you have coming!

Garden of Treasures Sale & Fundraiser

There are less than two weeks left to donate non-plant items for the RPGG Garden of Treasures Sale & Fundraiser! On Sunday, September 28, 2008 the RPGG will hold it's 2nd annual Garden of Treasures Sale & Fundraiser to benefit community gardening projects in Rogers Park in 2009. Last year RPGG raised nearly $2,500 and they hope this year will be even more successful. But they need your stuff and plants to sell! The deadline for donating non-plant items is Monday, September 15. Email them at RPGGseptember@gmail.com to let them know what you have coming.

Green Struggle

The "Green" hysteria that surrounds us all these days can be maddening, especially when you see so-called environmentalists driving their automobiles to "green events." There is hypocrisy aplenty in the green movement. Al Gore burning tens of thousands of gallons of hydrocarbons as he jets from one PowerPoint presentation to another, for instance. Chicago Alderman Joe Moore driving two blocks to his office, for example. And so on. An excellent opinion piece by Pamela Van Giessen gives a realpolitik view of this. Van Giessen is a leader of the Rogers Park Garden Group, an environmentally friendly gaggle of gardeners who beautify the neighborhood without being preachy about it. An excerpt from Van Giessen's opinion piece, in the July 30 edition of the News-Star: Are we being a little insensitive when we suggest that the single mom with two jobs take money and time out of her day to "be green"? Isn't life enough of a struggle for a low income person whether they live in Chicago or Mumbai? Recently, policy wonks have suggested that the government buy old cars at above market rates to get these pollution monsters off the road. It sounds brilliant but wouldn't we be better off lifting low income peoples out of poverty so they can afford hybrid cars or better jobs closer to home, along with other green choices? It's a stretch to see how paying a low income person even 50 percent above the market rate for their clunker will give them enough money to buy (and maintain) a new environmentally friendly car. Full article...

Glenwood Arts Fuss

You have to be an arr-teeest to be in the Glenwood Avenue Arts Festival (GAAF). Eeef you are not an arr-teeest, you will not be welcome. Unless, of course, you are a well-connected political playa in the 49th Ward.

Last year, the Rogers Park Garden Group did not have a booth at the GAAF. They were relegated to a folding table underneath the CTA overpass on Morse Avenue.

This year, RPGG decided it would have a proper presence, and dutifully filled out the paperwork months ago, then sent it in along with a check for $150. Within the past two weeks, RPGG received an email telling them that they would not be included.

But let's clarify that a bit. I spoke with Dorothy Milne, a member of the GAAF planning committee. Milne is best known around here for her leadership of the Lifeline Theatre on Glenwood and was kind enough to speak with me on the phone. (GAAF is a community partnership with Lifeline Theatre, a 501c3 organization.)

Milne told me that the RPGG was discussed by the committee on several occasions ans struggled with their decision. Some folks said they should be included, but others wanted to avoid what Milne called a "slippery slope."

The Bench, however, hears from several sources that the main reason for the RPGG exclusion is the influence of Jim Ginderske, former aldermanic candidate. (Ginderske is currently being groomed as Joe Moore's successor in the event of an Obama victory in November.) Ginderske, I am told, is the de facto GAAF gruppenfuehrer this year.

"The Garden Group is a fine organization," she told The Bench today, "but there are other organizations that we exclude too. If we let them all have booths, there wouldn't be room on the street." She also said that GAAF "doesn't want booths where they're just handing out literature."

Participation is limited to artists and food vendors. I asked Milne why the photo calendars that the RPGG intended to sell did not count as art. I didn't get an answer to that question, but was told that RPGG is "welcome at the community booth." The community booth is a kind of catch-all for groups such as the RPGG that are not artists or food vendors.

According to the GAAF application form, "All types of fine arts & crafts are encouraged including: painting, photography, drawing, graphics, mixed media, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor, wearable art, ceramics, glass, jewelry, weaving, wood, metal, leather, and other media. All work on display must be created by the exhibiting artists, locally produced, and/or community oriented."

Watch that requirement that art is "locally produced." Look closely for "Made in China" labels this year (I saw a few at last year's GAAF).

Apparently, GAAF does not consider the beautification of Rogers Park through the planting of flowers to be "art." Perhaps next year the RPGG will have a better chance of being considered for a booth if they start charging for their artistic landscaping services. That way, they can honestly say that they are commercial artists.

This year’s planning committee is Gregory Altman, Mary Bao, Diana Berek, Rene Camargo, Jim Ginderske, Alan J. Goldberg, Sharon Hyson, Britney Kawasaki, Neil Lifton, and Dorothy Milne.

Busch Gardens, Chicago!

Welcome to "Busch Gardens" in Chicago! That's right, here in the Rogers Park neighborhood, you see, we have more than our fair share of drunkards and dope addicts.

They love to hang out in Loyola Park and drink by the "Circle Garden" near the east end of Morse Avenue.

Despite the beautiful tulips planted by the Rogers Park Garden Group, this bad behavior continues. Can we expect the same at the Metra Station on Ravenswood?

Through the Tulips

Thanks to the Rogers Park Garden Group, these tulips add a colorful dash of beauty to Loyola Park Beach in Rogers Park, Chicago. The bulbs were donated to RPGG by a generous local resident. Beautiful!

RPGG: Failure to Communicate

Dear RPGG: Allow me to set the record straight. I just ran into one of your founders at Morseland, and she asked me if I am upset with the Rogers Park Garden Group. She said her co-founder said that I am upset with RPGG. She asked if I would continue to support RPGG on The Bench. Uhm, no, I'm not, except that you have seemingly poor internal communications. Please talk to each other, and if you're going to share emails then at least share all of them. Phone each other now and then. I pointed out to Ms. Co-Founder that if she would actually read my blog she would have seen a very recent posting in which clearly stated that I support RPGG, and defended them against a local hate blogger who relentlessy attacks RPGG. Keep planting plants and stuff. Oh, by the way - could you please add "The Bench" under your "RPGG THANKS" on your homepage? You've promised me that you would. I mean, for all the free publicity and stuff, and my generous offer of the free use of my photographs. Thanks, Tom

Rogers Park Garden Conspirators

This bit from the March 26 News-Star's Cityside section is wrong on at least two minor points. Let's set the record straight. Point One: "Only in Rogers Park, a neighborhood of sniping bloggers, cheap half-pints and Lake Michigan breezes, can a civic gardening group be cast as political conspiracy-theorists threatening to overthrow the local government." There is only one blogger in this neighborhood who believes that the Rogers Park Garden Group is a group of guerrillas training with tulip bulbs and weaponry, but the rest of the bloggers in Rogers Park know that he is nuttier than squirrel crap. Said nutty blogger shall go unnamed. The other 49th Ward bloggers are either supportive or indifferent regarding the RPGG. For the record, The Bench is supportive of the Rogers Park Garden Group. Point Two: "Born out of last year's contentious aldermanic runoff, the non-partisan Rogers Park Gardening Group is organizing a clean up of the fallow flower bed at the Metra train station starting at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 30, located at Greenleaf and Ravenswood. Volunteers are needed to remove trash, dead leaves and other debris in advance of site preparation for the planting that will take place in late May or early June." Hmmm, waaay off the mark there. The RPGG was not "born out of" any election, or of any political anything for that matter. The Bench knows the origins, but must be careful how the story is told so as not to violate any confidential stuff, so we'll just give you the short version. Basically, two women got together and decided to start a garden group. There you go. Nothing political. The beginnings of the RPGG overlapped with the timing of the aldermanic election, but that's just coincidence. No connection to politics there. For God's sake, they're just a bunch of nice folks trying to plant stuff.

Metra Garden Cleanup Date Scheduled

Metra Garden Clean-Up Date Scheduled
Volunteers Needed

When: Sunday, March 30, 1 p.m.
Where: Metra Station steps at Greenleaf & Ravenswood
What: Trash removal and clean up

Volunteers are needed to help remove trash, dead leaves, and other debris from the Metra Garden/RPGG Community Garden project in advance of site preparation for the planting that will take place in late May/early June.

Please join your neighbors to help clean and prepare the site on Sunday,March 30th at 1 pm. Ask for Joy and she will put you to work. Bring your enthusiasm, gloves, and rakes. Trash bags will be provided. MORE INFO about RPGG...

Rogers Park Metra Community Garden

Dear Friend:

Late last year, the Rogers Park Garden Group chose a proposed community garden at the Rogers Park Metra Station as its 2008 Community Garden Project. As you know, the Metra station serves thousands of commuters from Rogers Park, West Ridge, and Evanston each day. The grounds surrounding the station have become overgrown and strewn with trash, reflecting poorly on the station and the community.

Our garden concept is an effort to reverse that by organizing residents and riders to reclaim the space as their own. As part of the effort, we will try to restore a garden planted in 2001 by local landscaper Gary Fuschi. We are also going to try to plant as much new material as we can and create long-term maintenance plans. A website is in process to document our work at http://metragarden.wordpress.com.

RPGG would like to hold a get-to-know you meeting with residents from the neighborhood who might be interested in joining in the planning, planting, and maintenance of the garden. A first meeting for is tentatively scheduled for Sunday March 2 at 10 am or Monday March 3 at 6:30 pm at the Greenleaf Art Center, 1806 W. Greenleaf, depending on when most people might be available.

RSVPs for the first meeting are required so we can be sure we have enough space and refreshments. Interested? Call me at (773) 209-8552 or email me at bwhite_rp@yahoo.com.

Many Thanks!

Brian White
1844 W. Greenleaf Ave

(Please fdistribute this to your networks and to consider this project as a way to build community among your own groups, even it is only by volunteering for a day!)

Brian White

Call for 2008 Community Garden Entries

Congrats to Rogers Park Garden Group for a very successful year. You can join too! Following up on the great success of our collaboration with Loyola Park Keepers on the 2007 Community Garden Project, Circle Garden, (located where Morse Avenue ends in Loyola Park) the Rogers Park Garden Group is currently taking proposals for our 2008 Community Garden Project, which will be planted during May 2008. Learn More....

New Web Site for Rogers Park Garden Group

RPGG has a new internet address! Check it out here. (Corrected 10/28/07)

Big Award to Rogers Park Garden Group

Congrats to the Rogers Park Garden Group on a spectacularly successful first year! Pamela of the Rogers Park Garden Group sent this nice note: Rogers Park Garden Group and the Loyola Park Keepers have been awarded 2nd place in Mayor Daley’s Landscape awards for community landscapes (Region 2) for the planting at Circle Park (Morse @ Loyola Park). Thanks so much for all of your support in making the first year of the garden group a smash success. It takes a lot to get the word out about a new endeavor and we are grateful to and appreciative of those who have helped. The Rogers Park Garden Group is about all of us who live here irrespective of anything else. Disagree as we might in as diverse a community as we are, as Quentin Crisp said, “flowers are language even a baby can understand” – and something we can all agree on. I know we’ve enjoyed meeting and getting to know so many Rogers Parkers. To continue these efforts of community beautification and camaraderie we are going to be planting 750 tulip bulbs in and around the Loyola Park planters at the east end of Morse Ave. on Sunday Nov. 4 at 11 a.m. (Sun., 11/11 will be our rain date). We’d love for folks to come on out and help. 750 bulbs is a lot of planting! We are also going to plant the parkway corner(s) at Jarvis and Greenview on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 11 a.m. with the leftover plants from the garden sale fundraiser. All helpers are welcome. Come out and play in the dirt and get to know your neighbors. To volunteer for either or both plantings, please ping us at rpgardengroup@comcast.net. Pamela

RPGG, You're Very Welcome

Pamela Van Giessen of the Rogers Park Garden Group writes in: "This is awesome! Thank you ever so much....Thanks again, Tom. It’s the support of folks like you who have helped make the RPGG a huge hit." See what Pamela is talking about here. Congratulations to everyone in the RPGG for such a highly successful event.