A Busy Week Ahead

Good news. I found a way to use the old format of BLOGGER and have expedited my blogging with minimal frustration. Don't forget to check out my other blog on the Wisconsin Gardener magazine website (www.statebystategardening.com/wi). This is a top notch publication by the way. This is a very busy week (aside from all of our gardening duties). Tomorrow is our Horticulture Therapy Workshop which focuses on older adult populations. It looks like we'll have a crowd of 40 or so attendees, some of which are travelling quite a distance. This Friday is our Arbor Day celebration which includes free admission to the garden, information from our local Janesville Shade Tree Advisory Council (JSTAC), a tree planting demonstration (3 pm) and a dedication ceremony at 4 pm (everyone is invited). The top photo shows the interesting, dangling flowers of prairie smoke (Geum triflorum). I've shown this perennial in my blog in the past but have featured the feathery seed heads (forming in a month or so) that help lend themselves to the common name of this tough plant. Directly above is the dark foliage of the 'Mocha' coral bells (Heuchera villosa) which I find quite appealing. The giant leaves aren't quite maroon and show lots of brownish shades. This variety, and those others in the villosa group, get quite large too. To the right is a flower cluster of the red buckeye (Aesculus pavia) just starting to open. I hope the hummingbirds are in the neighborhood to enjoy the blooms of this small statured tree (15-20'). To the left is the tropical-looking, deep maroon foliage of the dark-leaved golden-ray or senecio (Ligularia dentata 'Britt Marie Crawford'). This perennial likes damper soils and needs plenty of moisture in sunnier locations. Ours are in part sun and I always look forward to the large, yellow-orange daisies that appear in late summer.

We had a nice volunteer turnout today. Dr. Gredler was in to do more mowing and we saw Rose later working on the repainting of one of our garden benches. Bill O. stopped by and we also saw Dick H. as well. We also saw Pam T., Bob T., Mary W., Bill O. (the other one), Maury and quite a few others. While I would have liked some more hands for weeding, I think we'll see that later in the week. To the right is the speckled foliage of the variegated sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus 'Variegatus'). We get lots of questions about this showy tree and while this maple species is just barely hardy, this variegated variety really shines in our color rooms garden with no two leaves being the same. While spring flowers understandably catch our attention, don't miss the small miracles happening with colorful foliage unfurling all over the garden. The spring coloration of so much of our plant foliage is the most vivid it will be as our hot summers can wash out many of the colors as these bright colors fade over time. The two photos below show Scott S. from the City of Janesville Parks Department augering out ten holes in our parking lot islands yesterday. We appreciate Scott's help as that will save some back breaking digging. We'll install some of our new parking lot trees tomorrow and can see the value of having a 36" diameter auger attachment!
Directly above is the showy spring bloom of the Carolina allspice or sweetshrub (Calycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine' or xSinocalycalycanthus raulstonii 'Hartlage Wine'). The flowers have a nice scent and this shrub should get some decent size over the years (8'x8'). Once the flowers are done, this shrub has nice glossy, leathery green leaves. I've seen some very nice specimens at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) and will be patient until ours gain some size! To the right is a close-up shot of the native, wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis). I'm always smitten with these and we have an area that we've let these colonize to great spring effect! To the left is the subtle coloration of 'Hocus Pocus' tulips (Tulipa) which are considered some of the tallest at close to 36" tall!

Larry checked all our water features (a daily chore) and continued his work on our sunken garden pool and fountain. Our masons were back working on the restacking/setting of a retaining wall in that area (sunken garden) and the improvements are quite impressive. Larry also pushmowed, unpackaged plants, watered and worked on some other projects. Big John and Pat were in this morning and worked on various tasks until it warmed up for their repainting project (observation pier). The guys mowed, hauled compost and worked on some other tasks before putting in a good painting effort as the sun came out and temperatures warmed. Pat & John are splitting their time between gardening chores and painting over the coming weeks. We can't neglect these painting needs and still have three more "target structures" to address (back porch, arched bridge and gazebo). Our hope is to get a fresh coat or two on all these structures before "prime" wedding season which starts in early June. To the right are the cheery yellow blossoms of the Carolina bushpea (Thermopsis villosa). This is blooming quite early but combines well with the surrounding red tulips (Tulipa). Also known as Carolina lupine or false lupine, this legume (fixes nitrogen) offers some bright coloration out in the garden and is quite drought tolerant.

I had some meetings today which included our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee (also attending were Dr. Gredler, Gary, Dick P., Maury, Big John, Chris R., Joanne and Mary). I also attended the Board meeting and presented the new plan for our future Wellness Garden which met with approval for continuing forward with pricing and the further development of design details. Directly below is the colorful spring foliage of the variegated purpleblow maple (Acer truncatum 'Akikaze Nishiki') in the Japanese garden. Note the pink highlights which later age to a cream. At the bottom are the rounded flower clusters of the appropriately named 'Popcorn' doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum) near the arboretum.