The 2014 Chicago Community Gardeners Association Great Perennial Divide
On Saturday, September 27, 2014, CCGA conducted the 2014 Great Perennial Divide. The CCGA Steering Committee would like to recognize and thank everyone who participated; it was a great success!
First, our thanks to Scott Byron & Co. Inc., the prestigious Chicago area landscaping firm, for coordinating and overseeing the entire effort to solicit, receive, sort, load and deliver perennial plants and shrubs donated by a number of regional growers and landscape firms. Scott Byron & Co. has been providing this remarkable service for many years, and the Perennial Divide would not be possible without them. Judy Melius and Jose Menendez of Scott Byron Co. deserve a huge thank you for all their work as the key organizers of this effort.
Next, our thanks to the generous contributors of plants: Scott Byron & Co., Inc., Elite Growers, Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, Mariani Landscaping, Midwest Groundcover, and Twixwood Nursery collectively donated a whopping 4952 plants and shrubs to the Perennial Divide!
Also, CCGA thanks its members who volunteered on Friday and/or Saturday to unload, sort, and group the perennials, and to give them to the community gardeners. Eighty-five gardeners and friends helped in this effort. CCGA Site Coordinators Angela Taylor (West Side), Pat Jackson (South Side) and Ellen Newcomer (North Side) cheerfully supervised this effort.
North Park Village Nature Center allowed CCGA to use part of its premises, and Julie Sacco of NPVNC, as well as her staff and volunteers, were very helpful and welcoming. Embassy Church (South Side location) allowed us to use their big parking lot and premises for two busy days as well. Thanks to each of these partners!
Finally, thanks to all of you who came to get plants. We provided 185 community gardens, local institutions (schools, senior residences, American Legion halls, etc.), and individual gardeners with an assortment of perennials and shrubs. Now let’s get those plants in the ground!
Please e mail us at chicagocommunitygardeners@gmail.com with any comments and suggestions about how we can improve the Perennial Divide next year. Also, please take a minute to e mail us your personal thank you to Scott Byron and the other landscape companies and growers who gave so generously to community gardeners. We will forward your comments to them.
See you at the October 25, 2014 GCCA Fall Workshop!