2016 GBBG Spring Newsletter

SPRING 2016

Green Bay Botanical Garden is a non-profit organization connecting people with nature in an environment that engages, inspires and refreshes.

Refresh at the Garden this Spring!

Enjoy Thousands of Spring Blooms Engage in Programs & Events Discover Ways to Grow ...and more! Š www.amensonstudio.com

What’s in Bloom Mark Konlock, Director of Horticulture

From our Director of Horticulture And Spring arose on the garden fair, Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere; And each flower and herb on Earth’s dark breast rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley As our spring garden awakens, we hope to see your smiling faces at GBBG! Not only are there blossoms to enliven your spring after the Wisconsin winter, but projects and plans to watch throughout the season and to support throughout the year.

• 41,000 spring blooming bulbs were planted last fall! Come and see them for free on National Public Gardens Day, May 6 and free for mothers on Mother’s Day, May 8.

• The parking lot expansion (88 more spaces) should be ready for the May events with the landscaping around the new pavement including screening conifers, low maintenance shrubs, nomow grass and a dry detention basin. This is due in part to the overwhelming success we’ve had with our WPS Garden of Lights event these past two years. Thanks to those of you who supported as sponsors, donors, volunteers and attendees.

• The Herb Garden revitalization continues this year with the creation of a Spa Herb Garden and a Pollinator Garden. The Garden will be participating in the Million Pollinator Garden

Challenge. We encourage you to learn more and register your own garden at www.millionpollinatorgardens.org.

• The Gertrude B. Nielsen Children’s Garden will include a Where in the World Garden that will include plants from all the continents – well maybe not Antarctica!

• All-America Selections® (AAS) flowers will be featured in front of the Schierl Wellhouse and AAS vegetables in the footprint of the future Outdoor Kitchen off the Mabel Thome Patio. To add some AAS winners to your garden this year , check out www.all-americaselections.org.

• Clearing of trees in the footprint of the Grand Garden will continue to prepare the site for construction of this exciting new garden addition.

As the weather warms, help us welcome the new growing season and create the future of Green Bay Botanical Garden. Engage, inspire and refresh your senses at the Garden this spring and throughout the year!

Cultivating Growth Grant Success in 2015 During 2015, the Garden wrote twenty-six (26) grants and received twenty (20), totaling $117,453 for specific programming and capital equipment expenditures. We are so grateful to those organizations that are supporting us through grants, and thus enabling us to accomplish the following:

Educational Outreach Program Since teachers’ experience and knowledge in horticulture varies, bringing experienced horticulture educators into the classrooms helps bridge the gap for students by providing experiences that help improve their understanding and appreciation of everyday horticulture. Students learning within an environment-based context have been noted to show “improved performance in reading, writing, math, science and social studies” as well as gain “a comprehensive understanding of the world and advanced thinking skills leading to discovery and real-world problem solving”. Our two educators, Linda Gruber (Education Manager) and Kelle Hartman (Children & Family Educator), will be joined by some of our newly trained docents and will be piloting the program in more than 12 pre-K to early grade school classrooms, reaching several hundred students this winter and spring. This is thanks to a grant from Greater Green Bay Community Foundation and the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB).

At-Risk School Tours In addition, we offer curriculum-based school tours on-site at Green Bay Botanical Garden to provide a hands-on learning environment that appeals to all five senses. These programs feature a guided walking tour of the Garden which incorporates educational activities to reinforce curricular concepts central to the school’s plan for mathematical, scientific, artistic and linguistic development. Funding that supports the school tours allows us to provide financial assistance to area schools and organizations that have 40% or more participation in the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program, allowing teachers to bring their classes to the Garden without passing the field trip costs onto students’ families. Thank you to Green Bay Preble Optimist Club, Rotary Foundation of Green Bay and Schreiber for providing this opportunity for several hundred students.

Seasonal Intern Program This grant funds our seasonal intern program, enabling the Garden to attract quality college students for a paid learning experience. Last summer, the Garden was fortunate to have 11 such students, helping with daily gardening tasks, invasive species mapping and control, trial garden management and reporting, and even some marketing and events management tasks. Not only is this a great learning opportunity for students, but the extra labor helps the Garden staff accomplish much more than we otherwise could have. Thanks to the Byron Walter Foundation for their support of this valuable program.

NWTC Horticulture & Agricultural Scholarships One little known fact about the Garden is that we lease our land from NWTC (Northeast Wisconsin Technical College) for $1 per year, plus we donate 10% of our general admission revenue to the NWTC Foundation. The Foundation treats the donation like an endowment and uses the earnings to provide annual scholarship assistance to students in the horticultural or agricultural programs. This past year, the Garden provided scholarships to five students, including one to this grateful young woman, who wrote the following note of thanks: “I wanted to write a sincere thank you to you regarding your donation toward my education. I jumped for joy when I learned that I was chosen for this scholarship. Your generosity truly means a lot to me.

My education is highly important to me and knowing that someone like you believes in me encourages me more than you can imagine.

What I want most in life as a newly single mother is to provide the best life I can for my son. My education is truly the key to my success and I am extremely grateful that you are helping me continue my education. Horticulture is my passion; I enjoy coming to school and learning about it every single day.

So thank you, your donation does not go unnoticed. It will help me continue to succeed and do what I do best; learn!”

Capital Projects • A new entry sign was purchased thanks to a grant from Green & Gold Hosta Society.

• Retaining walls will receive some needed repairs in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Garden, thanks to Primum Bonum.

• Little Rapids - Egan Family Foundation funded interpretive signs for this year’s project: Wetland Plants, Wetland Wildlife and Fighting Runoff Pollution. These signs will be installed by the pond on the west end of the Garden’s property.

• A much needed tour guide solution has been purchased thanks to docent Rawson Price & his wife Mary. This project will outfit docents with wireless microphones so tour goers will each have a personal listening device, enabling them to wander and view the gardens while still capturing all the information the docent imparts.

This will greatly enhance our tour program.

• Finally, we received a grant to purchase snowshoes and develop curriculum for Garden winter hikes. Thanks to the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board, members and visitors alike can enjoy the winter garden on snowshoes, at no additional cost.

Garden Project Planner Lindsay Hendricks, Horticulturist

Plant Your Own Pollinator Garden Help save the pollinators by planting your own Pollinator Garden!

Many pollinator species are facing declines in population due to habitat loss and excessive pesticide use. We rely on many of these pollinators for the food we eat, so let’s return the favor and help them out with the food they eat.

Featured Pollinator Plant

Who are the pollinators?

Bees and butterflies may be the most well known pollinators, but don’t forget about moths, flies, beetles, bats and birds, too.

Common Milkweed Botanical Name: Asclepias syriaca Life Cycle: Perennial Common Name: Common Milkweed Light: Full Sun Bloom Time: June to August Size: 2-3’ tall, 1’ wide

What plants do pollinators prefer?

Perennial flowers such as: • Agastache foeniculum, anise hyssop • Asclepias syriaca, common milkweed • Echinacea purpurea, purple coneflower • Liatris pycnostachya, prairie blazing star • Monarda fistulosa, wild bergamont • Rudbekia hirta, black-eyed susan • Solidago speciosa, showy goldenrod Annual flowers such as: • Lantana camara, lantana • Nicotiana spp., flowering tobacco • Tithonia rotundifolia, Mexican sunflower • Zinnia spp., zinnia Trees and shrubs such as: • Amelanchier arborea, downy serviceberry • Hamamelis virginiana, American witch-hazel • Sambucus canadensis, American elderberry What makes a good Pollinator Garden?

• Use plants that provide nectar and pollen sources • Provide a water source • Be situated in sunny areas with wind breaks • Create large masses of native or non-invasive plants • Establish continuous bloom throughout the growing season • Eliminate or minimize the impact of pesticides Although it’s not necessary to have every plant on the list, by planting a diversity of nectar sources you will help attract a diversity of pollinators. Once you create your pollinator paradise BEE sure to join the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge by adding your garden to the map: www.millionpollinatorgardens.org.

Then BEE sure to visit the Pollinator Garden this summer in the Herb Garden!

© Rob Routledge, Sault College, Bugwood.org

What makes it a good pollinator plant?

The flowers of common milkweed are a nectar source for butterflies, while the foliage serves as a food source for monarch butterfly larvae (caterpillars). It also attracts bees and hummingbirds. This native perennial grows easily in average to poor soils and is drought tolerant. It is also great for prairies, native plant gardens and meadows or naturalized areas. Common milkweed self-seeds and spreads by rhizomes, so it is sometimes considered too vigorous by many gardeners.

Try these species for more compact growth: Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), Asclepias incarnata (swamp milkweed), Asclepias purpurascens (purple milkweed)

Grow Your Green Thumb in the WPS Trellis Gift Shop Do you want to learn more about pollinators, discover a fresh look for your garden or research a specific group of perennials? Maybe you long to do a hands-on garden art project – then the WPS Trellis Gift Shop is the place to visit! We have a large selection of garden books featuring: • Succulents • Garden wisdom • Ferns • Shade gardening • Day lilies

• Cement art • Seed collecting • Vegetable gardening • Raising chickens • ...and more!

There’s nothing better than sitting in a nice comfy chair with a good garden book to get inspired and ready for summer!

Garden Development Cindy Berton, Director of Development

“The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.”

- Nelson Henderson

From our Director of Development What makes Green Bay Botanical Garden your Garden? Is it the look of wonder on a child’s face while they stretch their imagination in the Gertrude B. Nielsen Children’s Garden? Or is it the way you are transported into a different world, discovering new flowers, perennials or shrubs for your garden? Perhaps it is the peace and tranquility as you stroll quietly through the King Shade Garden or a moment of laughter and joy as you create magical memories with family and friends at WPS Garden of Lights.

The Garden is an extraordinary place to experience all the ways people connect with nature – for quiet reflection and self-discovery, for life’s celebrations and lifelong learning and to explore, grow and wonder. Truly, the Garden isn’t just for looking…it’s for living!

As the weather warms and we welcome the new growing season, we invite you to join us in creating the future of Green Bay Botanical Garden by making your tax-deductible donation today.

Be sure to check with your employer to find out if your company has a matching $76,539 gift program, which increases your overall giving to the Garden.

Ways to Donate: • Visit www.GBBG.org/donate • Complete and mail the enclosed envelope • Call 920.491.3691 ext. 104

$201,500

Annual Campaign 2015-16 GOAL

Gifts Received as of 1/20/16

Thank you for joining us in continuing our mission of connecting people with nature in an environment that engages, inspires and refreshes.

Your donation and investment in your Garden means more than words can express and ensures that ordinary days become extraordinary experiences for all who visit!

Think Spring!

Commemorative 20 Year Anniversary Book A history book about Green Bay Botanical Garden is being written by Lee Somerville and will be published this spring thanks to our garden clubs: Lady Bug Garden Club, Garden Club Des Peres, BAD Buds (Bay Area Daylily Society), Gardeners Club of Green Bay, Green & Gold Hosta Society, NEW Orchid Society, NEW Rose Society and Northern Gardeners.

The very first vision for Green Bay Botanical Garden shows an entry off Country Club Drive, where the current Options for Independent Living office is located. This was in 1986, during the initial lease negotiations with NWTI (now NWTC). As negotiations with the College evolved and a final contract was signed with Environmental Planning & Design, the first master plan (1991) was very similar to what we have today.

You can read all about the 30-plus year history of Green Bay Botanical Garden, from its earliest vision to today in a commemorative 20 year anniversary edition of Lee Somerville’s “A Place for Everyone: The History of Green Bay Botanical Garden.” Somerville has interviewed over 65 individuals who were intimately involved in the Garden’s formation, construction, early years and current operations to gather the information to tell our story.

“A Place for Everyone: The History of Green Bay Botanical Garden” is expected to retail at $24.99 (plus tax).

Place your order by February 29 to receive the pre-publication price of $19.99 (plus tax)!

To order, contact our Guest Services Coordinator, Judy Felton, at 920.490.9457.

2016 Spring Events

Eileeen Wesener, Special Events Manager

“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like? ... It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine...” - Frances Hodgson Burnett

Upcoming Events

Spring Thaw Lecture March 31 | 5:30–8:30 pm Nationally-known author and professor, Dr. Doug Tallamy, presents “Creating Living Landscapes”.

Register by March 24.

Sponsored by

Ikebana featuring Women Who Run with Scissors & Embroiderers’ Guild of America Friday, April 8 - Sunday, April 10 | 9 am–5 pm Explore the timeless art of Japanese floral arranging. Floral demonstrations will be held each day, followed by a tea ceremony.

Women Who Run with Scissors will showcase botanically-themed fiber art and Embroiderers’ Guild of America will display their needlework and share their passion for this fine art form.

National Public Gardens Day Friday, May 6 | 9 am–6 pm See the stunning spring garden featuring 41,000 bulbs planted last fall.

Admission is FREE for all visitors.

Mother’s Day & Brunch Sunday, May 8 9 am–6 pm | Admission is FREE for all moms.

9:30 am–1:30 pm | Brunch (select times, RSVP required) Register your family to enjoy a buffet style brunch at one of the most beautiful settings Green Bay has to offer. Brunch registration begins April 8 for Garden Members and April 22 for Non-Members.

TasteBud Thursday, May 12 | 5–8 pm Enjoy an evening filled with culinary delights, blooming buds, a silent auction and more! Registration begins April 1.

Memorial Day Monday, May 30 | 9 am–6 pm Admission is FREE for all military personnel and veterans.

Garden Fair Friday, June 3 | 5–8 pm (4–5 pm Members Only) Saturday, June 4 | 8 am–4 pm Sunday, June 5 | 10 am–3 pm ATC Grow Smart Presents Melinda Myers!

Shop from more than 100 vendors of plants, garden art and other garden supplies; enjoy live music, food and children’s activities.

Learn tips and tricks from gardening experts and celebrate spring!

© www.amensonstudio.com

Reader Feedback Survey We want to be sure to send you content that’s relevant to you. Help us out by telling us what you think about our quarterly newsletter. We invite you to visit www.GBBG.org/survey to take our brief survey. It should take less than two minutes of your time. By completing the survey, you’ll be entered to win 4 passes to see the Garden this spring!

Members & Volunteers Anne Basten, Membership & Volunteer Manager

Thank You to Our WPS Garden of Lights Volunteers

Dollars for Doers Volunteer Grant Program What is it?

Your employer may call it by a different name, but essentially it’s a corporate employee and retiree giving program where your employer provides a financial donation to the Garden when you volunteer with us on a regular basis.

How does it work?

Typically, it’s as easy as: Step 1: Completing a form Step 2: Sending it to the Garden for verification Step 3: We submit it to your company for the donation To find out if your company has a Dollars for Doers Grant Program, contact your program administrator or human resources department and consider submitting a request on behalf of the Garden.

Garden Members-Only Events GBBG Corporate Partner Member Employee Day Sunday, May 1 | 9 am–6 pm Employees of our GBBG Corporate Partner Members are invited to bring their immediate family to enjoy the Garden for FREE. Present your Corporate ID or business card at our Welcome Desk when you arrive.

Member Swap Day Sunday, May 15 | 9 am–6 pm Experience other local attractions! Members of the Garden, Neville Public Museum, National Railroad Museum and Children’s Museum invite you to visit all attractions for FREE on Member Swap Day. Tour: Bulbs of the Past – The Recent Past that Is! (Planted 2015) Tuesday, May 17 | 5–6:30 pm Welcome back warm temperatures and longer days with a walk through 41,000 tulips and daffodils. Join horticulturist, Sarah Pingel, as we stroll through the spring garden. You’ll also be stunned by the thousands of flowering perennials and woody ornamental blossoms.

We had another record-breaking year at WPS Garden of Lights with more than 66,200 visitors, which is an 8% increase over last year. A heartfelt thank you to our volunteers who make this annual event so successful. Three hundred and thirty-three volunteers from our community donated more than 2,465 hours of their time to give our guests a world-class experience.

You make it possible for us to continue to connect people with nature in an environment that engages, inspires and refreshes.

Our volunteers with the most hours include: Shirley Garthwaite 67.5 hours Julie Arneth 36 hours Dale Bartel 49.5 hours Don Giese 33.5 hours Darlene Charneski 36 hours Tom Mertens 32 hours

Volunteer Opportunities The Garden is always accepting new volunteers throughout the year.

Volunteering offers an opportunity to put your skills to use, learn new skills, meet others with similar interests, give back to your community, support the Garden’s mission and more!

Opportunities are available in the following areas: Gardening Educational Programs Facility Maintenance Special Events Guest Services Office Assistance

Garden Docent Training Green Bay Botanical Garden is looking for fun and responsible volunteers to help lead guided tours for youth and adult groups. If you fit the bill, follow these easy steps: Step 1: Call Kelle Hartman, Children and Family Educator, at 920.491.3691 ext. 107 to schedule a training session – get familiar with our gardens, learn our lessons and meet other volunteers while observing their tours.

Step 2: Sign up to teach local schools and tour groups about the plants, design concepts and wildlife at the Garden.

Step 3: Sleep better at night knowing you’ve sparked an interest in the outdoors in the people you’ve worked with and helped the Garden realize its mission.

For more information about our Membership or Volunteer Programs, contact Anne Basten, Membership & Volunteer Manager, at 920.491.3691 ext. 105 or abasten@gbbg.org.

WHAT’S INSIDE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Executive Director Susan Garot Board of Directors Dick Rankin, Chair Jonie Paye, Vice Chair Bill Wangerin, Treasurer Bill Larsen, Secretary Mike Raymaker, Past Chair & Advisor Directors Diane Conway Chris Del Moral-Niles Carol Faltynski Lise Lotte Gammeltoft Lee C. Hansen Kathy Hartman Robert J. Janssen Julia Johnson Bruce Kilmer Pat Koleske Teri Kranz-Drella Deb Kuhn Judy Nagel Rob Servais, D.C. Jack Swelstad, M.D. Kristin Van Drisse

NON PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE

PAID

GREEN BAY WI PERMIT NO. 165 2600 Larsen Rd. • Green Bay, WI 54303

Advisor Michael Salvo

Spring Update from Our Director of Horticulture Garden Project Planner: Plant Your Own Pollinator Garden Garden Member Benefits Volunteer Highlights ...and more!

Upcoming Spring Events: Spring Thaw Lecture Ikebana featuring: • Women Who Run With Scissors • Embroiderers’ Guild of America National Public Gardens Day Mother’s Day TasteBud Garden Fair