A Good Time For Grasses & Sedges

Enjoying flowers (outside) will need take a hiatus very soon until mid-March when we see winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis), snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) and vernal witchhazels (Hamamelis vernalis) starting up as the snow melts. Remember that flowers are only part of a beautiful, four seasons garden that granted, does become more reliant on subtlety for interest as we head in to the December thru February quarter. However, ornamental grasses, sedges and other grass relatives do help carry interest late in the season. The picture of the 'Grasshopper' sedge (Carex sp.) above shows how visually interesting these plants continue to be late in the season. Although this variety may not prove winter hardy for us, it sure looked good planted throughout our fern & moss garden this year. Below is the plantain-leaf sedge (Carex plantaginea) as seen on this past Wednesday, still looking good late in the season. I've observed this sedge natively in both WI and IL as well.
On Wednesday night, we had our second testing of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) and while we only had four volunteers, Kelli and John go thru the show, it did allow me to evaluate the changes we made after our Monday evening test night. With the lights on at dusk for these tests, we see lots of traffic slowing along Palmer Drive and even some "hopefuls" that pull in to see if the show is open yet. I still have one area to tweak next week but was happy that most of the show stayed on for the entire day with minimal problems. Next Friday evening, December 2nd, is our Taste of Chocolate event which I think is going on either its fifth or sixth year as one of our more popular events. The premiere lighting of HLS has always been a part of this event and we're on track to have everything ready. To the right are two new brick pillars that our contracted masons put up Wednesday afternoon around the support frame for our new garden sign. We anticipate that the sign will come in by early January and we'll have it up and running shortly thereafter. To the left is the late season color of the golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold'). These are just some of the "tufts" coming out of the boulder wall near the fern & moss garden.

With our calendar year winding down, we are focusing on promoting and facilitating the HLS event which should be a nice source of revenue during a time of year that would not traditionally experience much garden visitation. We're preparing our educational offerings for 2012 but still have lecture 12 of 12 coming up on December 7th. Patty Bailey of Patty's Plants Organic Garden Supply (Milton, WI) will come in and talk about Holiday Plants - Past to Present (6 pm - 8 pm, RBG members are free, all others are $5). Patty had a great crowd for her herb talk in early spring and we hope for a strong showing to finish our popular lecture series which has already brought in well over 600 adults yet this year for the previous 11 topics. To the right is the wispy (yet tall) purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Transparent') which has a nice airy effect with the bulk of the grass foliage down low and the tall flower stalks elevated above. You can see how it got its name! Unfortunately this grass (variety and species for that matter) has no winter interest as it flops after even moderate snowfall. Below is the always showy prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) which offers a nice textural contribution in the garden from June until heavy snowfall. Look for those elements of interest that still exist out in your garden or be inspired to include more plants of this nature to create extended interest.