Friday, July 1, 2011

Independence Day Holiday Weekend





















I'll stray from gardening a bit to the topic of summer holidays.

Here in central Wisconsin we celebrate three major summer holidays: Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day; and a plethora of smaller local holidays, mostly of a manufactured nature: Wild Rose Days, Strawberry Fest, Cranberry Fest, AugustFest, Classic Car Shows, Bean Fest Potato Fest... Yes, every village and town has its day as well as the county its county fair, and nearly every vegetable and fruit has a holiday as well. All these fests are driven by the idea of promoting the local flavor, hoping to draw tourist dollars out of the pockets of our guests and into the cash registers of local vendors.

The weather here today has a predicted triple digit heat index. Watering plants will be a definite part of how I "celebrate". As a gardener, I can't get too far away from my locality when the weather is too hot for too long, or in the sandy soil I can come home to dead plants.

The pictures I have included today are from the Chicago Botanical Gardens' Arid Garden greenhouse. The temperature was a dry 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I am sure the humid 90s predicted today will make the CBG's Arid Garden seem like a spring day.

3 comments:

  1. Wish I could go to those county fairs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Love to attend those county fairs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I might take pictures and post this year. The 4-H and Open class entries in gardening, sewing, and floral arrangements are lots of fun to look at. I also like the chicken judging and seeing all the unusual and heirloom breeds. The funnel cakes are a must taste each year, but I don't know how to convey that in a blog. Yum!

    ReplyDelete