INTERVIEW: DAVE SEARL CELEBRATES 25 YEARS AT THE QCBC

On April 1, 2000, Dave Searl joined the Quad City Botanical Center staff. To celebrate Dave’s 25th anniversary, we interviewed him about his time at the Botanical Center, his background in gardening, insects, and all things nature, and some of his favorite things. Keep reading to learn more about the #1 most popular staff member – Dave Searl.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING HERE WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED? AND HOW DID THE GARDEN LOOK DIFFERENT THAN TODAY? 
DAVE: Larry Pardue was the director and there was not much of a garden here, just basically around the pond with the Cypress tree and those berms there with conifers that Chub Harper helped pick out. Really just the lawn area, gardens and berms around the pond, and the Sun Garden. They had just built the greenhouse before I came. We didn’t even have the fence around the garden when I started. We’ve been expanding and growing ever since, as we get funding. It’s been amazing to see the transformation of the gardens over the years. We’re still a young garden and we’re growing a lot. 

There’s been a lot of blood, sweat and tears, you know – bee stings over the years. 

When I first started working here, I had some mentors – Kenny Brooks at the Butterworth Center and Chub Harper. Larry Pardue taught me a lot especially in the Sun Garden. You always want to learn from knowledgeable people and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Do good work. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE AREA OF THE GARDEN?
DAVE: Around the Bald Cypress tree, at the pond. It’s more natural. I’ve left things to grow and naturalize in that area. Plus, I’ve got my bluebells planted over there. It’s a real peaceful area, it’s almost like you’re out in the woods in a way. I enjoy watching the koi. 

I KNOW YOU HAVE MOSTLY ANNUALS IN YOUR HOME GARDEN, WHY IS THAT?
DAVE: Yeah, I converted to annuals so I can get more pollinators. More color throughout the whole season. I have several garden centers I like to visit and purchase flowers for my garden. 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FALL BLOOMING PLANT?
DAVE: Asters are nice in the late summer, early fall. The migrating monarchs feed on them, painted ladies, and many native bees. You can stand at an aster and things are just dancing around on the flowers. All that activity is fun to watch. You feel good about supplying the food for them for their long travel. 

WHAT IS YOUR SECOND FAVORITE GARDEN?
DAVE: I consider as a sister garden, people that I talk with, is Nicholas Conservatory in Rockford. They have a nice conservatory and Lyndi up there, we met at a Children’s Garden Symposium in Michigan and have kept in contact. Another is Meyers Sculpture Garden in Grand Rapids, MI – it’s pretty awesome.

WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN THE FUTURE OF THE CENTER? 
DAVE: I think my favorite spot in the Children’s Garden is going to be the Palisades and Maquoketa Caves. I’ve been pushing for that ever since the start. I’d like to see some rock cliffs out there, and incorporate a little cave. I think the kids would have a riot. I think I would even play on it. I’d love to see the Children’s Garden finished, it’d be the best garden activity for kids in the QC region.

HOW HAVE YOU MANAGED TO BE PATIENT WHILE WATCHING THE GARDEN GROW OVER THE LAST 25 YEARS?
DAVE: Just like gardening, you have to be patient. Things come… eventually.  

BUT WITH ALL OF THE EXCITING PROJECTS AND PLANS FROM DAY 1, HOW DID YOU STAY PATIENT KNOWING PROJECTS WOULD TAKE YEARS TO COMPLETE?
Well… I’ve got plenty of other work to do. I’ve got a pretty full plate. 

WHAT’S YOUR LEAST FAVORITE BUG?
DAVE: Ants. They seem like they’re intelligent. Sometimes working in the garden they get on you and start to bite and stuff. Occasionally I’ve got them on my desk. If I have a cookie on my desk… that’s all she wrote.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE POLLINATOR?
DAVE: When my bluebells were blooming at home last year (which are my favorite flower), there was a huge tiger swallowtail butterfly that was feeding on the bluebells. I enjoy sitting on my patio and watching all the pollinators go from flower to flower in my home garden. That’s my entertainment a lot of the time, watching and listening to them along with the hummingbirds.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BIRD?
DAVE: I call the blue jay my spirit bird. When I hear a blue jay call, it just like takes me back to the woods.

YOU RECEIVED A BLUE RIBBON FOR 4-H AT THE ILLINOIS STATE FAIR FOR YOUR INSECT COLLECTION. WHAT HAVE BEEN SOME OF THE COOLEST BUGS YOU’VE FOUND?
DAVE: I had just finished up doing a program out at Fisherman’s Wharf and it was summer so I had my windows cracked in the car, and when my friend and I got in, there was a Mantis fly. It’s a fly that has praying mantis arms. It took off in my car and I told them “We are not moving this car until I find that bug.” So I closed up the windows and finally it flew up to the window and I was able to catch it, and then released it of course. It was the coolest thing – one like I had never seen before. 

Another one was as a kid I found my first scorpion fly, which has the tail of a scorpion – so for a kid that was pretty cool. You can find those out in the woods.

One time I was mowing our local township cemeteries and I was on the rider and there was an ichneumon wasp, the large black one I had never seen before, but I had seen the brown variety. I stopped and jumped off and used my cap to catch it. 

WE ALL KNOW YOUR FAVORITE FLOWER IS…?
DAVE: Virginia bluebells

OKAY, SO WHAT IS YOUR SECOND FAVORITE FLOWER?
DAVE: Delphiniums. The tall, blue, multicolor ones. I used to raise them at Butterworth Center, Deere-Wiman house. They were seeds from England and just gorgeous, 6-foot-tall flower spikes. I remember we were going to have our annual open house and the delphiniums were in full flower. We had a severe storm that night before. The flowers were so large that they were water-soaked, heavy and snapping off. I had to scramble that morning to stake them up and luckily they lasted the day for the open house.

WHAT’S YOUR BEST ADVICE FOR A NOVICE GARDENER OR ONE WHO HAS LOST THEIR PASSION?
DAVE: I always get inspired when I travel and visit other gardens. I see things that maybe I could use here at the Center or in your own home gardens. There are some great garden centers out there that have nice varieties of plants. And don’t get discouraged. #1 thing to do is amend your soil and make sure you buy the right plants for the right location – shade, sun, height, watering. 

FOR SOMEONE WHO MIGHT NOT KNOW HOW TO AMEND YOUR SOIL, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THAT?
DAVE: Add compost and turn it under. At my garden, I just amended it with some cow manure and worked it in. After I get my annuals all planted I topdress the ground with mushroom compost. It almost looks like dirt and has a nice texture and color to it. Then over the winter, it amends the soil too, then it gets worked up in the spring. 

FOR A NEW GARDENER, WOULD YOU RECOMMEND STARTING WITH ANNUALS?
DAVE: A lot of people think perennials are less work because they come up each year, but you have to trim them and cut them back in the spring. It’s good to take photos of your garden throughout the different seasons, to see what’s blooming so if one area in the summer isn’t blooming, then you look at that and say I need a summer blooming plant here. So you can mix annuals and perennials – it would add more color and benefit the pollinators. You try to have something blooming in each season, and you have to look at your labels for that. 

WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED FROM A MENTOR IN THE HORTICULTURE WORLD?
DAVE: One time, Chub Harper told me study, read up on plants, horticulture, whatever. The more you know the more you have a better vision of what you want to do in the gardens and it’s all about education and knowing plant selection and stuff like that. Kenny Brooks was a really good grower of flowers from seeds, I learned a lot from Kenny too.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT HAS BEEN AT THE CENTER?
DAVE: All the people I’ve met over the years. There are so many wonderful volunteers, board members, staff and visitors I’ve met – it’s the people. When I’m watering the Sun Garden and see all the names on the tribute bricks, I say hello to them – since a lot of them are gone now. 
I enjoy talking to all the visitors and fellow gardeners and to see their excitement and answer their questions, tell them about future projects. 

A lot of people ask when I’m going to retire or say “you’re still working?” but you know, what better place to work than a garden like this?

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU WISH THE QC COMMUNITY KNEW ABOUT THE CENTER?
DAVE: Our location [laughs]. Our new sign should help. It’s a great family destination, any time of the year now with the holiday light display. 

Kids have a riot here. Playing in the sand or watching the fish. That’s what I enjoyed as a kid when my parents would take us to Vanderveer Park. I just loved being in the greenhouses and being around the fish pond, and now I have that every day here. 

A lot of kids who come here on school tours with Heather – they’ll come back and they’re showing their parents their favorite plant and they’re actually giving little tours to their families. It’s always cool when they tell you they’ve kept their plant alive from their field trip. 

​WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MEAL?
DAVE: Thanksgiving dinner. It’s always the best.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO ON YOUR DAYS OFF?
DAVE: Well, I like day trips. Hitting the antique stores or bird watching. Curvy roads where I can drive fast. Finding the scenic roads. I know my way around Northeast Iowa and Southwest Wisconsin pretty well.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE?
DAVE: I’ve got several favorite ones, but I think Dances with Wolves. I collect Indian artifacts that we find on the farm. I’ve always been fascinated with Native Americans and the things that I find are like thousands of years old in the field. But another one is Last of the Mohicans, it kind of follows our family history. We were in New England at the time and during the French Indian War some of my relation were killed. Some were kidnapped to Canada just like the main character in the movie. I also like old sci-fi movies from the ‘60s, like War of the Worlds, and also John Wayne movies. 

WHEN YOU RETIRE, WHAT DO YOU PLAN ON DOING?
DAVE: I like photography, mostly landscape and wildlife photography. I’d like to do that more. I’d like to travel more, go to Europe again. I’ve been to Central America and Mexico. Just keep active and I like to volunteer, maybe at Blackhawk State Historic Site, Nahant Marsh, nature centers, and of course the QCBC. I’ll probably get more involved with public speaking. 

WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE COWORKER, AND WHY IS IT RYAN? (question submitted by Ryan…)
DAVE: [laughs] Well, we can talk sports. His son plays ball so I like going to the ball games. But, I don’t have favorites. 

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD?
DAVE: We have a great staff here. It’s exciting to see the Center moving forward. I look out today and my lawns are all tore up, but it’s for good reason – we’re putting in new pathways.