After canceling a Memorial Day parade and run, a bicycle race and a tour of homes, Beverly Area Planning Association officials decided its only communitywide event for 2020 would be an in-person affair, albeit with plenty of room for social distancing.
It turned out to be a perfect time for a garden walk.
Like many of the 600 people who attended the first Beverly Morgan Park Garden Walk on Sunday, Gloria Davis and Marilyn Smith have had more time to garden this year due to the pandemic. Wearing face masks, they came wanting to learn more.
“We grew Beefmaster tomatoes and purple peppers, just like these,” said Smith, examining a pepper at the Edna White Memorial Garden. The community garden at 1850 W. Monterey Ave., was their first stop on a tour of 10 private gardens, two community gardens and other points of interest.
“I came looking for ideas,” said Paulette Gulley, who moved to Beverly a year ago.
Learning more about plants and landscaping may have been the main draw, but a couple of garden owners wowed garden walkers with other novelties.
Shatira and John Smelser added live music and magic to the garden surrounding their home at 9101 S. Hoyne. Amid fairy statuary and a tiny fairy doorway at the base of a large tree, Imani Williams masqueraded as a sprite, wearing fairy wings and carrying a wand. Brian Ostrego played violin.
“I love fairies,” said Shatira Smelser. “I have them here in my garden because I’m unapologetically me, and they bring me luck in my garden.”
A white vintage Rolls-Royce complemented Audrius V. Plioplys’ mansion property at 8844 S. Pleasant. Besides offering refreshments and access to a couch set up on the side lawn for photos ops, Plioplys displayed photos of the General Motors executive who once owned the property now shaded by tall trees.
With the help of a neighbor, Plioplys tends the hostas and other shade loving plants lining a stone wall and path.
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At the Edna White garden, local crafters sold jewelry and pottery. The University of Illinois Extension service gave away educational materials and free lettuce seedlings. Other stops featured refreshments, including wine, beer, coffee and chocolate tasting.
“I came to enjoy the gardens and support the (BAPA) organization,” said Celeste Lang, of Crestwood. She took special interest in the 2020 Chicago Bungalow Association Garden Contest winner at 2337 W. 109th St.
Working with landscape architect William Moss, homeowners Stacy Maul and Albert Schmitt removed the driveway leading to their garage and created backyard filled with ornamental grasses and woodland plants. The yard also included hydrangea, mums, asters and unusual cluster plantings of cabbage, red cockscomb and red peppers.
BAPA board member Maureen Reilly, who lives at 9947 S. Damon, convinced her sister Sheila Gainer, who lives at 9943 S. Damon, to open her adjoining yard for the walk. “We saw this as an opportunity for community building at a time when people are so isolated by COVID but also turning to gardening,” said Riley. “This offered a great way for people to get out and see other people’s yards.”
The raised garden beds in Riley’s yard featured extra wide shelves for seating and contained ripe peppers and greens.
Her front yard featured native black-eyed Susans planted near amsonia, a wispy perennial known for turning brilliant yellow in fall.
When Debbie Nemeth, a graphic artist, heard BAPA was planning the Garden Walk, she immediately volunteered to create a map and flyer. For the tour, she also volunteered her Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home and meditation garden which features a lily pond.
Giving away free perennials freshly dug from her garden, she said, “They’re all prairie plants, which makes sense because my house is in the prairie architectural style.”
John and Athena Clifford created a Midwest paradise in the back portion of their 305-foot long property at 10124 S. Charles. The space was lined with colorful flowers and a variety of trees that included graceful weeping willows. “I shop for the plants and gardening supplies,” said Athena, who once worked at Frank’s Nursery and Crafts. “He gardens.”
Wayne and Patty Godsted embraced the Dan Ryan Woods as a lush backdrop for outdoor dining and grilling at 8931 S. Oakley. In the open air, Patty, a retired food stylist, sets outs fine china, silverware, cloth napkins and wine glasses. Wayne, a retired firefighter, does the cooking.
Judith Fitzgerald converted her backyard at 10200 S. Fairfield from a concrete desert to backyard oasis that included outdoor seating, a private lounging and meditation space, and enchanting clematis-covered archway.
Daphne and Martin Bankston’s expansive backyard at 11733 South Longwood featured three entertainment stations — a large deck, an expansive brick patio with grill and an expansive garage porch. Of the colorful flowers and plants lining the gray brick walkways, Daphne said. “I go to Lowe’s and clear out racks of old dying plants. It’s kind of an addiction. I like nursing them back to health.”
The Rock Island Metra station garden at 9105 S. Prospect closed the tour with a splash of late season color. The red cannas, pink phlox, multicolor zinnias, lilies, hydrangea, purple coneflowers other plantings are maintained by a group of volunteers.
Susan DeGrane is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.