December 2019 Meeting: Annual Holiday Party

The Annual Uplands Garden Club Christmas Party took place on Wednesday December 4th at Stone Field Apartments. This year it was a meal and a movie!

Hot sandwiches and a simple meal were provided by the club.  Members could bring appetizers and/or desserts to add to the meal, but this was entirely optional. The emphasis for the evening was to keep things, social, and easy for everyone.

The movie, "A Man Named Pearl" tells the inspiring story of a self-taught topiary artist, Pearl Fryar. It offers a message that speaks to respect for both self and others, and shows what one person can achieve when he allows himself to share the full expression of his humanity...a real-life, uplifting, feel-good story.

Guest were welcome...children would enjoy the food and this movie, too! Donations (checks) were collected for the Southwest Wisconsin Community Action Program (SWCAP) Food Pantry.

October 2019 Meeting: How Plants Communicate with Simon Gilroy

The speaker at our October meeting was Simon Gilroy, a professor in the Department of Botany at the UW-Madison since 2007. Professor Gilroy is currently preparing for a NASA space flight botany experiment that takes place in December, 2019. 

He grew up in the United Kingdom, where “everyone is a gardener” and his research focuses on how plants sense the world around them and then how they use that information to survive and thrive. What happens when an insect chews on a leaf or we pick a flower? How much does the plant “know” about what is going on? Plants don’t have a brain but can they count? Dr. Gilroy’s research group uses time lapse imaging to follow how the whole plant responds to these kinds of events married with imaging techniques that allow us to see the action of the very molecules that make the plant work. 

He currently pursues these projects in settings that range from his laboratory at UW-Madison to experiments for NASA on the International Space Station. The title of his October 2 talk was “When I talk to my plants are they listening? How plants sense the world around them”.

The meeting was open to the public and held at the Stonefleid Apartments in Dodgeville on October 2. Professor Gilroy’s talk was sponsored by the Iowa County Master Gardeners Association.

September 2019 Meeting: Bird Studies

Our September 2019 program, titled Bird Studies, was an introduction to bird watching and feeding, and how to develop a bird friendly yard, presented by Chuck Horn. 

Chuck earned a degree in Resource Management from UW-Stevens Point and worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for forty years. After retirement he came back as a part time administrator in the boating safety program and Learn to Hunt and Learn to Fish Outdoor Education programs. Chuck has assisted in or coordinated Audubon Christmas Bird Counts for about 20 years and is currently the coordinator/compiler for the Fennimore Bird Count Circle.

Chuck and his wife, Diane Reuter, who assisted with the presentation, share many outdoor

interests and adventures together including, birding, wildflower identification, hunting, fishing, hiking and camping.

As with all of the Uplands Garden Club speaker presentations, this program was free and open to the public - people of all ages were encouraged to attend.

August 2019 Meeting: Potluck and Garden Visit

This month Alex and Ashley Pfister hosted the club at their home outside Hollandale for our annual summer potluck.

Alex and Ashley have owned their farm since 1995, buying it at auction from Agnes Laverty, age 95, who lived there from the age of 10 with her youngest brother, Frank, until his death in 1995 at age 85. Their parents, Frances and Mae Laverty built it in 1910 after the original homestead burned down. 

Alex and Ashley used it for hunting and a weekend “getaway” for 20 years before renovating/adding-on and moving in full time in 2015. Geothermal heat/cool and solar panels were installed. The 80 tillable acres have been in CRP since 1998, planted in prairie with evergreens on the edges. 

In 2005 they started raised bed vegetable gardening, being committed to growing as much of their own food as possible. In 2017 they replaced the wooden raised beds with 12 galvanized steel stock tanks, adding 6 more this spring. 

Mae had three separate small perennial beds in front of the house that have been made into one large bed, keeping her plants right where they’ve always been.

It was a perfect summer evening and the gardens could not have been lovelier. Thank you to Alex and Ashley for their hospitality!

July 2019 Meeting: Nana Schowalter Gardens and Studio

On July 10th, we spent a near perfect summer evening at the Blanchardville home and studio of Nana Schowalter and her husband Bob Berglund. Nana creates metal sculptures and Bob makes wooden bowls and also does some metal work.

Nana earned an MFA degree from UW-Madison in 1987. She was first introduced to blacksmithing in 1984. The inspiration for her sculptures is in symbols and objects found in ancient cultures. (www.nanaschowalter.com)

Nana and Bob have integrated their art into the landscape and it was wonderful to wander their gardens and admire the plants and works of art at the same time.

Thank you to Nana and Bob for hosting our Garden Club meeting!

June 2019 Meeting: Peonies!

Our June meeting was held at Bures Berry Patch near Barneveld.  Farmers Ed and Kathy Bures established Bures Berry Patch in 2001 to provide locally grown, fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables in a family farm environment.  In addition to selling produce on the farm, the Bures also sell at local farmers' markets and offer pick-your-own or pre-picked strawberries, peas, and pumpkins.

At this meeting however, we were actually there to visit Sharon Schmitz, Kathy Bures' mother, who moved here several years ago and brought her extensive peony collection. Sharon is one of the original members of the Wisconsin Peony Society and is an expert on growing these beautiful plants.

For those members who were able to attend the peony tour, it was worth enduring the chilly, drizzly evening. The varieties were endless, with impressive blossoms perfectly upright, not spread on the ground as so many of ours are after the endless rain we’ve been having.

Thank you to Sharon Schmitz and Kathy Bures for their hospitality!

Grant Project Report: Mineral Point School Garden

May 23rd was a picture perfect and planting perfect day...and also perfect for Wisconsin School Garden Day. Jeff David , Music, is newly in charge of the Mineral Point School Garden. Every child had the pleasure of a sunny time in the garden, walking in the Oak Savanna, and planting.

Uplands Garden Club supports this effort with a small grant.