There’s flower gardens and there’s vegetable gardens.

But “smelly” gardens?

Yup, that’s right.

At Janesville’s Rotary Botanical Gardens, there’s plenty of smelly
stuff growing in a new garden this year especially geared for
children.

There’s also plenty of fun activities planned during August at the
scented site. Children of all ages are invited to Smelly Garden
Family Drop-in Events, August  9 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Aug. 28
from 1-4 p.m.

Adults, however, have not been left out of the mix. A special
evening event just for adults will be held Aug. 19, from 8-10 p.m.
and will explore the Smelly Garden at night.

At the drop-in events, families will learn the habits of different
pollinating insects and why they are attracted to flowers. Children
can get their faces painted; create a flower to attract a
particular pollinator, practice  being a bee or butterfly and more.
Goodie bags, including Make Your Own Antennae Kits will also be
available for purchase.

Elmer’s Kettle Corn will be provided on the family days. The cost
of the event is the regular Gardens admission fee (adults are $5,
youths 6-15, $3 and children under age 6 enter for free as well as
Rotary Botanical Gardens members.

Rotary Botanical Gardens invites adults to bring their significant
other  or special friend for an exclusive, after-hours evening of
fragrance and fun in the new Smelly Garden. Singles are also
welcome. The evening will include strolling the Smelly Garden,
among its 180 varieties of fragrant and sensory plants at their
evening  peak of fragrance, learning about night pollinators,
favorite perfumed plants and more. 

After dark, attendees can watch the Perseid meteor showers on their
own or from the North Point Garden. There will be a cash bar and
live music. Admission to this  event is $5 per person. Attendees
should dress for the weather and may wish to bring insect
repellent. In case of inclement weather, the event will be moved to
Thursday, Aug. 25 from 8-10 p.m.

Visitors can continue to enjoy the Smelly Garden all summer long –
not just for the listed events, however.

The Smelly Garden is a thematic use of the Nancy Yahr Memorial
Children’s Garden at Rotary Botanical Gardens for the 2011 and 2012
seasons. The Children’s Garden, a 3,000 square foot garden space
located behind the Parker Education Center, was created in 2009
with the intent of focusing on youth education and engagement. The
intent of the Smelly Garden theme is to display and promote a  wide
range of scented plants, ranging from herbs, scented annuals,
fragrant summer bulbs and perennials. There are 180 varieties of
scented plants in this space. Visitors are encouraged to rub leaves
of herbs and other plants with scented foliage and also enjoy the
variety of scents emitted from blooms. Many of the scented,
blooming plants become more fragrant at dusk and throughout the
evening.

Rotary Botanical Gardens is a 20-acre, non-profit botanic garden
with over 20 different garden areas/styles and 4,000 varieties of
plants.

For more information, call 608-752-3885 or visit
www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org.