Gardening, Storms, Memories & a Poem

Woke up about 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning to the sound of rain hammering on the windows and the metal siding of our apartment building. I peaked out between the blinds of our large bedroom window and witnessed sheets of rain pouring down, trees swaying in the powerful wind, and the intersection of Monroe and Knickerbocker Streets filling up with water. Later I learned that five inches of rain fell during the storm.

 A Prospect Gardens work session was scheduled to start at 9 a.m.  This storm was not in the forecast, while predicted were 90 degree temperatures by noon.  Ann and I arrived at the Gardens before 8:30 am.  In several places I could see where torrents of water passed through the Gardens. I was relieved to see minimal damage to the Gardens.  Yet, the Ox Eyed daisies, once proud and stately, now bowed to Mother Earth. 

We persisted despite the rising temperatures as the morning unfolded. Along with Ann and I, the stalwarts were Loren, Laura and Eli. Thank you so much for tolerating the heat and all that we accomplished.  Here we are taking a break and enjoying Ann's homemade brownies.

 Most of the morning involved removing Bishops' Weed as Laura is doing in this picture. This plant's continuous presence is a lesson in practicing patience and acceptance.  After all, Bishops' Weed does provide ground cover. Yet at times I feel discouraged about keeping this aggressive invader at bay.

The rip rock, such as the pile pictured here, complicates removal of Bishops' Weed. Their roots and tubers go under the rock into the soil. This pile is the result of removing rock from a section of the Garden and more remains. Sometime during the upcoming week, I may remove more. Then I will replace with topsoil and plant grasses donated by Nate, a neighbor.  Thanks, Nate.

While removing rocks, a man stopped and offered his thanks for me tending the Gardens. He said that I was doing God's work. I replied that when it comes to the rocks, sometimes I feel like I have encountered the devil's work.

Less taxing than rock removal and more pleasurable is refurbishing the depleted strawberry patch. Here are some of the plants put in early Saturday morning. Ann V., a friend, donated these from her fabulous vegetable garden.  I anticipate strawberries next year.

It's strawberry season. My plans are to visit the Farmers Market around Madison's downtown Square this Saturday and buy berries. Getting there early is always a good idea because by 9 a.m. the sidewalks are jammed. The Market is always a feast for the senses. The colorful flower, vegetable and bakery stands line all four sides of the Square and around the Capitol with its beautiful and well manicured flower beds.

Ann V. also donated this Peace Lily. The white blooms makes this a rather unique Day Lily. I look forward with anticipation to the unfolding beauty that will grace this corner of the Gardens. This one plant will spread and multiply. Thanks Ann V. for including it with the strawberry plants.

It was one o'clock by the time I hauled the equipment in the green plastic wheelbarrow to the shed. My attention turned to the effects of the night time storm.  Here's a downed catalpa tree about a half block south of the Gardens.  A catalpa has a special place in my heart.The tree always reminds me of our wedding celebration. Because of legal requirements in WI, a judge married us in Portland on May 25th, witnessed by two close friends, Darrel and Beth.

Thirty-nine years ago, this July 7th, Ann and I returned from Oregon to celebrate with family and friends. The celebration started with Ann and I repeating our Portland vows under a catalpa tree in the backyard of my brother-in-law Chuck and sister-in-law Kathy's home. A Unitarian Minister officiated.  After a dinner at a nearby restaurant, we returned to Chuck and Kathy's home and continued to celebrate as the blooming catalpa witnessed our happiness and the joy of family and friends.

 A half block west of Prospect Gardens this giant, a witness to the changes in our neighborhood, gave way to the storm's fury. Trains once rumbled past including, in the early 1950's, steam powered locomotives. Now walkers, runners, parents pushing strollers, unicycles and bikers stream by. Among the bikers are shiny lyric glad youth traveling at a fast pace. Some strike me as having little time to notice aging trees and the passing of time.

On my walk on Saturday afternoon I encountered this scene about a half block from our apartment and near the entrance to Wingra Park. The roof of the buried Prius was caved in and the windshield shattered. Imagine the owner's surprise. Also on my walk I encountered two more downed trees a few blocks west of the Prius.

I started and ended my walk at the annual Jazz in the Park festival, just across the street from our apartment.  Here's the bandstand with the nearby Edgewood College jazz band on stage and my fellow neighbors. You can see Lake Wingra in the background. Temperatures were in the low 90s and most of us were hugging the shade.

As I write this on Sunday afternoon, June 17th, the heat wave continues with a temperature of 91 degrees. Ann and I are content here in the coolness of our air conditioned apartment.  Ah... the marvels of air conditioning.  I recall the hot and sweltering summer nights of my youth in that large square farmhouse. Some of my brothers and sisters would sleep on the front porch or we would move our beds closer to the bedroom window hoping to catch a breeze.

I also remember what my Mother did during fierce storms when lightning flashed and thunder rattled the windows of our farmhouse. She calmly approaches the front of the wood stove in the living room and in her hand are holy palms blessed during that year's Palm Sunday. She  strikes a match, tosses the flaming palms into the stove's firebox and crosses herself while saying in Polish, "In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost."  She believed that this ritual protected the home and us from a lightning strike. Perhaps it did because lightning never struck the farmhouse or us.

The next Prospect Gardens work session will be June 29th from 1:30 p.m. to 4.  John Imes and his UW Badger Volunteers will be with us. John is the Director of the non-profit, the Environmental Initiative and a primary candidate for our state assembly seat. He and his wife own the Arbor Inn, a former bed and breakfast, in our neighborhood. The Inn is for sale and lodging at the Inn is available through Airbnb, the online reservation system involving staying at private residences.

On the 29th, guess what? We will once again be focusing on Bishops' Weeds, and so life continues. Patience and to some extent acceptance may reign. For now I offer this poem by John O'Donohue for our reflections:

To Come Home to Yourself

May all that is unforgiven in you

Be released.

May your fears yield

Their deepest tranquilities.

May all that is unlived in you

Bloom in the future

Graced by Love.

Good News Days

May 31st, a Thursday, was a "good news day" at Prospect Gardens, as was Saturday, June 2nd.  Here's what Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk, founder of a world wide Buddhist community, and teacher says about the challenges and benefits of being mindful of life's good news.

The Good News

The good news

they do not print.

The good news

we do print.

We have a special edition every moment,

and we need you to read it.

The good news is that you are alive,

that the linden tree is still there, standing firm in the harsh winter.

The good news is that you have wonderful eyes

to touch the blue sky.

The good news is that your child is there before you, and your arms are available:

hugging is possible.

They only print what is wrong. Look at each of our special editions.

We always offer the things that are not wrong.

We want you to benefit from them and help protect them.

The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,

smiling its wondrous smile, singing the song of eternity. Listen. You have ears that can hear it.

Bow your head.

Listen to it.

Leave behind the world of sorrow, of preoccupation,

and get free.

The latest good news

is that you can do it.

Gardening to me has a spirtual demension. Last Thursday during the six hours plus, I tended the Gardens, I had many moments when I felt free of the world of sorrow, connected to those who were helping me tend the Gardens, and felt connected to the natural world.


Pictured here is the Conservation Crew from Operation Fresh Start (OFS), a Madison youth program. This was the second time a OFS crew worked in the Gardens this year. The crew was provided through a contract with the City Engineering Division. Thanks Maddie Dumas, the Division's Greenway Vegetation Coordinator, for making the crew available. The crew worked diligently and I enjoyed my interactions with them. The four youth, each in their own way, contributed to making it a "good news day".

Ryan, the man with the sunglasses, is the Conservation Crew supervisor.  Ryan also has an important teaching role.  I watched Ryan use "teachable moments" to instruct his charges on matters related to prairies, invasives, and plants found in the Gardens.  Ryan knows a lot about prairies.  I asked and he gave me advice about spacing columbines that I was planting. Ryan also cultivates day lilies. He gave a brief lesson on cross pollination after plucking a day lily and explaining  its various parts. His charges and I listened attentively.


The crew weeded and specifically removed Jewelweed, a plant with many benefits while being aggressive. Native Americans and Herbalists have used Jewelweed plant for centuries as a natural preventative and treatment for poison ivy and poison oak; and it is a folk remedy for many other skin disorders. I can attest to how the liquid from a split open Jewelweed stem eliminates the pain from Stinging Nettles, which are in the Gardens.


Jewelweed spread over a substantial area and were competing with grasses and prairie plants. With some hesitation, I decided to have the OFS crew reign in the invaders. By 11:00am, the OFS crew had cleared the affected area.

Most of my time involved creating other new beds, planting and mulching while OFS tackled the Jewelweed.  Pictured are the some of the results. The bed near the bottom of the picture has grasses. If you look closely  you can see the prairie drop seed plugs. The middle bed has Columbine which will hopefully thrive and bloom next spring.  The top bed has Black Eyed Susans and Lanc-leaf Coreopsis. The Gardens will have a swath of bright yellow when both plants bloom, hopefully later this summer.

The following five blooming plants contributed to the "good news of the day" and a mood of tranquility. Here's the Oxeye Daisy adding a dash of yellow and white.  I wonder why they are called "Oxeye?"  Perhaps the yellow center is the eye?














The Blue False Indigo blooms again after being in the Gardens for years. This one's ancestors was one of the first plants when the Gardens were first developed. Speaking of ancestors, I received the results of Ancestry's DNA testing. No surprises: 97% from Eastern Europe and the remaining 3% Western Europe. It's confirmation of my Polish heritage.

This is the third year for the Golden Alexander. Zizia aurea, the official name, is a perennial forb of the carrot family. Didn't know that until I Googled to learn the correct spelling of Alexander.  "Forb", just in case your are interested, is a flowering prairie plant. Oh,the magic of the Internet.

Here's the wild Spiderwort with its delicate lite purple blossoms. Another variety has white blossoms. The flowers open in the morning and close sometime during the day.

The Gardens have perennials besides prairies plants. Here's one of my favorites, the Japanese Iris. I love the purple color. The Gardens also have Day Lilies and Hosta. It looks like we will have an abundance of raspberries and cherries.

On Saturday, my brother Louie and his wife, Corine, were in town for a nephew's rugby game. A team from Pulaski, my high school almamater,  was playing for the state championship in nearby Cottage Grove.

 More good news. We visited for a few hours as we toured University of Wisconsin's Alumni Park ,which I mentioned in a previous blog entry, and during lunch in the Memorial Union's Rathskeller.  More opportunities to leave behind the world of sorrow while feeling the love of family.

Facebook informed me that Pulaski won the game. They are now the state champions. Fifty two pictures showed the action and the post-game celebration.

After a nap in the mid-afternoon, Ann and I ventured to Home Depot and the Bruce Company. We purchased annuals for the pots on our deck. The bright colors will continue throughout the summer. I usually have breakfeast on the deck as well as do my Tai Chi.

May you have many moments of tranquility as summer unfolds and experience the freedom expressed in Thich Nhat Hanh's poem.