Whitefish Bay Garden Club Ongoing Projects

A Look at Ongoing Projects Upcoming Events and Previous Events

OPEN MEETINGS: Please join us by requesting an invitation to these Public Virtual Meetings this fall. Include your name, street address, telephone number and email address and the date of the meeting you wish to attend.:

Tuesday, October 13 at 6:30 pm via Zoom. Guest Speakers: Portia Cobb and Melanie Ariens Environmental Activism Art. Melanie Ariens is a Whitefish Bay resident, environmental activist, and the artist-in-residence for Milwaukee Water Commons. Portia Cobb serves as an UWM Art Professor and the artist-in-residence at the Lynden Sculpture Garden.
Tuesday, November 10th at 6:30 pm via Zoom. Guest Speaker :Michael Schlappi, Marquette University professor speaks about how he cultivated Wisconsin's first commercial rice crop, Red Stone Rice. The development of this rice crop was funded by grants from Marquette University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. His research identified a high-yielding Southern Russian rice variety that could withstand the colder weather in Wisconsin. The first trial was grown on a rooftop garden at Marquette University. In 2017, one acre of rice paddies was established at the Mequon Nature Preserve. Link >>> https://redstonerice.com

ONGOING ACTIVITIES:

Providing community education through a speaker series on relevant sustainability topics: growing herbs organically, installing rain gardens, incorporating native plants into your landscaping, creating quality compost, environmental education of our youth, water management
Reimagining the Silver Spring Outlook green space by planning and leading the installation of rain gardens and flower beds with native plants with phase one to be completed this spring
Planting a prairie in the Cahill Park Retaining wall
Restoring butterfly habitats and maintaining the Butterfly Garden at Cahill Park and Lydell Community Center Garden
Removing invasive plants (garlic mustard and buckthorn) from parks along Lake Michigan
Advocating for sustainable land management practices in our public green spaces
Supporting our fellow residents facing hardship with our Forget-Me-Not program

THE WHITEFISH BAY GARDEN WALK

QUILTS IN THE GARDEN SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2017

The Whitefish Bay Quilts in the Garden Walk showcased a diverse array of Whitefish Bay gardens that are environmentally and pollinator friendly. The beauty and bounty of the gardens were enhanced by the artistry of area quilt makers whose designs and color palettes reflected the nature and whimsy in each garden. Thank you for making this event a success by walking with us through these beautiful gardens in Whitefish Bay!

The Garden Club thanks the public for attending our garden walk and making it so successful. Because of you we were able to use the proceeds from our garden walk to make the following donations to organizations in our community

Isabel Lillie Scholarship Fund
Teens Grow Greens
Urban Ecology Center
Riveredge Nature Center
Victory Garden Initiative

The Club will also be using proceeds to enhance other public spaces in Whitefish Bay, such as the Cahill Park Butterfly Garden, Klode Park, the Hampton Avenue island, and the Silver Spring Outlook.

We could not have been successful without the homeowners who opened their gardens to the public, the quilters who loaned us their works of art, and you who came out to celebrate gardens in the Bay with us.

Thanks to our sponsors for supporting our 2017 Garden Walk: Quilts in the Garden: Thanks to all our sponsors:
The Bay Restaurant, The Green Team, Fringe Home Furnishings, Gerhard's Kitchen and Bath Store, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, Yellow Wood, Stone Creek Coffee, City Market, Winkies, Sendik's, Three Wishes, Navy Knot, Oro di Oliva, and Moxie.

Bay Day

The Whitefish Bay Garden Club prepares bird nesting bags for the annual Bay Day, previously known as, Green Day in the Bay. The annual event is hosted by the Whitefish Bay Civic Foundation to promote green activities and to bring awareness to the three Rs of environmental awareness: reducing, reusing, and recycling. Garden Club members host a table where children and adults learn about our Bird City designation and about the new World Migratory Bird Day, and make nesting bags to take home.

The Milwaukee Art Museum: Art In Bloom

The WFB Garden Club has created beautiful entries since 2009, some of which have been featured in event brochures and have been awarded the People's Choice award. The Milwaukee Art Museum's Art-In-Bloom Exhibition invites clubs or ﬂorists to interpret a piece of artwork from the museum through a ﬂower arrangement.
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Our 2019 entry was inspired by the piece The Cock of the Liberation by Pablo Picasso. Thank you to those that voted in People's Choice and gave us the Honorable Mention Award.

In 2018, The Whitefish Bay Garden Club's design team created an arrangement inspired by the painting The People's Bank Prior o the Crash.

Forget-Me-Not Arrangements

The WFB Garden Club sends out lovely ﬂower arrangements to residents who are experiencing difficult times such as illness or grief. It's important our community not feel forgotten when facing life's challenging moments.

Butterfly Garden at Cahill Park

The Whiteﬁsh Bay Garden Club rescued a butterﬂy garden in Cahill Square. This garden, which was created many years ago, had been neglected and was threatened with being plowed under by the Village. The club redeveloped this garden to create an educational space for children and adults to appreciate and learn about butterﬂy gardens. We hope to inspire residents to create their own butterfly habitat at home. To learn more about plantings for a Butterﬂy Garden, click on our Resources tab.

Garden Club members work hard each fall, preparing the Butterfly Garden for another Whitefish Bay winter. Here, you can learn about the life cycle of monarch butterflies on the beautiful diorama installed by the club; informational pamphlets are included for garden visitors to take home with them. We have also installed many Celebration Stones around the perimeter of the garden, paying tribute to current and past members and friends of the Garden Club. Please visit our Celebration Stones tab if you are interesting in your own Celebration Stone!

Organic Gardening Ad Hoc Committee

The WFB Garden Club is part of a committee to study the use of herbicides/pesticides on the Village green spaces. This is an ongoing project.

Bird City Wisconsin

On March 22, 2012, the Village of Whitefish Bay was given the distinction of becoming a Bird City of Wisconsin member. This is a testament to the care of our green spaces and natural conservation efforts that are part of the Village's smart growth plan. The Whitefish Bay Garden Club led the effort to earn this distinction in conjunction with support from the Civic Foundation and Village Board. During the annual Green Day in the Bay event sponsored by the Civic Foundation, there was an official presentation of the signs and flags to be accepted on behalf of the Village.

Fundraising Activities

The WFB Garden Club raises money to support its community activities
and donate to environmental groups, such as Riveredge (which the club
helped found), the Audubon Society, and other conservation groups. Here is a list of fundraising projects our club has undertaken: The Garden Walk, garden dog decorations, garden leaf vessels, origami ﬂower making, bird feeders, and rain barrel.

Klode Park Weed Out

Do you notice how nice the Klode Park garden beds look at the 4th of July celebration? For many years, the WFB Garden Club has helped maintain the native plant beds and the path down to the beach at Klode Park. Annually since 2012, the club sponsors a weed-out to help maintain the planting beds and keep them herbicide/ pesticide free. Schools, sport clubs, church groups and individuals support our efforts to weed the planting beds and keep our park chemical free. In the future, plans include removing invasive species on the hill and replacing them with native plants.