It's Almost Summer at Rancho Verde

As summer closes in, it's easy to see the benefit of the rainy spring we had- lush greenery everywhere. Even our green roof looks more like a worn country path than a few inches of soil and sedum on top of a building.

Blue Island Pop Up garden center

We're proud to announce the grand opening of our new Blue Island pop up garden center. Serving the general public in the Blue Island area, the shop is perfect for those who want to pick up fresh, quality plants, flowers and material without trekking into a big box or a far off garden center. The right stuff, right here, right now. Sprucing up your yard or patio couldn't be easier.

OK OK, on a less sales-pitchy note, a lot of people worked hard to get this done and I can't be more thankful. It's taken a while, but it's great to see the Blue Island location standing on it's own two feet, so to speak. Stop by and check it out!!

Gateway Green Tree-K Run/Walk

Despite the Seattle like weather over the past few weeks, the rain held out just long enough for a few of our Christy Webber staff to participate in the Gateway Green Tree-K Run/Walk.

Those tree costumes crack me up. No leaves??:)

Pictures from the Bricks & Ivy Ball

Don't let the pictures fool you - there's no cubbie blue running through my veins. South Side for life!! Haah. I am, however, lucky enough to be good friends with one the Cub's owners, Laura Ricketts. I knew she'd love to see me attend, but when I heard that the money made from the tickets and auction items benefited kids and I knew I had to attend. The event was a blast and helped raise a ton of money. Plus, in all fairness, the Cubs staff was incredibly nice. I don't think Kerry Wood got a bite in during dinner, all with a genuine smile.

Whether they're your team or not, the organization is something we as a city can be proud of.

That said... GO SOX!!

IL Governor's Mansion Veggie Garden

Last year we helped supply the mansion's vegetable garden with some much needed material. With almost a full year under it's belt, the governor's office has highlighted CWL for its help in a web page they created to show off the 'greening' of the mansion. Have a look here.

CWL at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show

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OK, ok, ok, a blog about the Chicago Flower & Garden Show wouldn't be complete without an accompanying blog for our own design. The theme this year is "The Sport of Gardening." We teamed up with the Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks (the organization as a whole) to create a Blackhawks themed display. We'll begin the installation on February 22nd and can't wait to see the finish exhibit. Pictures to follow!

Evening In Bloom

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Christy Webber Landscapes, a returning exhibitor for the Chicago Flower & Garden Show, extends an invitation to Evening in Bloom, a preview event benefiting the Chicago Botanic Garden and Chicago Gateway Green. Get a sneak peek of the Chicago Flower & Garden Show BEFORE it opens to the public at this Preview Benefit from 6:00-9:30 p.m. In addition to exploring the show floor, you'll be treated to complimentary hors d'oeuvres, cocktails and live entertainment.
Visit http://www.chicagoflower.com/ for more information.

Rancho Verde Plays Host to Migrating Monarchs

Dozens of Illinois' state insect, the Monarch butterfly, made their temporary home here at Rancho Verde over the past week. While it's hard to tell if the butterflies started their journey here or further up north, I do know (Wikipedia told me) that they'll be continuing their road trip all the way down to Mexico to special butterfly sanctuaries - Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve.

Our butterfly garden impressed everyone who spent time out by the flowering plants, but the real deal is down south. The butterflies gather by the millions, completely covering clusters of large trees, waiting till spring to make the trek back up north.

One fact about their migration that I find particularly interesting is the group's round trip journey far exceeds an individual butterfly's typical life span. The butterflies lay eggs during a section of the migration and then die off some time after. The following year the spawn pick up where their parents left off and continue their migration. No one knows exactly how the new generations of butterfly know how to complete the journey, but they find their way back the same spot year after year.

My own green roof.

I never liked the fact that much of my view from my back porch was of the top of my garage. Grateful as I might be for having a roof over my car, the sight of it wasn't exactly refreshing or inspiring (come on, it's a roof), so I decided to do what many of our clients do and create a green roof on an otherwise mundane little bit of space. And not only does it add some visual interest, it also diverts rainwater!

Converting my entire roof would have been costly, so to reduce costs, only the area that was visible to me was reworked. The initial steps consisted of putting the edging, root barriers and drainage in. That step took about 5 solid hours of work. After that, the actual laying of soils and plants finished out the second day. I took care to select plants and ground cover that would weather out the long dry summer days, but would also withstand those violent storms that seem to pop up frequently. Getting everything planted took a bit longer, only because I took some time to plan out a design.

Like many people, having a family and full time career doesn't leave me with a whole lot of extra time, but I felt real good about being able to do the work myself. It's like putting a motor back together or building a nice book shelf - you take a lot of pride in the work you do. . . well, you can leave the green roofs to me* (ha), but seriously, it's important to find time to do the things you love and labor over.

* If you're doing it yourself, please remember to use a certified structural engineer to assess your work site BEFORE you start loading up the roof with heavy material!!

Helping Herman Miller

Last week, I was one of 30 people who donated their time to assist home and office furniture maker Herman Miller in planting garden material at the Madonna House. Herman Miller donated trees, shrubs and perennials to Catholic Charities for one of their homes in Wrigleyville. Thanks to everyone who helped out that day. It was such a great way to help out a local charity.

Christy Webber Landscapes

Christy Webber Landscapes recently installed a temporary landscape feature at the Merchandise Mart for the upscale furniture company Herman Miller. The install consisted of numerous plantings, including flowers shrubs and even trees. It might not sound too impressive until you consider the installation was built on a flat bed and sat in front of the mart near the river. Impossible? Of course not. Easy? Well maybe not easy, but I'd like to think we're always up for a challenge, big or small.

Secretary Sebelius and Governor Quinn Visit

Christy Webber Landscapes hosted the Governor and Secretary this past week to speak about Illinois' Put Illinois to Work program. CWL was ultimately chosen in part because of the large number of workers hired from the program, and to illustrate that not all stimulus money is used for corporations and bail outs, but also for the working class and small businesses like CWL. Roger Post and I were able to give the two a tour of our site, Rancho Verde, before they spoke about the progress made thus far. It was a great experience to host these two individuals and show them what Christy Webber Landscapes is all about.

Our Bees Are Busy Bees

A few weeks ago, we purchased two bee hives. We had hoped the bees had adapted to their new home, but we had yet to see any real indication of them working as a colony. Until now. If you look closely, you'll notice pollen that's been secured onto the legs of a bee in the middle of the picture above. This is great news, because it's proof that the bees have found their individual roles and are in fact working as a collective whole.

Christy Webber Landscapes presents Garden of Eve

This past Friday we brought our crews in a little early to make sure we got our shop nice and clean. We used our space for Garden of Eve, a special event to celebrate and support the services and programs of Howard Brown Health Center's Lesbian Community Care Project (LCCP). The event featured live music, dancing, delectable desserts and food from over 2 dozen local restaurants, and a silent auction (I sooo wanted that football signed by Walter Payton). All in all the event was a huge success. We had over 650 people here. 650! I'm surprised we had enough parking. A special thank you to Kat Fitzgerald for all the pictures.

CWL & MCM Grand

Christy Webber Landscapes and its garden center - Grand Street Gardens, supplied material for MCM Grand's Jewelry Expo. Grand Street supplied plants and Japanese maples in Cresant pots for their entry way. How awesome are those neon lights. To learn more about MCM and the Grand Avenue Design District click here.

My poor shadow, the 'first born' baby Webber, Oscar, needed his teeth cleaned the same day the baby was born. Luckily, a friend had taken care of him while we were at the hospital. He had been knocked out for the cleaning, and could barely stay awake afterwards. Poor Oscar just wanted to be at home with mom, but instead he was the playmate for a very happy & hyper dog, name Picco. I'm sure Picco enjoyed the play date, but Oscar is certainly glad to be home with the family.

Arbor Day Event at Nathan Hale Elementary School

I recently had the honor of helping the wonderful students at Nathan Hall Elementary School plant a tree on the school's property. Along with 23rd Ward Alderman Michael Zalewski and representatives from the Chicago Department of Aviation, a total of ten trees and 25 hydrangea bushes were planted as part of the airport's compatible landscaping community education program -say that 3 times fast!

It's great knowing you've helped to clean and beautify a school, but even better knowing that the kids helping have a better idea of the benefits of keeping the school and the come to school and see the trees, they know they had a direct hand helping out the school and their community. How cool is that.

The United Center isn' the only place where hawks play

We're constantly amazed at the assortment of wild life that frequents Rancho Verde. This time around, what appears to be a Cooper's Hawk perches a top one of our shade tents. The hawk took refuge from a pair of crows who had been chasing him/her around the yard. Probably more annoyed than worried, the hawk took the time to allow us to snap a few pictures. How lucky are we to get the opportunity to see such a beautiful animal up close and personal.