Ongoing Beautification and Improvements
New native plants in the garden for 2025
Our garden is home to numerous native plants as they play a crucial role to support local ecosystems, require less maintenance, and attract beneficial wildlife such as pollinators and birds to ensure ecological balance.
2025 marks the third consecutive year our garden has received a grant from Wild Ones, a national native plant organization. This year's grant amounts to over $1,200 - our largest grant yet to achieve three big projects/advancements in 2025
- plant new several redbud trees and spicebush shrubs
- replace the invasive Chinese silver grasses and knockout roses along the street and rejuvenate it with dwarf honeysuckle and true native grasses
- transform another area with false indigo and a variety of other native plants, including the rare purple milkweed - an amazing feeder of our butterflies and pollinators.
Artist Companion Bench
This companion to the mural is a bench art piece placed at the new native garden at the south end, facing the mural.
The Maker. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our longtime neighbor, Patrick Radoszewski, for constructing this beautiful new bench.
The Artist. A special shout-out goes to our dear friend of WEAR and talented artist, Cheri Charlton, for painting the bench in her signature style. Cheri continues to grow as one of Chicago's most prominent mural artists. Cheri continues to create stunning public art and is now gearing up to announce an even more significant work, set to be completed later in 2025.
The Neighbor. A warm thanks WEAR board member Bryce Huguenin for generously supplying the material costs.
New garden crosswalk
Several years ago, WEAR began advocacy efforts with with the 40th Ward office to establish a crosswalk at the north end of the garden. Thanks to Alderperson Vasquez and his team's help, this initiative has been realized as part of the Ravenswood reconstruction and traffic calming plan.
To address excessive speeding on Ravenswood, the project will also incorporate new speed bumps from Lawrence to Peterson, including two between Rosehill and Thorndale.