We had a nice visit from the staff (see above) of the Green Bay Botanic Garden (GBBG) that came down this morning to tour the gardens and enjoy a lunch with our staff. They later departed for Boerner Botanic Gardens (Hales Corners, WI) for a similar visit. It was great to see Susan (Executive Director), Mark (Director of Horticulture), Dave (Facilities Coordinator),Sharon (Educator) and the rest of the staff. I've been to the GBBG a dozen times over the years and it is a wonderful garden that continues to expand and get better every year. The GBBG grounds crew came over to the Horticulture Center and we shared thoughts on horticulture, equipment, labeling, special events and much more. What a valuable (and enjoyable) exchange for everyone! I hope we'll be able to reciprocate and head up Nort' der in the coming years. Directly below are some images from the United Way Day of Caring. We had a great crew of 12 volunteers that worked out in the gardens today helping with raking, planting, watering and other gardening tasks. We appreciate their time and they all did a great job helping out.
The plant sale clearance today went very well and we saw lots of traffic. This was probably our best of the three clearance days (15% off everything!) and our last di
tch effort to sell plants (and provide value!) will be this Saturday from 8 am until noon. Thanks to Deb G. and Alice C. for helping in the sale today along with other volunteers. This Saturday is a crazy wedding day out in the gardens with many weddings in all of the garden areas. Mid to late September is quite popular because of the cooler days and still plenty of color. Unfortunately, there is a frost warning for the next two nights with threats of 32 de
grees F for both overnight lows. The brides are already calling Polly and are worried...Ugh. Even if we don't have a frost, we'll have a lot of unhappy tropicals that normally start looking bad after a dose of 40 degrees F. Oh well. That's Mother Nature and we don't have a 20 acre blanket to protect the gardens and will take our chances. To the right is a shot taken in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable display this morning. This Swiss chard (
Beta vulgaris) leaf looks great with the 'Sparkler' variegated hot pepper (
Capsicum annuum). Last night a student from my class (trees were the topic) ate one of the
peppers as we toured that area. Needless to say, the peppers were hot and he was suffering greatly! To the left are the late season blooms of the seven-sons flower (
Heptacodium miconioides) that has white, fragrant bloom clusters from now until early October. The calyces on these flowers then turn pink once the white petals drop, extending color and interest. This is a very neat small tree and though "unkempt" in habit, has lots of late season interest and is untouched by insects or disease. To the right are some pretty cool tomatoes that we're trialing out in the gardens. Called 'Red with Black' these tomatoes are still ripening but that deep black/purple coloration is quite striking. This variety and some other unique selections are from a breeder in Minnesota that Janice knows. Fun. Aside from our United Way Day of Caring volunteers, we had Dr. Gredler mowing out in the gardens and Kay did a very nice job tidying the terrace border (and lawn) and she then moved down in to the Smelly Garden. We debated about removing some plants in anticipation of light frost but thought we'd wait and take our chances. We also saw Sally, Bradford, Jean, Mark S. and many others today. Directly below are the seed pods of the hyacinth bean (
Dolichos lablab). This annual vine is so easy to grow and has beautiful violet-pink, exquisite blossoms. The pods seem to have mixed reviews on edibility and may have some toxin issues. We simply grow it as a full sun, annual vine. Normally the Japanese beetles work it over but have left ours alone this year.
The grounds staff had a full day of activity. Above is Marv preparing a border with Terry along our recently replaced Japanese fence sections (right behind the new water
fall). The guys also ran irrigation, set up sprinklers, repaired some sunken brick issues and sheared the large yew (
Taxus sp.) hedges in the English cottage garden. Big John worked on removing some spent annuals in the front of the building and did a nice job installing mums in the vacated areas. John also hauled mums, dug out some old spirea shrubs and did lots of watering around the garden. Janice, while normally off on Wednesdays, came in to work with our volunteers while I was engaged with my tour and the plant sale. She kept our volunteers on
track and helped in the plant sale periodically throughout the day as well. She'll be picking our summer squash display soon and we're already considering some ideas for the vegetable collection next year. Pat came in for lunch and was part of our GBBG exchange. As the sale winds down, I have two upcoming presentations (
Late Blooming Perennials and
Healing Gardens) to prepare for over the coming days. To the right is Rose priming the east gate which will get a new blue coat(s) of paint shortly. Her husband Urban was here earlier to get it ready for her. To the left is a nice combination. The yellow is goldenrod (
Solidago sp., unknown variety), calico plant (
Alternanthera de
ntata 'Brazilian Red Hots') and those wispy, creamy white blossoms are from the perennial, white mugwort (
Artemisia lactiflora 'Guizhou') which has airy white blossoms above deep, mahogany-green foliage. This effect is quite nice and this 48" tall plant (sometimes needs staking) blooms for over a month in late summer. To the right are the seed clusters of our grain sorghum (
Sorghum bicolor) out in the garden. This grain is high in iron, fiber and has some vitamin C. This is a popular grain worldwide and we've just enjoyed seeing it grow from seed to 9' tall in four short months. Directly below is boneset (
Eupatorium perfoliatum) blooming in our prairie. It not only catches the attention of those walking or driving by but also brings in lots of bees and other pollinators. At the bottom of the blog is the Malabar or vine spinach (
Basella rubra). This vigorous vine has nice deep green glossy leaves and reddish stems. The fruiting structures (berries?) are interesting too. When visiting my friend Ruth's garden recently we were nibbling it fresh and it wasn't bad considering I would sit at the table as a child for three hours looking at spinach gone cold, determined to win that battle of wills with my mother. I never won.
We had a nice visit from the staff (see above) of the Green Bay Botanic Garden (GBBG) that came down this morning to tour the gardens and enjoy a lunch with our staff. They later departed for Boerner Botanic Gardens (Hales Corners, WI) for a similar visit. It was great to see Susan (Executive Director), Mark (Director of Horticulture), Dave (Facilities Coordinator),Sharon (Educator) and the rest of the staff. I've been to the GBBG a dozen times over the years and it is a wonderful garden that continues to expand and get better every year. The GBBG grounds crew came over to the Horticulture Center and we shared thoughts on horticulture, equipment, labeling, special events and much more. What a valuable (and enjoyable) exchange for everyone! I hope we'll be able to reciprocate and head up Nort' der in the coming years. Directly below are some images from the United Way Day of Caring. We had a great crew of 12 volunteers that worked out in the gardens today helping with raking, planting, watering and other gardening tasks. We appreciate their time and they all did a great job helping out.
tch effort to sell plants (and provide value!) will be this Saturday from 8 am until noon. Thanks to Deb G. and Alice C. for helping in the sale today along with other volunteers. This Saturday is a crazy wedding day out in the gardens with many weddings in all of the garden areas. Mid to late September is quite popular because of the cooler days and still plenty of color. Unfortunately, there is a frost warning for the next two nights with threats of 32 de
grees F for both overnight lows. The brides are already calling Polly and are worried...Ugh. Even if we don't have a frost, we'll have a lot of unhappy tropicals that normally start looking bad after a dose of 40 degrees F. Oh well. That's Mother Nature and we don't have a 20 acre blanket to protect the gardens and will take our chances. To the right is a shot taken in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable display this morning. This Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) leaf looks great with the 'Sparkler' variegated hot pepper (Capsicum annuum). Last night a student from my class (trees were the topic) ate one of the 
peppers as we toured that area. Needless to say, the peppers were hot and he was suffering greatly! To the left are the late season blooms of the seven-sons flower (Heptacodium miconioides) that has white, fragrant bloom clusters from now until early October. The calyces on these flowers then turn pink once the white petals drop, extending color and interest. This is a very neat small tree and though "unkempt" in habit, has lots of late season interest and is untouched by insects or disease. To the right are some pretty cool tomatoes that we're trialing out in the gardens. Called 'Red with Black' these tomatoes are still ripening but that deep black/purple coloration is quite striking. This variety and some other unique selections are from a breeder in Minnesota that Janice knows. Fun. Aside from our United Way Day of Caring volunteers, we had Dr. Gredler mowing out in the gardens and Kay did a very nice job tidying the terrace border (and lawn) and she then moved down in to the Smelly Garden. We debated about removing some plants in anticipation of light frost but thought we'd wait and take our chances. We also saw Sally, Bradford, Jean, Mark S. and many others today. Directly below are the seed pods of the hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab). This annual vine is so easy to grow and has beautiful violet-pink, exquisite blossoms. The pods seem to have mixed reviews on edibility and may have some toxin issues. We simply grow it as a full sun, annual vine. Normally the Japanese beetles work it over but have left ours alone this year. 
fall). The guys also ran irrigation, set up sprinklers, repaired some sunken brick issues and sheared the large yew (Taxus sp.) hedges in the English cottage garden. Big John worked on removing some spent annuals in the front of the building and did a nice job installing mums in the vacated areas. John also hauled mums, dug out some old spirea shrubs and did lots of watering around the garden. Janice, while normally off on Wednesdays, came in to work with our volunteers while I was engaged with my tour and the plant sale. She kept our volunteers on 
track and helped in the plant sale periodically throughout the day as well. She'll be picking our summer squash display soon and we're already considering some ideas for the vegetable collection next year. Pat came in for lunch and was part of our GBBG exchange. As the sale winds down, I have two upcoming presentations (Late Blooming Perennials and Healing Gardens) to prepare for over the coming days. To the right is Rose priming the east gate which will get a new blue coat(s) of paint shortly. Her husband Urban was here earlier to get it ready for her. To the left is a nice combination. The yellow is goldenrod (Solidago sp., unknown variety), calico plant (Alternanthera de
ntata 'Brazilian Red Hots') and those wispy, creamy white blossoms are from the perennial, white mugwort (Artemisia lactiflora 'Guizhou') which has airy white blossoms above deep, mahogany-green foliage. This effect is quite nice and this 48" tall plant (sometimes needs staking) blooms for over a month in late summer. To the right are the seed clusters of our grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) out in the garden. This grain is high in iron, fiber and has some vitamin C. This is a popular grain worldwide and we've just enjoyed seeing it grow from seed to 9' tall in four short months. Directly below is boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum) blooming in our prairie. It not only catches the attention of those walking or driving by but also brings in lots of bees and other pollinators. At the bottom of the blog is the Malabar or vine spinach (Basella rubra). This vigorous vine has nice deep green glossy leaves and reddish stems. The fruiting structures (berries?) are interesting too. When visiting my friend Ruth's garden recently we were nibbling it fresh and it wasn't bad considering I would sit at the table as a child for three hours looking at spinach gone cold, determined to win that battle of wills with my mother. I never won.
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