FAMILYLIFE
Grants and funding The nonprofit group has a low annual membership fee that grants access to all of the local events, but there is an additional cost associated with the bus trips. Gahlman explained that the group keeps costs as low as possible to try to make trips accessible for everyone, though that sometimes comes at its own detriment. “We’re not trying to make money; we just want to cover our cost,” she said. “We don’t want these trips to be out of reach for our members, but it makes it hard to get a spot.” The funds that are raised from membership dues, donations and bus trips help pay for the guest speakers, and the group recently introduced a new grant program dedicated to extending the WHPS mission. The $500 grant is awarded to a community group, school or other organization “for a project that promotes the use of herbaceous perennial plants in the landscape,” according to the WHPS website. The board also donates some of the funds raised throughout the year to local public gardens in the area, such as Olbrich, where most of the meetings are held.
Regular events The group meets for the educational programs once a month through the calendar year at Olbrich, 3330 Atwood Ave. One of the first workshops, held in August 1990, dealt with plant division, mulches, fertilizing and fall cleanup. Workshops have evolved since, but they still focus on the theme of education. The February meeting featured Larry Meiller, host of the Garden Talk podcast and the Larry Meiller show. The group also takes an annual trip to another city to visit gardens in different climates. The trip Gahlman is coordinating for 2018 is to Door County. She’s planning visits to art galleries, private gardens and numerous greenhouses. “It’s a fun and informational trip,” she said. “It’s a bus ride with 65 of your closest gardening friends, and even if you go and you’re not close friends with anyone on the trip, you know you have something in common with the person next to you.’’ The trips fill up quickly, because there are over 800 members in the group and only one bus – a coach they take from Madison. Gahlman encourages members reserve their spot “as soon as they get the flier.”
Calendar of events: To learn more about upcoming WHPS educational programs and events and how to become a member, visit wisconsinhardyplantsociety.org.
Workshops
March 5: Seed Starting March 21: Head Gardener at Home – Jeff Epping April 7: Pruning Trees and Shrubs April 18: 30 Years of Plant Evaluation at Chicago Botanic Garden May 2: Bonsai 101 May 15: Expanding your shade garden palette May 19: Unusual Spring perennials June 12: Children in the garden June 18: Growing a garden under Black Walnut trees June 24: Grasses and interesting perennials to enrich your garden design July 7: Doing Daylilies from planting to bloom
Trips
June 28: Evening garden tour in Stoughton July 7: Bus trip to Oshkosh July 11: Evening garden tour on Madison’s west side July 18: Bus trip to Sheboygan/Manitowoc Sept. 12-14: Bus trip to Door County Members also tour local gardens during the spring and summer. Most of the time, these are the gardens of members of the group, and they plan trips around other local events to keep members from seeing the same types of plants too close together. “The garden tours are usually later in the afternoon, after work, and it’s nice to see what people have in their gardens, see what works well in different areas and talk about the different plants, and we leave with all of these new ideas for our own gardens,” Gahlman said. l
A visit to Tangletown Gardens Farm in Minneapolis was one of the recent bus trips taken by the WHPS. SPRING 2018 YOUR FAMILY 9