Cordage Continues

Above is just a small assortment of the cords that I hauled around today in my "cart o' cords". I was able to run another mile or so of cords but am still only 50% finished. Short of stating that cord running is a science, I will say that it is certainly an art form. The grounds staff has helped with attaching cords to some of the displays already out there and with their help, we should be able to have the entire lights show up by the end of next week (weather permitting). It looks like some rain tomorrow and the temperatures will return to their normal November chilliness. We could certainly use the rain and some nice "soakers" over the next couple of weeks would be welcome (particularly for conifers). December rains are quite unwelcome as the lights show is a bit more challenging (and not well attended oddly enough) when it is raining. As I ran cords today, I was distracted by hints of color around the gardens and took the time to catch some late season interest. To the left and right are some late season features of the Golden Raindrops (Malus transitoria 'Schmidtcutleaf') with nice fall color and its namesake golden fruits (white spring flowers). The leaf pattern is interesting although the fruit set has never been overwhelming. Our two specimens near the sunken garden have done quite well over the past two years and we also have Royal Raindrops which is a maroon-leaf form with pink spring flowers.

The gardens were hoppin' today with lots of activity. Larry worked on some cords near the visitors center and helped Big John change the furnace filters (on the roof). We actually run cords up to and off of the roof as needed. Janice organized and worked with the "Grumpettes" this morning, had a meeting, decorated trees and worked on some birdhouse work with Marianne. Marianne was here earlier putting bows on our display deer, putting together our trail packs (for repairing lights during the show). We appreciate her volunteer work and she's always willing to lend a hand. The image to the left is the changing seasonal color of the Siberian cypress (Microbiota decussata). This conifer is normally seen as a 12", spreading groundcover but in this case, is grafted on a standard for some height and trailing appearance. Normally green in the warmer months, this evergreen turns a chocolate/plum color thru the winter, returning to green the following spring. Well-drained soil is essential for this plant. To the right is one of my favorite stonecrops (Sedum sp.). This is the 'Angelina' stonecrop (Sedum rupestre) that, while spreading at an impressive rate, is extremely durable in the border or container. It also gets a nice orangey fall color and is easy to divide or scale back anytime. Directly below is the maroon fall color and showy fruits of the cranberry cotoneaster (Cotoneaster apiculatus). Seemingly overplanted everywhere and notoriously hard to collect debris from underneath the arching branches, I like this durable shrub. We have it on some slopes in poor soil and it thrives.We had lots of volunteer assistance today. Above is a shot of our fleet near the woodland walk. Janice had Marilyn, Becky, Karen, Geralyn and Mandy in this garden cutting back perennials and collecting leaves. They did a great job in a location that has lots of obstacles (irrigation heads, labels, etc.). Robin was here too and focused her clean-up efforts in the Scottish garden. Robin has been with us the past five weeks as part of an internship from Blackhawk Technical College. She's done a superb job and is certainly part of the team. The Grumpies were also very helpful. We had an unfortunate incident overnight where a deer tried to jump our fence, was severely injured and had to be put down and hauled off by the police. Dick H., Ron W. and Ron B. repaired the significantly damaged fence immediately. Both Rons moved on to other projects and Dick H. helped run loads of debris back to the Horticulture Center. Dave, Vern, Jim and Bob worked on some carpentry projects while Del continued to refine and complete his bird houses (decorated by Marianne and Janice after work today). Dr. Gredler mowed, ran loads to the dump and is cutting up some of our surplus white pines for greens that we use in specific spots for the lights show. Bill O. was here to collect leaves and debris in the gazebo garden. Jumbo Jim (see below, with blower) had two RECAPPERS at the gardens and they did a nice job tidying up the Japanese and alpine gardens. We also saw Mary W., Mary Kay T., Jean, Barb, Cora, Polly, Rich M. and many others today as well. To the left is the ornamental bark of a young hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). With age, the bark becomes more "warty" but is very pronounced early on in life. Look closely to see the layered bark ridges on this trunk. To the right are the start of the flowers (for spring) on the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the arboretum. The bottom photo is the interesting fall color and leaf pattern for the Pacific Sunset maple. This smaller maple, ultimately 30' tall and 25' wide, is from J. Frank Schmidt Nursery (like the Golden Raindrops crabapple) and is a cross between the Shantung maple (Acer truncatum) and Norway maple (Acer platanoides). I like this maple a lot and we also have Norwegian Sunset, another neat cross from the same nursery that has the merits of both parents.