Refuge and Summer Beauty

July is fading into August. As I reflect on the disappearing July and time at Prospect Gardens finding refuge during a rather turbulent month emerges into consciousness. We experienced stormy weather and the political world continued to be turbulent. Usually, I can navigate through the political chaos with some calmness. However, after watching fifteen minutes of the Mueller hearings, I got on my working shoes, and went to Prospect Gardens. There I found refuge while removing rocks and making space for Little Blue Stem grasses donated by a neighbor. Yes, planting in mid summer is atypical. Watering will be required and the hardiest will survive.

During Sunday's walk I meandered through the University of Wisconsin Botanical Garden, located at 1090 University Avenue. A magnificent perennial garden, all plants duly identified, and with a small pond. As I crossed the bridge this water lily caught my eye. Here's a poem telling us what we can learn from the Water Lily. It's from the 2017 Wisconsin Poets' Calendar, a present from Sandy. Sandy is a poet and  the crew chief of the Glenway Prairie, about a 20 minute walk west of Prospect Gardens.

How to Live Like a Water Lily (Annette L. Grunseth)
Wake up slowly, float in a dreamy world,

silky arms folded over your face until mid-morning,

then open wide, sun-warmed awake.

Breathe from more than one place, soft and supple.

Do not worry about today or tomorrow

or care what others think of you.

Your radiant center is tough, strong,

nourished by water and light.

Wind and wave may engulf you

but you can easily separate from submersion,

opening your face to the heavens.

Push back beads of wet darkness.

Move freely. Make white water circles until afternoon,

when you fold softly back into yourself,

 drowsing in the dimming daylight.

The poem's message is worthy of reflection as we move further into the dog days of summer. The poem also reminded me how Prospect Gardens is a refuge for me and I would hope for others. As I tend the Gardens with the help of volunteers, I also experience community and connections. Here's the July 26th crew. We are holding butterscotch oatmeal bars made by Ann, my wife, while toasting her as she took the picture.

Two UW Badger Volunteers returned: Joe sitting on the left side of the first step and Connie, in the middle of the back row. Two more Badger volunteers, Ethan and Sameer, were taking exams.

Accompanying the UW Badger Volunteers is Sam, an intern with Wisconsin Environmental Initiative, (WEI). He's sitting to Joe's left and on the first step. WEI, led by John Imes, is the sponsor of these particular Badger Volunteers. Blog readers will recognize Sam, Joe and Connie because they were part of the crew that tended the Gardens in June. Behind Sam is Steve and on the same step are Hanns and Joyce. In the back row, flanking Connie, are Ann N. and me.

The weather was quite pleasant and the afternoon quickly slipped by. Much was accomplished including thinning out a species of aggressive, overgrown Black Eye Susan plants.  Joyce, in the green t-shirt, Sam, and Ann N. without hesitation did the job. 










Here's Joe, Connie, and Steve in the background. They are clearing out an unknown weed that carpeted this section of the Garden.




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I had to include this one of Joe giving the "thumps up" to a productive afternoon as well as one filled with conversation and humor.

This particular team of Badger Volunteers is finishing the summer term of working with John Imes' Wisconsin Environmental Initiative. Another team will join John as the Fall semester unfolds.

Thank you John for the opportunity to interact with these hard working and enthusiastic future UW alumni.

I bid farewell and send best wishes to Sam, Justine, Joe, Connie, Ethan and and Sameer as they finish their degrees and move forward with their lives.  May you be safe, may you be well, may you be strong and may you be happy.

I would be remiss if I didn't feature ten pictures showing the Gardens' summer beauty. This beauty contributes to the Gardens being a refuge for birds, insects and human beings.

Swamp Milkweed, a favorite of Monarch Butterflies. I wish I had more. Hopefully this clump will continue to flourish and spread.

Incidentally, the "Blooming Butterfly" show is still on through August 11th at Olbrich Gardens, here in Madison. A variety of free-flying butterflies, including the Monarchs, will dazzle you as you walk through the Bolz Conservatory. The domed tropical conservatory is another soothing refuge and especially during the winter months.

I can't recall the name of this stately lavender beauty.  Nate, the Oregon teacher and lead for the school district's gardens, donated these several years ago. Nate's daughter got married a few weeks ago in the small park that adjoins the family home. It rained heavily in the morning. The skies cleared in time for the afternoon wedding. A good omen for a long and happy married life for the young couple.

A species of Black Eye Susan and the ones I like. These are shorter, compact, have larger blooms and know how to live with their neighbors. They are the opposite of their aggressive taller cousins which many are now on the pile of plant material waiting to be picked up by the city.

A Purple Cone surrounded by cultivated Phlox. Perennials and natives living together in beautiful harmony. The name is from the Greek word phlox meaning flame in reference to the intense flower colors of some varieties. Easy to grow while being subject to powder mildew.

The brilliant Coreopsis, maybe "Early Sunrise" species, spilling out of its bed. Sunshine at your finger tips. These also attract butterflies.

The delicate, yet hardy, Yellow Coneflower, a native that returns and spreads. This one's ancestors were in the gardens of our former home on Keyes Avenue. I planted them well before we sold and moved into our apartment, three years ago in August. Time is certainly slipping by. 

Here's the white spikes of Culver's Root. This year this hardy plant has migrated from it's original location on the flat Regent Neighborhood section of the Gardens down the slope to a site a few feet from the bike path.

As the years pass, plants migrate with the result being constant changes in the appearance of the Gardens. These migrations remind me that change and impermanence is a constant of life.

Prospect Gardens and other prairie gardens along the Southwest Path provide refuge for the generations of migrating Monarchs. Here the magnificent Purple Cone is providing nourishment for the majestic Monarch.

This White Cone flower, sometimes referred to as the "White Swan," is a cultivar rather than a native. Like the Purple Cone, butterflies and bees flock to the blooms. Songbirds love the seeds of both the white and purple cone flowers. This bee didn't mind at all as I closed in and snapped the picture.

Ah, the regal Queen of the Prairie, one of my favorites. I celebrate the return of these pink, airy blooms. Last year an unknown fungus purged most of the Queens. Apparently cutting down and removing the infected plants helped. Sometimes the fungus can linger in the soil.  Long live the Queen!

I invite you to visit Prospect Gardens. Experience its beauty while taking refuge from the divisiveness of our era. Meanwhile I leave you with one of my favorite Wendell Berry poems extolling nature as a refuge.

 The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethoughts

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.