A Garden of Poland existed for years manned by volunteers of Polish descent, However, it became necessary to move the Polish Garden  to another location and so the current Polish Garden was created by Alex Rakowski. Alex faithfully made the garden from a book of Polish garden designs using mostly plants native to Poland. It is similar in shape to the old knot gardens of the monastery at Bielany in Cracow. A garden focal point was the bust of the world renowned pianist, Ignace Paderewski, which was destroyed in an arson. Not only is it hoped that the bust of Paderewski will be replaced in the future, but that a variety of clematis cultivars created by Brother Stefan Franczak will be introduced. This Polish Jesuit has won many awards for his clematis hybrids, and Olga Petryszyn, from nearby Porter County, a nationally recognized hybridizer, will be donating a work to the Polish Garden in his honor. Alex welcomes volunteers of Polish descent to help maintain and improve the garden. “ Bog zaplac.”

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