Wyss: Gardening great’s tribute set to bloom

Talented, knowledgeable, and, perhaps, most of all, nurturing.

These are a few of the words that captured the essence of Mary Monin Walker, according to those who knew her.

Walker, formerly of Crystal Lake and Woodstock, was a master flower show judge, a nationally known horticulturist, and a gifted gardener whose work was highlighted in magazines and at national gardening enthusiasts’ gatherings.

In the 1970s, Walker wrote a column, called “The Observant Gardener,” that published regularly in the Crystal Lake Morning Herald, a predecessor of the Northwest Herald.

The horticultural world lost a supreme advocate in June, when Walker, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease in recent years, died in Naples, Fla., at age 86. Members of at least three Crystal Lake gardening clubs will honor Walker on Aug. 12 at the dedication of a new garden called “Mary’s Lilies.”

Featuring Walker’s favorite flower, the garden is under construction at the Blue Star Memorial Marker site at Pierson and Florence streets in Crystal Lake.

The Countryside Garden Club, of which Walker was a decades-long member and past president, along with the Garden Gate and Green Twig garden clubs, will welcome the public at 1 p.m. at the First Congregational Church Fellowship Hall, 461 Pierson St. After a short program, the dedication will take place, said Jean Saha, a member of the Countryside club.

“She was just a great gardener, and a great teacher,” Saha said of Walker, who is survived by a son, Miles Kinkead, and daughter-in-law, Susan Kinkead, of Naples.

Sally Lind first met Walker when Lind joined the Countryside club 23 years ago. Lind said she never will forget Walker’s self-taught knowledge of plants’ botanical names, the ease with which she taught floral arranging, and the grace with which she offered criticism.

When wearing her instructor’s or judge’s cap, Walker always sought out first that which was best about an entry or work in progress.

“She would compliment you on that,” said Lind, 66. “Then she might say, ‘When you get home, try a heavier branch with this, you’ll see how the heavier components complement each other.’ She was always complimentary, always found something positive.”

“Less is more” was among Walker’s mottoes – employed for everything from fertilizer in house plants to facets of award-winning floral arrangements.

Lind and Saha said Walker shared her garden at her Ballard Road home in Crystal Lake with numerous visitors. Often, they left not only inspired, but also bearing gifts.

“I always came back with small seedlings of this or that to put in my gardens,” Lind said.

“Mary’s Lilies” will pop with reds, whites and pinks. It sounds like a fitting tribute to a local woman who spent a lifetime wooing beauty from the soil and cheerfully sharing her natural talents on a national scale.

• Cyndi Wyss is a Northwest Herald community editor. She can be reached at 815-526-4534 or cwyss@nwherald.com.