“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to change the world.” ~ Harriet Tubman

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” Thomas Jefferson

A late afternoon excursion to one of Madison’s urban green spaces to indulge in Spring and her beauty, the Olbrich Botanical Gardens is always a treat - especially when it is sunny and 65 degrees. ( I kept remembering the snowy winter days I spent photographing white and gray subjects from November until mid-April!)

Sixteen acres of displays provide an unusual garden perspective - a Midwestern interpretation of garden design, which at Olbrich takes on the dimensions of a stunning art form.

The entrance to the Gardens, the prairie-style Donors’ Arbor, provides access to ten specialty gardens - a few examples are the Herb Garden, Eunice Fisher Hosta Garden, Atrium Shade Garden, and Thai Pavilion and Garden. The botanical gardens and adjoining Bolz Tropical Conservatory have been prominently featured in the Seeded Earth including a winter post on the Thai Pavilion.

The Lussier footbridge connects the woodland Wildflower Garden to the left with the Alpine Rock Garden. In the summer, the pond is filled with aquatic flowering plants.

Attractive iron ’sculptures’ provide background for the hardy rose shrubs just now leafing in the Rose Garden. The garden has been designed to highlight the shrub roses instead of formal garden roses that require chemicals to control disease and pests plus many gardening hours to cover each plant prior to the winter season for survival in Wisconsin.

The Meadow Garden offers paths for strolling, benches for relaxing, flowering trees for admiring. It is dotted with innumerable spring bulbs and demonstrates a no-mow alternative to the typical urban grass-scape which requires high maintenance and way too much time. It is planted with drought-resistant fescue grasses which require only two mows a year. My kind of lawn!

Wherever you find yourself within the spaces of Olbrich Gardens, there is always a choice of pathways to take you to new delights. From the tall native grasses in the Perennial Garden to the brightly colored spring bulbs in the Meadow Garden to the tiny conifers in the Alpine Rock Garden, Olbrich inspires all visitors-dedicated gardeners and casual wanderers alike- with its grand showcasing of Wisconsin and its botanical wonders.

Tulip dancing in the wind, laughing in the sun, shaking at the ecstasy of it all - the thrill of a Spring day in May.

Here are a few of the wildflowers growing in my neck of the woods this second week of May.

The White Campion, brought over from Europe, is now naturalized across much of the North American continent. The flowers open at dusk and close in the morning; they are pollinated by night-flying moths. This photo was taken about seven in the evening, so the petals aren’t fully open yet. They have an unexpected sweet fragrance. I used to ‘pop’ the bladders of these flowers when I was a kid, and hadn’t yet learned the rules of the forest.

This is a Wood Anemone and I think probably one of the last ones blooming this season. It needs sunlight to grow, and the plants are deep in the woods - the sunlight is now getting blocked by the opening tree canopies. This guy is somewhat poisonous, though I did read that the Ojibwe used the roots in a remedy to clear the throats of singers. I wouldn’t recommend it - maybe try a nice honey lozenge instead. Or not sing.

Here’s another Jack; sometimes he’s called an Indian Turnip as his taproots were gathered as a vegetable by Native Americans. It is said to cause a strong burning sensation if eaten raw, but tastes peppery when well steamed. (I’ll pass on that, too.) I probably saw a thousand Jack in the Pulpits in the woods in a two hour period. I’ve never seen so many in one place - I was off path and kept nearly trampling them.

I had to search several guides to ID this rather quiet wildflower, though I’m pretty certain it is White Baneberry. The leaves are the give-away clue, because there are several plants with very similar flower clusters. I’ll come back in mid-summer and see if there are white berries growing - then I’ll know for sure. Supposedly the plant was once called Dolls’ Eyes because its berry has a black spot and looks like the eyes once set in china dolls.

I found four huge, densely-packed colonies of May-apples. Their umbrellas are fully opened now - in my photo of May-apples on May 2nd, they were still shriveled like puckered fingertips that have been in dishwater too long. No flowers as of yet. Native Americans used the roots to treat hepatitis and fevers and now a derivative of this plant is being used as a cancer treatment. It’s commonly known as poisonous though, and can kill a man in just a few hours after ingestion. BTW, its fruit isn’t poisonous and tastes like a banana-lemon mix. Odd.