My Second Calling Is Nurtured

As much as I enjoyed the day outside and took some nice pictures, my second calling is not digital photography but running extension cords. I fell in to my "cord mode" and finished about five garden areas, many of which were started by Marianne already. I'm on track to use most, if not all, of my cords over the next couple of days. I find myself talking to no one in particular as I figure out (simply thru experience, not advanced electrical knowledge) how to best wire up our displays to minimize outages. Nice close-up shot above of a kale (Brassica sp.) in the formal gardens. The kale haven't even been challenged with real cold weather yet and continue to look good. I would love to have 10,000 of these in the ground right now for late season interest which is fast fading. Below is the orange/yellow fall color of the cutleaf European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Asplenifolia') near our rose garden. Knowing how slowly beeches grow, it's neat to think that in 100 years, someone will say, "Now that is a cool cutleaf beech" as it finally achieves some decent size. Of course, by then RBG will be one of the premiere botanical gardens in the country with unrivaled collections, visitors from around the world, strong financial backing and of course, continued contributions from wonderful volunteers!

The weather was damp and cold this morning as we had some overnight drizzle. It eventually became quite sunny and was delightful working weather. Janice worked primarily on gardening but we took time to talk about some collections for next year, our spring symposium and other impending issues. Janice is also looking in to squash for 2011 (more on that later!). Janice's background in research makes her well suited (and motivated) for the "behind the scenes" work necessary for properly acquiring, growing and interpreting these collections. Larry and John took out more of Randy's repaired displays and installed them out in the gardens. The guys also worked on putting lights on the visitors center and branched off in to other decorating projects as well. Little Jerry continued his pruning/shaping efforts in front of the main building and will continue as long as the weather is favorable. Of course we've put out an obstacle course of cords for him to avoid but he's doing well thus far. Aside from my "cordage" I was able to finish a grant request and nibble away at the stack of "to do" projects on my desk. Nice shot to the left of the fruiting structures of the Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) that the birds will find this winter. This vine (native to Asia, not Boston!) clings readily, as you can see, and is also known for a superior fall color (red, yellows and oranges). There is some concern in warmer climates about reseeding and aggressiveness and many people, including myself, regret planting it where it will grow on aluminum siding and become an annual control effort (on a ladder). To the right is a cool season grass that I've featured many times in the past. This is the tuber oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius var. bulbosum) that looks striking in early spring and late in the season as it prefers the cooler temperatures for fresh, active growth. I caught a nice shot this morning and wanted to share.

Kay started some clean-up work in the woodland walk garden and we took a look at some of the items to cut back and/or leave alone. She is very thorough and there is never any mistaking where she works after the fact. Robin has been a trooper and again returned to the color rooms garden to continue similar work to what Kay has been accomplishing. It's nice that we still have active volunteer gardeners out there as we have very limited time due to the constraints and deadlines of the Holiday Lights Show. Needless to say, the garden is being "put to bed" in an organized and efficient manner. We will be done before Thanksgiving. Thank goodness for such nice weather but we all know it's just a matter of time before that changes! Randy came in for day 3 in a row and finished repairing six more large displays that we can use now for the show. We really appreciate his involvement. Dr. Gredler was here dicing up greens from our donated white pines (Pinus strobus). Although he smells of pine sap, he's a trooper and fills out his day with collecting the last of the leaves and continued runs to the local dump. We also saw Maury today and Vern was in with some fellas doing a large carpentry project. To the left is the fall color of a single sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) leaf. Our large specimen is finally dropping leaves that still look spectacular. With the extended season, I'm seeing fall color that I never knew existed (or perhaps it's been just a good year for it!). To the right is some fall color on lily pads (Nymphaea) in our koi pond. I also caught the remnants of the giant papyrus (Cyperus papyrus 'King Tut') below that while not hardy, is still showing nicely late in the season. At the bottom is some nice fall leaf coloration of the 'Scarlet Pavement' rose (Rosa rugosa) that is one of my favorites for low-maintenance, durability and flower power. If you still have bulbs to plant, get out there! Look for clearance deals, consider composting, mulching, pruning, etc. before we all head indoors. Enjoy the tail end of the gardening season and keep the stack of 2011 catalogs poised for fireside perusal....