November 2017 Meeting: England Garden Tour - Mary Mayo

For our November meeting, Uplands Garden Club member Mary Mayo treated us to a slide show on her trip with the Hardy Plant Society to English Gardens, focusing on the cultural aspects, physical geography, plants and garden design and how we can incorporate some of these ideas into our own gardens with ease.

In June, 2016 Mary’s sister invited  Mary to accompany her on a garden tour sponsored by the WI Hardy Plant Society to England. Thirty one people, all members of the WHPS, visited 28 diverse gardens traveling south and west from London, to the English Channel, through the Cotswolds before returning to London.

The WHPS has been collaborating with the same British tour guide for many years and that special relationship has opened doors to unique opportunities for the club.

Munching on popcorn during Mary’s presentation, club members learned about the culture, geology, development of plants and gardens, and unique adventures that no one visitor could ever have made happen. She pointed out garden features with practical ideas for integrating some of the same principles in our gardens.

Thanks to Mary for sharing her inspiring tour with the Garden Club!

October 2017 Meeting: Queen Bee Acres

At our October meeting Fran and Pete Demo, long time beekeepers from the Darlington area, introduced us to beekeeping.

Honey bees have fascinated Pete since he was a boy growing up in New Jersey. Fran reports she was slower to come on board. But for the last 25 years, they both say they have been stung by the joys of beekeeping! Now their hobby has grown to a business, Queen Bee Acres, and involves managing 25-30 hives in Lafayette and Iowa Counties. Their hives are carefully located to promote bee health and delicious honey from an ever-changing blend of available nectar.

Fran and Pete demonstrated the basics of setting up and working with a Langstroth beehive, the preferred hive used by beekeepers because it encourages bees to build honeycomb on movable frames which makes for easier bee management and extraction of the honey.  A real, but uninhabited hive along with an observation frame was available for us to see and hear.

Fran is also a member of the Lafayette County MasterGardeners and shared her knowledge of plants and woodies that attract bees.  

September 2017 Meeting: Annual Picnic...plus a State Park Nature Walk

This years annual Uplands Garden Club Picnic took place on September 6th at Governor Dodge State Park, located approximately three miles north of Dodgeville on Highway 23.

We met at the Cox Hollow Shelter at 5pm for a guided walk led by club member Gayl Stewart.  Gayl has been the Naturalist at the Park for several years and is a wealth of information about the Park’s history, flora and fauna.

The picnic began at 6pm. Club members each brought a yummy dish to pass and an alcoholic beverage if desired.  The club provided the cutlery, plates, napkins, and nonalcoholic beverage. This was a family event so members were encouraged to invite grandchildren, children, and spouses. As always, there was a good turnout for the picnic (who doesn't love a picnic?) - and there were no “bugs” and the lake was still and beautifully reflective...a perfect evening!

Thanks to Gayl for taking us on a hike and for sharing a naturalist view of the park.  This park is truly a treasure!

August 2017 Meeting: Jeanette Golden Home Gardens

On Wednesday August 2 the Uplands Garden Club visited Jeanette Golden's home garden, located between Blue Mounds and Black Earth. Jeannette has been active in the Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society and her garden was recommended by Frank Greer, past-president of the WHPS. He calls her garden "fabulous"...and we agree!

Jeannette began her garden 25 years ago and it has now grown to an acre of gardens, all of her own design, including rock garden selections, sun and shade perennials and woodland plants. She calls herself a "Plant Geek" and has collections of plants. Some favorites include day lilies, dwarf conifers and clematis. She has two gigantic black walnut trees where hundreds of perennials and quite a few woodland plants are happily growing.

This garden was a treat for our club to visit.  Our club president summed up the visit in the newsletter with a sentiment we all share, "We had such a wonderful tour of Jeanette Golden’s incredible gardens. These tours always leave me with the feeling that maybe someday my gardens might look that good. I am always inspired when I visit these unique, well-planned gardens, and I take away so many good ideas that I would like to try."

Thank you Jeanette, for your sharing your wonderful gardens with us!

July 2017 Meeting: Wisler Home Visit - Wetlands and Native Sedges with Pat Trochlell

The July Uplands Garden Club meeting was held at the rural home of Jayne and Bill Wisler. The focus of the meeting was “Wetlands & Native Sedges”. Pat Trochlell, a DNR Wetland Ecologist, explained how to identify sedges (sedges have edges-rushes are round) and discussed their importance to our environment.

Pat then led a walk through the sedge meadows, wetlands, and prairies on the Wisler property. Jayne and Bill have done extensive restoration work on their property, including the removal of drain tile to bring back the wetland area and restoration of the trout stream that runs through the wetland area.

On our walk, Pat showed us many examples of native sedges that are growing now in this restored wetland.

Pat Trochlell’s education includes BS degrees from UW-Stevens Point in Wildlife Biology and Wildlife Management, minor in Soil Science. Post-graduate studies in Wetland Ecology and Botany. Area of Work: Ecology, assessment, monitoring, compensatory mitigation, restoration, invasive species, regulation and policy related to wetlands.

Thank you to Bill and Jayne Wisler for sharing their sedge meadow with us and to Pat for her expertise. We all learned a great deal about sedges.

June 2017 Meeting: Visit to The Flower Factory

The Flower Factory hosta greenhouse

In case anyone did not get all the perennials they needed for their garden at the recent Upands Garden Club plant sale, we got another chance to purchase those perfect plants.

Our June Garden Club meeting took place at The Flower Factory in Stoughton, WI. The Flower Factory carries a  huge selection of perennials including day lilies, hostas, ornamental grasses, pond plants, and rock garden plants. They have many new plants this year, Little Pinkie Gentian, Ruby Grass, and several new Veronicas…Blue Skywalker, Perfectly Piasson, Pink Potion to name a few.

Nancy Nedveck, Co-Owner or The Flower Factory
led a behind-the-scenes tour and shared her expertise.

And anyone who did not need any new plants certainly enjoyed wandering the gardens and enjoying the beautiful setting. Co-Owner Nancy Nedveck gave us a tour at 5PM with shopping open until 7PM.

It was great to go behind the scene to see the propagation areas and replenishing houses. Nancy is a gracious and helpful hostess. We came away with just what we needed for several special projects. Her knowledge of perennials is incredible, and we took full advantage of her expertise. We plan to return soon for more plants as we update some older flower beds.

Jane with Cow Topiary

Garden club meets in a beautiful setting at The Flower Factory

May 2017 Meeting: Tool Sharpening & Garden Visit - Rademaker Home Gardens

Our May meeting was jam packed! It included not only tool sharpening but also a tour of Carol and Dean Rademaker's wonderful gardens.

Then there were consultations to decipher the results of soil tests for those who had turned in their samples to Nina Cairns at last month's meeting.

Whew - a lot going on!

We divided into two groups for demonstrations and tours. Uplands Garden Club members John Sharp, Dean Rademaker and Bill Wisler demonstrated how to sharpen a variety of garden tools, John and Dean showing how to use power equipment and Bill concentrating on sharpening using only hand tools.

Club members each brought one tool to be sharpened. They could try their hand at it themselves or ask John, Dean and Bill to do it. Admittedly, most of us chose the latter option but we did go home with newfound knowledge of how to do it ourselves at home next time.

While one group was getting their tools sharpened, Carol led the other group on a tour of their wonderful country property, which includes extensive perennial gardens, rustic features that Carol has created, a huge rock garden, outbuildings, and a stream leading to a pond.

And, as if that wasn't plenty, Nina Cairns was on hand to interpret the soil analysis results from samples that members turned in at the April meeting.

Learning from one another is just one of the many pleasures of belonging to the garden club, as this meeting highlighted so well. A hearty THANK YOU to John, Dean, Bill and Nina for sharing their expertise and to Carol and Dean for their hospitality!