More than 4,000 attend Gardenology in downtown Geneva

GENEVA – An event Saturday about all things gardening brought about four times more people to downtown Geneva than it did last year, one of its organizers said.

More than 4,000 people came to Gardenology near and along Third Street south of State Street in downtown Geneva, said Debbie Notaro, president of the Geneva Garden Club and part of the committee that organizes the event.

“We were very happy with the turnout, and I know the vendors were successful,” Notaro said Saturday at the end of the event.

About 50 vendors offered everything from microgreens to antiques and the event for the first time had a demo area outside the Little Traveler, 404 S. Third St., Geneva. The event had a smaller turnout in 2014 because of poor weather, Notaro said.

Gardenology is a fun family day that really tries to involve children because they are the next generation of gardeners, Notaro said.

At the Gardenology Children’s Activity Center, flower plantings and soil were donated by The Heinz Bros. Greenhouse Garden Center, 2010 E. Main St., St. Charles. Children took home their plantings in pots donated by the event committee.

Geneva resident Lily Pierini, 10, took home a planting of violas from Heinz Bros., as well as baby kale sprouts from the Green Tomato Grocery Co-Op.

Lily’s mother, Cheryl Pierini, said they come to Gardenology every year because they live nearby. Pierini this year was looking for perennials at the vendor booths for her garden.

In addition to vendors, other activities included a speaker’s tent, where Deb Krohn, also known as the The Frog Lady, had live reptiles and amphibians on display and on the lawn of the Geneva Lutheran Church, at 301 S. Third St.

Some more four-legged creatures at the event included dogs brought downtown by their owners and two sibling Lamancha goats at the Rural Fabric booth.

Shabbona-based Rural Fabric owner Peg Feltes Dordal brought Petal, and her brother, Henry, to the event to show people a visual example of where goat milk used for her homemade soap products comes from.

The sibling’s mother, Coco, is actually the one that provides the milk, Feltes said.

Feltes said she has been a vendor at Gardenology for at least the past four years.

“These outdoor marketplaces are so fun – everybody learns something,” she said.

Sid Hendershott, a resident of Red Oak, Texas, made a return to Gardenology on Saturday after his last visit to the event a few years ago. He was in Geneva visiting family.

Hendershott said as an artist, he enjoyed seeing colored tin flowers being sold at some of the vendor booths this year.

“It’s a beautiful city; I enjoy Geneva,” he said.