Mother Nature Gives Us A Break

Above is Dr. Gredler in a "sea of greens" as he chops up 40+ white pines (Pinus strobus) for greens that we'll use to mulch our rose beds in December after the ground freezes. Do you think his smile is a bit forced as he gets all sappy about his work (pun intended)!? :) Dr. Gredler continues to haul loads of debris to the dump and having averaged 200 trips per year over the past 10 years with our dump truck, has really been a huge asset (also for his gardening and mowing contributions too!). We have so many good volunteers! Well, Mother Nature gave us a nice day to get outside despite the damp start this morning. We even saw some sunshine but with rain predicted through the day, we were lucky to get some solid time out in the gardens. The image below shows the fading leaves of the katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) that were a clear yellow two weeks ago. The foliage is fragrant during the growing season if you get close (and rub it with your fingers) but there is a brief window as the leaves prepare to drop where the scent of cotton candy wafts quite a distance from the tree. Janice was driving near this tree a couple days of go and I observed her from a distance trying find something. I asked what she was looking for and she mentioned the scent. We tracked it down quickly and it was simply engaging! Katsura trees are really tough plants and we have the weeping forms ('Pendula' and 'Tidal Wave'), maroon leaf (in spring) form ('Red Fox' or 'Rotfuchs') and a rounded form ('Heronswood Globe'). Highly recommended! Directly below the katsura tree image is the fall color of the 'Gro Low' sumac (Rhus aromatica) that is such a durable groundcover. It's sure tough to collect leaves that get trapped under this thick shrub but few plants are as durable in poor, urban soils and on slopes. We had a very productive day and there was a bounce in all the ground staff's steps. I wonder if that has something to do with being done next week!? We had a monumental year with more on our plate then we have ever had in the past. Weird weather, significant plantings, visits from the American Iris Society, American Peony Society, special events, etc. all combined for the "perfect storm" that we weathered well although of course volunteers were instrumental in our successes as well (and always will be). Marv and Terry ran out to replenish our fuel supply, hauled and secured trees, put up displays and lights and essentially completed their epic Holiday Lights Show set-up that started over five weeks ago for them. Marianne did such a variety of tasks related to this same event that it would be tough to list them all. She has been a great help with running cords and connecting displays/lights. She and I should finish the "wiring" next week. Janice mixed up her day with gardening and decorating trees with lights. She and I also started to make plans for the Rotary Botanical Gardens Spring Symposium (March 26, 2011). Put it on your calendar as we'll have Ed Lyon (Director of Allen Centennial Gardens on the UW-Madison campus), Jeff Epping (Director of Horticulture at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, WI), Doreen Howard (nationally acclaimed magazine editor, garden writer, photographer, etc.) and me. Doreen will also be promoting her brand new book (available March 21, 2011), Heirloom Vegetables, Herbs and Fruits: Savoring the Rich Flavor of the Past. We're very excited about this event and will have all sorts of neat twists, features, food and fun. Topics and other details will be announced in early January. Above and to the left is the colorful, evergreen foliage of one of the wintercreepers (Euonymus fortunei) out in the gardens. I'm not sure what variety this one is as it predates my arrival at the gardens. Despite their sprawling, unkempt habit, the contribution of color for many of these varieties can not be disputed. To the right are the fruiting structures (not really "berries" taxonomically speaking) of one of our junipers (Juniperus sp.) in the Japanese garden. I like the added ornamentation of these structures and the birds appreciate them too. To the left is a paper wasp nest that became exposed recently when its supporting crabapple (Malus sp.) dropped its leaves. These structures are amazing. Apparently the wasps chew up dead wood fibers, plant fibers and other materials to make a pulp that when mixed with their saliva, becomes a glue-like building material. Imagine the coordination and hard work involved with constructing this amazing nest. At age 10, I remember (not with pride mind you) when my friend Tom threw a tennis ball in to one of these and the swarm of wasps that emerged and enacted vengeance upon us will never be forgotten. Tom was a faster runner so I was the sacrificial lamb. Talking about architecture and structure in the garden, the image to the right features the dried fronds of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) in the Japanese garden. They sure look neat this time of year! These would be nice in a dried arrangement.

We had some great volunteer assistance today. Kay spent the morning tidying up the west end of the shade garden and it has never looked better. Our fall clean-up obligations are staggering but Kay always takes a large dent out of those needs every time she comes in to the gardens to volunteer. Robin continued to singlehandedly finish cleaning up the Scottish garden and has been a real asset these past four weeks. We also saw Vern, Mary W. with a RECAPPER (James), Jean, Teri H. and Big John. Del was in to work on his birdhouses which I'll feature shortly in a blog. He made some totally cool birdhouses out of old barn boards that will be sold to an organization (funds to RBG) for one of their special events. Del is quite talented and a great guy to have around (particularly when he brings in fattening pastries!).

We are currently in our budget preparations for next year and are going over our numbers for this year. It is important to examine trends with our special events, admissions, fundraising initiatives, etc. Putting together a balanced budget that is also realistic is quite a challenge. We're fortunate to have Gary S. (interim Executive Director) working on it as he has years of experience doing just that and was our interim director in the recent past as well. The search for a new Executive Director has begun in earnest and we hope to have someone in place early next year. Of course this isn't a "glamour job" but a "roll up the sleeves", aggressive fundraising, expose the gardens and pursue our Mission of horticultural education type job. This will be our sixth Executive Director in our 21 year history and that doesn't include the four tours of duty by interim directors (two by John A. and two by Gary). We had a tough year and need to rebound well in 2011 and not lose our momentum out in the gardens. While it was one of our toughest financial years, it was certainly the year that exposed us to a wide audience and the compliments were the best we've ever heard. RBG is certainly an asset for Janesville but is a resource for all that visit; whether for relaxation or education. To the left is the fall color of my favorite barrenwort (Epimedium hybrida 'Black Sea'). This tough perennial has yellow/orange blooms in early spring above blue-green foliage. The foliage gets this inky red/purple in fall and is quite handsome. To the right is the fall color of another deciduous conifer. This is the beautiful 'Blue Rabbit' Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) in the Japanese garden that is a beacon right now from a distance and obviously quite exquisite from close proximity. Directly below is the never boring and always impressive fall color of a burning bush (Euonymus alatus) in full sun. While burning bushes tolerate a lot of shade, most of the varieties placed in full sun will have the best and most consistent fall coloration. To reiterate what I said in an earlier blog, burning bushes can be quite invasive, particularly those with lots of seeds!!! The clean gold/chartreuse fall color of our native columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) can be seen at the bottom. Although you may have to look a bit closer in fall for color and interest, it's there! Enjoy the subtleties.

For those that read this blog, I'd like to offer an open invitation to comment on any blogs, ask questions and otherwise feel free to get involved in these postings. My original reasons for preparing these postings was to keep our members and volunteers abreast of our RBG "happenings" but also to entice new visitors and get some interactions going. Look for the link at the bottom of the blog for the opportunity to make a comment. After 600+ blogs postings, I've gotten less than 10 comments. Again, an open invitation!