A Sneak Peek at Midway Garden Society's Members-Only Mini-Walk

The Midway Garden Society will not hold its annual Urban

Garden Walk in 2015, at least as a public event, because most of the members who typically open their gardens simply were not available, for varying reasons.

Last year's event was a showcase of eight of the best gardens on Chicago's Southwest Side. All eight are located in Garfield Ridge or Clearing, except for one located in the Gage Park neighborhood.

This year, the Society decided to host an abbreviated, members-only version of the event.

It was held in the early evening of Wednesday, June 17, and the Southwest Chicago Post was the only local news organization that asked for permission to tag along. And we thank the Society leadership and members for granting us the privilege of joining them.

We're sure glad we did! The three gardens--two in the Gage

Park neighborhood and one in West Elsdon--are lush little backyard oases: beautiful, unique and even quirky---and the gardeners: Pat Liskovec, Pat Cardona and Ann Pena, are interesting, well spoken and passionate about what they do.

It was a fun assignment to shoot, and our photos are

sprinkled here, in no particular order.

Interested in becoming a member or at least learning more about the group? Simply attend a Midway Garden Society meeting, held on the final Wednesday of the month at the Clearing Branch Library, 6423 West 63rd Place. Meetings typically feature an interesting guest speaker, and group members participate in plant exchanges and other activities. The Society also publishes a monthly newsletter.

Next meeting is set for 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 24.

Visitors are always welcome, and the Society actively seeks new members.

Congratulations and thanks to the Midway Garden Society for making the Southwest Side a more beautiful and interesting place.

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