Bus Tour Braves The Heat

It was another very hot day with temperatures again reaching between 103 and 104 degrees F. This morning wasn't too bad but it warmed up quickly and we had another full day of watering. The top photo was taken in our fern & moss garden today with the Ma Chii' structure in the distance. Today was a perfect example of how much cooler it can be in the shade! We also had a bus tour (directly above) from Northern IL that was organized by Greg S. of the University of Illinois - Extension. Greg, whom I've known for many years, brought a group of 38 or so visitors to tour the gardens and their next destination was the Nichols Conservatory in Rockford, IL. We talked a lot about the gardens in the air-conditioning and then headed out in the gardens for a tour which included most of my talking in the shadier gardens along the way. All but two of the group had never been to the gardens and most of the attendees were from the greater Chicago area. They were a fun group and I think they enjoyed the tour. We were all pretty beat up by the end of it though! They had lunch at the gardens (inside) as well. To the above right is the showy 'Tequila Peppermint' moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora) in our collection that was really looking good this morning. To the left is the interesting foliage of the 'Haight Ashbury' annual hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella). This plant is also called false roselle. I should mention that this variety normally shows dark maroon foliage with hints of pink but on occasion, you'll run in to these totally pink leaves which look neat. This tropical is grown for the leaf contribution in full sun and these will get 3-4' by the end of the season. As an interesting side note, the leaves of this hibiscus species are edible....imagine those on a salad! Other neat varieties include 'Red Shield' and 'Maple Sugar', both of which are a dark, glossy maroon. You'll rarely, if ever, see flowers on these in our climate. Unfortunately our Adirondack chairs (North point garden) to the right have been empty recently as the weather is not conducive to gardening and not to gardeners visiting the gardens either! I saw maybe a dozen visitors today. We'll be extending our hours later in the evening to encourage visitation during the cooler hours.

Volunteers today included Cindy who did a great job weeding in the Smelly Garden. The last of our fragrant plants are coming next week and we'll fit them in as needed and plant some of the open space that Cindy created today. Janet stopped by early this morning and will again be maintaining the larch wall planting bed. Janet did a fabulous job maintaining this space in the past and we're glad to have her talents once again. Dr. Gredler was in for his mowing rounds and Pat stopped by to help water which was much appreciated and very timely. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Mary W., Todd, Tom, Dick H. and that was about it. Directly below is a neat addition to our Smelly Garden. This is the short-toothed mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) which is a woodland edge native of the Eastern U.S. (including IL and MI). Note the silver bracts on this perennial (prefers part shade) that will get 2-3' tall and has very minty/menthol smelling leaves that can be crushed and spread on skin as a mosquito repellant. The foliage smell is quite strong but minty fresh. I like this plant although I've read that it can be a spreader if happy....Directly above is the trailing aluminum plant (Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls') which was a hit with the tour today. This trailer is prevalent in our silver/white theme and in many our our containers. The grounds staff had another brutal day today. We started out with Marianne, Marv, Terry, Big John, Janice and me. Marianne and John worked a half day and the rest of us finished off the afternoon with watering duties. Despite the oppressive, repetitive heat, we've been working in daily, I'm continually impressed with the teamwork that our grounds staff exhibits daily. Marianne worked on some tidying, watering and her cutting display. Big John helped water containers, moved sprinklers around and ran irrigation on the east end of the gardens. John also spent time watering trees and shrubs that are wilting severely in the Japanese garden. To the right is my favorite petunia (Petunia) variety for the past decade or so. This is the variety 'Merlin Blue Morn' and not only do I love that shade of blue but the "fade to white" throat color is a nice touch as well! We've lost many petunias out the gardens already as we have a white mold problem that rears it's ugly head with the repetitive use of petunias (and other plants) in the same location each year. The answer will be crop rotation! To the left was a little vignette that I thought looked nice. In the foreground is Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia) with 'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) catching the morning light perfectly along with that obelisk. The mass of dark maroon to the right is a small, 'Purple Fountain' weeping European beech (Fagus sylvatica).

Marv and Terry both went mobile this morning and had their own watering tasks to contend with throughout the day. Marv also ran irrigation, added soil to our new root box and was photographed by the Janesville Gazette spray painting our dried/staked ornamental onions (Allium 'Mt. Everest') a nice shade of silver in the entrance garden (see bottom photo). Both guys also helped with containers and garden clean-up prior to our three weddings tomorrow. Janice worked with Cindy for a bit and then went mobile with all manner of watering tasks and some additional clean-up near the English cottage garden. Everyone was tough today and while my policy is that anyone can leave at any time if the heat is getting to them, I know that we have a tough crew. To the right is the 'Illustris' elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) which has this dusky charcoal coloration but retains the lighter veination. I've always liked this variety and it seems to show the best color and have the largest leaves in a damp, rich soil in partial shade (fertilize every two weeks too!). Directly below is the 'Royal Purple' zinnia (Zinnia elegans) which has a showy, Dahlia-like bloom on a 40"-50" plant. This selection is in our All-America Selections garden and is a 1942 winner which lends value to the old adage that "All new plants aren't always good and all good plants aren't always new!"