By Stephanie Hoff
The American Peony Society is hosting its annual convention and flower show in conjunction with the Wisconsin Arts & Peony Festival. The fifth annual festival is June 13-15 in Beaver Dam.
Part of the attraction is a display garden in downtown Beaver Dam planted by Michelle Ovan of Ovans Peony Farm. The society has recently selected the “Beaver Dam Peony Garden – Celebrating Heritage and Excellence” as a reference garden.
Wisconsin has a strong history involving peonies, with hybridizers who are world-famous. One hybridizer is Roger Anderson from Fort Atkinson. He developed the highly sought-after yellow peony, Bartzella. Nate Bremer from Solaris Farms in Reedsville is hybridizing next-generation Lutea Woodie peonies. There are only a handful of breeders worldwide introducing these types of tree peonies, Ovans says.
Ovans Peony Farm in Beaver Dam is the state’s largest fresh-cut peony farm. Ovan cares for more than 1,600 plants representing about 100 varieties. Her farm is also on display during the upcoming Wisconsin Arts & Peony Festival. She’s been busy preparing for the thousands of visitors coming to the region. It included shielding her plants from spring storms.
“Last year, we lost about 75 percent of our plants to high winds and hail, and of course, that type of weather went through again this year,” she says.
She installed wind breaks in front of all the plants to slow the wind down.
“So this year, we received minimal damage from the high winds, and we were thankful that the tornadoes that came through Dodge County were not near us, so we evaded that,” she says.
Five years ago, Ovans Peony Farm partnered with the Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce to form the Wisconsin Arts & Peony Festival. This partnership has promoted agritourism, showcasing the farm and its significance in forwarding the cut flower industry in the U.S. It also promotes the historical connection with peonies in Wisconsin. In just a few years, festival attendance grew to 5,000 visitors and a local economic impact totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Learn more about the festival’s events: https://visitbeaverdam.com/wisconsin-arts-peony-festival-beaver-dam-wi/
“When we first started this, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism reported 900 people coming to the farm here, and that generated over $130,000 in the community. Well, could you imagine if we have 5,000 people, what that generates in the community for gas, lodging, food?” Ovans says. “That’s really one of the motivating factors for us to bring these events through agritourism to the public.”
American Peony Society members will come from all across the United States and three countries. Thousands of blooms will be on display. The flower show is free and open to the public. This only comes to Wisconsin about once every decade.
Exploring Wisconsin Specialty Crops With WATA
This podcast series is brought to you by Specialty Crop Block Grant 23-10. Learn more at gowiagtourism.com.
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