Works by the Irvington Garden Club

by guest blogger Ed Myers, president of the Irvington Garden Club (one of our many collaborating partners)

Since its founding in 1999, the Irvington Garden Club has undertaken numerous beautification projects, including:

• Benton House Historic Garden highlighting plants in cultivation prior to 1900
• Kile Oak Habitat Garden, which is registered with the National Wildlife Federation and planted with Indiana native prairie wildflowers, woodland plants, grasses and shrubs
• a community park on Webster Avenue complete with benches, picnic tables, raised garden beds and playground equipment.
  

Additionally, the club maintains a shrub rose garden, an Emerson Avenue Median and urns at both the corner of Audubon and Washington and the Bona Thompson Center.

Under the club's leadership and with the help of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful, Inc., over 850 trees were planted on Irvington streets between 2000 and 2008.

Within the past few years the club has partnered with Irvington Terrace Neighborhood by providing hundreds of native plants for their Washington/Shadeland overpass project. The club also worked in partnership with the Irvington Green Initiative and others by donating 500 plants to the "Teaching Rain Garden" adjacent the Pennsy Trail and the Irvington Community School. IGC is also a major sponsor of the Irvington SkillShare "Feast"ival.

This year the club celebrated not only 11 years of sponsoring Irvington Farmer's Markets in Ellenberger park, but also 10 years of organizing the neighborhood's annual garden tour .

During the summer, club meetings are held at 7 PM on the 4th Monday of each month in member's gardens. During the rest of the year the club meets at the Irvington United Presbyterian Church, 55 Johnson Avenue. Recent programs have included presentations on rain gardens, native plants, herbs, dividing perennials, cactus, and jack-in-the-pulpits.

Guests are always welcome to attend monthly meetings. Additionally one does not need to reside in Irvington to become a member of the club. Those seeking further information can call 503-6139.

Note: The Irvington Garden Club will have a display in the resource area of the Nov. 7 Irvington SkillShare "Feast"ival; be sure to stop by and find out more!