Student Interns & Symposium Preparations

This morning was a cold start with temperatures in the upper 20 degrees F. I used my ice scraper on my vehicle windows for the first time this fall. However, it did warm up nicely and was a sunny day in the mid 50 degrees F. It was perfect weather for Holiday Lights Show (HLS) decorating as well as gardening. We had a great crew today which included student interns and their instructor from Shepherds College in Union Grove, WI (www.shepherdscollege.org). Leslie, the horticulture instructor, has brought students here for many years and today we had the help of Ray, Sean and Tess (see top picture above with Leslie, driving). Janice and Mary W. also worked with the crew. The image directly above shows our new garden area between the North Point garden and the alpine garden that was recently developed. The boxes all represent bulb groupings that I placed for our interns to plant today. They made quick work of planting over 1,000 tulips (Tulipa), ornamental onions (Allium) and grape hyacinths (Muscari sp.). The gang also cut back perennials in that area, planted some perennials and helped tidy up. We greatly appreciate their help. To the above right is Tess' cool hat! To the left is our druid sculpture (note the tree she's holding) in the reception garden. She sure has an intense stare as she protects Mother Nature and watches more decorations installed in that garden area. This sculpture was originally on top of the House of Mercy nunnery over 100 years ago. The House of Mercy was the start of the vast Mercy Health System in our area and down in Northern IL. This statue is on permanent load from the Rock County Historical Society and is an important (and recognized) feature at RBG.

Other volunteers today, aside from Mary W. mentioned above, included Pat who continued scraping off our cocoa bean mulch from around the roses. We like this type of mulch for function and appearance but I don't feel that it breaks down consistently and does develop mold problems. We re-apply this mulch every year (fresh). We also saw Don, Maury and others at the Hort Center today. Maury, Dick P. and Gary helped me (thankfully) put up the huge screen for the symposium today. I've done this before with Mike M. in the past and it is a challenge to say the least. To the right is the fall color of the native nannyberry viburnum (Viburnum lentago) in the color rooms garden. Directly below are the bulbs I hauled out for our planting project this morning. That area should look dynamite in May of 2012!Directly above is the late (but awesome) fall color of our sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) tree near the arboretum. The blend of red, purples, oranges and yellows makes for a dynamic look after so many other trees have lost their leaves. Pretty cool. The grounds staff had a busy day as well. Janice started the day helping me with signs for the symposium and she also worked on potting up and preparing plants before she worked with the Shepherds College gang. Marianne finished laying out all of her luminaries including getting all the strands and bulbs in place. That is a lot of stooping! She did it in record time this year and had time to plant perennials too. Marv and Terry continued to haul out displays, obelisks and other decorations around the gardens. Marv smoothed out the primary gravel path today too which is perfect timing for our HLS traffic as well as snow removal with our big snowblower attachment. I had a morning meeting and spent the rest of the day on the last of our symposium details. It looks like we'll have 100+ tomorrow for our first ever fall symposium. We have a great line-up of speakers and some fun topics. To the right is the fall color of one of our bloody cranesbill geraniums (Geranium sanguineum) in the alpine garden. The leaves looked neat this morning covered with a bit of frost. The frost looked neat all over the gardens, including on the seedheads of the compact, perennial black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. speciosa 'Viette's Little Suzy') seen to the left. Along Palmer Drive, I've been enjoying the transition of fall color on the American smoketree (Cotinus obovatus) along the road. The summer leaves (green) have been transitioning to an pinkish orange and the shot to the right is taken from underneath the tree with the leaves backlit. These leaves should even turn more orange in the next week or two. I like the American smoketree as much as any of the European smoketree (Cotinus coggygria) varieties. Directly below are the frost outlines on the edges of the cranberry cotoneaster (Cotoneaster apiculatus) which is turning maroon this time of year. At the bottom is the brilliant peak of fall color on the Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum) along the Eastern arboretum edge. Market Mingle (indoor farmer's market) at RBG tonight. Big day tomorrow and next week starts my full time job of slinging cords.