My Saturday Adventure

On Saturday, my wife, daughter and a family friend traveled up to Madison, WI and enjoyed both the farmer's market and a trip to Olbrich Botanical Garden (seen above). They are a top notch garden and have a very talented grounds staff. Ironically, the grounds staff was at Rotary Gardens the day before! We all took many pictures. I'm normally accused by my wife as "working" when I visit other gardens because I take so many pictures but she was just a guilty. I visit Olbrich three to four times per year and always get some great ideas. They are roughly the same size as we are and although they have more paid grounds staff than we do, I would speculate that we have more garden volunteers. Regardless, I highly recommend a visit to Olbrich. Madison is a pretty neat town with lots to do.

Check out this neat dwarf morning glory (annual) that was used to stunning effect. Dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus tricolor) is in the bindweed family although this plant is a rambling groundcover and under 12" in height. The variety below is 'Blue Ensign' and few plants can match this vivid blue! Look for it in seed catalogs this winter! They also used one of my favorite vines in a container (seen at the bottom). This is firecracker vine or Spanish flag (Mina lobata) and the blooms emerge red and age to orange, yellow, then white. The bloom clusters look like little flames and I've grown this vine 30' up the side of my house. Here , it is used to weave thru a cluster of containers.