I thought today would be a bad weather day but we had the hail and rains yesterday. Today ended up being cool at around 43 degrees F but it was sunny at times and we were all prepared with appropriate layering. The temperature would really drop significantly when clouds and breezes became a factor. Above (top photo) can be seen the cones of one of our Northern Japanese hemlock
s (
Tsuga diversifolia) in the gazebo garden. The needles are a deep green with very prominent silvering on the bottom due to chalky white, stomatal bands. This species, in my mind, appears significantly different from our native, Eastern hemlock (
Tsuga canadensis). The three specimens of this marginally hardy species that we have out in the gardens have grown fairly well in their sheltered location
and have gained some size over the years (currently 12' or so). Directly above is an all-accessible planter that the carpenters built yesterday. The bottom of the planting area is 32" above ground level which will allow gardeners in wheelchairs to not only get close to the planter, but the horizontal portion of chair/user will go underneath the planter. This height is also perfect for "no stoop" gardening for older gardeners. We plagarized this design from Allen Centennial Gardens (
www.horticulture.wisc.edu/allencentennialgardens/) on the UW-Madison Campus. Ed Lyon, Director of ACG, showed me this planter back in July and I was impressed with how sturdy and functional it appeared. To the left, I'm featuring more ornamental bark. This is the bark of the three-flower maple (
Acer triflorum). I love the appearance of this bark which gets better with age. In a recent blog, I showed the nice orange fall color of this smaller scale maple (20' or so at maturity). To the right is the golden fall coloration of the purple moor grass (
Molinia caerulea subsp.
arundinacea 'Skyracer') that while achieving great height (7' or so), has a "see thru" look that makes it ideal as a specimen as it allows views thru the plant itself. While most of the leaf blades are in the bottom third of the plant, it's important to know that this perennial grass for full sun has no winter interest as it will flatten quickly with even modest snow cover. Below are just a fraction of the shredded leaves that we are collecting with our mowers and placing over planting beds to improve the soil for next year. We hope to rototill these in lightly or cover them with a light layer of compost before winds move the mulch elsewhere.
We had another top notch crew today and another combination of gardening and holiday lights show set-up was accomplished. Nice shot above of the bearsfoot hellebore (
Helleborus foetidus) which retains evergreen foliage all winter but will bloom in late winter/very early spring and later send up fresh foliage. Marv an
d Terry put up more displays, lights and will be securing the remainder of our displays and incoming trees (temporary) next week. Janice worked on decorating and also moved out in the garden to continue clean-up efforts in the shade garden. Marianne repaired lights and also went out in the gardens to finish up luminaries and secure our dangling icic
le lights. She was also able to help Janice tidy up in the shade garden. I had some meetings but was able to run more cords. Robin continued her perennial cutting and leaf collection in the Scottish garden while Kay was here to continue her tidying in the shade garden section that she has maintained all summer in addition to her other "flavor of the day" activities. Dr. Gredler was here to mow and run loads to the dump. We also saw Mary with a RECAPPER, Del, Big John, Terri H., Rollie and others. To the left is the ornamental bark of the coral-bark maple (
Acer pensylvanicum 'Erythrocladum') that gets increasingly redder from October in to the winter. The stem to the right is from a native, non-woody plant, considered a weed by many. This is the vivid magenta stem of pokeweed (
Phytolacca americana) which has flopped over and will get mushy soon. However, I couldn't pass on the opportunity to photograph this perennial specimen and catch the "unseasonable" color. Directly below is the myriad fall color display of the sweet gum (
Liquidambar styraciflua) near our arboretum. I look forward to this display every year as just about every fall color is represented at some point in time during the fall leaf transition. The bottom photo is another shot of fall color for the recently featured Korean maple (
Acer pseudosieboldianum) that literally glows this time of year.
s (Tsuga diversifolia) in the gazebo garden. The needles are a deep green with very prominent silvering on the bottom due to chalky white, stomatal bands. This species, in my mind, appears significantly different from our native, Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis). The three specimens of this marginally hardy species that we have out in the gardens have grown fairly well in their sheltered location
and have gained some size over the years (currently 12' or so). Directly above is an all-accessible planter that the carpenters built yesterday. The bottom of the planting area is 32" above ground level which will allow gardeners in wheelchairs to not only get close to the planter, but the horizontal portion of chair/user will go underneath the planter. This height is also perfect for "no stoop" gardening for older gardeners. We plagarized this design from Allen Centennial Gardens (www.horticulture.wisc.edu/allencentennialgardens/) on the UW-Madison Campus. Ed Lyon, Director of ACG, showed me this planter back in July and I was impressed with how sturdy and functional it appeared. To the left, I'm featuring more ornamental bark. This is the bark of the three-flower maple (Acer triflorum). I love the appearance of this bark which gets better with age. In a recent blog, I showed the nice orange fall color of this smaller scale maple (20' or so at maturity). To the right is the golden fall coloration of the purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Skyracer') that while achieving great height (7' or so), has a "see thru" look that makes it ideal as a specimen as it allows views thru the plant itself. While most of the leaf blades are in the bottom third of the plant, it's important to know that this perennial grass for full sun has no winter interest as it will flatten quickly with even modest snow cover. Below are just a fraction of the shredded leaves that we are collecting with our mowers and placing over planting beds to improve the soil for next year. We hope to rototill these in lightly or cover them with a light layer of compost before winds move the mulch elsewhere. 
d Terry put up more displays, lights and will be securing the remainder of our displays and incoming trees (temporary) next week. Janice worked on decorating and also moved out in the garden to continue clean-up efforts in the shade garden. Marianne repaired lights and also went out in the gardens to finish up luminaries and secure our dangling icic
le lights. She was also able to help Janice tidy up in the shade garden. I had some meetings but was able to run more cords. Robin continued her perennial cutting and leaf collection in the Scottish garden while Kay was here to continue her tidying in the shade garden section that she has maintained all summer in addition to her other "flavor of the day" activities. Dr. Gredler was here to mow and run loads to the dump. We also saw Mary with a RECAPPER, Del, Big John, Terri H., Rollie and others. To the left is the ornamental bark of the coral-bark maple (Acer pensylvanicum 'Erythrocladum') that gets increasingly redder from October in to the winter. The stem to the right is from a native, non-woody plant, considered a weed by many. This is the vivid magenta stem of pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) which has flopped over and will get mushy soon. However, I couldn't pass on the opportunity to photograph this perennial specimen and catch the "unseasonable" color. Directly below is the myriad fall color display of the sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) near our arboretum. I look forward to this display every year as just about every fall color is represented at some point in time during the fall leaf transition. The bottom photo is another shot of fall color for the recently featured Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum) that literally glows this time of year. 
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