Apparently we had some light frost over the weekend and saw some of the evidence this morning in the gardens. At the top are some sweet potato vines (
Ipomoea batatas) that universally looked a bit "tinged" and are quite sensitive to anything under 35 degrees F. While I didn't see any frost at home, some co-workers and volunteers mentioned frost at their homes both early Saturday and Sunday morning. We normally don't see hard frost for a couple weeks and that may still be the case with this week looking fairly warm with highs in the mid 70 degrees F and lows in the 50 degrees F. Further above are Bob C. hauling removed annuals (one of dozens of trips) and directly above is Janice tidying up in the sunken garden, the last site for an outdoor wedding this season.
While there are still plenty of leaves to collect, the frost allowed us to expand our duties today to removals. We had a great turnout of Grumpies including Pat and Bill S. abov
e. These guys removed the marigold (
Tagetes) collection which still had some color but there was some slight frost damage and we'd like to get these out before they drop too much seed for next year. The guys moved on to other removal projects after this one. Both Rons, Urban, Bob C. and Gary were in the North A
merican garden also removing annuals. They cleared out five beds and even toppled our culvert pipe planters (no small project) to be hauled back to the Horticulture Center. See Ron W. and Urban to the lower right. Needless to say, there were plenty of trips back and forth to haul debris back for our compost pile or for a load to the dump. Maury helped the guys as well but also worked on arranging details for some looming projects. Rollie and Dick P. took one of the trucks to the Milwaukee area to
pick up one of our memorial brick orders. Jim, Vern and Bob A. sized up some carpentry projects outside and repaired a damaged bench from the gazebo garden. Dick H. was in to help here and there and took a couple loads to the dump as well. Mary Q. and Shirley were in as our "Grumpettes" and they helped purge frosted annuals from the reception garden and sunken garden with Janice. We also saw Kelli, Tony F., Kay R., Dr. Yahr, Kris, Roman and many others over here too. Magda planted in her berm this morning (perennials and bulbs). Dr. Gredler was in for his mowing rounds too. To the upper right is the nice golden fall color of the shagbark hickory (
Carya ovata). To the left is the nice fall look of the annual, purple fountain grass (
Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') in the sunken garden. This grass, although not winter hardy, sure is nice looking and I feel it can't be overused. Speaking of grass, directly below is the remnants of the flowering "haze" provided by a large grouping of annual switchgrasses (
Panicum elegans 'Frosted Explosion') that was originally developed for the floral trade but found extensive use in bedding arrangements as well. What a neat, textural look. Further below is my favorite goldenrod (this specimen is in the sunken garden). This is the rough-stemmed goldenrod (
Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks') and this variety was developed in Europe many years ago. You can see how it gets the name and has a nice, two month season of bloom (late August in to early October).
The grounds staff had no shortage of activities today. Larry checked all the water features for clogged pumps, etc. and we frequently look at our streams too as some unsupervised, "youthful" visitors like to make dams and move rocks around our water features w
hich can create a significant problem if not noticed. I could go on about visiting parents who let their kids out of sight and allow them to treat the gardens like a playground but I'll spare you the rant (for now). Larry also did a "comprehensive weed whipping" around the gardens which may be the last one for this year. Marv and Terry planted three good-sized upright junipers and went on to clear an area and compost two recently exposed garden beds. The guys
are also working on a project involving drainage from our terrace garden. Big John replanted some containers and moved on to some watering duties. Despite all the rain last week, some of the containers were parched and we're still planting some areas with perennials. Marianne tidied up the front entrance garden, removed caladiums, weeded the English cottage garden, planted lupines and did her cutting display. Janice spent most of her time in the sunken garden as we're trying to "preserve color" down there for the last wedding. This task involved judicious removals and the trimming of less-than-sightly perennials. She also went thru the fern & moss garden and adjacent areas. We usually don't have weddings this late
but will hope for nice weather. I was out in the gardens talking to our contractor who has two more projects to finish yet this month. I was also able to assess the frost damage (not too extensive) and decide what we'll be removing yet this week. To the right are the silky seed structures emerging from the common milkweed (
Asclepias syriaca) pods in our prairie restoration area. Look in to that open pod and see the rows of seeds ready for wind disperal near and far. To the left is the always engaging fall color of the Prairie Gem ornamental pear (
Pyrus ussuriensis 'MorDak') near our parking lot adjacent to the Parker Education Center. I've been impressed with this pear for its spring flowers and fall color and it is supposedly a lot tougher than the weak-wooded Callery pears (
Pyrus calleryana). We'll see. To the right are the wispy white blooms starting on the golden silver lace vine (
Fallopia aubertii 'Lemon Lace') which is along the west side of the Parker Education Center on five trellis supports. This vine has done well for us and is considered a hardy woody vine as it will refoliate off of the older stems, left in place over the winter. The squash below, one from our RBG collection this year, is the variety 'Chirimen'. This Japanese variety was first offered commercially in the United States back in 1922. These smaller, 5-8 lb. fruits are actually sweet, mini-pumpkins that are quite popular in Japan and increasingly so here. At the bottom is a nice aerial shot (recently) sent to me by Dave G. with a view down across Lion's Pond to the west edge of the gardens. Those lighter areas out in the water are the sand bars that the swimmers try to target (although there is technically no swimming out there). I've not taken it for granted that RBG is situated on such a neat pond and we're already looking at ways of dealing with water quality, erosion issues, nutrient loading, native plantings, etc. as they relate to our neighboring ponds.
e. These guys removed the marigold (Tagetes) collection which still had some color but there was some slight frost damage and we'd like to get these out before they drop too much seed for next year. The guys moved on to other removal projects after this one. Both Rons, Urban, Bob C. and Gary were in the North A
merican garden also removing annuals. They cleared out five beds and even toppled our culvert pipe planters (no small project) to be hauled back to the Horticulture Center. See Ron W. and Urban to the lower right. Needless to say, there were plenty of trips back and forth to haul debris back for our compost pile or for a load to the dump. Maury helped the guys as well but also worked on arranging details for some looming projects. Rollie and Dick P. took one of the trucks to the Milwaukee area to 
pick up one of our memorial brick orders. Jim, Vern and Bob A. sized up some carpentry projects outside and repaired a damaged bench from the gazebo garden. Dick H. was in to help here and there and took a couple loads to the dump as well. Mary Q. and Shirley were in as our "Grumpettes" and they helped purge frosted annuals from the reception garden and sunken garden with Janice. We also saw Kelli, Tony F., Kay R., Dr. Yahr, Kris, Roman and many others over here too. Magda planted in her berm this morning (perennials and bulbs). Dr. Gredler was in for his mowing rounds too. To the upper right is the nice golden fall color of the shagbark hickory (Carya ovata). To the left is the nice fall look of the annual, purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum') in the sunken garden. This grass, although not winter hardy, sure is nice looking and I feel it can't be overused. Speaking of grass, directly below is the remnants of the flowering "haze" provided by a large grouping of annual switchgrasses (Panicum elegans 'Frosted Explosion') that was originally developed for the floral trade but found extensive use in bedding arrangements as well. What a neat, textural look. Further below is my favorite goldenrod (this specimen is in the sunken garden). This is the rough-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks') and this variety was developed in Europe many years ago. You can see how it gets the name and has a nice, two month season of bloom (late August in to early October).
hich can create a significant problem if not noticed. I could go on about visiting parents who let their kids out of sight and allow them to treat the gardens like a playground but I'll spare you the rant (for now). Larry also did a "comprehensive weed whipping" around the gardens which may be the last one for this year. Marv and Terry planted three good-sized upright junipers and went on to clear an area and compost two recently exposed garden beds. The guys 
are also working on a project involving drainage from our terrace garden. Big John replanted some containers and moved on to some watering duties. Despite all the rain last week, some of the containers were parched and we're still planting some areas with perennials. Marianne tidied up the front entrance garden, removed caladiums, weeded the English cottage garden, planted lupines and did her cutting display. Janice spent most of her time in the sunken garden as we're trying to "preserve color" down there for the last wedding. This task involved judicious removals and the trimming of less-than-sightly perennials. She also went thru the fern & moss garden and adjacent areas. We usually don't have weddings this late
but will hope for nice weather. I was out in the gardens talking to our contractor who has two more projects to finish yet this month. I was also able to assess the frost damage (not too extensive) and decide what we'll be removing yet this week. To the right are the silky seed structures emerging from the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) pods in our prairie restoration area. Look in to that open pod and see the rows of seeds ready for wind disperal near and far. To the left is the always engaging fall color of the Prairie Gem ornamental pear (Pyrus ussuriensis 'MorDak') near our parking lot adjacent to the Parker Education Center. I've been impressed with this pear for its spring flowers and fall color and it is supposedly a lot tougher than the weak-wooded Callery pears (Pyrus calleryana). We'll see. To the right are the wispy white blooms starting on the golden silver lace vine (Fallopia aubertii 'Lemon Lace') which is along the west side of the Parker Education Center on five trellis supports. This vine has done well for us and is considered a hardy woody vine as it will refoliate off of the older stems, left in place over the winter. The squash below, one from our RBG collection this year, is the variety 'Chirimen'. This Japanese variety was first offered commercially in the United States back in 1922. These smaller, 5-8 lb. fruits are actually sweet, mini-pumpkins that are quite popular in Japan and increasingly so here. At the bottom is a nice aerial shot (recently) sent to me by Dave G. with a view down across Lion's Pond to the west edge of the gardens. Those lighter areas out in the water are the sand bars that the swimmers try to target (although there is technically no swimming out there). I've not taken it for granted that RBG is situated on such a neat pond and we're already looking at ways of dealing with water quality, erosion issues, nutrient loading, native plantings, etc. as they relate to our neighboring ponds. 
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