Deer Spotted!...In the Parker Center

The deer spotting occurred this morning in the Parker Education Center (as seen above). These deer thankfully don't eat much and are part of the large model train display that was set up this past weekend by members of the Wisconsin Garden Railway Society. The train display has been part of this event for the past 10? years and is always a big hit with kids of all ages. Members of the group bring different trains each night of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) and the set-up will vary from year to year. We appreciate their involvement and while the trains are a big attraction at the HLS, there are also refreshments, entertainment, gift shop options, etc. Santa is involved from time to time and there are also some kids crafts and a really neat quilt display by the Rock Valley Quilters Guild (see photos below). Check out the HLS details at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org. The event begins this Friday, December 16th (4:30 pm - 8 pm). With the most marketing for this event ever kicking in this week (radio, TV, billboards, etc.) we hope to have a strong attendance. We wont have any rain this weekend but the weather will at least not be too cold. To the right are the golden needles of the 'Aurea Jacobsen' dwarf, golden Norway spruce (Picea abies). This is one of our many conifers that really becomes a winter contributor with vivid foliage. There wasn't much activity out in the gardens today although I was able to do a tour and make sure all was well with the HLS set-up. Larry worked on various equipment repairs and helped haul various items around in preparations for the HLS decorating going on at the Parker Education Center. I met with Kelli this morning and we both then headed in to our monthly Garden Development & Maintenance Committee Meeting that also included Dr. Gredler, Chris R., Big John, Gary, Dick P., Joanne, Iza and Maury. We talked quite a bit about 2012 plans and reflected on a pretty good 2011 out in the gardens. After another meeting (staff meeting), I started "composing" my first seed order (Pinetree Garden Seeds) and will continue these efforts over the next month or so. I'm also putting major efforts in to getting information together to continue our momentum with creating our woody plant labels. In some regard, it's nice not to have one repetitive project that would make me stir-crazy. However, juggling the immediacy and priority with 20+ projects can be overwhelming too. I'll put on the blinders soon and focus on seeds and spring presentation preparations. To the left and right are additional golden conifers that offer some nice color during the bland winter months. To the left is the 'Gold Coin' golden Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris). This pine gets it's best golden coloration in the winter months. The most vivid golden conifer we have (lower right) is the 'Chief Joseph' lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) which also gets the best golden yellow in the winter. Now that is a beacon in the landscape! I show this one in my winter blogs every year as you can't walk by without taking a picture.

Today, we also saw Chris from L.P. Tree Service, Luis and Bill O. was in to help Larry this morning and afternoon. Chuck S. was in to process our recycling and we had some other "pop in" visitors as well. The Horticulture Center is far from desolate in the winter and we'll begin our HLS takedown/processing as well as painting, staining, etc. right after the New Year. Directly below is some slight "orangey" winter coloration on the evergreen wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald N' Gold') near the alpine garden. At the bottom are 100+ geese out on some thin ice (right off the North Point garden) that couldn't get organized for a group photo. Lots of geese still flying thru the area for the holidays.