Each Little World

Happy Anniversary to us

. . . or do I mean U.S.? Today marks the first anniversary of Barack Obama's election to the presidency of the United States. 

In that year the initial euphoria of many voters has ebbed away. We've discovered that Obama can't walk on water after all. He can't solve all our problems in a mere twelve months. After all, it took a good eight years for us to get into the fix we're in. On the other hand, he won the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor at any age or stage in one's life. But astounding for a sitting American president in his first year in office.

I constantly remind myself that the most important lesson from Obama's election is that it was the result of ordinary people all over the country deciding they wanted a change and then organizing and working to make that change happen. Real change always comes from the bottom — the people — and not the leaders. And nowhere is that more true than here in the U.S.

When I feel like nothing ever really changes, I don't have far to look to know that's not true. When I was in high school there was no Title IX creating parity in women's sports. Heck, there were no women's sports! As for careers, it was pretty much teacher or nurse if you were a woman. When I graduated and went job-hunting, the employment ads were broken down by gender. No women need apply!

Look around yourself and then tell me nothing ever changes. Women demanded changes in their lives, and jobs and made them happen in personal as well as legislative fashion. The LGBTQ, the African-American, American Indian, environmental, the you-name-it-communities have all made change happen in the same way: by going out and doing it themselves.  

Merely by electing Obama, we said that this nation is willing to try to change. I think that alone is worth celebrating. And the President has picked the perfect place to celebrate this election anniversary: He's coming to Madison today! So don't look for us in the garden; we're taking to the streets.

Madison memo: Pie Palooza

Now that Halloween is oven it's officially OK to talk about the next round of upcoming holidays. I like to savor special occasions and don't want to see Christmas decorations cluttering up stores before Halloween has even arrived. But now that it's November, recipes, decor, gift ideas, and general inspiration are all suitable subjects for discussion.

Locally there are two food-related initiatives that you won't want to miss. Both are sponsored by the great REAP Food Group which sponsors well-known events like the annual Food For Thought Festival. REAP's mission is "nourishing the links between land and table" and they have a wonderful Web site which has info on all their different areas like the Home Grown Lunch program for school kids. 

But I'm here to remind you that Pie Palooza is happening next Sunday, November 8. Pie Palooza is a celebration of sweet and savory concoctions sold by the slice or entire pie. This year the event has moved to the fall and will be held 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa St.

Tickets ($16 in advance, $18 at the door) to this popular event go fast, so place your order on-line soon or by calling 608.310.7836. 

BILL LUBING/REAP FOOD GROUP

You can buy a pie to go, order one or stay and eat brunch on the spot with your choice of pie, salad (farm-fresh, of course) and beverage. Among the savory offerings are Farmer's Market Vegetable Quiche, Napoli Cheese Prosciutto Pie, and Wild Rice and Spinach Quiche with Blue Cheese and Caramelized Onions. Sweet selections will include Pumpkin Pecan, Moroccan Nut Pie, Fried Apple Pies and Gluten Free Apple and Pumpkin Pies.

You can also purchase a raffle ticket for a pie-lover's delight: 12 pies from Hubbard Avenue Diner in MIddleton. The winner will receive a punch card good for 12 pies to be picked up at one time or you can select a pie a month for a year — whichever you prefer. We recently stopped at Hubbard for a slice of pie and coffee and I can't imagine a more wonderful treat than a year of their pies!

Pie Palooza proceeds support REAP Food Group programs, which promote the inclusion of healthy, local, sustainably grown foods in schools, restaurants, grocery stores and home kitchens.

MARK GOLBACH

Summer pies at the Hubbard Avenue Diner.

This year thirty schools in Southern Wisconsin are participating in the 2009 Wisconsin Homegrown Holiday Fundraiser, according to REAP's Web site. The fundraiser — an alternative to children selling gift-wrap and popcorn — is in its fifth year and organizers anticipate sales will exceed $50,000, bringing much needed funds to area school programs.  

Products available through the fundraiser include a wide selection of locally-made, hand-crafted and fairly-traded items such as: chocolate covered Door County cherries; maple syrup; specialty jams, crackers and cheeses; naturally scented soaps; and more.  

REAP is also offering specialty gift boxes and other local products directly to consumers.  These purchases will also support REAP's farm-to-school program. Order deadline is November 12th.

You can get complete details here.

 

REAP FOOD GROUP

Fiber folk take note

The Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection (HLATC), located on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, unveiled its new Web site on Friday. Now, even if you don't live where you can take advantage of this wonderful resource and its library in person, the Web site gives you a taste. With 13,000 textiles and related objects in the collection, there is something for everyone to chew on.

HLATC

Renie Breskin Adams, who created "Let's Be Civilized" (above), was one of my teachers in grad school at UW. This is just one of many wonderful fiber pieces in the Helen Louise Allen Textile Collection.

There are a number of things that I particularly like about this new Web site — besides the fact that it is colorful and easy to navigate. The site is as smart and lively as the collection and its staff. Along with information about the collection's founders, there is actually a page dedicated to the staff and volunteers where you can see photos of all of them and then click to learn more. It's about time that the folks who keep this valuable resource running, get a little notice! 

Of course, the Web site has info on how the HLATC is used as a teaching resource, but it also offers armchair visitors images and information about a cast of featured textiles. Currently you can learn more about an embroidered Chinese Lotus Shoe (below) via a concise essay that gives the history of the object and compares it to a modern woman's floral motif shoe. Two other featured textiles are a Chinese child's hat (HLATC is particularly strong in ethnographic textiles) and a 1934 printed linen furnishing fabric by Ruth Reeves from her Hudson River series.

HLATC

In addition, there is an "Inspiration" category which features images and an article documenting how a student in a textile design class, "Manual/Computer Generated Imagery and Pattern," did a modern take on William Morris' "Honeysuckle" textile pattern. This is a more typical use of the collection — as a university resource — but just looking at this essay is enough to get the creative juices flowing no matter where you live.

SUSANNA HANSSON/BOHUS STICKNING

The site obviously includes information on how to "participate": how to become a supporter of the collection, how to volunteer and how to sign up for the e-mail list. There's an events category listing things like the textile book club and this afternoon's 8th Annual Membership Meeting ("An Afternoon with Friends" more aptly describes it) which includes a presentation on Bohus Stickning, a historic Swedish knitting tradition (examples above).

And there's information on the larger textile world like the fact that the United Nations has declared 2009 the International Year of Natural Fibres. This was news to me but now I know where to go to find out what's happening elsewhere. 

September choices: Native plants vs. Asian gardens

One of the things that makes living in Madison so satisfying is the number of events happening on any given day. Unfortunately, this often means having to choose between competing activities scheduled for the same day. 

Sunday, September 13th is a perfect example of an embarrassment of riches. Local gardeners will be forced to chose between a superb lecture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens and a day-long native plant conference at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum. Before I can even decide my preference, I have to try to switch shifts with a co-worker since I'm scheduled to work that day.

UW ARBORETUM PHOTO

"Native by Design" is a how-to conference for gardeners. It runs from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 13 at the UW-Arboretum Visitor Center, a wonderful facility sited at the edge of the world's oldest restored prairie (and which should be looking just about perfect). This promises to be an excellent conference for a number of reasons including the fact that the 4-acre Wisconsin Native Plant Garden will function as classroom. That means you can see real plants as you learn about them and how they can be incorporated into the home landscape. Participants will also receive a notebook full of native plant resources. 

The keynote address — "Arboretum Reflections and Reverberations ... 42 Years Later" — will be given by Landscape Architect Darrel Morrison. If you've been in Madison long enough, you may remember Morrison designed the Arboretum's Native Plant Garden. But before that he received his Masters degree in Landscape Architecture from UW-Madison where, as a faculty member, he began field courses in native plant communities. Morrison was also the "conceptual landscape architect," as he called it, for the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, one of the greatest public garden creation/restoration/education projects in the country in the last half of the 20th century.

UW BOTANY DEPT. ART AND PHOTO STUDIO

When we were just beginning our garden, I heard Morrison give the keynote address in 1996 at another UW-Arboretum native landscaping conference. It was an inspiring and informative talk, illustrated with images that I can still summon up. At the time, Morrison noted that Madison was a "hotbed of activity in the native plant world." That is even more true these days, guaranteeing this should be a great event for native plant enthusiasts. 

You can find the specifics about the program, the various workshops (including one on moss gardens) and speakers, here. The fee for the one-day conference is $50 ($43 for members of Friends of the Arboretum and $25 for students). Lunch is provided. Registration is required. Given today's date, I suggest registering right away as they are limiting numbers to provide a more valuable experience, according to the press materials.

“One of the ponds in the temple garden at Miyajima, Japan. A typical teahouse, huge old maples, and a small five-storied pagoda.”

At the opposite end of the gardening spectrum is the slide lecture on "Asian Gardens of the 1920s: The Travels of Elizabeth K. Roys," also scheduled for Sept. 13, at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The program, by garden historian Betsy Anderson, is in conjunction with an engrossing exhibit of Roys' photos currently on display at Olbrich through Sept. 27 (viewing hours are Sundays 11 a.m. -5 p.m.). 

Roys, the daughter of Presbyterian missionaries, was born in China in 1905 and lived there until she was 15. She returned to Asia in 1926 with her mother, visiting gardens in Japan, Korea, China, Siam, and India while her mother inspected missions. What is noteworthy about Roys' photos is the fact that she was often able to visit gardens that few other people had access to. In all five countries, she was able to capture on film temple, palace, private, working-class and even ruined gardens, according to Olbrich. Along with her photos, Roys kept five notebooks full of her observations, complete with detailed records about these gardens; many of which exist today only in her pictures and notes. 

“Prince Yi is shown here standing in the doorway of his “Pavilion of the Lotus Pool” in his estate near Seoul, Korea.”

Roys' notebooks weren't discovered until 2002 after both she and her husband had died. Smith College Botanic Garden put this exhibit together, in collaboration with landscape historian Betsy Anderson, a 2004 Smith graduate. Roys was a botany student at Smith.

Why Madison you ask? Because that's where Roys eventually settled with her husband, Nash Williams, in the Waunona neighborhood. In Madison, Roys was better known as Betty Williams — which is the name I know her by. My garden mentor and former co-worker, Doris Lang, was a longtime member of the Waunona Garden Club, along with Betty Williams, and myriad other women who blazed trails in their neighborhood and in their professions. 

Doris Lang (left), and I, look down at a garden display last summer. 

I've met many of the members of the Waunona Garden Club, have socialized with them and seen their gardens. Though the Garden Club was the impetus for a lot of lovely gardens, it also was the driving social and political force during the neighborhood's formative years. The group was instrumental in creating parks, planting trees, dealing with the Beltline in its planning stages and working on anything and everything that affected the quality of life of their neighborhood. 

The Waunona Garden Club is sponsoring Anderson's talk, along with a reception afterwards. The lecture is free and open to the public; no reservation is required. 

Garden visitors and gardens visits

Late last month, Mark and I heard from landscape architect Andrea Fox that she'd be in Madison with her husband who was attending a conference. Andrea wondered if we'd suggest any gardens, cafes, bookstores etc. that she should be sure to see while her husband was off conferencing. I sent her a long list of walkable destinations but, frankly, we'd never dream of letting an out-of-state gardener wander around Madison alone. We know from experience that an unfamiliar town is always more fun to see with a tour guide.

We first discovered Andrea and her blog — Grow Where You're Planted — after she wrote some kind words on our blog. Andrea's currently living and gardening in central Texas but has lived in a number of states, including Michigan, where she got her undergrad degree, and Rhode Island where she got her Masters in LA from RISD. 

I met Andrea for breakfast at Marigold Kitchen (Chile poached eggs with rosemary toast, prosciutto and Manchego) where we discovered a number of common interests. Then it was off for a neighborhood garden tour on the drive to our house and garden. We spent the afternoon at the Frank Lloyd Wright's First Unitarian Society Meeting House with its new green-roofed addition, the Allen Centennial Garden on the UW-Madison campus and ended with a brief stop at the UW-Arboretum, celebrating its 75th birthday this year.

Her visit was followed a couple of days later by Julie Siegel, a designer (and blogger) from the Chicago area, who we first met a number of years ago when we signed up for the class she was giving at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Mark, Julie and I bonded almost instantly and have been friends ever since, with a number of shared visits back and forth over the years. This week's two visits shared some similarities: good food, good conversations and time spent at Allen Centennial Gardens (ACG) on the UW-Madison campus.

We took these first three photos at the entrance to ACG to let all of you Texas bloggers know that it is possible to create beautiful compositions using a variety of succulents up here in Wisconsin. Of course, these are all considered annual plants in our climate and the scene may be a totally different design next year. The strong contrasts of color, form and texture — highlighted by the recycled glass mulch among the plants — are hallmarks of the garden's new director, Ed Lyon.

Among the wonderful things about ACG is that it is right in the midst of campus where it provides a stunning greenspace with benches, chairs and tables where students and other visitors can relax and unwind. The garden is also built around a landmark status Victorian home. The building was one of the first on the agricultural campus and was home to the college's first four deans. As such it has both historic and sentimental value; but — for the rest of us — the house gives the gardens a sense of residential scale, even if the residence is not quite what the rest of us live in. Pictures of the house when it was new, along with images of the garden under construction twenty years ago, can be found on the ACG Web site (links at left and above).

We ran into the garden's director, Ed Lyon, who took a break to talk to Julie (center) and me about the everything from the garden's mission to whether the plants in this display garden are too closely spaced. Above all, this is a teaching garden — an outdoor lab — for the university's horticulture and landscape architecture students.

JULIE SIEGEL PHOTO

But all you have to do is look at these images to see that it's also a place where the rest of us — from elementary students to Master Gardeners — can be inspired and informed. I am not a veggie gardener but these combinations had me drooling; not to eat, just to look at and enjoy. 

JULIE SIEGEL PHOTO

Like most public gardens, ACG has sweeps and masses of plants. But not every public garden manages to create an abstract and informal stone sculpture that works so well in color, texture and scale among the ornamental vegetables as the one pictured here. Mark, Julie and I all agreed that it was one of our favorite features in the garden. 

Among the issues Ed is trying to deal with are providing information about plants and displays that change seasonally; if not more often. These little blackboards are one solution. We gleaned lots of tidbits when we visited ACG with Andrea last Tuesday. However, on our Saturday visit with Julie, the slates had been washed clean of information by the morning's rainstorm. Clearly an idea that worked better during the dry days we'd been having for the past month!

This gazebo, which overlooks the pond and bog, is one of many elegant structures in the garden. It's not obvious from this photo, but it's showing its age. Volunteers are resetting the brick walks that lead to the gazebo. The stone walls in this area of the garden are also all bowing out and will soon need to be taken down and completely rebuilt. Twenty years — the age of this garden — no longer seems like such a long time to me; especially since I can easily see areas in our own garden — including a stone wall — that need attention. But trying to do major refurbishment in a tight economy and in a garden that is supported mainly by donations, means Ed has his work cut out for him. 

This view of the Italian garden, with the French parterre garden directly adjacent, is another example of the bold planting that wowed us. Ed, however, says that some visitors find the colors too bold! This photo was taken from a long vine-covered pergola that needs to be re-stained, another job for the intrepid students, staff and volunteers at ACG.  

Everywhere Julie and I went at ACG we kept turning to each other and asking for plant Id's. There were many things that we did not recognize but were very smitten with — like this fern which we saw on our way out of the garden. It appears to be a variegated version of a Boston fern. 

The gardens were hosting three different events the day we visited. It's an especially popular site for weddings. We stayed out of the way as everyone was arriving for this wedding but couldn't resist this shot of the bride's dramatic train next to the weeping conifer. Julie was curious about the cost and I noticed that the price is based on the size of the group and ranges (for 2010) from around $100 for an "intimate" Friday, Saturday or Sunday event before 11 a.m. to $600 for a large Saturday evening event. 

JULIE SIEGEL PHOTO

This sign gives you a sense of all the different spaces within the 2.5 acre garden. There's an interactive version of it on the web site. Even with all the issues of aging infrastructure, Ed Lyon's enthusiasm, energy and creativity should make ACG a place to watch. Though these two visits to the garden in quick succession were the result of our garden guests, we don't intend to wait for company before we visit again.

JULIE SIEGEL PHOTO

Nor will we wait so long to visit the Babcock Dairy Store right around the corner from ACG. The day we were at the garden with Andrea the temps had suddenly climbed to their normal August numbers. But it was a change from the cool summer we'd been having and necessitated ice cream cones. When Julie mentioned ice cream on Saturday, we knew where to take her. Babcock ice cream is justly famous in Madison and it tastes best on campus at the Dairy Store or at Memorial Union. (My recommendation: Orange Custard Chocolate Chip).  

Inspiration: Dana Slatkin

If you've ever strolled the beaches of Santa Monica in southern California, it's an unforgettable experience. Which is why I cracked open a copy of Dana Slatkin's "The Summertime Anytime Cookbook." Slatkin's family own Shutters on the Beach, a very posh spa and hotel that is one of the most noteworthy sights on the beach and the source of the recipes in the book. I didn't expect it, but Slatkin (below) has some very substantial chops when it comes to the kitchen. So it was probably a foregone conclusion that she'd write a cookbook.

DANA SLATKIN/BEVERLY HILLS FARMGIRL/used without permission

I have a number of great summer cookbooks and, I have to admit, I wasn't expecting much from Slatkin. My first reaction to a woman who was instrumental in starting the Beverly Hills Farmers Market is to ask whether that's an oxymoron and then laugh or dismiss her. But I was smitten by Slatkin who noted in the book that "life at the beach revolves around the weather." And then went on to divide her chapters and meals by weather: "Sunny Days," "Cloudy Days," "Balmy Nights," "Stormy Nights" and "Misty Mornings." No matter where you live, we all experience those conditions and can thus take advantage of Slatkin's inspirational and philosophical tidbits.  

Shutters on the Beach is a dreamy and drop-dead gorgeous hotel (above); but Slatkin's dishes are fresh, realistic and beautiful. And her recipes have quirky and inventive touches but are not overly difficult or fancy — as befits a book about summer/beach cuisine. One of Slatkin's recipes is for Roasted Chicken Breasts with Smoky Lentils — lentils that are spiced up with smoked salt and bacon. I could live on lentils, so I just made my regular recipe but with Slatkin's additions which took the dish from delish to memorable.  

As she demonstrated with the lentil dish, Slatkin's skill lies in taking many familiar, staple summer foods and often just adding a splash and a dash that turn them into something special, like French green beans with lemon, garlic AND ginger. I'm a ginger fanatic so Slatkin's recipe for Lemon Ginger Cookies (with both ground and crystalized ginger) may be enough to make this book a must buy for me!

Slatkin also has a blog — The Beverly Hills Farmgirl — where you can read about where she's shopping, and her take on 90210 style as well as peruse a number of recipes from the book. You can also order "The Summertime Anytime Cookbook: Recipes from Shutters on the Beach" on Slatkin's site or from Amazon. (Full disclosure: And if you live in Madison, you can also find a copy at Orange Tree Imports — which is where I work and how I discovered Slatkin's book!)

Pinkoko: Confection perfection

In 1978, after my first meal at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse restaurant, my best friend who lived in Berkeley, walked me down Shattuck Avenue to the emporium of the other Alice for dessert. I still can picture us standing speechless on the sidewalk after taking our first bite of one of Alice Medrich's chocolate truffles. Virtually unknown to Americans before Medrich put them — and her shop, Cocolat — on the culinary map, truffles have gone on to become the staple of every chocolatier in the country. 

But there are truffles and truffles. Few stop me in my tracks the way Medrich's did that day — until Kelly Kuran walked into the shop where I work with a sample of her Pinkoko confections (say "pink-cocoa"). Kuran makes her chocolates just down the street from us and had come by Orange Tree Imports to show her wares to the staff members who make the buying decisions for the gourmet food items. 

One of the great pleasures of working at a shop like OTI is its informal and democratic nature. I was working the counter with them when Kuran came by, and thus got to be part of the conversation, the sampling and the decision to sell Pinkoko chocolates. Though I'm not sure if anyone considered it a difficult decision. 

Madison has an array of talented chocolate-makers, but one look at Pinkoko's packaging and I, for one, was half-sold. The cellophane bag of two treats has a base of orchid pink paper with a matching metallic twist tie, making it easy to see why Kuran calls her chocolates "fun and flirty." The box of eight chocolates is lined in the same bright pink but the outside is wrapped in midnight-purple, handmade Japanese rice paper.

Kuran's packaging has the same elegant simplicity as her confections. Made from "French dark chocolate and organic cream," they're hand-dipped and have what Kuran calls a "snap" when you bite into them. The outside is a harder chocolate than the meltingly smooth chocolate ganache interior. There are two flavor variations at the moment: "bare," which is undecorated and unadulterated plain chocolate and the "Glitter Mint" with a topping of silvery sugar and just a hint of mint in the flavor.

While Pinkoko has a lovely gift-box size, what I particularly like is they also offer the package of two, making them the perfect small splurge. I can easily picture getting a pair as a dessert treat. And with the flirty, girly, pink theme and silvery  topping, Pinkoko's Glitter Mints strike me as a fun surprise for girlfriends, sisters, co-workers, any gal who needs a little chocolate cure — maybe even you!

The opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and are not intended as an endorsement by Orange Tree Imports.

Madison memo: CHEW

The Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin will consider "Why We Dine as We Do: The History of the Dining Table" at their next meeting. The speaker, Swedish born Eva Eliscu, is a Chicago-based food and travel writer, restaurateur, world traveler, culinary consultant and lecturer on the history and customs of the dining table, according to a press release from CHEW. You may remember her — as I do — as the proprieter of the late, delightful French cafe, the "Cook's Room," in Dodgeville.  

Eliscu has a fascinating Web site which will give you a feel for what to expect from her presentation. "The dining table is an interesting and entertaining lens through which to view western culture," she notes on the site. "Politics, fashion and social customs have forever been played out at the table and some of history's most famous characters have single-handedly changed the course of how we eat and drink."  In addition to the history of dining, Eliscu is a life-long collector of all the dishes, silver and serving pieces that turn dining into art. A woman after my own heart, I can't wait to hear her dish it out. 

The meeting is at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3rd at the Goodman Atwood Community Center, 149 Waubesa Street, Madison.

Bulbs: Traffic island update

When it comes to tulips, I've avoided them for the most part. Not having that much sun or that much of a penchant for bright colors. But then I bought an orange linen shirt. Could orange tulips be far behind?

I planted this group of 'General de Wet'  tulips (below) between two red barberries and two clumps of 'Black Parrot' tulips to tone them down a bit. Alas, I didn't write down the date they opened but it's easily been a couple of weeks that I've been enjoying their blooms — the benefit of a rather cool spring.

The spot that gets the most sun and could handle a dose of bright color is "my 'island garden." This is the full sun garden located in the center of the street in front of my house. Once the trees and shrubs leaf out I can't really see it, so I can go crazy there and not worry about color clashes with the main garden.

I was rather worried about what would happen this spring after the winter "traffic island tragedy" when a truck ran over the snow-covered bed and flattened the sign. Imagine my surprise — and dismay — when the city sent someone out to reposition the sign in January. They dug up the mostly frozen bed and stuck the sign in place with concrete. I feared for the plants but look what spring brought: 

Prinses Irene: "melon orange flamed with bronze purple" from Old House Gardens (above).

Orange Princess:  The double form of Prinses Irene (above and below) from Brent and Becky's Bulbs.

Sensual Touch: In bud and bloom in the following four pictures. Brent and Becky said "this 55 mph wonder packs a lot of bang for your buck." No kidding! It's a stunner and is lasting nicely as a cut flower indoors with orange Epimediums.

The island garden viewed from the street edge of my front garden with Narcissus poeticus 'Pheasant Eye' basking in the early evening sun (below).

It's always exciting when a garden idea works out just as you envisioned it. My island is the blaze of color I'd hoped to create with the tulips I planted last fall. They're almost stopping traffic with their fiery hues — nicely set off by the bright yellow traffic paint. 

Princess Irene is in the center behind the fan of iris leaves; Orange Prinses is behind Irene and to the right while Sensual Touch is in two clumps on the left. Still to come at the back of the island is a clump of Orange Favorite.

Madison memo: Plant sales ahead!

I don't know about your town, but one of the annual rites of Spring here in Madison are plant sales. I mean the ones sponsored by garden groups not commercial nurseries. They are a chance to buy local and sustainable in the best sense of those words. This is the week they kick off with two of the most prestigious: 

Olbrich Botanical Gardens' Plant Sale with the Pros: This sale is known for three things: fabulous selection of tried and true plants mixed with cutting edge introductions; on-site advice from Olbrich staff and local experts, including help creating containers; and crummy weather. I always volunteer for this sale (come say hi on Sat. between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.). I usually work the shade perennials which are under a tent to protect them from the sun. More often than not, there is no sun; it's cold, windy and threatening rain! Those who've worked this sale know to dress in layers and make sure the top one is waterproof. Still, I'm hoping for the best!  Friday, May 8, members only from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; open to the public from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Public sale continues on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. See Olbrich's Web site for more details.

Friends of the Arboretum Native Plant Sale: This is THE place to find native plants with over 100 species of grasses, woodland, prairie, and savanna plants, trees and shrubs on offer this Saturday under the big tents next to the UW-Madison Arboretum Visitor Center, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Click here for details. The UW-Madison Arboretum — one of our local treasures — is celebrating 75 years in 2009 with a number of special events. Since 1934, the Arb has been "restoring the land, advancing ecological restoration and fostering Aldo Leopold's land ethic," as the Web site puts it. It's also a great place for a walk in the Spring.

Jeff Epping, the Director of Horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, wears his "Pro" apron and conducts a sale at a past Olbrich plant sale.

Also noteworthy:

Westside Garden Club: I love this sale and never miss it. They sell "choice perennials, specialty annuals and herbs," as a recent email from one of the members put it. Many of these plants are from member gardens so you know they will grow here. They tend to be nice size offerings at reasonable prices. This sale is also in the gardens and driveway of a lovely house (3918 Nakoma Rd., just west of Thoreau School) in one of Madison's older neighborhoods, so a visit is always a treat because of the setting. The sale is Friday, May 8 from 8 a.m to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. LIke most local clubs, the proceeds of the sale are donated to garden related civic organizations and projects.

I checked my garden journal to see what I bought last year at the Westside sale and discovered I spent $48 (including $6 on a pair of gloves that looked interesting). I had forgotten what I bought so the list refreshed my memory and I can tell you everything is up and looking good. I bought a number of different kinds of primroses and they have come up in big, healthy clumps — very exciting. I'm guessing they may be in flower by the time the sale rolls around this weekend.

Shorewood Hills Garden Club Annual Cocoa Mulch and Plant Sale: Saturday, May 9 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Shorewood Village Hall, 810 Shorewood Blvd. Call 238-4860 or 236-9374 for more information. A good group and their event should prove the same.

Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society Plant Sale: Saturday, May 16 from 9 a.m. to noon at the West Madison Agricultural Research Station, 8502 Mineral Point Rd. This is a stellar sale! The plants come from members' gardens, as is the case with many club sales. But this group includes some incredible gardeners and thus the sale always includes some unusual plants but you have to get there early. 

The last couple of years I've bought small Korean maples (Acer pseudosieboldiana) for about $10-12. Even small, they make an immediate statement in the garden. Already this spring, the trees I purchased at last year's sale have started to put on growth. How can you beat that price for a tree that has dramatic fall color, disease resistance, hardiness and small stature perfect for urban gardens?