Ditto Day

Another beautiful day, very similar to yesterday although maybe a bit warmer. Bad news above with the deer (or maybe rabbits) mowing down our emerging tulips. These should still bloom unless the emerging buds are eaten as well. We normally don't see much of this and we've hoped that warming temperatures would keep the deer elsewhere. However, it seems their "winter travel pattern" keeps them coming in at night for a snack. I used to work at Fernwood Botanic Garden (www.fernwoodbotanical.org/) in Niles, MI (worth a visit) that had many natural areas and lots of deer. We didn't even bother with tulips as we never saw any blooms. I hope we're not headed that way here at Rotary Gardens, particularly since we have about 20,000 tulips poking out of the ground right now. Note the slow-release fertilizer to the left. This encapsulated fertilizer releases nutrients over a 3-4 month period with soil temperatures at 70 degrees F or above. We use this fertilizer strictly in our containers and will incorporate it throughout our potting mixes as we prepare containers for spring planting. This is a balanced mix and you can see the N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) ratio on the bag. Be wary of using too much fertilizer out in your landscape and pay particular attention to fertilizers that are high in phosphorus. Most of our soils have ample phosphate levels and excessive phosphates continue to pollute lakes, rivers, streams and have negative environmental effects. Look in to this topic more in depth and see what you can do to help avoid this continuing issue. Nice shot of glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa sp.) mix to the right. I'm using some pictures from last year as my Olympus is on the fritz. Plenty of color emerging!

Great Grumpy day with the carpenters working on signs, tables and other projects. The guys hauled out benches, mulched trees in the arboretum and started to compost our vegetable beds which we'll rototill later next week. Janice has been tidying up out in the gardens and Larry continues to work on vehicles and equipment. Little Jerry was here for a bit and Jim H. has four RECAPPERS out in the gardens cleaning our ponds and other water features. Great volunteer turnout today and what a nice day to get outside! Nice shot of crocus at Dale's garden in Waukesha.