Prairie wildflowers provide a colorful welcome in the monastery parking lot, above. Meet in the parking lot at 9:30 am on June 13, 2015 to carpool to the UW Arboretum for the next Friends of Wisdom Prairie outing.
As the prairie enters a time of rapid growth at Holy Wisdom, consider joining the Friends of Wisdom Prairie for an opportunity to learn more about native prairie plants. On Saturday, June 13, 2015, 10:00 am-noon we will tour the Native Wisconsin Garden at the UW Arboretum, a condensed, interpretive display of the native vegetation of Wisconsin.
The UW Arboretum is in many ways a forerunner for the type of ecological restoration the sisters are committed to at Holy Wisdom. The world’s first restored prairie is the Arboretum’s Curtis Prairie, begun in 1933. Most of the ecological communities of Wisconsin exist on two square miles of land. More recently, the Native Wisconsin Garden was developed on a smaller piece of land to provide a condensed display of native Wisconsin prairies, savannas and forests. Here the native vegetation of Wisconsin and ecological restoration can be experienced, with interpretation provided.
Award winning landscape architect, Darrel Morrison, who specializes in the use of native plants and ecological communities in his landscapes, was engaged to design a Native Wisconsin Garden. Susan Carpenter, who has overseen the planting and implementation of these plans since the late 1990’s, will be our tour guide.
Meet at Holy Wisdom Monastery, in the upper parking area, at 9:30 am to carpool to the UW Arboretum, or meet at UW Arboretum 1207 Seminole Highway, Madison, WI at 10:00 am.
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Read the entire May 2015 Benedictine Bridge here.