While I was at work for a couple hours this morning, I travelled with Karen M. (RBG volunteer in our Japanese garden) to Rockford for the bulk of the day to participate in two tours that were the start of our North American Japanese Garden Association (
NAJGA) conference. The conference will continue both Saturday and Sunday at the Chicago Botanic Garden and I'll commute daily. Today we had lunch at Anderson Japanese Garden (AJC) and had a nice tour. The picture above and the five directly below this text were taken at this wonderful garden. Directly below (in green) is Tim Gruner, Head of Grounds at the garden, giving us an orientation before we had an hour or so to tour the garden. Tim has been to RBG in the past and has given us some advice regarding our Japanese garden. He is a "rock star" in regards to this gardening style with a national reputation and interestingly enough, one of his gardeners (Skip) is the son of Little Jerry, our past Japanese garden staff person and current volunteer. I hadn't been to AJC in about six years and I quickly became reacquainted with the reason why this garden is consistently ranked one of the best Japanese gardens in the country every year. Karen and I, along with some others that drove independently, met the bus coming from Chicago Botanic with the remainder of the tour participants for today. There were about 38 of us total although I'm sure we'll see more tomorrow in Chicago. After enjoying AJC, we headed to the East side of Rockford and toured the Serenity Healing Garden that is part of the Rosecrance Griffin Williamson campus. The garden was designed by the same Japanese landscape architect that designed AJC and the Japanese influence was apparent (see two pictures below). Rosecrance is a substance abuse center, primarily for teens, and their staff was very hospitable and the garden was awesome. The staff there mentioned how valuable the garden is to their recovery programs and they even stated that the garden was one of the most cost effective decisions they made considering its value for all users and their rehabilitation.
Below are two shots from the Rosecrance campus. Wow, those boulders are sure big near that waterfall. Karen and I arrived at the campus before the bus did and had a nice chat with the head of grounds and the program manager for Rosecrance. I mentioned our interest in developing a wellness garden in the future at RBG and she (program manager) was all excited to offer help, curriculum ideas, etc. As much as I enjoy seeing the gardens (and Chicago Botanic Garden should look cool too!), the connections are so important at these conferences. I met the head gardener at the Portland Japanese Garden and people from Philadelphia, Long Beach (CA), Minneapolis, Seattle, Birmingham Botanic Garden (AL) and many more.
After leaving RBG at 11 am, I can't attest to what happened later but the gardens were left in good hands with Marianne, Marv, Terry, Bill O. and Dr. Gredler running the show. Kelli and I met with a donor and her friends this morning and I was able to do a quick tour of the gardens. The gang worked on watering, tidying, cutting back shrubs, rose inventory (thanks Marianne) and many other fall activities and "pre-weekend" preparations. While outdoor weddings are slowing down (only two this weekend), we still keep everything tidy. A tour from St. Louis went thru this morning and work continues along the back road where new rock and timber edging is being installed to help define our beds. What I have been told is the biggest High School cross country meet in the country will be occuring tomorrow right across from the Horticulture Center. Imagine 80+ school buses, 500 cars and 5,000 people cramming in a couple of acres as the runners are routed thru the adjoining golf course. We set up our defense of perimeter signs stating NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS after observing (annually) that the ratio of 20 porta-potties doesn't quite accomodate that size crowd. Glad I'll be away but sorry for Larry! More posting later this weekend with shots from Chicago Botanic Garden. Directly below are the blooms of the seven-sons-flower (
Heptacodium miconioides) which is actually a small, late blooming tree. I've featured this before and when I take a picture of these flowers in three weeks, the calyces will turn pink and look just as showy. At the bottom is a close-up of a liverwort (with moss peaking out here and there). Liverworts are the most primitive "true plant" alive today with a 475 million year history. There are over 8,500 species worldwide and the "liver-shaped" lobes of this plant were originally believed to be useful to treat liver ailments. The plant takes up water over its entire surface and similar to mosses, have no true roots but rhizoids to help them adhere to surfaces. You'll note plenty of liverworts out in nature although this close-up was taken in a nursery container that has the perfect conditions for growth and can be quite problematic in retail garden settings.
While I was at work for a couple hours this morning, I travelled with Karen M. (RBG volunteer in our Japanese garden) to Rockford for the bulk of the day to participate in two tours that were the start of our North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) conference. The conference will continue both Saturday and Sunday at the Chicago Botanic Garden and I'll commute daily. Today we had lunch at Anderson Japanese Garden (AJC) and had a nice tour. The picture above and the five directly below this text were taken at this wonderful garden. Directly below (in green) is Tim Gruner, Head of Grounds at the garden, giving us an orientation before we had an hour or so to tour the garden. Tim has been to RBG in the past and has given us some advice regarding our Japanese garden. He is a "rock star" in regards to this gardening style with a national reputation and interestingly enough, one of his gardeners (Skip) is the son of Little Jerry, our past Japanese garden staff person and current volunteer. I hadn't been to AJC in about six years and I quickly became reacquainted with the reason why this garden is consistently ranked one of the best Japanese gardens in the country every year. Karen and I, along with some others that drove independently, met the bus coming from Chicago Botanic with the remainder of the tour participants for today. There were about 38 of us total although I'm sure we'll see more tomorrow in Chicago. After enjoying AJC, we headed to the East side of Rockford and toured the Serenity Healing Garden that is part of the Rosecrance Griffin Williamson campus. The garden was designed by the same Japanese landscape architect that designed AJC and the Japanese influence was apparent (see two pictures below). Rosecrance is a substance abuse center, primarily for teens, and their staff was very hospitable and the garden was awesome. The staff there mentioned how valuable the garden is to their recovery programs and they even stated that the garden was one of the most cost effective decisions they made considering its value for all users and their rehabilitation. 
Below are two shots from the Rosecrance campus. Wow, those boulders are sure big near that waterfall. Karen and I arrived at the campus before the bus did and had a nice chat with the head of grounds and the program manager for Rosecrance. I mentioned our interest in developing a wellness garden in the future at RBG and she (program manager) was all excited to offer help, curriculum ideas, etc. As much as I enjoy seeing the gardens (and Chicago Botanic Garden should look cool too!), the connections are so important at these conferences. I met the head gardener at the Portland Japanese Garden and people from Philadelphia, Long Beach (CA), Minneapolis, Seattle, Birmingham Botanic Garden (AL) and many more.
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