beauty & the blooms

The beauty of summer blooms are a staple of Midwest living.

I love this part of summer. Everything is broadcasting in technicolor. Gardens blooming, prairies adorned with wildflowers and butterflies, sunflower fields tall and abundant with cheer. From the simplest container of summer flowers to fields of Coneflowers and Milkweed, and everything in-between. If you live in the Midwest, you know to savor these days. You'll want to remember them in the depths of January, trust me.

There are brilliant displays of summer blooms to be found at local cutting flower and sunflower farms. For a list of these, check out our newest feature, Sunflower Season.  I recently visited a couple of them and I'm sharing some highlights below. 

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Eugster's Farm Market includes a beautiful cutting flower garden.

EUGSTER'S FARM MARKET
Sunflower Days (Stoughton)

Eugsters has plenty for everyone to enjoy. A petting zoo, a cutting flower garden, sunflower fields, and an apple orchard (in autumn). And a market with homegrown fresh produce as well. They offer lavender fields earlier in the season, and sell lavender products in their market, too.

3865 WI-138    Stoughton, WI

ROOTS & STEMS
Frest Cut Flowers & Sunflowers (Mequon)

If you're looking for a beautiful summer bouquet, Roots & Stems has you covered. Their summer cutting garden is filled with colorful blooms. And their Sunflower Fields have just opened for the season. Photo opportunities are abundant, and a bouquet of fresh cut flowers are at your fingertips.

​11627 Highland Road, Mequon, WI

Zinnias in a rainbow of colors are blooming at Roots & Stems flower farm.

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If you're in the mood for a short road trip, check out these beautiful spaces in the Two River/Manitowoc area. You'll find a blossoming new Arboretum and Bird Sanctuary, a formal garden along Lake Michigan with a mid-century modern vibe, and a bit of ancient adventure along the Niagara Escarpment of caves and ledges and nature trails.  Happy travels, my friends!

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Franciscan style gardens along the trails at Van Der Brohe Arboretum in Two Rivers.

VAN DER BROHE ARBORETUM
​AND BIRD SANCTUARY
3800 Lincoln Avenue, Two Rivers

A forest does not grow overnight. What can take a lifetime to mature, will do well to have companions like fruit-bearing shrubs, wildflower meadows, and other insect and bird friendly native flowers and plants. The Van Der Brohe Arboretum will serve as a bird sanctuary to local birds, and migrating birds, as it resides on the Lake Michigan Migratory Flyway.

This spring saw planting of over 740 trees and shrubs, as well as prairie wildflowers and sunflowers. Visit now to see the sunflower fields in bloom. Visit later to witness migrating birds passing through, and the colors of autumn along the well plotted trails.

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WEST OF THE LAKE GARDENS
915 Memorial Drive, Manitowoc

The formal gardens of yesteryear are blooming brightly at West Of The Lake Gardens in Manitowoc.  The stunning 6 acres of gardens found their roots in 1934, when local residents John and Ruth West purchased the property.  Entering the grounds there is a distinct mid-century modern vibe to both the buildings and the gardens.

Scattered throughout the gardens are patio seating chairs and tables with a modern style. Some inset among the flowers, offering whispers of social gatherings past. If there's time, have a seat, linger a bit. Take in the beauty of the gardens around you, and the sounds of the waves crashing along the Lake Michigan shore. 

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Lakeside gardens bloom at West Of The Lake Gardens in Manitowoc.

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Stepping down among the caves and rocks of Cherney Maribel Caves County Park.

CHERNEY MARIBEL CAVES COUNTY PARK
15401 County Road R, Maribel

Cherney Maribel Caves County Park is 75 acres along the West Twin River. Featured among mountain biking trails, picnic areas, and a children's playground, are a multitude of hiking trails, along with a stunning portion of the Niagara Escarpment. These naturally formed caves, rock formations and ledges, hint at the long and intriguing history of the land. Some of the caves are open daily, some only for guided tours.

The hiking trails traverse woodland terrain, as well as along the ledges and ridges of the rocks and caves, and along the West Twin River, culminating in a stunning view of the spring fed waterfall that empties into the river itself. 

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