Botany Belles & Beaus Garden Club
A garden club serving St. Croix County Wisconsin.
This year's theme: Plant a Tree. Plant Hope.
ABOUT US . . .
The club began in 1968 in Baldwin to promote the love of gardening. It is associated with the Wisconsin Garden Club Federation. We are united in our interest in gardening of all types and meet together to share gardening tips, encourage each other and to learn more.
Botany Belles and Beaus Garden Club members come from communities in central St. Croix County. If you are interested in gardening, flower arranging, tours and more, feel free to join us. Meetings are on the third Tuesday of each month and are held at the Baldwin Town Hall located at 2399 90th Ave. If anyone has questions, please email us .
WGCF's St. Croix District Garden Clubs are sponsoring a workshop on Friday, July 21st to help you create the necessary habitat for our feathered friends in your landscape. Click the link above to find out more and register.
Penny Pines Donations
Mary Hampton and Betty Lee were recently honored for their service to and long time membership in the Botany Belles and Beaus Garden Club. The group felt that a suitable way to honor them was to make a contribution to NGC's Penny Pines program. Penny Pines was established to help replant the national forests. The money the club donated is designated for tree planting in Chaquamenon National Forest in Wisconsin. Previous honorees from the club are Elvera Jacot, a founding member and Marilyn Doornink.
Meals on Wheels Arrangments
One of the group's favorite activities is to create mini-Valentine's Day arrangements which are sent home with Meals on Wheels deliveries.
ART IN BLOOM: January 19th
Art in Bloom is an exhibition of artwork interpreted by floral designs. This year the garden club paired up with Shannon Kamm's high school students to present an exhibit at the High School during the Bowls for the Soul event. Attendees at the high school events were able to vote for their favorite design. The designer and artist both received a People’s Choice Award. When votes were tallied, Wendy Kramer’s design based on Evan Clausen’s Betta Fish was the most popular.
The other participants were (artist listed first/floral designer second): Abby Hansen/Annette Stauffer, Alex Meyer/Judy Crowley, Lucy Lovestrand/Marilyn Doornink, Sophie Morales/Shannon Feuerhelm, Evan Clausen/Amanda Finke, Brynn and Whitney Feidt, Lila Johnson/Bryan Gjevre, Lola Chamberlin/Elvera Jacot, Evan Clausen/Wendy Kramer, Houston Huntress/Dru Kreinke, Carley Haney/Anna Mewis, Keelyn Lee/Mary Onkka, Ashley Frank/Debby Walters, Ry Oehlke, Sue Auld, Natalie Lokken/Sophia Kamm, Lucy Lovestrand/Shannon Kamm, and Carley Haney/Karen Moore.
Received the People's Choice Award
Preparing for the Season
Creating Christmas ornament stakes.
Porch pots for the Baldwin Care Center.
Gnomes for our homes.
Mini-Christmas mug arrangements for Meals on Wheels.
DOE ON THE GO
Thanks so much for purchasing birdseed wreaths and other items from us at Doe on the Go. All of the proceeds go towards community gardening projects.
Sheri Erickson's Early Pink won in the Sunrise/Sunset category. This photo received the most votes of any in the contest.
NATURE PHOTOGRAPHY
CONTEST WINNERS
Over 30 photographers submitted photos to this year's contest. Chili Fest attendees voted on their favorites in 6 categories: Birds, Bugs & Beasts.- Landscapes.- Plant Portraits.- Rustic Buildings.- Sunrise/Sunset.- and a Youth category.
Windmill Park Plantings Completed
The landscape at Windmill Park has been upgraded near the bathrooms. The Botany Belles and Beaus funded and also received a St. Croix Master Gardeners Grant to add natives and pollinator friendly plants to the area. In order to keep the mulch in place, club members picked rocks to put an edge in place. Then the fun began! Blueberry bushes, Matrona sedum, Coneflowers, Nearly Wild roses, Neptune catmint and a perennial salvia were added. The Village Public Works crew is helping to keep the site watered during this dry weather. An evergreen shrub will be added in the future.
Native Plant Workshop - WELL-ATTENDED!
The St. Croix District of the Wisconsin Garden Club Federation (Botany Belles & Beaus is part of the district) recently hosted a Native Plant Gardening for All Workshop in Chippewa Falls. The group planned for 40 attendees, but had 70 and had to turn away some registrations. Our focus was to show the importance of native plants for pollinators and teach how to do this in an urban setting. Our speakers were Carmen Simonet, Mary Jo Fleming, Hans Klug, and Barb Barrickman. They were informative, entertaining and knowledgeable, and made us all smarter about native plants and their gardening. Many thanks to Dragonfly Gardens which brought plants for sale and for the plant giveaway which was included in the registration.
Woodville Rain Garden
Botany Belles & Beaus Garden Club working together with the Woodville homeschool group is transforming the retention pond off of the downtown parking lot into a rain garden. The homeschool students researched and suggested plants and planned with the garden club. Plants that tolerate lots of water and not so much water were chosen and planted on three different planting dates. Now for the weeding!
The project was funded by a St. Croix Valley Master Gardener Grant, a Wisconsin Garden Club Federation Grant and the Botany Belles & Beaus Garden Club. The Village of Woodville has provided lots of assisitance too.
Bonnie Ringer Recognized
The Wisconsin Garden Club Federation recognizes members who do the extra with the "And Then Some Award." This year's recipient from the St. Croix District is Bonnie Ringer. Bonnie uses her creativity, energy, and organizational skills in many Botany Belles and Beaus endeavors to make them a success and serves on WGCF's Strategic Planning Committee. Thank you.
BBBGC Receives NGC Plant America Grant
The Botany Belles and Beaus received a $1,000 to plant trees at Viking Middle School from a NGC Community Plant America grant. Sixth graders under the direction of Jason Glampe, media specialist, researched and recommended trees to be planted to garden club members. Due to Covid complications, 10 trees were planted by families and garden club members in August. The students learned the proper procedure for planting trees and are excited to see the trees grow. Trees were planted along the sidewalk leading up to the building, at the entrance to the parking lot, and by the ball fields. Six additional trees were planted in April by garden club members since they were bareroot. Money from National Garden Club, Inc. was supplemented by the Botany Belles and Beaus.
Updated 04.10.2023