Cantigny’s new horticulturalist lives her job

By Susan Dibble

sdibble@dailyherald.com

Not everyone would want to live where they work.

Joy Kaminsky, the new director of horticulture at Cantigny Park in Wheaton, couldn’t be happier about it.

“It’s perfect for me,” she said. “Living on the property allows me the opportunity to really monitor the grounds throughout the day, in evenings and early mornings.”

An avid runner, Kaminsky does some of that monitoring during treks on Cantigny’s 500 acres where she oversees 29 acres of formal gardens, open parklike and natural areas, and all plantings on the golf course except the turf.

“What’s most distinctive about Cantigny is the versatility the grounds offer,” Kaminsky said. “With 500 acres, there is a lot to see and be a part of.”

Kaminsky, who joined the Cantigny staff in late September, is looking forward to her first growing season with enthusiasm.

The 120,000 annuals a year grown in the greenhouse are used to plant spring, summer and fall displays. The flower bed logo at the golf course spelling out “Cantigny” is being redone.

In fact, all the golf course plantings will be shown off in future garden walks that Cantigny offers, said Jeff Reiter, communications manager of Cantigny and the McCormick Foundation. The golf course plantings include a flower bed in the shape of a giant butterfly.

“It’s quite spectacular,” Kaminsky said.

All this is accessible to visitors thanks to the generosity of the late Robert R. McCormick, former publisher of the Chicago Tribune, who deeded his country estate to the public when he died in 1955, Reiter said. A $5 parking fee gives access to the grounds, gardens, walking trails, Visitors Center, and the two museums on the property, the McCormick mansion and the First Division Museum. Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays (closed January), and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The parking fee is reduced to $2 when the museums are not open. The grounds, now open 9 a.m. to sunset, will be open 7 a.m. to sunset starting May 1 and continuing through October.

Located at 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton, the park drew more than 300,000 visitors last year and hosts a slew of special events, including concerts, lectures, bird walks, photography and horticulture workshops, greenhouse tours and art shows.

“We are an economical option for the community to come out and enjoy,” Kaminsky said.

Gift of beauty

The formal gardens at Cantigny, including its popular Rose Garden, were designed by famed landscape architect Franz Lipp. This year, the park is debuting a “Season of Roses” program in time for Mother’s Day as a way to honor a loved one by naming a rose bush. For $75, patrons receive a dedication package that includes a gift announcement and a plaque engraved with the name of the honoree. The plaque is displayed for one growing season, May through October, and the purchaser receives a photo of the rose bush in full bloom.

A premium dedication package of $150 includes two tickets to a Rose Reception on the evening of July 7.

“We’ve gotten a lot of inquiries and excitement about it,” Kaminsky said. “We have over 1,000 roses in our rose garden so there’s no shortage of roses for us to honor a loved one.”

Other gardens at Cantigny include a Rock Garden, Octagon Garden, Fountain Garden, Prairie Garden, and various tree and shrub collections. A 1-acre Idea Garden designed to spark creativity among amateur gardeners is planted with a variety of vegetables, herbs, shrubs and flowers that change from year to year.

But beyond the showiness of the formal gardens, Kaminsky said she enjoys the more subtle beauty of Cantigny Park. For instance, the exfoliated bark of sycamore trees and white birches appeals to her with its peeled look and variegated colors.

“During the winter season, I love to look at plants for their bark,” she said. “In college, I was known as the bark girl.”

Love of horticulture

A native of Ohio, Kaminsky knew only that she wanted a career that would let her work outdoors when she entered Miami University of Ohio. She assumed she might be a forest ranger out West until she took an internship at Cleveland Botanical Garden and discovered horticulture.

“Since I was 17, I haven’t changed my mind,” she said. “I love what I do.”

Kaminsky served as director of horticulture and conservation at the Cleveland Botanical Garden from 2004 to 2007. She went on to become director of The Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Long Island, N.Y., until moving to Cantigny last fall.

“I like the Midwest personality,” she said. “People are friendlier.”

At Cantigny where she lives with her husband, George Columbus, Kaminsky directs a full-time staff of 13 that grows to 35 with part-time and seasonal help during the peak season. About 85 volunteers also work in the gardens, where they are asked to put in a four-hour shift each week.

“We would not be able to keep the gardens the way they are without them,” Kaminsky said.

During the winter, Kaminsky is in charge of snow removal and has been known to climb on a plow herself to enable other staff members to get to work.

“I tend not to like to drive, but I did a great job. It was a lot of fun,” she said.

Kaminsky said she also likes Cantigny’s outreach to the community. Like other McCormick Foundation employees, she is expected to put in four service days a year. With other horticulture employees, she will be planting beds and installing raised vegetable beds at Easter Seals.

She also wants to work with institutions such as the Morton Arboretum in Lisle and Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe to expand Cantigny’s horticulture collection by adding plants that otherwise might be lost because of changing habitat.

“Here at Cantigny, we have so much space that we can really start to develop our collection in a way to help the environment and look beautiful,” she said.

Matt LaFond, executive director of Cantigny Park, said Kaminsky’s combination of experience and enthusiasm will be evident as she continues to develop a long-range plan for the gardens that respects the past while incorporating new horticultural practices.

“(She) will be implementing some creative ideas now that the spring planting season has arrived,” he said. “I am confident our visitors will be pleased and inspired by the results.”

Kaminsky hopes to have many years to continue to develop Cantigny’s gardens.

“I’m fortunate to he here and I look forward to a long career,” she said.

If you go

What: Cantigny Park

Where: 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton

When: Grounds open 9 a.m. to sunset daily through April 30; 7 a.m. to sunset daily, May to October

Cost: $5 parking peak hours; $2 off-peak hours

Info: (630) 668-5161