Friday, October 2, 2009

Fall Moved In Fast!


Despite the rainy, cool, windy weather the past couple of days, there is still color to be found out in the gardens. Above is the 'Chilly Chili' hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) that gets more beautiful as the season progresses and is one of the mildest of hot peppers. These peppers are on borrowed time now and we'll pick what we can before frost. Marv and Terry ran for gas, delivered tropicals to a greenhouse for overwintering, pruned boxwoods, hauled mums, etc...We worked around the weather a bit but had a very productive day despite it looking so ominous this morning. Marianne worked on labels for the alpine garden, did a nice job with our cutting display and started on our holiday lights testing!!! This event needs to be ready in 62 days (whose counting?) so we start now so we can deal with any surprises. Janice helped Marianne for a bit with lights but worked on mowing and disposing of plants from around our maintenance facility. Little Jerry came in to mow and Dr. Gredler mowed and aerated. We had Vern here drafting and Ed helped clear beans from our bean towers (in the rain). I was able to fertilize some lawns, finish a presentation and check off "to do" items on my "to do" list. Below is another hot pepper called 'Bolivian Rainbow'. Beneath that image are the Grumpies planting 500 ornamental onion (Allium 'Purple Sensation') bulbs throughout the iris collection. This will look uber-cool next spring.Despite sporadic drizzle yesterday, Shelley Ryan from The Wisconsin Gardener (WI Public Television) came with Kerman, Mike and Greg to film two segments out in the gardens. These segments will feature our "ornamental edible" wall plantings and late blooming perennials. Shelley does such a nice job and the crew is very professional and fun. I'm glad the weather cooperated and we look forward to seeing these segments next summer sometime. The two hot peppers below will be featured as ornamental edibles on her show. Directly below are the spherical fruits of 'Holiday Cheer' and beneath that is the dark-leaved, award-winning hot pepper called 'Black Pearl'. Those glossy black fruits do age to red in time. I'm looking forward to camping with my younger daughter and wife next week as we're heading in to a busy time with fall clean-up, The Halloween Walk and the Holiday Lights Show getting closer on the calendar. Sweet shot at the very bottom of 'Fireworks' goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) blooming in our sunken garden. I love the sprays of color and we have this goldenrod in many locations.




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