We saw plenty of volunteers today. Janet (to the above right) came in to tend the orange wall bed and continues to do a top notch job. Mary H. and her daughter were in to work in their assigned garden as were Magda, Ron K. and Joanne A. Rose came in later for some painting duties and many others stopped by throughout the day. Our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee had a productive meeting which also included Big John, Dr. Yahr, Dr. Gredler (mowed today too), Maury, Gary, Joanne, Dick P. and Iza. We continue to talk about a future wellness/healing garden at RBG. To the right is the trailing, 'Amethyst Falls' oregano (Origanum hybrida). This variety, while not typically used as a culinary selection, is a wonderful trailer in the container or hanging basket. Another nice variety is 'Kent's Beauty' (Origanum rotundifolium). This specimen is in one of our repurposed "pallet planters" in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Display. Directly below, also in that display, is the 'Basket of Fire' ornamental hot pepper (Capsicum frutescens) which has a nice mounding habit and no shortage of showy fruits. The next photo down, taken in the edible collection, shows my tour participants from the Morton Arboretum this morning. The small tree in the distance starting to bloom white is the seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides) which is a really neat plant and a bee magnet right now.
We're really trying to tidy up the gardens prior to a social event tomorrow night (Wednesday) at the gardens. This event involves the World Water Ski Competition that the Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Club, Inc. (Janesville) are facilitating this weekend. It sounds like we'll have many international guests and participants coming to the gardens and we hope they'll get out and enjoy our September garden. To the right is the fragrant pink spire from the 'Pink Spike' black cohosh (Cimicifuga simplex or Actaea simplex) in the woodland walk garden. This variety also features lacy, dark maroon foliage which is a great visual component when paired with lighter neighbors that allow that foliage to "pop".
I love this time of year with cooler nights and mornings followed by a warm sunny day. Today was a bit windy and I'm hoping we do get some rain later in the week. It wasn't hard to see signs of fall, particularly with cottonwood (Populus deltoides) leaves consistently fluttering to the ground. Other signs of the impending fall include ripening fruit structures like that of the oakleaf mountain ash (Sorbus hybrida 'Oakleaf') as seen directly below. At the bottom is another of our many clusters of Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale 'The Giant'). Colchicums are in the lily family while "true crocuses" are in the iris family. Regardless of this differentiation, they both look great although the true fall crocuses wont bloom until October. I'm so glad we planted these years ago as they are still going strong and offer some vivid coloration throughout the gardens.
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