2026 UPCOMING EVENTS
Agenda
6:00-6:30 PM – Social Hour with Refreshments
6:30-7:00 PM – Club Business Meeting
7:00-8:00 PM – Presentation
Township of Schaumburg building at One Illinois Blvd., 1st Floor, Hoffman Estates, IL
April 9, 2026 (New Date) – Improving your Soil the Natural Way
Learn how to improve your soil with an overview of what soil is and how it holds nutrients. We will explore some of the techniques used by our presenter’s grandparents in the preparation of their flowerbeds and vegetable garden. Discussion of basic soil structure, texture, compaction and amendments will be covered. Soil PH, macro and micro elements along with mycorrhiza, green sand and compost for amendments will be reviewed.
Ken Benson has his master’s and bachelor’s in horticulture from the University of Illinois, Champaign. He is a landscape architect and was the host of cable TV’s Landscaping with Ken Benson 1992-2000. He was a board member of Chicago Flower and Garden Show 1998-2008 and a founding board member of MELA – Midwest Ecological Landscapers Association. Ken is a past member of the Men’s Garden Club of Villa Park and has been giving programs since 1972 to garden clubs throughout the area.
May 7 – I’m Not Really a Garden Expert, I Just Play One on the Radio
Mike Nowak speaks on a wide range of gardening issues – why we need to rethink our attitudes regarding insects, why pesticide is usually the worst response to a garden problem, why weeds always win, why fertilizing is overrated, why a lot of garden design is overrated, why some garden design could help, why expensive plants are easy to kill, why there’s no such thing as a native garden yet it’s still important to grow native plants, and why folks sometimes do the weirdest things in the name of gardening.
Mike celebrated 25 years talking about gardening, the environment and green living on his program. Before going “strictly internet,” Mike hosted programs on WGN Radio and several others. He was co-host of the local TV program Dig In Chicago. His award-winning column was on the pages of Chicagoland Gardening Magazine. In 2014, he published his first book, Attack of the Killer Asparagus and Other Lessons Not Learned in the Garden. He is also a popular speaker on the garden club circuit.
June 5, 2026 – 🪴 ANNUAL PLANT SALE 🪴
Our annual plant sale on will take place on Friday, June 5 from 7am-1pm at the Schaumburg Farmer’s Market (190 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg). Members will offer locally grown plants from their own gardens as well as some grown from seed. There will be a wide variety of sun and shade plants including perennials, annuals, dahlias, grasses, hostas, vegetables and herbs. A limited number of native plants like milkweed and coneflower will be available to help support our pollinators. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Schaumburg Township Food Pantry. Click here for a printable flyer: HEGC 2026 plant sale flyer
August 6, 2026 – MEMBER FORUM – Ask Our Experts
Get answers to those pesky questions you’ve been asking yourself. Maybe you don’t know where to start, or don’t have time to research, or get conflicting information, maybe it pops up once a year & is gone again. This meeting will give members a chance to pick the brains of our gardening experts on an array of topics.
September 3, 2026 – To Be Announced
October 1, 2026 – To Be Announced
November 5, 2026 – To Be Announced
December ??, 2026 – MEMBERS ONLY HOLIDAY PARTY
