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THE WISCONSIN PEONY SOCIETY

EVENTS

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NEXT MEETING OF THE WISCONSIN PEONY SOCIETY

            The Wisconsin Peony Society will be holding a winter educational meeting on Feb. 6, 2010 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison West Madison Agricultural Research Station which is located at 8502 Mineral Point Road in Verona, WI 53593.   Harvey Buchite, APS Director and President and the owner of Hidden Springs Flower Farm, will be presenting a presentation on “Historical Peonies”.  This program covers the time period from 1937 - 1959 when the view towards garden value of peonies was affecting the registration of peonies and a great number of the modern hybrids were introduced to the world.   

The following is a scheduled times for the different meetings and the presentation on Feb. 6, 2010:

10:30 am- This meeting will be held to set up a WPS Committee to assist with the planning of the 2010 American Peony Society Convention which will be held at the Rotary Garden in Janesville from June 4-6, 2010.   The meeting is open to anyone wishing to help with the planning of the 2010 APS Convention.    I will go over the plans that have already been made for the convention and cover what is still left to be completed.   One of the main goals, of the meeting, will be to appoint volunteers to be in charge of the different tasks that need to be completed. 

          - Open gardens

            - Transportation Coordinator

            - Bus Captains

            - Transportation to events/open gardens

            - Volunteer Coordinator (book sales, seed sales, & product sales)

            - Auction Donation & Silent Auction Coordinator

            -  Dinner Coordinator

If you would like to assist with the planning of the 2010 APS Convention, but you are unable to attend the meeting at 10:30 am- please call me or email me so we can discuss it.

12:00 pm- Wisconsin Peony Society Business Meeting- The meeting is open to all WPS members in good standing. 

The following topics or issues will be covered during the business meeting:

-          The minutes of the last meeting.

-          A treasurer's report of WPS current bank balance.

-          Setting date(s) for future WPS meetings.

-          I will give a brief talk about the current plans for the 2010 APS Convention.

-          The need for some open gardens, for the attendees of the 2010 APS Convention

-          Buying a digital projector and/or a clip on microphone system for presentations and garden walks.

I am sure that there will be some additional topics or issues that will be addressed during the meeting too.

NOTE: Time permitting there will be a break between the WPS Business meeting and the start of 1:00 pm presentation.

1:00 pm- presentation by Harvey Buchite- “Historical Peonies” (71 slides) This program covers the time period from 1937 - 1959 when the view towards garden value of peonies was effecting the registration of peonies and a great number of the modern hybrids were introduced to the world. 

            Harvey is a world renowned flower expert with over 30 years of personal experience growing peonies.  He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in horticulture and spent 17 years working for the U of M and MN Extension Service, followed by 10 years as a partner at Rice Creek Gardens, a specialty plant nursery in Blaine.  Harvey is the current owner and operator of Hidden Springs Flower Farm.  The Hidden Spring Flower Farm web site is offering 239 varieties of peonies for sale this year- a large selection of them that are very rare and can’t readily be found for sale.  Make sure to order early because some varieties sell out very fast.  I know this from personal experience because he is already sold out of one of the varieties that I wanted to order this year- now it will be another 3 years, while he builds up stock, before I will have a chance to purchase it.

            In addition Harvey has posted several very informative articles on peonies to his web site which might be of interest to you too.  I know that I personally have purchased a large number of peonies from Harvey over the past few years and I have always been more than happy with the size and quality of his divisions.    Thus, if you have a few minutes to spare or have the winter blues- I recommend that you check out the Hidden Springs Flower Farm web site  www.HiddenSpringsFlowerFarm.com

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2010 GARDEN EXPO

           Wisconsin Peony Society, WPS, will have a booth at Garden Expo which will be held at the Alliant Energy Center from Feb. 12-14, 2010.   The Alliant Energy Center is located at 1919 Alliant Energy Way- Madison, WI  53706.  WPS will be signing up new members for APS and WPS, selling peony seeds and promoting the 2010 APS National Convention that will be held at the Rotary Gardens which is located in Janesville, WI from June 4-6.  The event should be a very good way to get the word out about WPS and hopefully we will sign up a few new members.  

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2010 AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY CONVENTION

Scott Parker, APS Director and SDP Chairman- Tomah, Wisconsin

            The 2010 APS Convention will be held at the Rotary Botanical Gardens www.rotarygardens.org  in Janesville, WI from June 4-6, 2010.  The Rotary Botanical Gardens is a 20 acre non-profit botanic garden which specializes in theme gardens.   There are the following types of gardens: Japanese, Scottish, Italian and French Formal.  In addition there is a Fern and Moss garden, a Prairie and Woodland Garden, Shade Gardens, and English Cottage Gardens.

           A very special event will be a tour of Klehm's Sparrow Song Nursery on June 4, 2010.   This is a very rare event since the nursery is a mail order business which is not open for walk-up retail sales.  Very few people are allowed an opportunity to see a peony and perennial operation of this scale.  There will be a tour of the peony fields and lunch will be served at the nursery.  The Roy Klehm and his family have been an integral part of the APS since its inception.  One never knows what you will be lucky enough to view in bloom in Roy’s fields due to the wide diversity of peonies, tree peonies and perennials that are growing on the farm.         

          Late Friday afternoon flower staging will start at the Rotary Gardens and finish up Saturday morning prior to judging.  After judging is completed on Saturday the flower show, which will be displayed in the main lobby of the visitors building at Rotary Botanical Gardens, will be opened up for public viewing.  Three presentations are scheduled for Saturday afternoon- June 5, 2010.  Mark Dwyer, Director of Horticulture at the Rotary Gardens, will be performing a presentation on "Companion Plants for Peonies".  Harvey Buchite, APS President and owner of Hidden Springs Flower Farm, will be performing a PowerPoint presentation on "The Best Fragrant Peonies". Roy Klehm, owner of Klehm’s Sparrow Song Nursery, will be performing a presentation of ”Down Peony Lane”.   

          The annual banquet will be held Saturday evening, June 5, 2010, at the Rotary Botanical Gardens in their large conference room.  Attached to the large conference room is a patio which overlooks part of the gardens and a small pond.  The auction of rare peonies and various other items will take place following the banquet. 

          The APS Board of Directors will hold its yearly meeting on Sunday morning.  The APS flower show will reopen to the public Sunday morning and remain open until the convention ends- late Sunday afternoon.  Be sure to write this one down on your calendar because you will not want to miss this convention.  The tour of Roy Klehm’s Sparrow Song Nursery is a once in a life time type of event.   I look forward to seeing you at the 2010 APS Convention.  More specific information on the 2010 APS Convention and events will be published in the March 2010 APS Bulletin.   

Scott Parker APS Director & SDP Administrator

AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY

23409 Desoto Ave.

Tomah, WI  54660

(608)378-4778

Email with event questions or requests