Today was a slap in the face with highs in the low 30 degrees F. Yesterday was 60 degrees F and balmy! Oh well. We were lucky to have such a mild November. The top picture above was taken today of the fall color of the 'Brandywine' foamflower (
Tiarella cordifolia). The image directly above is the early
spring foliage of the same perennial that is then topped by fragrant white flower spires for over a month in mid-spring. Remember, multi-feature plants are the way to go! With so many of us having limited spaces in our gardens, having plants with multiple seasons of ornamental contributions should be a goal. Oddly enough.... that's the theme of our spring symposium on March 26, 2001. "Your Garden: Maximized" will feature topics like trees for small spaces, heirloom vegetables for containers and small yards, neat plants for small gardens and landscape design tips for the smaller garden. Check out our website at
http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/ for more information on this garden symposium. Speakers include Jeff Epping, Ed Lyon, Doreen Howard and yours truly. Speaker biographies and more event details will be added in short order. What's up with the logs to the left you might be
thinking? These 30 logs, all 20" tall and 10" in diameter (maple and pine donated from LP Tree Service) will be used as supports for the rope barrier that will surround the train display at our Holiday Lights Show in December. The Garden Railway Society will use these in a couple of weeks for a more rustic barrier (with threaded ropes) to separate the masses from the trains. Different trains run each night of the event! To the right is a nice ornamental grass that I've been observing the past couple of years. This is a Japanese silver grass (
Miscanthus sinensis) called 'Border Bandit' that has not only the nice winter interest you see here but very narrow summer foliage with creamy, horizontal bands. The bands aren't as prolific as some of the other "banded" silver grasses but showy nonetheless. This grass is a manageable 5' tall at maturity which is a nice size for most home gardens. Our grasses are looking spectactular and while they do "come in to their own" this time of year, grasses should be contributors during the growing season as well; in pots, borders, beds, foundation plantings, etc. Don't miss the opportunity to try the many species and varieties that are out there and available for acquisition. Below is the very moss-like, non-moss called Irish moss (
Sagina subulata 'Aurea'). This low, flowering perennial really is a nice moss look-a-like and this golden variety helps brighten up any area where it thrives (part sun best).
We actually had quite a bit of activity out in the gardens today and at the Horticulture Center despite the chilling tem
peratures. I was able to make some cord adjustments for a couple hours this morning (toes still frozen) but spent the remainder of the day in meetings and working on other projects. Larry helped outside and worked on many smaller projects as well including repairs on some of our displays. We had Tom come in and re-route some electri
cal service, offer recommendations and otherwise share his knowledge. We'll run everything tomorrow with the new modifications and see how she holds up. Rollie, Big John, Ron W., Pat and Dick P. came in to put up deer fencing. They worked for awhile but this job necessitates "ungloved" fingers and the guys decided to finish up on Monday after they lost all sensation in their digits. Maury was here running errands, putting together some projects, measuring out in the gardens and being a big help overall. Bill came in to help Larry with some display modifications and tidying work as well. We also saw Vern, Mary W., Rich S., Jim, Bonnie and others today. To the left and right are some of our Japanese lanterns in the Japanese garden. I was touring the Japanese garden today looking for recent deer damage and had the time to really look at these lanterns. No recent deer damage by the way, knock on wood. I believe we have seven or so lanterns throughout that garden space and while I don't notice them much anymore, they are great focal points in that space and add more to the "experience" of that garden. Unfortunately, both of these have been vandalized in the past (2006) but were restored and set back in place nicely. Directly below is the sloped bank along the west side of the Parker Education Center. That sea of red/orange are the stems of the 'Flame' willow (
Salix hybrida 'Flame'). I've featured this woody plant recently but noticed how deep the color has become with the dipping mercury these past weeks. The stems, while green in the summer, are the primary attribute of this plant in winter when they hold that nice red coloration. These willows are also extremely durable and certainly are functional in mitigating erosion on that steep slope. Cool. The bottom picture is the fall color of the 'Kumson' forsythia (
Forsythia viridissima var.
koreana 'Kumson'). The summer leaves are green with that cream webbing over the veins. That green then goes deep maroon in fall, leaving the cream intact and looking good. Not much for the spring yellow flowers (sparse) to be honest, but this forsythia has really nice foliage appeal.
Today was a slap in the face with highs in the low 30 degrees F. Yesterday was 60 degrees F and balmy! Oh well. We were lucky to have such a mild November. The top picture above was taken today of the fall color of the 'Brandywine' foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia). The image directly above is the early 
spring foliage of the same perennial that is then topped by fragrant white flower spires for over a month in mid-spring. Remember, multi-feature plants are the way to go! With so many of us having limited spaces in our gardens, having plants with multiple seasons of ornamental contributions should be a goal. Oddly enough.... that's the theme of our spring symposium on March 26, 2001. "Your Garden: Maximized" will feature topics like trees for small spaces, heirloom vegetables for containers and small yards, neat plants for small gardens and landscape design tips for the smaller garden. Check out our website at http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/ for more information on this garden symposium. Speakers include Jeff Epping, Ed Lyon, Doreen Howard and yours truly. Speaker biographies and more event details will be added in short order. What's up with the logs to the left you might be 
thinking? These 30 logs, all 20" tall and 10" in diameter (maple and pine donated from LP Tree Service) will be used as supports for the rope barrier that will surround the train display at our Holiday Lights Show in December. The Garden Railway Society will use these in a couple of weeks for a more rustic barrier (with threaded ropes) to separate the masses from the trains. Different trains run each night of the event! To the right is a nice ornamental grass that I've been observing the past couple of years. This is a Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) called 'Border Bandit' that has not only the nice winter interest you see here but very narrow summer foliage with creamy, horizontal bands. The bands aren't as prolific as some of the other "banded" silver grasses but showy nonetheless. This grass is a manageable 5' tall at maturity which is a nice size for most home gardens. Our grasses are looking spectactular and while they do "come in to their own" this time of year, grasses should be contributors during the growing season as well; in pots, borders, beds, foundation plantings, etc. Don't miss the opportunity to try the many species and varieties that are out there and available for acquisition. Below is the very moss-like, non-moss called Irish moss (Sagina subulata 'Aurea'). This low, flowering perennial really is a nice moss look-a-like and this golden variety helps brighten up any area where it thrives (part sun best). 
peratures. I was able to make some cord adjustments for a couple hours this morning (toes still frozen) but spent the remainder of the day in meetings and working on other projects. Larry helped outside and worked on many smaller projects as well including repairs on some of our displays. We had Tom come in and re-route some electri
cal service, offer recommendations and otherwise share his knowledge. We'll run everything tomorrow with the new modifications and see how she holds up. Rollie, Big John, Ron W., Pat and Dick P. came in to put up deer fencing. They worked for awhile but this job necessitates "ungloved" fingers and the guys decided to finish up on Monday after they lost all sensation in their digits. Maury was here running errands, putting together some projects, measuring out in the gardens and being a big help overall. Bill came in to help Larry with some display modifications and tidying work as well. We also saw Vern, Mary W., Rich S., Jim, Bonnie and others today. To the left and right are some of our Japanese lanterns in the Japanese garden. I was touring the Japanese garden today looking for recent deer damage and had the time to really look at these lanterns. No recent deer damage by the way, knock on wood. I believe we have seven or so lanterns throughout that garden space and while I don't notice them much anymore, they are great focal points in that space and add more to the "experience" of that garden. Unfortunately, both of these have been vandalized in the past (2006) but were restored and set back in place nicely. Directly below is the sloped bank along the west side of the Parker Education Center. That sea of red/orange are the stems of the 'Flame' willow (Salix hybrida 'Flame'). I've featured this woody plant recently but noticed how deep the color has become with the dipping mercury these past weeks. The stems, while green in the summer, are the primary attribute of this plant in winter when they hold that nice red coloration. These willows are also extremely durable and certainly are functional in mitigating erosion on that steep slope. Cool. The bottom picture is the fall color of the 'Kumson' forsythia (Forsythia viridissima var. koreana 'Kumson'). The summer leaves are green with that cream webbing over the veins. That green then goes deep maroon in fall, leaving the cream intact and looking good. Not much for the spring yellow flowers (sparse) to be honest, but this forsythia has really nice foliage appeal. 
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