Badger Beauty

The husband of one of my dearest friends is an alum and ardent supporter of the University of Wisconsin, whose mascot is a badger.  This would be an irrelevant and unremarkable bit of trivia except for the fact that I am an alum of the University of Michigan, home of the Wolverines.  

Wisconsin Mascot, the somewhat nasty badger

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michigan Mascot, the much nastier Wolverine

 

 

 

 

 

The rivalry between the two schools is not quite as vituperative as that between Michigan and Ohio State, but it's substantial enough to provide a good deal of amusement as we trade good-natured barbs and silly cartoons of vicious sharp-toothed critters who are in fact both members of the same weasel family.  We also gloat with abandon when our respective teams win.  Sadly, Michigan's teams have been less than stellar lately, so I'm rather gloat-deprived.

These good friends make frequent pilgrimages to Madison, and often bring back souvenirs to demonstrate the relative superiority of UW's hometown as compared to Ann Arbor, site U of M's home campus.  I remain largely unimpressed by mementos related primarily to cows and cheese.

But this year, I have to hand it to them, they nailed it.  When they came to dinner in late Spring, they handed me a bag of gladiola bulbs which they had hidden from overzealous security guards (transporting agricultural matter might be a no-no).  Since we then proceeded to polish off several Scotches and a couple bottles of wine, I no longer have any memory of the explanation for the connection between gladioli and Wisconsin, but I'm sure there was one, apart from the certainty that there would be some red and some white blooms.

I had never grown gladioli, since in our zone they need to be treated as annuals, much like dahlias.  I have little patience for plants that need to be dug up and coddled through winter before being coaxed into another season.  But here these were, and there was an empty space where the irises had finished blooming, so in they went.  And then I forgot about them.  

Oh, sure, I noticed when they sent long spears of foliage, iris-like, rising 3 feet above the ground.  But I must've missed the blooms swelling along their long stalks because one morning I looked out the living room window and saw this:

And this...

And this...

But there was one so gorgeous that I had to cut it an bring it inside where we could enjoy it without breaking a sweat.  And even though I know this will bleed into the right hand column, the color is so peachy-apricotty-lemony gorgeous that it needs to be seen close up.

 

Sure is prettier than either mascot.  And although I still can't fully embrace Wisconsin memorabilia, I will not only make an exception for this, but I have put my friends on notice that they will not be welcome next year unless they make bringing a piece of badger beauty with them an annual ritual.