Increase Lapham’s Dream: The 80-Year Journey to Wisconsin’s Arboretum
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
June 17, 1934
On this day, dear aficionados of cultivated landscapes, we celebrate the official dedication of the University of Wisconsin's Arboretum.
Oh, what a momentous occasion for lovers of nature and academic pursuits alike!
Picture, if you will, the seed of this grand idea, first planted in the fertile mind of Wisconsin's early naturalist, Increase Lapham, way back in 1853.
How fitting a name for a man whose vision would indeed increase the natural bounty of the state!
One can almost imagine Lapham, wandering through Wisconsin's wild spaces, dreaming of a place where nature and knowledge could intertwine.
But alas, like many a stubborn perennial, this idea took its time to sprout. It wasn't until 1932, nearly 80 years after Lapham's initial musing, that the University began to purchase land for the Arboretum.
Oh, the anticipation that must have built in horticultural circles!
The following year brought two appointments that would shape the Arboretum's future as surely as a skilled topiarist shapes a hedge. William Longenecker, a name that rolls off the tongue like a well-cultivated garden path, was hired as the executive director.
One can only imagine the plans that must have blossomed in his mind!
And who should be made research director but the esteemed Aldo Leopold, already a professor of wildlife ecology.
Leopold, whose "Sand County Almanac" would later inspire generations of conservationists, must have seen the Arboretum as a living laboratory, a place where the wild and the cultivated could coexist in harmony.
So, on this day in 1934, as the Arboretum was officially dedicated, one can picture the assembled dignitaries and nature enthusiasts, their faces beaming with pride and anticipation. Little did they know that their dedication ceremony was not just for an Arboretum, but for a legacy of conservation, education, and natural beauty that would span generations.
As we tend our own gardens today, let us take a moment to appreciate the visionaries who create spaces where nature can flourish and humans can learn.
May we all find inspiration in the University of Wisconsin's Arboretum, and may we cultivate not just plants, but knowledge and a deep respect for the natural world.
And who knows?
Perhaps in your own backyard, you're nurturing the seed of an idea that will bloom into something magnificent in years to come.
After all, great gardens, like great ideas, often start small but grow to touch the sky!
