February 2018 Meeting: Smaller Prairie Plants for Our Gardens with Linda Lynch

For our February meeting, Linda Lynch introduced us to smaller prairie plantings for our gardens. She covered site preparation, seeding versus plugs, varieties that do well in various smaller settings, and maintenance of our gardens. 

Linda is a Master Gardener, a former board member of the Prairie Enthusiasts, and an Uplands Garden Club member. 

Linda chats with Carol and Dean

Thank you Linda for educating us on what we can do to help the pollinators in our area by providing them with native plantings.

Harriet updates the membership roster
(annual memberships are due in February).

December 2017 Meeting: Annual Holiday Party

The Annual Uplands Garden Club Christmas party was held on Wed, December 6 starting with hors- d'oeuvres and social hour at 6pm. Our traditional potluck dinner followed at 6:30 with the club providing pork and beef as well as coffee, punch, paper plates and utensils, and members bringing a dish to pass (vegetable, hors d'oeuvre or dessert). Yum!

Our own storyteller and Garden Club member Jane Stenson once again delighted us with a tall tale, and we all rocked out on some Christmas carols accompanied on piano by Julie Weiskircher.

Though it seemed no one came through and wore a Christmas sweater despite the entreaty in the newsletter, Jane got into the spirit with her Christmas socks!

A huge thank you to the committee for their hard work putting together another great holiday party.

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.