273.5 Miles Later

Today was a long journey that began early at RBG. I did about an hour of desk work then headed to Boerner Botanical Gardens (www.boernerbotanicalgardens.org/) in Hales Corners, WI. Traffic was light and I was there 65 minutes later. This wonderful public garden is on the south side of Milwaukee and I make sure to visit every year. I usually do one or two presentations there each year and today was another talk on containers to a receptive group of about 70 attendees (including some Boerner staff). It was nice to see Shirley (Exec. Director of Boerner) again as well as Sharon, Kristin and Pat. I'm still a bit under the weather but made it thru the day. I had delusions of walking around the gardens there this morning as I was a bit early. It was so cold though that I took some quick ornamental grass shots like the switchgrass to the above left (Panicum virgatum 'Northwind') and ran for cover. However, I did take time to stroll thru the bottom floor of the visitor's center which hosts the UW Extension offices and educational rooms. There were some really neat displays including an "uber-cool" root display as seen below. Kids can walk right under it. I'd love to develop some neat displays like that for RBG. Another really neat feature of the bottom floor was a poster pictorial of the history of the various public parks in Milwaukee. There were lots of historical photos and facts and it was great reading (in a warmer location).

After my talk at Boerner, I headed up to Sheboygan, WI which was another hour or so trip. I've been to Sheboygan before and think it's a neat town. I arrived a bit early so was motivated to get a hair cut and grab some lunch (not at the same time). My talk (again containers) was to a group of 60 or so and it went well. I spoke at UW-Sheboygan and the campus looked familiar enough that I speculated that I had spoken there at some point in the past. However, as I pulled in to the campus, I noticed Bookworm Gardens, a neat children's garden that I had read about and will actually go tour later in the summer when I return to Sheboygan to speak at the public libary. The garden has a fascinating history that can be viewed at www.bookwormgardens.org/. I look forward to my return to Sheboygan (which is a Chippewa name for "passage between the lakes"). The two photos directly below are elements in that garden. I left Sheboygan at 4 pm and hit blowing snow all the way home which turned in to a 3 hour "white knuckle" drive. Tomorrow and Sunday will be Garden Expo time. No rest for the weary! The bottom photo is an old barn on the grounds of Boerner.