Planting And Other Fun

There was lots of planting going on today. Above are Margaret and Marianne planting our marigold (Tagetes) collection with help from Terry. They planted about 2,000 plants representing over 150 varieties. They did a very nice job and we had time to get everything watered in as well. This collection should be neat and while we don't have every variety of marigold on the planet, it will be quite an assortment. Margaret later helped Janice in the fern & moss garden. To the right is the nice, glossy foliage of one of our European beeches (Fagus sylvatica 'Tortuosa Purpurea') that also has an interesting form. To the left is 1 of 34 of our cool butterflies out in the gardens. Pick up a brochure/guide at the Parker Education Center and come check them out! I spent most of the day setting out plants for the planting work day tomorrow. The day started with Marv, Marianne and Terry all hauling plants to certain areas which I then visited and spread out the "ingredient" for our display. During the workday last Saturday, the group of volunteers caught up to me and I'm determined to stay ahead of the group (which I hope is sizeable!). I have some "back up" plans too that should keep everyone productive all morning. There is a chance of rain tomorrow night which might be timely for soaking everything in well for the long weekend. We have picked up or received about 75% of our plants for "spring planting" and will get the remainder next week. We still have a solid 5 weeks of planting ahead of us and look forward to getting things in the ground. It's too bad that we can't make a request of Mother Nature to give a good soaking every late afternoon right after planting. The watering duties here at the gardens, despite the benefits of our extensive irrigation system, are still very labor intensive with so many thirsty plants, containers and areas not quite in range of the irrigation. To the right is a leaf from the 'Stained Glass' hosta. I've been taking lots of hosta pictures lately as the foliage still looks good before the summer inputs of heat, slugs, etc. take their toll. The Midwest Regional Hosta Society will be having their annual conference on July 7th thru the 9th in Madison, WI this year. Ed Lyon, our former Executive Director and Director of Allen Centennial Gardens (UW-Madison,) is giving the keynote presentation while I'll be giving a presentation on "Good Neighbors For Hostas" and will focus on all the other perennials that go well with hostas. Below is one of three areas that I layed out with plants today for tomorrow's work day. Actually, Marv and Marianne both had time to help plant a good portion of this berm late this afternoon. Aside from Margaret's help with marigolds and other tasks, we had plenty of good volunteers around. Directly above is Ron W., who along with his lovely wife Bev, planted a good portion of our entrance garden "sign berm" this morning. Marv later joined them, finished it up and watered it in well. This is the first taste of our blue and yellow theme as visitors pull in to the main parking lot. Ron and Bev are excellent volunteers and I was happy to hear that they would be joining the planting workday tomorrow. To the right is a close-up of the huge bloom of the double-flowering horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum 'Baumannii'). To the left is the blue-grey foliage of 'Carolina Blue' hosta. Mary and Roy came in to weed their half of the shade garden and will plant their space later next week. We also saw Maury, Vern, Dave G. and many others. Dr. Gredler did his Friday mowing and Ariel, our new intern, started her label inventory in the Scottish garden and color rooms gardens. It's nice to have her on board and we think she'll fit in nicely (despite the fact that she didn't bring donuts during her first week....). We think we'll see her for planting day tomorrow.

Marv fertilized and watered our containers and moved on to other tasks including the planting mentioned above. Terry planted, mowed, pruned ("meatballed" some shrubs) and tidied up the wedding sites. There are garden weddings both Saturday and Sunday this weekend. Marianne lived and breathed marigolds for most of the day but had time for her cutting display and some additional planting. Janice planted in the fern & moss garden, mowed, watered, weeded, etc. To the right is the maroon-brown (can you visualize that color?...) foliage of 'Molly Bush' coral bells (Heuchera) that is looking quite nice. That is certainly a rare foliage color shade. Speakin of interesting foliage on coral bells, directly below is the maroon/pink-spotted foliage of 'Midnight Rose'. The color is best this time of year and I have this one at home. The flowers are quite weak but the foliage is pretty awesome. Further below is a nice bed of 'Purple Sensation' ornamental onions (Allium 'Purple Sensation') near the shade garden that are combining well with the repetition of similarly colored obelisks. After my full day, my wife and I spent another 6 hours sanding floors that we're refinishing at home. Body...locking...up. If you live near Janesville, consider coming to help with trowelwork over the next four Saturdays (8 am - noon).