By Kim McDarison
The Fort Atkinson City Council has proclaimed and a request for a similar proclamation from the state of Wisconsin has been made, recognizing Fort Atkinson as the “Intersectional Peony City of Wisconsin.”
The city’s proclamation was made Tuesday during the city council meeting.
During the meeting, City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire noted that the city has approved a request made by the Hoard Historical Museum to pursue a proclamation from the state of Wisconsin, naming the city as the Intersectional Peony City of Wisconsin, annually since 2012.
In a memo to council, LeMire wrote: “The purpose of the proclamation is to recognize Fort Atkinson’s distinction as the city with the largest public intersectional peony garden in North America,” as well as “to recognize Fort Atkinson as the home of Roger F. Anderson, who is one of the world’s first producers to successfully create the hybrid peony cultivar, now known as the intersectional peony, and who has perfected the hybrid peony business world-wide for over 40 years.”
The proclamation also serves to recognize Fort Atkinson as the home of the “Bartzella” intersectional peony, which, LeMire wrote, is considered by experts to be the the most perfect yellow peony in the world.
The distinction helps to promote Fort Atkinson as a “unique gardening destination in Wisconsin,” LeMire wrote.
The Hoard Historical Museum is planning a June 5 gathering in recognition of the achievements of Roger and Sandra Anderson, Hoard Museum Executive Director Merrilee Lee said.
Approving the proclamation places no “financial impact on the city,” LeMire said, adding that the proclamation “may promote tourism and increase awareness of the event on June 5.”
Reading the city’s proclamation aloud, City Council President Mason Becker noted that the Hoard Historical Museum is home to two of the newest Roger F. Anderson intersectional hybrid peonies, named “Mary C. Hoard” and “W.D. Hoard” in honor of “important” Fort Atkinson leaders, and the garden at the museum features 58 named Roger F. Anderson intersectional hybrid peonies which bloom during the Wisconsin peony season.
The season typically begins in April and can last through June, online information states.
Additionally, the city’s proclamation notes that Roger F. and Sandra L. Anderson made Fort Atkinson their “longtime” home, establishing their hybrid peony business, Callie’s Beaux Jardins, in 1978. Roger Anderson has “bloomed” some 600 hybrid peony varieties since 1980, and Fort Atkinson is the home of Anderson’s “famous ‘Bartzella,’” the proclamation continues, which first bloomed in 1986 after 15 years of “diligent work.”
The variety received the “highest American Peony Society Gold Medal Award and the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit in 2012,” according to the proclamation.
Last year, Gov. Tony Evers proclaimed June 6 as Fort Atkinson Intersectional Peony City Day, according to a proclamation issued by the Office of the Governor.
Roger and Sandra Anderson. Photo by Eve Horton and courtesy of the Hoard Historical Museum.
The “Bartzella” intersectional peony, considered by experts, according to information shared by the Fort Atkinson City Council, to be “the most perfect yellow peony in the world.” Photo by Eve Horton and courtesy of the Hoard Historical Museum.
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