Thursday, April 3, 2008

Beauty Amongst the Rising Tide

More crocus opened today and defied the attention of rabbits thus far. It is always amazing to experience the change in the season outside. In public horticulture, the benefits of being outside are considerable. We get great exercise, fresh air and get to enjoy the transition of plants and wildlife throughout the year. We are certainly not running out of things to do in the garden. I've finished marking the beds for the irises that will be arriving in August. We've enjoyed working with the Madison Area Iris Society in regards to establishing and displaying this collection in 2010 for the American Iris Society conference. We are currently a National display garden for the American Hemerocallis Society (daylilies) and the American Hosta Society. We also have a sizeable collection of ferns that we will continue to expand in conjunction with our affiliation with The Hardy Fern Foundation. While taking photos around the garden today, I decided to check our current "flood levels". The enclosed photo gives an idea of the current problem. My concern is that another 3" in depth will cause serious and potentially expensive problems. It's odd that fish can now nibble at plants in our alpine garden that are normally a foot over the normal pond level. With all our spring activities, I hope this flooding issue doesn't "de-rail" our normal priorities. We've currently blocked off three paths due to dangerous conditions resulting from high water.

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