Wildflower Farming at Bluestem

Have you ever wandered in Wisconsin’s woods or meadows, and wished you could grow the flowers that you admire in the wild in your backyard garden? Well, if you were ever a Boy Scout or Girl Scout, or you were a visitor to a State Park, you probably learned the basic rule for peaceful co-existence with nature. “Leave only your footprints; take only memories and photographs.” But those wildflowers are so pretty!

Well, now you can keep the wildflowers in their natural habitat and still enjoy these beauties at home. How?

The “flower farmers” at Bluestem Farm in Baraboo make it all possible. The Barretts grow wildflowers and other plants native to south-central Wisconsin, including hardy orchids. And they grow most of their plants from seeds. They do not sell “salvaged” or wild dug plants of any kind. I met the couple at their Dane County Farmers’ Market booth last Saturday and they showed me their stand filled with thriving orchids, asters, black-eyed Susans, lady slippers and many more.

They have an extensive listing of available wildflowers, native grasses, and other plants at the Bluestem Farm website. You can find the perfect specimens for your garden at their Market booth on Saturdays in downtown Madison, or find information on their website to arrange a trip to their farm. It’s a great solution to “leaving only your footprints” while still enjoying the wildflowers in your own garden.

A Lazy Midsummer Hike in Door County

The meadows are sprinkled with white, yellow and purple wildflowers at mid-summer in Door County, the northeastern tip of Wisconsin. (For you newbies to Wisconsin geography, if you pretend to make a hand print with your left hand, the print rather resembles Wisconsin and your thumb is Door County which juts into Lake Michigan.) We went for an easy hike through the Ephraim Preserves on the edge of the village of Ephraim. The trail circles the Andersen Lake (really more of a marsh than a lake) and meanders through meadows and hardwood forests.

Queen Anne’s Lace, often a flower that is everyone’s favorite, is also a rather madly spreading lady and when coming head to head with natural plants, she is often victor. Therefore she has earned the label ecologically-invasive, though most everyone enjoys her beauty. I particularly like to capture the plant not in bloom. I, more than once, have tried to pluck a “dark” spot or “insect” from the flower’s center, before remembering that is one of her trademarks – a tiny dark floret in the very center of all her white finery.

— Bo Mackison loves to capture the beauty of wildflowers in Wisconsin with her camera. More wildflowers photos from Door County can be viewed in her gallery at Seeded Earth Photography.

Monona Terrace’s Roof Garden

summer spectacle of flowers

Nearly everyone in Madison can identify the Monona Terrace Convention Center, a beauty of a building designed by notable architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and located downtown on the shore of Lake Monona. But not everyone knows there is a remarkable garden with citizen access on its roof.

The William T. Evjue Rooftop Garden is currently ablaze with prairie-style flowers in the planters and plenty of space to enjoy the panoramic views. To the south is Lake Monona with the city of Monona peeking from the far shoreline. To the north are awesome views of the State Capitol Building, many downtown buildings including the Madison Club and the Hilton pictured here. The near east and near west sides of Madison are also visible.

If you have a camera, be sure to come visit just after sunset. You can take a photograph of the Capitol “springing” from the roof’s fountain. See the photo Capitol as Night Falls for an idea of what you might shoot.

The rooftop gardens are open Sunday through Thursday from 8 am to 10 pm, and Friday and Saturday from 8 am to midnight. For further information, call (608) 261-4000.

— Bo Mackison is a Madison writer and photographer who loves finding fun places to enjoy nature and take photographs. See her photo gallery at Seeded Earth Photography.