Thank you SO much to Diana, Terri, Lorayne and Melissa for doing WFS tours for the public on Saturday. The walks seemed like a success, and we even had some publicity from Misty and Aimee of the Batavia Library.

Our June work days will be Saturday, June 5th and Friday, June 18th starting at 8:00. If 8:00 is too early for you, 9:00 is fine! On the 5th, we will be on the wooded (east) side to go after weeds (especially in the sidewalk cracks) and do some trimming. Please bring drinking water and eye protection, and if you have them, gardening gloves, weed digger, clippers, loppers, a kneeling pad and a bucket or tarp for hauling the weeds in.

In the meantime, I hope you have a fun and relaxing Memorial Day weekend,

Sarah Kimber

Native Plants Chair

Thank you to Terri and Mary for braving the rain and helping out on Saturday! A lot of weeds were pulled, trash picked up, plants planted, bushes trimmed and sand filled into cracks. Fortunately none of us is sweet enough to melt in the rain.

Thanks too, to Kay and Dida for all of the planting that you have done. Looking good! I am sure the plants appreciated the rain last night.

And a huge thank you to an anonymous financial donor! We now have a pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) and a witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) on the wooded side and crested iris (Iris cristata) and hairy beardtongue (Penstemon hirsutus) by the boardwalk. See if you can find them next time you take a stroll through the WFS.

On Saturday, May 22, we will be offering wildflower walks for the public at 9:00 and 1:00. They start at the Peg Bond Center, last about 1 hour, and people can come to either one. If you are willing to help out with the 9:00 one, please meet by the little prairie at 8:15. If you just want to do the 1:00 walk, then meet us by the little prairie at 12:15. We will need to arrive early to see what is blooming and plan the walks.

The photo this week is from the plaza by City Hall. You will have to check that out too, especially the planters and kaleidoscope!

Sarah Kimber

Native Plants Chair

CANCELING TONIGHTS MEETING

 Rain is wonderful, but not wonderful for a tour of the Wildflower Sanctuary with the mayor.  We are going to cancel the tour tonight and try for next month!  The good thing is that we are getting a nice rain and the plants will be flourishing thanks to these raindrops.  Stay dry, dear gardening friends.  Keep your eyes open for more announcements about next weekend’s tours (Saturday at 9 and at 1) of the Wildflower Sanctuary and next month’s meeting.  

Also - We are thankful for the donations of plants, your time, and your help with so many things along the way that made the plant sale a success.  The proceeds of over $5,000 will help with covering costs for plants and other needs at the Wildflower Sanctuary and the horticulture scholarship in the year ahead.  

REMINDER! Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners meeting

Tuesday May 18, 2021

We have an exciting, informative "walk and talk" meeting planed for our Plain Dirt Gardeners on Tuesday, May 18. Mayor Schielke will host a walk around the Wild Flower Sanctuary and tell us about the history of the area.

Please meet at 6:30 just outside the council chambers entrance to City Hall. We are hoping for a beautiful evening, however the rain date is June 15.

Thank you to Deb and Lindsay for putting in the new cobblestone path! It looks great, and we will fill in the gaps with quartz sand this weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, this is a friendly reminder that we will be having a clean-up day at the WFS on Saturday, May 15th starting at 9:00 am. I would like to get things looking tidy for the public wildflower walks on May 22nd, so we will be dead-heading in the savannah area by the boardwalk, weeding cracks in the pavers, and weed wrenching some invasive shrubs. Please bring drinking water, and if you have them, gardening gloves, weed diggers, clippers, loppers and something to haul the clippings in (a tarp or bucket)

The public wildflower walks will be at 9:00m and 1:00 on May 22nd. If you are willing to help out with them, we will be meeting by the little prairie at 8:15 to get ready and see what is blooming where.

Here are some fun things that are blooming now:

Paw paw (Asimina triloba)

Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)

Thanks for your help!

Sarah

Plant Sale - THANK YOU!!!

Thank you to everyone who supported our 2021 Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners plant sale! To all our members (and non-members) who donated plants and volunteered time to help with set-up and sale, you are awesome. We couldn’t have done it without you. A huge thank you to Linda and Nancy for hosting our plant sale in your front yards. And THANK YOU to all our customers! We were so excited to see you and really appreciate your support. Happy planting, and we look forward to seeing you at our 2022 plant sale next May!

Doris Trout, Plant Sale Chairperson

Hi Gardeners!

Welcome to our newest volunteer and favorite IMSA student, Oliver, and thank you so much to Mary, Terri, Melissa and Oliver for all of your hard work at the WFS last Friday. Thanks too, to Kay, Dida and Jo for the beautification you have done between work days.

The Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners will be having a plant sale this week, so the next WFS work day will be on Saturday, May 15, starting at 9:00. Then on Saturday, May 22, we will be having tours of the WFS for the public at 9:00 and 1:00.

If you are interested in shopping at the plant sale, it will be from 9:00 to 12:00 on Saturday, May 8 at 1168 Pine St. (east side of Batavia) and 415 Maple Lane (west side).

The photos below are of our newest residents, and our newest tree. The tree is a swamp white oak in the savannah area surrounded by the boardwalk. It is from the Millions Trees Project of Living Lands and Waters. If you would like one for your yard, there are still some available at the Red Oak Nature Center south of town on Route 25.

Check out the latest Neighbors of Batavia Magazine for more WFS photos!

Sarah

Batavia Plain Dirt Gardener’s Big Plant Sale this Saturday

 Saturday, May 8, 2021 is our Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners Plant Sale, and we are so excited to have TWO locations this year for our customers. Both locations are open for business from 9:00AM until noon. The locations are:

East side of Batavia: 1168 Pine Street, Batavia IL
West side of Batavia: 415 Maple Lane, Batavia IL

The selection of plants at both locations looks GREAT! When you come to the plant sale, you may wish to bring a container (box or cart or clothes basket) so you can collect plants as you are browsing and selecting plants for your yard.  

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday and thank you for your support of Batavia Plain Dirt Gardeners!