As I mentioned in a previous issue, my grandparents entertained visitors from all over the country at Riverby, their home in Warrenville, IL. In my grandfather’s journals, he noted that many colleagues and garden enthusiasts came to their slice of land along the DuPage River expressly to see his garden inspired by native plants - the Kammerer Wild Garden.
Early on in his career, he expressed interest in wild flower gardens and the preservation of native species:
Escorted Wild Flower Preservation Society through Arb this AM (about 20 cars) — May 14, 1932
Attended lecture on Wild Flowers by Gordon Pearsall at Adm Bldg in eve. — Oct 9, 1940 [Gordon S. Pearsall was a naturalist in the Chicago area who published materials on native wildlife for the Field Museum and the Trailside Museum in River Forest]
Throughout his journals, he obsessively cataloged every plant he installed in his gardens - and the wild garden specifically contained a diverse selection both in species and origin.
1940:
Planted another clump of Bluebells in the wild garden, 3 Evergreen Wood Ferns near the broad leaved evergreens — April 24
Planted a small clump of Trillium nivale, the Snow Trillium, in the wild garden — April 26
Naturalized some wild flowers from Arboretum woods in the Wild Garden. Shooting stars - violets (yellow - pale blue + confederate?) Skunk cabbage (along stream course leading from spring to river) — May 10
Planted 34 new Iris in the border along the path to the wild garden — Sept 23
Dug wild ginger and ginseng, bloodroot etc in Arb woods and picked up more rocks — October 4
He paid tremendous attention to cataloging every plant that went into the garden:
1941:
Planted Polypodium polypodioidea [resurrection fern] on stump in wild garden — April 14
Planted the Larch (Larix decidua) near the SW corner of the veg garden site and two small hemlocks along the boundary near the wild garden site. Mosquitoes objectionable tonight. Crocuses almost thru blooming — April 15
Borrowed the Arboretum truck at noon and brought home a load of plants. Put them in the ‘spring’ until evening when I heeled some of them in…Planted a 4-5 ft Hemlock near the wild garden and dug holes for several azaleas — April 17
1954:
Planted 10 Trillium (from Crayton N.C.) in wild garden (acid group) — May 24
As is apparent from my grandfather’s journal entries, the Kammerer Wild Garden was home to plants and flowers from all over, gathered from roadsides, trails, and the gardens of people he and my grandmother visited.
In May of 1940, he mentions finding “a most spectacular assortment” of wildflowers growing near Braidwood, which he dug up specimens of and planted in the wild garden at Riverby. Later in the year, he wrote of receiving more plants to add to the garden:
Bob B. brought me a small plant of Walking Fern Camptosorus rhyzophyllus from the bog. Planted it in the wild garden — Sept 9
Planted 8 Wild Columbine seedling (from Forest Rd Overlook) — Sept 16
Plants (wild flowers and ferns) arrived today from Exeter Wild Flower Gardens in Exeter, NH — Sept 30
Started planting wild flowers (from Isaac Langley Williams - Exeter NH) — Oct 2 [Isaac Langley Williams was a wild flower seed distributor and author of books on wild flowers]
In later years, his practice of accepting stray plants from friends and acquaintances continued:
Received a package of Violets (Viola pedata and V. sagittata) from Bob Baughart, Camp Forest, Tenn. Planted them in the wild garden — April 16, 1941
To Dr. Steyermarks in Barrington for dinner and to see his wild garden. We left Riverby about 5PM. Ray and Mrs. Nordine accompanying us — May 23, 1951
A very busy day at the office. Walter + Martin took the Arb truck out to Highland Park this AM to get plants at the W.C. Egan place - soon scheduled for demolition — May 21, 1954
Explored rocky ravine on Grandmother’s place. Collected ferns, wild flowers, and numerous moss covered rocks — April 16, 1957
The garden was an amalgamation of different colors, textures, and species. Its apparent haplessness was part of its charm - although carefully laid out by my grandfather, the native plants grew with minds all their own.
My grandfather was a man of aesthetics, and I have no doubt the beauty value of the various flowers and plants native to the Midwest was central to his deep appreciation for them. But he clearly also felt focusing on the native landscape was immensely worthwhile. He and his colleagues valued the natural landscape. Whether it was May Watts’s efforts to bring the Illinois Prairie Path to fruition, Ray Schulenberg’s work on prairie restoration, or my grandfather’s focus on encouraging people to grow native plants and trees of the Midwest, the arboretum during the mid-twentieth century was turning its gaze toward preservation and conservation.
By highlighting his “wild” garden, demonstrating the visual worth of native plants and inviting countless visitors to tour the natural space he created, my grandfather undoubtedly influenced countless others to utilize wildflowers in their own gardens. By showing off the possibilities of native plants, he made a strong case for their use in natural landscaping.
Thank you for subscribing! And if you’re not subscribed yet, you can do that right here. You can get newsletters for free, but there are also paid subscriptions that will offer you access to additional content.
If you have topics you’re interested to hear more about or feedback for me, please feel free to let me know in the comments.
If you like what you’ve read so far, sharing Bulletin of Remarkable Trees with your friends would help a whole lot!
Bulletin of Remarkable Trees Vol. 2 No. 15
Followed the reference to Steyermark Woods, as his garden is now known in North Barrington, Illinois and a holding of Citizens for Conservation. Amazing intersection of careers and personalities at the Morton Arboretum that still are illumanaries in the landscape around us. Thank you.