December 2015 Meeting - Annual Christmas Party

Our December meeting is always reserved for the annual Christmas Party. The club provides the meat course and members bring side dishes or desserts.

This year the table decorations were especially lovely and everyone had great fun with the party poppers that were found at each place setting.

As always, scrumptious food and delightful company.

November 2015 Meeting: Storytelling with Jane Stenson

Our November Uplands Garden Club meeting went beyond a good time by challenging us to think critically and holistically about our world. Uplands Garden Club Member, Jane Stenson, accepted our request to perform an evening of storytelling rich with images from nature.



Jane first delighted us with a traditional folk tale about a young woman stolen by a witch. Then, having grown up in the woods of Connecticut, Jane drew upon her experiences in the natural world to bring us two stories based on real life incidents from her youth.

Jane is a storyteller, author, educator and professional development workshop presenter. She holds a B.A. in history, English and secondary education and has earned a M.ED. in child development. Jane uses storytelling to promote literacy, social studies, math and science skills in the preschool, elementary and middle school populations. She has taught on all levels, co-authored three books on the relationship between storytelling and education and worked on incorporating storytelling into the Common Core Standards.

Jane conducts professional workshops on how to tell a story and learning through storytelling. She accepts many invitations from schools and has delighted countless children and their teachers with her storytelling.

Thank you to Jane for a most enjoyable Garden Club program!

October 2015 Meeting: Mark Cupp - Effigy Mounds

Effigy mounds are often described as artworks on the landscape and are earthen mounds in the shapes of animals and in rare instances, human forms.

Mark Cupp, Executive Director of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board, gave a presentation on the effigy mound building culture and the connection to southwest Wisconsin particularly within the Riverway. 

Mark serves as President of Cultural Landscape Legacies, Inc., a nonprofit organization devoted to protection and preservation of mounds and rock art sites in the Upper Midwest. He is also Vice-President of the Three Eagles Foundation, also a nonprofit organization, which is involved in management of the famed mound site known as Frank's Hill located in southern Richland County across the river from Muscoda.

Mark's presentation described the types of mounds found in Wisconsin and focused on the effigy mound building culture which thrived in Wisconsin 1000 years ago. He showed photographs and maps of mounds sites that demonstrated the complexities of mound building. A question and answer session followed the presentation.

September 2015 Meeting: Visit to the Ridgeway Pine Relict

We had a wonderful September meeting roaming the pine barrens of the Ridgeway Pine Relict. Thank you to the Driftless Area Land Conservancy and the Malcolm Stack Foundation for sharing this local gem.

Pine relicts are pine forest communities that are remnants that date back to the last glacier retreat-some 10,000 years ago. These relicts were part of what was once a pine dominated landscape in a cool southern WI climate. As time passed the climate gradually warmed and prairie and oak savannas replaced nearly all the pine forests in Southern Wisconsin. All that remains are relicts found in very steep draws among rocky cliffs in the Driftless Areas of SW Wisconsin. The Ridgeway pines are only one of two large pine relicts in Southern Wisconsin. The plant community in a pine relict consists of at least 75% northern and not more than 25% southern plant species.

David Clutter, Executive Director of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, helped make arrangements with the Malcolm Stack Foundation to visit this site. David has dedicated his career to protecting and stewarding biological diversity, water resources and agricultural lands in Illinois and Wisconsin. David has a Master's of Science in Environment and Resources from UW-Madison with an emphasis on collaborative conservation planning and policy implementation. David gave us some background information on the pine relict and then led a walk.

August 2015: Picnic Meeting and Trip to Heritage Farm

Picnic at Soldiers Memorial Park

It was a great picnic at Soldier's Memorial Park in Mineral Point for our August meeting. Jenny McNeill has been working on developing diverse and colorful flower beds both along the creek and around the park entrance sign. We really enjoyed seeing what Jenny had done. Great food and lots of it.

Following our business meeting Marian Schmitz shared some fascinating and amazing history of

Soldier’s Memorial Park. Many were surprised with Marian’s park history, that there had been a lake in the park big enough for rowboats, swimming and a slide and that there once had been a dance pavilion that hosted big name bands. Marian brought in old pictures, letters, and

newspaper articles, and recounted some personal recollections about her involvement with the park.

Many thanks to Jenny for her work on the park gardens and to Marian for a delightful and informative look back at the history of Soldiers Memorial Park.

Day Trip to Heritage Farm

The 2015 annual Garden Club trip was to Heritage Farm outside of Decorah, Iowa on August 15th.

Heritage Farm is the headquarters of Seed Savers Exchange, whose mission is to conserve and promote America's culturally diverse but endangered garden and food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants.

The farm is located six miles north of Decorah, Iowa. Nestled among sparkling streams, limestone bluffs, and century-old white pine woods, the 890-acre farm is a living museum of historic varieties. Thousands of heirlooms are grown in certified organic fields.

July 2015 Meeting: Garden Visit, Home of Carol and Dean Rademaker

July's garden club program was at the home of Carol and Dean Rademaker in the country outside of Hollandale. They have opened their beautiful home with extensive and diverse gardens to a number of garden tours in the past but always surprise us with something new.

In addition to their well-tended prairie, woods, large ponds, creek and path, large rock garden, vegetable and perennial beds, Carol has constructed a number of fairy houses which she has tucked away in her gardens. Members were greeted by any number of them as they meandered about. 

  

It is a lot of work to ready a home for a garden tour and we thank Carol and Dean for volunteering their gardens to tour this year. 

June 2015 Meeting: Garden Visit - Home of Jim and Sue Okas

The lupines were in full bloom in the lush
plantings between the sidewalk and curb.

Summer garden walks are a special treat that garden club members eagerly look forward to.




The June meeting kicked off the garden walk season in style with a visit to the home of Jim and Sue Okas in McFarland.

When Jim and Sue moved from Mineral Point a couple of years ago they left behind extensive gardens that Sue had nurtured over many years. So it was no surprise that she fell in love with the lush gardens surrounding their new home in McFarland.

A HUGE sumac that died recently but still lends architectural interest.
Two adjacent sumac trees are almost as large!

Their yard has many unique spaces including a pond with koi, a mini garden, tool shed and pergola.

The gardens were designed and planted 14 years ago by the previous owner. Sue brought some of her favorite miniature hostas, but the rest of the extensive plantings were already there. Plants include a variety of trees and shrubs, tree peonies, shade and sun perennials and ground covers.


















Sue has embellished the areas with natural materials such as wood and stone and other ornamentation.






























Just outside their back door you step onto a shaded patio next to the pond - the perfect spot to enjoy our treats and conversation.


























Thank you to Sue and Jim for sharing their wonderful gardens!