Milwaukee, WI
December Gardening in Milwaukee: It’s Time to Retreat Inward
December 21, the shortest day of the year. I’m no physicist, but if Einstein had studied gardeners, he would have discovered his theory of relativity more quickly because of how time stretches or contracts while we are digging in the dirt. The relativity of gardening time was reinforced for me by a recent article, “How Pottering About in the Garden Creates a Time Warp”, by Harriet Gross. My theory is a bit more granular: I have experienced time at slower, faster and at a stand-still pace when gardening.
Spring is a frenetic dash between cloud bursts, planting between normal work/life responsibilities. In June I hold my breath and surveil my green queendom but with grubby clothes and a trowel, rather than an ermine cape and scepter. July is a sprint to have fun, manage the trellising and harvesting while hosting deck dates. August time fluctuates nervously while I consider fall planting or do nothing except eat greens to sloooowwww time down before fall’s frenzy. September and October are pinched days for plotting and squeezing in as many seeds, plants and bulbs as possible while trying to outrun our shifty weather.
Join us for an afternoon of inspiration and fellowship as we honor six incredible women leading Milwaukee forward in the spirit of our longtime publisher, Betty Quadracci.
You might be surprised to know that, until recently, I was afraid of indoor plants. I drowned my first one when I was 13. When folks would give me an occasional orchid I would ask: What do you have against that plant? That all changed a few years ago when my pal Shawn gave me a cute succulent inside an even cuter pot. Succulents prefer my watering neglect, so we’re a match. I have added to my indoor pot empire by visiting Urban Sense on Vliet Street. I do currently have an orchid gifted by my other pal Katie in the living room—let’s see if I can bring it back to life once it loses all its delicate white tiger-teeth flowers.
My biggest takeaway is that, like gardening outside, nature knows how to take care of herself.
My sweet pots remind me that this is the time of year to consider garden gifts for family, friends or you. I’ll mention again the green clippers I got at GoodLand Home and Goods on Downer Avenue. To shake your mopey gardener awake, look for some great reading suggestions at the Wild Ones’ online bookshop, where you’ll find my current favorites Light Eaters by Zoë Schlanger and How Can I Help by Doug Tallamy.
Joe Gardener mentions 17 books (plus a few extras) in his podcast episode #440. Of note for me is Sarah F. Jayne’s Nature’s Action Guide, that expands the various steps we can all take to make our landscapes more human and creature-friendly, and Plant Sapiens: Unmasking Plant Intelligence by Paco Calvo with Natalie Lawrence. If your local bookstore doesn’t have these in stock, have them order it for you. Just as we feed our local soil, let’s feed our local businesses too.
How about supporting the groups that are fighting the good fight for the earth and its inhabitants? Consider buying memberships or donating in your gardening friend’s name to a range of green-supporting groups like the Wild Ones, the Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo, the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, and the National Wildlife Federation, which sponsors a Wildlife Habitat Certification program. This year I’ve donated to the National Park Federation, and the American Bird Conservancy, to protect our spaces and species at risk.
When I was 20, I signed up for my college’s exchange program in France. Since I only had about 36 days of class (by my estimation), I learned how to read train timetables and find cheap youth hostels to launch myself into the world of art history (the gardening part would come much later).
On winter solstice that year, I found myself in front of an enormous astronomical clock inside the Gothic Cathédrale Notre-Dame of Strasbourg. A lightbulb went on: rather than fuss about winter, I would celebrate the shortest day of the year instead. Those few extra seconds of sunlight beginning December 22 are invisible since the winter sky is clotted with cotton batting clouds, but I take comfort knowing that they are there.
Under the watchful eye of Persephone, let’s all celebrate the solstice, December 21st, 2025. Host an outdoor party with hot mulled wine, roast marshmallows over a cracklin’ good fire and burn some diseased plants that can’t go into the compost. Then head back inside and count green beans while you dream about the year to come.
It’s been a good garden year despite the weather whiplash we experienced, and I look forward to sharing more green joy with you in 2026!
A Few Gardening Resources
More Places to Give
Education
- Joe Gardener is a prolific sharer of information, try his website, podcasts and videos for any and all things garden.
- Read the Old Farmer’s Almanac—now the Almanac because, ahem, we’re not that old, right? —for gardening tips, a free guide on how to start a garden, plus weather predictions, moon phases, sunrise and sunset times, a veritable buffet of the things that interest gardeners.
- University of Wisconsin Horticulture, Division of Extension has online garden programs to help you make it through winter
- Want to help your neighbors get cost effective native seeds for their own gardens? Host a Winter Sowing Party! Check out the Homegrown National Park’s story on Liz Myers-Chamberlin, who helped sow the seeds of native perennials with her neighbors, and download the free party instructions for your own winter wonderland of seeds.
Native Nurseries In Wisconsin
Sustainable Garden Information
- National Wildlife Federation: How to create and certify gardens for wildlife
- Wild Ones Milwaukee: Download the Wild Ones’ landscape design specific to Milwaukee by landscape architect Danielle Bell of Native Roots, Milwaukee. This template describes all the ecosystems that can exist in one yard, and gives you a plant list to start your native plant journey
- Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewer District, in partnership with Fresh Coast Guardians, provides resources and references for anyone wanting to help protect our waterways, create a livelier landscape and entertain the bees, bugs and other creatures that co-evolved in our region. Download their natural landscaping plan here
- See the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan, from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, for information on conservation and protection of species and their habitats. I’ve gotten the names of a few rare native species from this list!
West Allis Fire demonstrates using Narcan for opioid overdoses
West Allis Fire Department Assistant Chief Armando Suarez Del Real illustrates how a Narcan nasal spray kit is administered in the event of an overdose.
The number of Milwaukee County residents who died from a drug overdose fell for a third year in 2025, which county officials say is a promising sign that more money spent on harm reduction, treatment and prevention efforts is working.
New data released April 21 show 387 overdose deaths across the county last year, down about 43% from their peak in 2022.
“The work is paying off,” Dr. Ben Weston, Milwaukee County’s chief health policy adviser, said at a news conference, touting the county’s vending machines stocked with Narcan and drug testing strips, as well as a state-sponsored data collection system that helps local health departments understand when and where overdoses occur.
Still, the hundreds of county residents who lost their lives last year to a drug overdose means that work isn’t close to done, officials say – especially as the drug landscape continues to change, presenting new challenges.
“We can’t let our foot off the gas quite yet,” said Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
Drug mixing continues to drive lethal outcomes
Milwaukee County’s decline in overdose deaths is a trend mirrored across the state and the country, following years of climbing fatalities that were deemed a public health crisis.
The county will spend $111 million in opioid settlement funds over the next several years and is already putting what it has received to use, focusing on “reaching residents where they are,” said Jeremy Triblett, prevention integration manager with the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.
That includes initiatives like the harm reduction vending machines and also knocking on doors, providing county EMS workers with Narcan and seeking the opinions of people who use drugs to shape the county’s strategy.
But officials say they still see a concerning trend of combinations of drugs leading to overdose, particularly fentanyl being cut with stimulants such as cocaine. These mixes of drugs make it harder to reverse an overdose, said Dr. Wieslawa Tlomak, Milwaukee County’s chief medical examiner.
Nearly a third of all autopsies the medical examiner’s office conducted in 2025 were deaths by drug overdose, Tlomak said, and the majority involved multiple drugs. Data show the most common combinations were fentanyl and cocaine, cocaine and alcohol, and opoids and fentanyl.
Methamphetamines are also involved in more overdose deaths than a few years ago, Tlomak said.
For drug users, not knowing exactly what’s in the drug they are getting is one of the most dangerous elements of the current drug landscape, she said.
Fatal drug overdoses were most common among American Indian and Alaska Native residents in 2025, the data show, followed by Black residents. About two-thirds of fatal overdoses were in men, and the median age of death from an overdose was 49, a number that’s been climbing steadily since 2018.
Triblett said the county is focusing on how substances interact with cultural norms in different communities and that a community advisory board is convening to develop harm reduction messaging for specific populations. His team will also host a door-knocking event June 12 to reach new people across the county with prevention and treatment resources.
Madeline Heim covers health and the environment for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact her at 920-996-7266 or mheim@usatodayco.com.
Drone video shows dug‑up yard at former Michael Lock home
Drone video shows a dug‑up yard at a Milwaukee home once owned by Michael Lock, following a police search for possible homicide victims.
Milwaukee police on Monday, April 20, began digging up a home once owned by notorious Milwaukee drug dealer Michael Lock.
The dig marks another chapter in Lock’s long criminal history in Milwaukee, which has included convictions for homicide, drug dealing, kidnapping, torture and running a prostitution ring.
As of 6 p.m., April 20, police had partially dug up the concrete driveway and yard in Lock’s former home. Lock has been convicted of murders of other drug dealers whose bodies were found under concrete slabs at a different home he owned.
As the dig continues, here’s what to know about Lock:
Who is Michael Lock?
Lock was the head of a murderous criminal organization known as the “Body Snatchers” and one of the leading criminal operators in Milwaukee until his 2007 arrest.
Over the course of a decade, Lock’s organization sold large volumes of cocaine, tortured and killed other dealers, prostituted women across the Midwest and ran a mortgage fraud scheme.
A jury convicted Lock in July 2008 in the homicides of two drug dealers in 1999 and 2000, whose remains were found in 2005 under concrete slabs in the backyard of a home once owned by Lock at 4900 W. Fiebrantz Ave. He has also been found guilty of running a prostitution ring, various kidnapping and drug dealing charges and mortgage fraud.
Where is Michael Lock now?
Lock is is serving multiple terms of life in prison at Waupun Correctional Institution without the chance of parole.
Where are Milwaukee police digging on April 20?
Milwaukee police confirmed they are executing a search warrant at the home on 4343 N. 15th St. in Milwaukee’s north side. City tax records show the property is owned by Shalanda Roberts, formerly Shalanda Lock, Michael Lock’s former wife.
Why are police digging up the yard of Lock’s former home?
There has long been suspicion on the part of law enforcement that there are additional bodies buried under the yard. In 2011, police dug another Milwaukee yard looking for remains.
In that warrant 15 years ago, investigators said at least four victims are buried somewhere in Milwaukee. Before that, police had dug a half-dozen other yards. Police have found no remains in the other digs.
Who lives at the property now?
It is unclear if anyone currently lives at the North 15th Street property. Shalanda Roberts told the Journal Sentinel she owns the property where police are digging, but it is a rental and she lives out of state now.
She said she has no information on the dig and has not spoken to her former husband in years.
Read the Journal Sentinel’s past coverage on Michael Lock
The Journal Sentinel documented the case against Lock in a five-part investigative series, “The Preacher’s Mob,” published in 2009.
You can read the series below:
Marvin Bynum, adjunct professor at Marquette University Law School, was named to BizTimes Milwaukee’s list of Notable Leaders in Law.
Bynum, shareholder and real estate attorney with Milwaukee-based Godfrey & Kahn, teaches a course on real estate transactions at Marquette. He has experience with a range of property types, from sports facilities to manufacturing plants and office spaces, and works to help clients navigate transactions including development, financing, leasing, acquisitions, dispositions and low-income housing tax credit-financed projects.
Notable Leaders in Law is part of BizTimes Milwaukee’s Notable series, which recognizes leaders in the southeastern Wisconsin business community.
Six alumni were also named to the list:
- Jim Brzezinski, managing partner and CEO of Tabak Law
- Adam R. Finkel, partner at Husch Blackwell
- Jeremy Guth, shareholder and attorney at O’Leary-Guth Law Office S.C.
- Keith Kopplin, shareholder at the Milwaukee office of Ogletree Deakins
- Isioma Nwabuzor, associate general counsel and assistant corporate secretary at Modine Manufacturing Co.
- Joe Pickart, partner at Husch Blackwell
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