I had the opportunity to give my Victory Garden talk to the Lombard Garden Club last week. What a great group--the room was filled with men and women, young and old, every one of them an enthusiastic gardener! This club, which started in the early 1920s, does a fundraiser each year by hosting a lilac sale. Last year, they sold over 400 lilac shrubs, with many different varieties. They first started doing it years ago, when the village of Lombard gave them a grant to help defray the cost of purchasing the stock.
Lombard has been known for many years for it's lilacs, and even has a park named for them. Lilacia Park was originally part of the estate of Colonel William R. Plum, a telegraph officer in the Civil War. He bequeathed his land and collection of lilacs to the people of Lombard for a public park, and his house for a free public library. in 1929, the landscape design for the park was done my the famed landscape architect, Jens Jensen. Today, Lombard hosts a Lilac festival each year, and is known as The Lilac Village.
These are the fascinating bits of history I pick up as I visit garden clubs all over the area. Each one is unique, and has a lovely story to share with me about their origins. And so, I always leave a garden club having shared some of my knowledge, and at the same time, having learned something new. It's a good exchange.
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