Rotary Botanical Gardens - Hort Blog

Hoarfrosty Day

2012-02-02T12:27:00.018-06:00

Today was beautiful out in the gardens with hoarfrost everywhere. I wish I had actually taken more pictures as it didn't melt off much even by the afternoon. Above is one of our 'Blondo' Japanese silver grasses (Miscanthus sinensis) in the main parking lot with some frost. The ornamental grasses have stood up nicely this winter and haven't been challenged much by heavy snows (yet). Today was another day where I accomplished plenty but not any of what I had intended (except for this blog I suppose)! That happens often but is irrelevant as my duties today were fairly important any way. The juggling of projects allows me to bounce around a bit but I have some very time sensitive things to accomplish like finishing seed and plant orders. We had a long staff meeting which was vital as we're addressing a lot of planning that needs to be confirmed quite soon. To the right is the Rocky Mountain, blue weeping juniper (Juniperus scopulorum 'Tolleson's Weeping') near the Horticulture Center looking quite picturesque this morning. To the left is one of our oak leaf cutouts that are currently available for our "art in the garden" project this year. Forty of these became available yesterday and there are only 32 left! See the RBG website (http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/) for more information on this fun project. These leaves, once decorated/intepreted by participating artists, will be secured out in the gardens for our visitors to enjoy. Last year the butterfly cutouts were dynamite out in the gardens and we had a positive response from visitors and those that bid on these art pieces at the end of the season (September). We had lots of volunteers here today although it's important to mention that my blog only references those volunteers I run across at the Horticulture Center or out in the gardens. There are many more volunteers helping daily in the gift shop, with education, committee involvement and providing plumber skills like Dick P. to the right. Below is Larry cutting down the last of our removals. This is actually an elm tree (Ulmus americana 'Valley Forge') which has been disappointing as it keeps splitting and had developed a horrible form. I truly don't like removing trees unless there is a good reason. I had hoped the best for this specimen but there "comes a time" as they say.Terry & Marv (with the fancy gold gloves) above helped haul off the remains of the elm tree and they were a couple of many volunteers that showed up today to help out. Larry, Bill O. and Urban were out in the gardens pruning today and Urban was back for some more painting duties in the afternoon. Dr. Gredler was in to re-stain some obelisks and will have no shortage of work in the coming weeks. Del and Dick W. spent time priming/painting the deer and sleigh cutouts and have made a lot of progress on this project. Dick H. and Dick P. worked on some repairs (like the plumbing mentioned above) at the Rath Center and Maury both helped them and also painted his last three pvc pipe planters green (see bottom photo). Dave T., Jim and Bob A. continued to work on repairing and repainting both our garbage and recycling bins. The photo to the right is a dwarf Himalayan pine (Pinus wallichiana 'Nana') in the entrance garden. This five-needled pine (like our native white pine) has such a nice soft texture and the hoarfrost just added to the visual appeal this morning. The stump to the left is just one of a dozen that we'll have "ground out" this spring. Our target trees are down and it's amazing how different it looks out in the gardens.

Marianne was in to process another seed order, assemble handouts (for the Garden Expo) and will be starting on plant labels very shortly. Luis came in and printed out the next couple of batches of tree and shrub labels. Gary's repair/cleaning of the laser engraver yesterday was successful and Gary was over to help Luis troubleshoot some of the issues. Janice was in for her Volunteer Committee Meeting and worked on the plant sale information sheets. We also saw Mark S. and others at the Horticulture Center today. To the right are some additional snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) from yesterday. You can see how they get their name and these aren't too far away from blooming either. A couple more warm days and these will be blooming strongly. Directly below are some Japanaese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) berries with hoarfrost. While colorful, this shot demonstrates the problem with barberries that have a heavy fruit set like this as the birds will consume and "disperse" these fruits/seeds far and wide.

Early Early Blooms

2012-02-01T11:15:00.025-06:00

With a recent return to warmer temperatures, I took a nice walking tour of the entire gardens this morning. While it's still sloppy out there, the "feel" reminds me of late March / early April. With that in mind, I had a couple goals with my walk. First and foremost, I needed to stretch out of my increasingly "hunched over the computer" posture. I have more back problems in winter for just sitting at my desk. I also wanted to check for deer damage and make sure our deer protection efforts were still in place. I didn't notice too much damage but can see evidence of deer checking things out (note the deer poop shot further below). I also had a gut feeling that I would find some things blooming or preparing to bloom. I had only made it to the woodland walk garden when I saw snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) in bloom (top picture). This was one of the few clumps actually blooming yet but most snowdrops seem to be poised. Normally I would show a picture like this in mid to late March. My first blog posting of snowdrops last year was March 8th. The picture directly above shows the blooms of a 'Cinnamon Snow' hellebore (Helleborus) getting ready to open. Hellebores bud like this for a long time before they open early for a couple weeks. Again, I normally wouldn't see this for at least five more weeks. To the right is another hellebore (Helleborus niger) budding out in the color rooms garden. Also called the Christmas rose, this specific species (and specimen) is the first hellebore we see open up in March. To the left are the emerging buds of the spring adonis (Adonis amurensis 'Fukujakai') in the gazebo garden. Note the hint of yellow as these will all be beautiful flowers (daisy shape) in the near future and this is one of the top 10 earliest plants to bloom out in the gardens in spring.

It was nice to get thru the gardens and I've already compiled some additional duties that we'll have to address in terms of spring clean-up. We also will have some projects occuring in March that will be very welcome. This includes the re-roofing of the gazebo and observation pier structure and hopefully some major repainting of the arched bridge and many other garden elements if the weather cooperates. I can't help but worry that we'll be "paying" for all this warm weather with a severe end of spring! We'll see. To the right are the buds of the bearsfoot hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) in the gazebo garden. The arched bridge (below) never fails to be scenic at any time of the year.We had a nice turnout of volunteers today and we were a regular "paint shop" today (as seen above). Dr. Gredler can be seen in the upper left working on his orange obelisks. In the foreground are Gena (left) and Myrt (right) converting our lime obelisks to a nice, dark lavender. Dick W. is at the bottom of the photo and he worked on applying primer to all the deer and sleigh cutouts that he and Del have been working on recently. In the upper right are Urban and Rose working on the slanted blue pyramid. See further below and to the right to see Urban's interior work on the second pyramid. He and Rose are making quick work of those gardens structures. Urban and I also made time for a tour of the woodland walk to discuss some pruning "targets" and initiatives. To the right is one of the many "evidence piles" that the deer are leaving for us. Nice shot to the left in the Japanese garden today.

Marianne came in to process six more seed orders and she's done a nice job keeping the seeds grouped and organized as she processes them. Next week we'll start preparing labels for these varieties. Note the picture below of the Takii seed box. This is one of the many companies for which we trial seed varieties out in the gardens. We currently have over 70 seed varieties that we're trialing and will also receive vegetative cuttings for some other varieties as well. Most of our trial varieties aren't commercially available yet. It is always fun to try new plants out in the gardens and share them (visually!) with our visitors. Marianne is also helping prepare handouts for the looming WPT Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com/) that is coming up on February 10th, 11th and 12th. Big John and I will haul up all our stuff and set-up the RBG booth on that Friday morning. Gary was over to clean up the laser engraver which should improve the quality of the labels being produced. We'll see Luis tomorrow and he'll keep up with our labeling momentum. We also saw Janice, Big John, Dick H., Glenn E., Kris K. and others today. At the bottom is our pile of clippings, trimmings and brush from all the recent pruning and removals. Much of our larger debris is chipped up for use as mulch out in the gardens. This pile will only be getting bigger as we continue pruning efforts out in the gardens. The progress has been quite amazing. By the end of this week, I will have posted my 1000th RBG Hort Blog and am on the start of my fourth year doing it. I hope readers, who find it of value, will spread the word and help promote RBG.

Photo Contest Materializing...

2012-01-31T11:35:00.014-06:00

The photo above, while obviously not taken today, was taken on a day with very similar temperatures in April! The high today was 55 degrees F which isn't too unlike our April weather where you would see this redbud (Cercis canadensis) blooming near the observation pier (note the arched bridge in the distance). The photo above was also one that was included in one of our past RBG calendars. We've done RBG calendars for three years in the past and they continue to become more popular and are a nice item to sell in our Cottage Garden Gifts (gift shop) at the Parker Education Center. I've supplied the bulk of the photos for our calendars in the past but we're now formulating final details for an amateur photography contest that will be offered very soon that will allow participants to submit their favorite RBG photos for inclusion in the 2013 RBG calendar. I'm really excited about this and thank our committee (Tina, Kris, Bill, Lisa and Sue) for finalizing details (which will be announced in about three weeks). The warm weather brought in all sorts of volunteers today including Jumbo Jim to the left who was selecting donated seed (thanks Ferry Morse and Doreen!) for the Rock County Farm. Jim also facilitates the RECAPPER efforts at the gardens and is actively involved in myriad gardening projects. To the right is "Sawdust Larry" who has been running the chainsaw for two solid days to deal with some target removals. He, Dick W. and Bill O. were out hauling back debris from these removals and our winter brush pile is getting larger by the hour.

Urban was out in the gardens pruning in the woodland walk garden this morning. Maury was in to put another coat on his yellow pvc pipe planters (left) and only has three left to paint (green). Dr. Gredler continued his obelisk painting and we had some nice help from Rose (and later Urban) with painting our big blue pyramids a lighter shade of blue. The bottom blog photo shows Larry and Bill bringing one of the three pyramids in this morning. To the lower right is Rose inside one of the pyramids with the start of the conversion. We offered to pass her bread and water in her confinement but also told her she couldn't leave until she was done with the inside of that one! Dick H. was in working on some vehicles and other projects. Today we were happy to find a buyer for our older pick-up truck. We also saw Gary, Mary W., Kay F. and others today. Janice was in for a good portion of the morning working on the information sheets for our plant sale offerings. I'm down to finding a couple bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) varieties and selecting herbs and our plant sale orders will then be complete. The seed orders are arriving daily with five deliveries just today! I also worked on some spreadsheets, small projects and had a nice lunch with Kelli (recent RBG Exec. Director), who is enjoying her new job at Blackhawk Technical College. Tomorrow I'm going out in the gardens to look for winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) and snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) blooming as I think we may be getting close for these early bulbs that we don't normally see until mid-March.

Great Teamwork!

2012-01-30T11:40:00.020-06:00

We has another great turnout of volunteers today and the weather was nice enough for some guys to get out in the gardens as well. There was lots of activity going on at the Horticulture Center as evidenced in the photo above. Can you spot the five Grumpies!? Del to the lower right continued to work on reindeer with Dick W., who can be seen in the distance wearing the ball cap. To the far left is Maury continuing to paint our pvc planters. Bob A. in the center is priming and repainting the recently repaired garbage and recycling bins. In the far distance is Dave T. (bending over) who, along with Jim D. (not in above photo, probably napping), continued repairing more of those same bins. Dr. Gredler was also in continuing to repaint our next batch of obelisks (red becoming orange). To the right is evidence of some wildlife out in the gardens. Hopefully there is still enough available foraging material and the bunnies aren't girdling any of our trees or shrubs!

I spent the morning catching up on bills, paperwork and some other odds and ends. I also put some time in to my "Eat Your Landscape" talk that I'll give at the WPT Garden Expo at 12 noon on Saturday, February 11th. I'll also give this talk at the Chicago Flower Show on March 15th. I've done this topic a couple times in the past but wanted to create a new presentation as I've amassed lots of photos over the past year that are perfect for an improved discussion. I'll certainly be including plants like the 'Magenta Sunset' Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) to the left and the red-ribbed, dandelion-leaved chicory (Cichorium intybus 'Red Ribbed') to the right. Both have very nutritious greens that will regenerate after numerous cuttings. The chicory (photo from Ron & Bev's garden) sure looks like a dandelion but it's important to mention that dandelion greens are hightly nutritious as well. The intent of this program (in my mind) is to get people motivated about growing their own produce in ways that don't require a large garden space. I'll emphasize smaller stature, ornamental options that can be incorporated in to garden beds, borders, containers, etc. The photo directly below shows the 'Soldier' beet (Beta vulgaris) that we incorporated throughout our reception garden last year. The maroon foliage worked well in our pink scheme and we had lots of questions on this ornamental edible that has not only the "beets" but nutritious foliage.Urban and Pat were out pruning in the arboretum today and helped clean-up some significant debris that Larry created with some chainsaw removals. Dick W. also helped with some of this clean-up and will be back tomorrow as well. Marv and Terry hauled over our oak leaf cutouts to the Parker Education Center as they will be available starting this Wednesday (February 1) for artists/sponsors to pick-up ($40 materials/registration fee). Check out our website at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information on this program (and many others). The guys also helped haul debris from Larry's targeted removals. Dick H. was in working on one of our trucks too. Marianne (to the right) was in to process our biggest seed order and we talked about starting to sort these and label them next week. Marianne also worked on organizing some drawings and other projects. Luis was in to continue data entry for our woody plant label production with the new engraver. We also saw Bradford, Karen B., Bill O. and many others. Today was also the first meeting of the year for our Horticulture Therapy committee (Darcie, Janice, Mike M., Art, Dawn).

To the left is one of Marv's new gloves which he thought was blog worthy. I'll let you decide. At least his baby soft hands will be protected. To the lower right is Maury working on the pipe painting. I did mention that if he would set the cup of coffee down, he could paint twice as fast.....No luck. Those pipes can also be seen in the bottom photo. We're really making great progress with our winter projects and the pace has been record-setting thus far with the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) take down allowing more time for these traditional projects. We continue to check our deer protection out in the gardens and surprisingly have not only seen very little nibbling but not a lot of tracks either....Unfortunately, February has always been the "Severe Browsing Month" for us in the past so we'll keep attentive. I should be done ordering seeds yet this week as we locate the last of our plant sale varieties and focus on finalizing our collections.

Persian Shield

2012-01-28T16:19:00.029-06:00

One of my all time favorite annuals for foliage is pictured throughout this blog. I took all of these photos over the years at many different gardens. We've grown Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) every year that I've been at RBG and I wouldn't be without it. The foliage is truly amazing and quite hard to describe verbally. This is a perfect example of how a picture is worth a thousand words. I thought the Missouri Botanic Garden website had the best description by saying that "the foliage is an iridescent purple flushed with silver, with a dark purple underlayment broken up by dark green veination." Perfect. This plant is native to Burma and does not enjoy full sun. Ideally, position this plant where it receives afternoon shade. We purchase about 50 of these in 4" pots each spring and they end up around 24" or so by the end of the season. Persian shield does like rich soils that are moist but well-drained. We also fertilize ours every two weeks. As seen in many of these photos, this plant is a great candidate for not only the partly shaded border but the container too.

Moss Rose Collection Ordered

2012-01-27T12:32:00.015-06:00

Today was very productive for me with more seed ordering accomplished and lots of odds and ends taken care of this morning. I'm pretty sure I'm done ordering all the seed varieties for our moss rose (Portulaca) collection. The moss rose (Portulaca grandiflora 'Fairytales Cinderella') above is one of the many vegetative varieties out on the market. I've included some of these in the collection but have currently focused primarily on seed varieties. I've found 67 varieties thus far and we'll probably add another 20 of the vegetative-type varieties as well. Some of my seed order today can be seen to the right. I also spent some time on our Home Garden Tour (July 21st, 2012) as preparations have to start early so we can get the details confirmed and tickets produced before Mother's Day. We have seven wonderful home gardens this year with the majority being in neighboring Milton, WI. I also worked on some presentations and finalized the listings for two more garden areas that are in need of our new woody plant labels. Luis will be in on Monday for data entry and production. The stacks of labels below are just some of what Gary and Luis have prepared. There are another 4,000 blank ones on the way! Marianne has been preparing the labels for these (double-sided industrial tape) but we also need to come up with a good system for creating concrete anchors for these (just the woodies). I've been thru too many gardens where labels have been pulled out, knocked over, moved or are missing. We'd like to really secure these out in the gardens and will come up with a plan of attack soon. Maury was in for a good portion of the day and started painting the first four of ten pvc pipe planters (see to the lower left). These four will be painted blue while the others will be either orange (3) or lime (3). These will be quite conspicuous out in the gardens and we're not shy about some vivid colors out there, whether with plants or other garden elements. Dr. Gredler was in all day continuing to paint obelisks. He came up with a nice way of putting on the second coat of lime on the 9' obelisks (see to the lower right). Doc then started converting some red obelisks to orange. He asked my why not paint them red again. My response, much to his chagrin, was "Red is so last year, orange is back in." Bev and Deb stopped by to talk about the leaf art project for 2012 and some Garden Festival (August 25) details. Next Wednesday, February 1st, interested artists/sponsors can pick up an oak leaf (primed plywood) cutout from the Parker Education Center for a $40 registration/materials fee. There will be only 40 pieces offered and they go fast! Details regarding this project can be found on our website (www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org). It will be nice to see the creative results displayed out in the gardens. Dave G. and Dean stopped by today and we also saw Bill O. briefly. Directly below are Tom and Nancy working on sorting/sifting/organizing the contents of our flat file system yesterday. We're really making sure our historical records, plans, etc. are organized and safe. I've even made multiple copies of all my photos, computer files and presentations from the past seven years or so. At the bottom is our weeping Jack pine (Pinus banksiana 'Uncle Fogy') specimen in front of the Parker Education Center. I think we'll move this specimen up higher so it can cascade down. The close proximity of this specimen to the curbline (bottom of photo) has caused some problems with "pruning by snow plow."

Chipping Away

2012-01-26T12:48:00.014-06:00

Nice winter shot above of the Korean feather reed grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha) in the main parking lot. This grass (30" tall) doesn't mind part sun locations and also gets a nice orange/tan fall color. We haven't had many heavy snows yet but this species is pretty good at standing up thru a tougher winter. Unfortunately this grass is not as available as it should be! Today was a lot more continued work on projects that have already been put in motion. There is an unbelievable amount of work that needs to be done before the spring season and I'm always amused by those that ask if we have anything to do in winter!? I spent more time on seed orders today and had a couple of meetings. Our Spring Tree Sale Committee met and this included many members of the Blackhawk Golden "K" Kiwanis club. Four of the members are also Grumpies (Maury, Dick P., Dick H. and Dick K.)! This will be the second year we partner together for this Spring Tree Sale (April 20th and 21st, 8 am - 3 pm, Horticulture Center). We've ordered 12,000 small trees that include Norway spruce, Colorado blue spruce, Black Hills spruce, Eastern arborvitae, white pine, Concolor fir, red oak, sugar maple and swamp white oak. Details on this sale will be on our website very shortly (if not already). To the above left is the compact corkbark fir (Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Compacta') in front of the Parker Education Center today. We actually have a very interesting assortment of choice dwarf conifers throughout the entrance garden that get "lost in the shuffle" with all the summer color out front but are very prominent in winter. To the right is a tough little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) specimen in the parking lot still showing some of that orange/pink dormant coloration. I'll continue seed ordering tomorrow and will attempt to finish the third of my three presentations for the WPT Garden Expo ("Eat Your Landscape"). Our gift shop is currently selling advance tickets for this event which is always a good way to beat the winter doldrums. To the right is the Harry Lauder's walking stick or contorted European filbert (Corylus avellana 'Contorta') which is always quite fetching in winter. This variety does need plenty of aggressive thinning though to maximize the appearance and minimize "stem congestion."

We had a great turnout of volunteers today. To the above left is Maury who is starting to prepare our pvc pipe planters for painting. Dr. Gredler was in to work on more obelisks (wood sealer). Pat and Urban were out doing more pruning in the garden and Larry was out there as well. Dave, Jim, Bob and Vern worked on more carpentry with the focus being on repairing the garbage and recycling bins. Del and Dick W. continued their carpentry work on the plywood reindeer cutouts. Bill O. was helpful for many with his assistance. Dick P. and Maury also tried to repair some plumbing issues at the other building. Dick H. worked on bending more of our aluminum stakes for the new woody plant labels (see to the left and right). We also saw Gary, Terry, Tom C., Jumbo Jim, Mary W. and many others. Marianne worked on processing seed orders, preparing plant stakes and tidying up the break room. Janice was in to work on preparing vegetable information for the plant sale. Tom & Nancy F. brought in some seed packets (recent donation to RBG) that they had inventoried and sorted for me. They then revisited their project from years ago which is organizing our flat files which contain lots of valuable information. Directly below is one of two recycling units that were just donated to us. These will be very handy in both the main office area and for rentals as well. We have so many wonderful corporate and individual donors that make a huge difference each year with their generosity.

Yummy Chili

2012-01-25T13:07:00.012-06:00

Our Volunteer Soup Dinner (actually chili) went very well last night and we saw between 75-80 attendees. Janice's vegan chili was yummy and no one went home hungry (there were two other options too). It was nice to see many of our veteran volunteers but we also had six new "potentials" that we hope will join our RBG volunteer family this year. Above are Margaret (left) and Rita (right)...or is it the reverse? Rita joined the RBG staff recently as the Administrative Coordinator and Margaret, a long-time RBG volunteer, is doing an internship at RBG and helping streamline many of our forms and processes. Her business background will be very beneficial for RBG. They have been called twins by many and each is used to being called by the other's name. Last night they stood up together and it was like seeing long lost sisters! Gary and Lori made some nice comments last night and my presentation on Japanese Gardens seemed well-received. I also talked about some of the upcoming events, activities and collections for 2012. These volunteer-oriented events have proven so valuable for maintaining a connection with our volunteers over the winter months and we hope it becomes a nice recruiting opportunity too as we see new faces at each of these. Our next event in this series is on Tuesday, February 28th at 5 pm. I'll talk about Garden of Philadelphia-Revisited which is based on seeing more gardens last summer at the American Public Garden Association (APGA) conference. To the upper right are Gena (left) and Myrt (right) who were in today to remove lights off of our last remaining obelisks from the HLS. The ladies made quick work of this project and packed up the lights nicely. The obelisks will receive a different paint color shortly... To the left is Dr. Gredler continuing work on painting obelisks today. We also saw Maury, Mary W. and Bill O. today. Bill assembled some new recycling containers and worked on some inside projects. Dick H. also popped by to size up some of his looming vehicle repairs.

I split my day with presentation preparations and seed ordering. I put in a good sized order from Johnny's Selected Seeds (www.joh nnyseeds.com) which has a great assortment of vegetables and plenty of annuals as well. While my biggest seed orders are in already, I still have about 30 catalogs to peruse as I finish out selections for the grounds as well as our spring plant sale varieties. The bottom left and bottom right images were taken at the Chicago Botanic Garden this past year and show some of their vertical wall planters. I finished my presentation on Gardening Vertically today which I'll give twice at the WPT Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com/) and will present here at RBG on Wednesday, May 16th as part of our 2012 lecture series. This topic, while not new, has become very popular as gardeners attempt to maximize their space and use opportunities to grow plants in situations that are efficient and low maintenance. This topic covers living walls, vertical planters, container options and some innovative "re-purposing" of materials to create opportunities to garden vertically; even on balconies, decks and in tight locations. I'll also feature some of the living wall work being done internationally by Patrick Blanc. If you GOOGLE his name with the words "living walls", you'll see some of the interesting things he's been doing. I plucked the bottom image off the internet as it shows some of his work. Interestingly enough, those plants are not growing in soil but are rooted in to an "engineered" fabric system that has water (with nutrients) distributed over this wall. Essentially, this is large scale hydroponics that avoids the additional weight of wet soil and also protects the structure from excess moisture. Mr. Blanc wrote a book ("The Vertical Garden: From Nature to the City", 2008) on the subject and I encourage you to look in to it further as I'm still trying to grasp all the details. This "urban greening" has lots of merit but at this point is still quite expensive to install retroactively....

Volunteer Gathering Tonight

2012-01-24T12:52:00.012-06:00

The image above has nothing to do with the blog topic and very little to do with January for that matter. However, it is one of the neat annual grasses that I'm trying to locate for this spring. This is the variegated purple fountain grass (Pennisetum setaceum) called 'Fireworks'. We've grown this neat grass for the past couple of years and I just included an image of this colorful grass in my upcoming presentation on Annuals of Interest. I'll give this talk twice up at the WPT Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com/) coming up in February. Two years ago when we had the maroon/red theme, we used a couple hundred 'Fireworks' fountain grasses and wow!, it sure turned out great. To the left are our ten pvc planters waiting to be painted (three different colors). Envision these secured about 8' above ground (supports on both ends), filled with soil and those open slots planted with various trailing vegetables. Our visitors will be able to walk under all these! Should be fun although we've been debating how heavy these will get and what we have to accomplish to safely secure them out in the gardens. To the right is Nancy continuing work on organizing our reference library and to the left is Janice working on some research projects this morning.

Tonight is the first of our three Volunteer Soup Dinners where we'll get together, talk about 2012 plans and I'll do a short presentation at each of them. Tonight I'll talk about Japanese Gardens with a focus on the recent improvements in our Japanese garden. These have always been fun and this is the second year we've organized these gatherings. We're never sure how many volunteers will attend as the RSVPs come last minute. We've always had a healthy crowd though. This is sure a nice way to keep in touch with our volunteers (the non-"snow birds") and be poised for a busy spring.

Urban and Pat came in to do some pruning out in the gardens while Bill and Larry took the remainder of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) down from the gardens around the visitors center. They also took the remainder of the lights off the main building. There isn't too much left out there from the HLS which is hard to believe ended just over three weeks ago! Now that's progress. We also saw Maury over here and Luis continued working on woody plant labels. The laser engraver was humming along all morning and I'm sure Luis made another 150+ labels or so. To the right is our John Deere gator that is need of some repairs. We're fortunate to have Dick H. who is taking care of the repairs. It's hard to establish a value on "saved labor costs" from our volunteers like Dick H., the carpenters, Tom C. (electrician), etc. I'm glad we have so many handy volunteers here at the gardens as their skills extend beyond traditional garden duties! Below are the silver finial tops that will go on our blue obelisks (for the reception garden). Pat re-secured these this afternoon. Our assembly line will continue for the next couple of weeks as we continue repainting obelisks, repairing garbage bins, restaining benches, etc.

A "Sleety" Day

2012-01-23T11:34:00.020-06:00

Yesterday was primarily a drizzle which extended thru the evening to this morning. Mother Nature then couldn't decide between rain, sleet and snow as we saw all of it throughout most of the morning. Warmer temperatures did accomodate a couple guys that went out in to the gardens. I'm glad Larry spread some sand/salt across our parking lot this morning as it was quick slick. We did have a great crew of volunteers today although I spent almost the entire day ordering seeds and finishing my big seed order. Directly above is Dr. Gredler converting one of our 9' yellow obelisks from the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's garden to a nice lime. Doesn't he look happy!? To the left is just one of the many plants I've re-ordered for 2012. This is the dinosaur kale (Brassica oleracea 'Lacinato') that was part of our blue/yellow theme last year and received lots of attention.

Larry worked on helping coordinate the many projects going on this morning and got out in the gardens with Bill O. as well. Both guys had some indoor afternoon work as well. Marv and Dennis went out to continue taking down the last remnants of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). With lights in the entrance garden, around the Parker Education Center and in the English cottage garden, there was plenty to retrieve. I can remember years gone by when January was so snowy and cold that we hadn't even taken anything down at this point in the month. Amazing that it is almost complete. Pat and Urban were out helping collect lights, cords, obelisks, etc. from the HLS. To the right is Dick W. cutting out some reindeer ears as he and Del continue to make more cutouts for future sales. Dave, Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued repairs on our garbage & recycling bins (directly below). The guys are so handy. Dick H. and Dick P. started cutting our recently delivered strap aluminum in the stake heights for our woody plant labels. Dick H. and Bill also worked on some vehicles as well. Luis was in the office this morning (lower left) entering more sign information to be engraved later this week. Marianne helped process seed orders (lower right), prepare plant labels and did a nice job tidying up in the break room. Mary W. and her friend (Larry) stopped by in the afternoon. We also saw Gary S. today as he broke away from his interim Executive Director position to have break with the guys. A big part of my seed order today (Ivy Garth) involved the start of orders for our spring plant sale. My final FAXed order was 11 pages! This will be the sixth spring plant sale in a row that we've offered a wide range of vegetables and herbs. Previous spring plant sales years ago focused on herbs and annuals although we found that so many outfits sell annuals that we wanted to specialize a bit more with our offerings. This sale, held on May 12th and 13th (9 am - 4 pm daily) at the Horticulture Center, will also have a wide range of gallon-sized perennials. We offered this component last year and it was well received. RBG Friends Members are invited to our spring plant sale preview on Friday, May 11th (also 9 am - 4 pm) where they will get the first look at availability and receive a 10% discount that day (and throughout the sale). I'm very excited about the offerings which not only include heirloom tomatoes, hot peppers and herbs but a wide range of "smaller statured" vegetable varieties that are suitable for the container, basket, window box and tight spot in general. Once Janice finalized the final information sheets in February, we'll get them on the website. Just about everything we sell at the sale will be represented somewhere out in the gardens as many will be featured in our Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Display. I ordered a nice assortment of trailing tomatoes too that we'll feature out in the gardens (and sell). Below are some shots from the spring plant sale last year. I've put in an early request for decent weather as we've not had the best luck when the sale has been over the Mother's Day weekend as it is this year.

A Pepper Called 'Black Pearl'

2012-01-21T12:13:00.024-06:00

As I was ordering seed yesterday, I started searching for hot peppers (Capsicum annuum) that will be included in our spring plant sale. Janice had already provided me with a list of good candidates. At the sale ast year we had a lot of interest in the ornamental hot peppers and we sold out of those very quickly. When I think of my favorite ornamental hot pepper varieties, I focus on a combination of increasingly colorful fruit but also vivid foliage. I think it's safe to say that the ripening fruits of all hot peppers are ornamental, particularly later in the season (August thru October). However, I've become more interested in the dark-leaved and variegated leaf varieties that also contribute foliage interest before and during the fruiting period. One of my favorite varieties is the 'Black Pearl' hot pepper (Capsicum annuum). All the images in this blog are of this variety. I ordered enough seed of 'Black Pearl' (not inexpensive incidentally!) to supply it for the spring plant sale (May 12th and 13th, 9 am - 4 pm, pre-sale on Friday May 11th for RBG Friends Members). We'll also be displaying this variety in our Ornamental Edible display and as a component of our All-America Selections (AAS) collection. This 2006 AAS winner was developed at the United States National Arboretum and has been extremely popular ever since! See www.usna.usda.go v/Research/BlackPearl.html for more on the history of this neat ornamental edible. It is important to mention that while the fruits, ripening from glossy black to red, are edible but are extremely hot (30,000+ Scoville units). This variety, reaching 20"-24" in full sun, is primarily planted for ornamental purposes as the foliage is "near black" and the fruits are ornamental as well. This plant really needs full blazing sun to have the darkest foliage coloration and you'll start to see the glossy black fruits by mid-summer. This variety is also very happy in a container. The red stage of the peppers is seen in September and will continue until hard frost. One of the images near the bottom shows a light frost on the entire plant. I like combining this plant with lighter foliage neighbors to make that foliage "pop". Ornamental hot peppers, in general, will be a big part of our displays this year and most of those varieties will be featured at our plant sale. For other interesting hot pepper (Capsicum) varieties for foliage, try 'Purple Flash', 'Fish', 'Tricolor', 'Sparkler', 'Explosive Ember' and many others.

I was in to work briefly this morning for a meeting of our Home & Garden Tour Committee. Even though the event is seven months away (July 21st), we start planning early and already have the seven sites confirmed. Thanks to Bill, Jean, Janet, Barb, Patrick and Cora for coming in to go over some details. This year a portion of the tour will be in the neighboring town of Milton, WI. I think we have a great assortment of gardens and are starting to solicit sponsors for this event. Larry and Bill had taken care of most of the snow removal and thanks to Dick H. for taking care of plowing that 6-7" either last night or this morning. Dr. Gredler was in to do more painting of obelisks and Maury was in as well. When I left, I saw cars at the Parker Education Center for the Redefining Comfort Foods program which was facilitated by Basics Cooperative (Janesville). We have a "Wellness theme" this year that will focus on nutrition, excercise, etc. Looks like we'll have a warm up soon and will take the rest of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) down next week if possible. Next week will also include more seed ordering and we'll be having our Volunteer Soup Dinner on Tuesday evening. It's not too late for current, past and future RBG volunteers to RSVP for this event (5 pm - 7 pm) by Monday. Further below, enjoy the other images of this cool pepper. If I was ever asked "What plant, over the years, has received more 'What the heck is that?' type questions?," I would have to say it is this pepper. I usually get a radio call about someone wondering what the plant is with the glossy "olives" and dark foliage.

More White Stuff

2012-01-20T11:25:00.023-06:00

Today was quiet around the Horticulture Center although we did have some volunteers come in throughout the day. It started snowing around 9 am and is supposed to snow for the next 24 hours and deliver a good 6"-7" blanket. Larry and Bill will catch up with snow removal tomorrow as we have a morning event (Reinventing Comfort Foods) and there is a function later in the evening. The top image shows the blue obelisks (formerly pink) that Dr. Gredler and Pat have been working on recently. The finial tops (still pink) will be painted a shiny silver next week. Doc was here today and his next project will be converting those tall (9') yellow obelisks to a lime green. The process involves taking the slats off of one side first so you can get inside that structure. I like the birdhouses on top of those tall obelisks but have not seen them actively used (yet). The image directly above shows some of Dick W.'s handiwork today. He has been helping Del produce more plywood deer cutouts and they are making a couple more sleighs as well. in the back right of that image are some of the pvc pipe planters ready for painting next week. Maury was in for a bit and ran some timely errands for me (including keeping up with the next gallon of paint for Dr. Gredler!). Julie G. stopped by this morning to chat and we talked about some veggie garden ideas for kids. Janice was in most of the morning with her pup (Maggie, directly below). Janice is preparing the information sheets for our plants sale vegetables. These sheets will be what we use at the sale and we'll also include them on our website (http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/). I spent most of the morning ordering seeds and am now dabbling with our moss rose (Portulaca) collection. To the the right is 'Happy Hour Orange' which will be just one of many varieties (60ish?) we'll feature. I also spent some time revising and finalizing Luis' woody plant inventory and have all the shade garden woody plants ready for label production. Sounds like we may see Luis on Monday. I also ordered a lot more pre-cut plant labels so we can keep up in terms of supply and production. Directly above are some of the Step 2 Garden Kneeler & Seats that were donated to us recently. Don't consider this an endorsement; just some observations as we haven't used this brand yet. However, I like the dual use of both a low seat for gardening (or a step stool!) and when flipped over, the kneeling pad is revealed and the legs are now handles for helping the gardener up and down. We have one or two items like this at the gardens and they are used (and preferred) by some of our volunteers. The seat can take 250 lbs. of weight and I was happy to see these are made in the good old U.S.A. To the right is the Step 2 Garden Hopper which also has value out in the garden, rolls and has a little storage area underneath the seat. We received a couple of these as well.

Yesterday afternoon I travelled to the WI DNR Service Center up in Fitchburg, WI to talk with Elizabeth and Jeff (WI DNR Urban Forestry) about a neat grant we received from them to plant some new trees in our parking lot islands. These trees are being selected for not only urban tolerance but as "ash alternatives" with the growing concern about the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) arriving in our area (if it's not here already). The image to the left and directly below show the adult beetles and note the characteristic 'D' shaped exit hole in the picture to the left. We'll have some nice signage for the new trees that will also talk about EAB. We'll be working with the Janesville Shade Tree Advisory Council (JSTAC) on some other education components regarding this topic and hope to have some Arbor Day activities and education as well. Incidentally, check out the JSTAC website info on EAB at www.jstac.org/EAB.html as it has oodles of info and other links regarding this important topic.

The bottom photo shows just some of the many seeds that were recently donated to the gardens by Doreen Howard, a prominent garden writer and tireless advocate for the Plant A Row for the Hungry (PAR) program that was started by the Garden Writers Assocation (GWA) back in 1995. For more information on this program, visit the GWA website at www.gardenwriters.org/ and see the link to PAR. The seeds were donated to Doreen for dispersal by Ferry Morse Seeds (www.ferry-morse.com/). Nancy and Tom, two of our veteran volunteers, are currently organizing hundreds of seed packets and we'll make sure they get in the right hands (primarily children!).

A Good Day For Flannel

2012-01-19T11:35:00.019-06:00

Today was frigid with highs around 6 degrees F (although the wind chill was a major factor too). Needless to say, there wasn't any action out in the gardens today but the Horticulture Center was quite active with about six projects going on at once. At the top are Dick W. (left) and Dick H. (smiling to the right) sporting their flannel shirts today. Directly above is an awesome winter shot that Tina B. shot yesterday. In fact, all of the winter shots in this blog and the "water color" shot of the gazebo at the bottom of this blog were shared by Tina today (thanks Tina!). Tina, Bill O., Kris K. and I had the first meeting of our Photography Contest Committee today that is working on some details for a fun photography contest this spring that will ultimately result in some awesome photos of the gardens being considered for use in our 2013 calendar. Details will be finalized by mid-February but we hope to really promote amateur photography as we know that many people take great pictures of the gardens and this is a way to share with others. We also hope to feature all submittals in some fashion and will include categories for children, youth and adults. Anyway, details to follow soon. To the right is the Bosbag which is a convenient and durable carrying contraption for garden debris, etc. I've been obtaining different products like this (as well as fabric type planters) as I want to evaluate these personally. In regards to this Bosbag, I want to observe durability and will greatly value the opinions of our volunteers. Many of the best garden tools we use at the gardens started as a demo that became more and more popular with our garden staff and/or volunteers. Directly below are more of Tina's nice shots. Sounds like we'll be adding a load of snow to these landscapes tomorrow (100% chance)! As I mentioned, we had lots of action going on inside today. Pat (to the left) and Dr. Gredler continued painting obelisks. The carpenters (Vern, Bob A., Dave and Jim) worked on repairs for our garbage and recycling bins and continued work on our new pvc pipe planters. Bob A. can be seen to the lower right smoothing out some plywood circles that are being secured in the ends of the 8" diameter pvc piping. This will hold the soil in and all these "pipe planters" will be painted next week by Rose (who also popped in with her "better half", Urban). Maury went on a paint run, replaced light fixtures and helped as needed. Dick H. helped with some of this work today and finalized repairs on the truck we'll be selling (hopefully soon!). Del and Dick W. worked on processing more plywood deer and sleigh cutouts and getting them ready for painting. Our carpentry shop was as crowded as ever! Larry and Bill worked on a bunch of project together including replacing the choke cable on our Grasshopper snowblower which will need to be ready tomorrow. The guys also picked up some nice donations from a local vendor that will be quite valuable out in the gardens next year. Marianne came in and worked on processing some seed orders, preparing woody plant stakes and lots of beneficial "purging" of outdated references, seeds, etc. from the break room. We also saw Janice, Gary and many others today. Mary Kay T. (MKT) came in early to talk to me about our recent DNR grant that will allow for new trees in our parking lot islands. MKT is associated with the Janesville Shade Tree Advisory Committee and will be spearheading some efforts regarding education on the implications of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in our area. MKT is also a RBG volunteer and Master Gardener. This discussion related to our grant but also some other educational opportunities that will be coming up this spring (Earth Day and Arbor Day). We had 21 attendees at the Bonsai Basics program last night and Karl Bethke did a top notch job. Don't miss Orchids for Everyone on Wednesday, February 15th (6:30 pm - 8 pm) at the Parker Education Center. Gary started officially as Interim Executive Director today and we appreciate his efforts and commitment to keeping everything running smoothly. I sure like Tina's gazebo shot at the bottom!

Farewell To Kelli

2012-01-18T13:21:00.016-06:00

Today was Kelli's last day and we wish her the best with her new position as Foundation & Alumni Director at Blackhawk Technical College. We had an informal gathering this morning and I presented her with the visor you see above (not the wine) and a RBG T-shirt (VOLUNTEER on the back) for her to wear when she comes back for all our work days this year. We do appreciate her efforts and hope to maintain the momentum that she helped develop over the past 10 months. To the left is what is on top of my "to read" stack at home. It's nice to see this magazine finally appear after hearing about its development over the past couple of months. Wisconsin Gardening looks like a great publication and I was pleased to see the contributions of many that I know in this publication. I believe we'll be selling this in our gift shop but a subscription might also be worthy of consideration. This magazine is from the publishers of Chicagoland Gardening which is another good read. The picture to the right was given to me by my daughter (12) yesterday. She normally sketches animals but has seen me at home buried in catalogs looking at vegetables. She's quite a gardener herself and not a bad artist either. Peruse your catalogs for a wide variety of carrots and beets with the understanding that while they are obviously very nutritious root crops, they always taste better when grown at home! Below is Dr. Gredler continuing his painting project. His painting clothes should ultimately be retired for posterity as they give a long testament to the full color range of our painting conversions over the years! We had a fairly busy day of volunteers coming and going at the Horticulture Center. Nancy was in to continue her work on organizing our reference library. Doreen Howard, a good friend and well-known garden writer/author, stopped by with some donated seed packets that we'll distribute at Earth Day and for various functions. We had a nice lunch and talked "shop". Doreen presented at our spring symposium last spring and continues to write for a wide range of magazines, blogs, etc. Maury was in for various projects and Vern popped by for some carpentry work which included helping Del continue to cutout more plywood deer. Pat and Urban were in to continue pruning trees and shrubs outside and we did a mini-tour to identify some of the next target specimens and focus areas. Dick H. was in to work on finalizing some electrical work on one of our pick-up trucks that we'll be selling shortly (see directly below). Bill O. came in and took the snowblowers out to tidy up some of the primary paths and around the building. We also saw Big John and Mary Kay T. To the left is the weeping Norway spruce (Picea abies 'Pendula') in front of the visitors center. It looks good with some snow on it and those lights you may notice will be removed Monday after our last event in need of the lights is this Saturday. With high temperatures near 40 degrees F early next week, we may lose all our snow cover. To the right is just some of our recent recycling efforts. With metal prices being so good, it's worth the effort to recycle lights, etc. and we thank Chuck S. for taking care of this for so long (including all the aluminum cans we recycle each year). At the bottom is some quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) that my wife and younger daughter prepared last night. I took a quick shot as I thought it would be a great way to promote our "Grains of the World" component of the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Display in 2012. Quinoa has a 5,000 year history of being used for food and we'll display a nice patch this year along with some other nutritious grains.

White Out

2012-01-17T09:51:00.011-06:00

We had snow all morning but only accumulated about 3" of fluff. Larry and Bill kept up with snow removal around the main building but there was no activity out in the gardens. With dropping temperatures, I'm more worried about ice as things freeze up over the next few days. The image above of our Japanese garden is in reference to our first Volunteer Soup Social which is scheduled for January 24th from 5 pm until 7 pmish or so. We did three of these last winter and they were very well attended. I typically do a presentation at the each of these and will focus on Japanese gardens (including our own!) at this event. I've organized photos of many of the Japanese gardens I've seen around the country and am looking forward to presenting the topic. If you are a current, past or potential volunteer at RBG, consider joining us that evening. I'll also be talking about 2012 plans out in the gardens. You can call our gift shop at (608) 752-3885 (ext. 0) and RSVP. There is no charge for this event although donations are welcome. The pyramidal yew (Taxus sp.) to the left was taken today and gives a better indication of our current weather pattern. We'll start checking the gardens over tomorrow for deer tracks to see where they are coming in and nibbling. Larry and Bill put out some deer repellants this past week in the hopes of keeping them away from some of the tastier specimens. Below is a shot of my current project which is the continuation of major seed ordering. This is one of my larger seed orders which will include many of the specialty annuals, ornamental edibles and many of our plants for the Smelly Garden. The second photo down shows my spreadsheet which will also be utilized for organizing the seeds by grower, quantity, garden destination and also for label production. I used to write descriptions for all of the annuals but now that we have over 800 varieties each year, I just don't have the time. We had a couple volunteers trickle in today. Bill O. helped with snow removal but he and Larry also continued hauling processed Holiday Lights Show (HLS) items up to the garage for storage. Dr. Gredler was in to continue his painting conversion (pink to blue) of his first eight obelisks. Del was here to work on creating more plywood sleighs and deer for the HLS. We have more room this time of year in the Horticulture Center so he prepares many of these items early in the year. Janice came in briefly and we talked about our vegetable order for the spring plant sale. I hope to have all those seeds ordered in the next two weeks. If you want a 'Sweet Banana' bell pepper to go with your 'Hawaiian Pineapple' heirloom tomato, 'Bolivian Rainbow' hot pepper and 'Lemondrop' basil....we'll have what you need! We should have all the plant sale lists and descriptions up on our website (www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org) by the end of February. I still need to order our additional herbs but we'll have no trouble offering a wide selection. To the right is snow on a dwarf concolor fir (Abies concolor 'Compacta') in front of the Parker Education Center this morning.

At the bottom is a bonsai specimen that I photographed at The Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanic Gardens in San Marino, CA. Tomorrow evening, January 18th, is the Bonsai Basics talk by Karl Bethke of the Badger Bonsai Society (6:30 pm - 8 pm). RBG Members are $5, all others are $10. We hope for a great showing at this lecture and all our educational events at RBG. Check out our website for additional information on our spring symposium which is themed as "Create An Engaging Garden".

Seed Orders, Etc.

2012-01-16T11:36:00.021-06:00

I spent a good portion of the day continuing my seed ordering efforts. My hope is to have all the seed ordering complete by the end of the month so we can organize our seeds with custom labels and sort them by grower in early February. With temperatures warming to around 40 degrees F and some sporadic sunshine, we had a pretty good turnout of volunteers as is typical for a Monday. The top image is a portion of our entrance sign that was removed to make room for the new digital sign. This symbol was created before I started at RBG and still exists in a couple locations around the gardens. I always liked that graphic and note the arched bridge and gazebo on there. Years ago Rotary International had some issues with RBG using their cog wheel logo (center of that symbol) and we had to stop using it in any way at the gardens after being strongly "discouraged" from doing so (long story). Nice shot of the arched bridge to the left.

The image directly above shows Larry H. (left) and Dennis (right) out in the gardens removing stakes that were part of the Holiday Lights Show event. Larry and Dennis are relatively new Grumpies but have fit in quite well and work nicely together. Marv and Dick W. were also out in the gardens bringing back some HLS remnants for processing. Rollie helped the guys out in the gardens as well. Urban and Pat were out doing more pruning and we'll do another "tour" shortly to identify more pruning priorities. Bill O. helped tidy up after the pruning team and also helped repair our snowblower with Dick H. and Larry (right). We've had recent issues with both our snowblowers but they are now ready to rock and roll. To the above right is Luis who has started assisting Gary with producing woody plant labels for the collection that he just inventoried. Gary and Luis caught up to me quickly today and the labels continue to consistently churn out. Marianne was in to organize some brochures and she also helped prepare some label stakes in advance of sign installation. Del was working on some carpentry tasks while Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued to cut and process the large pvc pipes for my elevated, horizontal planters. Further below and to the left is Vern continuing this work. We'll paint these pipes very shortly. We also saw Maury (ran many errands for us), Kelli, Polly, Chuck S. and others today. Directly below are some geese in their 'V' formation headed over the gardens. The other image shows all the trash and recycle bins from the gardens that will be repaired and painted before going back out in the gardens this spring. I would estimate that we have about 85% of the HLS show taken down and processed. There are still some items (mostly frozen in the ground) out there but we also have lights left up around the main building for a function this weekend. We'll try to get those down early next week if the weather cooperates. That warm weather allowed for a pretty good run of takedown efforts for the show although we know it could have easily been the opposite side of the weather spectrum too. We're starting to prepare for more indoor work as we continue with winter weather. We brought in the first eight obelisks (right) for a new coat of paint (blue). Dr. Gredler has started this conversion already although he pointed out the bottom of the obelisks (seen directly below) and noted they have already been blue and orange in the past! I think some of our oldest obelisks are going on their fifth color! We'll keep up with repainting and staining efforts over the coming months knowing that spring isn't as far away as it might seem. The Bonsai Basics lecture will be held this Wednesday, January 18th from 6:30 pm - 8 pm at the Parker Education Center. Karl Bethke of the Badger Bonsai Society will be giving the lecture. RBG Friends Members are $5 while others are asked for a $10 participation fee. Kris has put together a nice lecture series and a dynamite spring symposium (March 24). Check out www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information. At the bottom are some of our HLS displays awaiting final storage.

Fun Up North

2012-01-14T19:14:00.011-06:00

It's hard to believe that I left yesterday for my speaking engagement and am back and even more inspired about our upcoming spring after presenting up in Amherst, WI for the Garden Dreams symposium sponsored by the Portage County Master Gardener Volunteers. More on that later but I should mention that all of these photos were taken yesterday at Ed Lyon's home in Oregon, WI. I picked him up and we travelled together as he was also a speaker this morning at the symposium.

Not much to report from Friday. After our 5" of snow the night prior, I spent most of the morning with a snowblower and shovel. Thankfully Bill O. came in and helped out and despite having to tow back our Grasshopper (with large snowblower attachment) due to a broken choke cable, we took care of the snow removal efforts. I also saw Maury and Dr. Gredler but left around lunch time to go pick up Ed. Ed's home garden is on a residential lot on a major street in Oregon (WI) and is packed solid with plantings from front to back. I've enjoyed visits in the past during the growing season but didn't hesitate to grab my camera yesterday as he truly has a "four seasons" garden with plenty of winter interest. Note the dried arrangements in the top photo near his front door. What a great use of grasses, hydrangea, sedum, etc. To the right is one of his winter containers and the kale (Brassica) is still offering some interest. To the left is his neat "dragon" arch that leads up the front walk. Ed has an unbelievable variety of perennials and woody plants in his small garden (mostly shade) and I'm sure it has plenty of curb appeal as well.

Travel conditions up to Amherst, WI (just east of Stevens Point) were fine both going and coming back today. Amherst is also home to Central Waters Brewery and they make some yummy brews. We arrived at the Amherst Inn (www.amherstinn.com/) which is a nice B&B run by Bob and Tom. Both Ed and I had stayed their previously and enjoyed the hospitality and catching up with the fellas. This morning we had an early start to head over the the symposium. It was a great crowd (198 attendees) and Ed and I both mentioned how energetic and engaged the crowd was for the topics. I had some awesome conversations with some of the attendees and love speaking at that event. My talk on "Late Blooming Perennials" and Ed's talk on "Ornamental Grasses" were well received and while we didn't stay long enough to hear Samantha P. (from Olbrich Botanical Gardens) talk about "Container Gardens", I'm sure she had a great talk as well. Olbrich has some of the most creative container arrangements I've ever seen. We had a safe trip (2 hours) back to Oregon and talked about all things horticulture and the time went quickly. To the right is another of Ed's winter arrangements and the two photos below show the drying fruit of the beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma 'Early Amethyst', I believe) that I didn't think would grow in our climate but was doing fine in Ed's yard. I'll be trying this one at RBG next year. Lots coming up on the RBG schedule including the Bonsai Basics talk next Wednesday evening (January 18th, 6:30 pm - 8 pm, $5 for Friends Members, $10 for others). Check out our website at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for information on other upcoming opportunities including our Spring Symposium (March 24).

A Winter Wonderland Arrives

2012-01-12T13:19:00.013-06:00

Visually add another 3" of snow to the image above (taken around 9:30 am) and that is the snow we've received thus far today. As I type, it's still coming down and I think the prediction is for about 5" of snow ending tomorrow morning. The roads tomorrow afternoon should be good for my trip up north with Ed Lyon for the Garden Dreams symposium in Amherst, WI on Saturday. I've developed an anxiety about travelling on icy roads after a "white knuckle" incident years ago with the RBG truck and trailer on my way up to the Garden Expo in Madison. I hit black ice at about 60 mph and am not sure how I avoided a potentially fatal roll over in the worst location to slide off the road. Whether divine intervention or blind luck, I'll take it (and never forget it). While I'm glad we're getting the snow, that insulating blanket has much more value when the ground is already frozen as it helps keep the soil frozen and minimizes fluctuations and root damage/heaving. However, snow on unfrozen ground will insulate the unfrozen ground and slow that process. Oh well, no use worrying about it but we may see some repercussions in terms of plant damage in spring. Time will tell.

Despite the weather, we had a great group of volunteers come in today. The next three images show some of the new "grow bags" that are essentially reinforced fabric containers that will hold soil and can be placed on the deck, patio, balcony, etc. I've seen these over the past couple of years and we thought we'd experiment with some of these and evaluate how well they work as compared to a standard clay or plastic container. We'll plant and display these out in our Ornamental Edible and Compact Vegetable display and are interested in how they perform and what visitors think about them. In theory they appear effective but the "proof is in the pudding" as they say.

Larry H. and Dennis headed out in the snow to continue hauling back the white pines (Pinus strobus) from the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) for imminent chipping in to our mulch pile. Both guys were pretty soaked by the end of the morning as was Pat M. who went out to continue pruning. Dick H. and Dick P. hauled all manner of items to our storage shed (off site) and helped with some other projects. We welcomed a new Grumpy today (John M.) who helped with some of the indoor work that was prevalent today. Dr. Gredler continued wrapping up lights as Dick W. took them off the pvc arches (lower right). Bill O. continued to wrap up the larger cords while Larry kept a constant stream of processed HLS supplies moving up to the garage for 9 months of storage until they're dragged out again for testing and set-up! The carpenters (Dave, Bob A., Vern and Jim) continued repairing and repainting our garbage bins (see Bob A. in the second photo from the bottom). To the left are Jim and Dave processing our 10' long, 8" diameter pvc pipes for elevated, horizontal planters. I'm excited about this and the guys will prepare 10 of these that will be painted before we get them out in spring for planting. Gary continued printing out more tree & shrub labels on the laser engraver, almost completing our woodland walk area. He and Luis will meet Monday to start work on the woody plant labels for the Scottish garden. Maury was in working on various projects and we also saw Tom C., Amanda, Janice and others today.

I only finished two seed orders today but was drawn in some different directions as we're preparing for our newsletter, finalizing 2011 expenses and some other event preparations. I may not have time to blog tomorrow but will catch up Monday if not sooner. Janice and I talked about veggies for the spring plant sale and she has a nice assortment including some very showy hot peppers (Capsicum sp.) like 'Pretty in Purple' as seen at the bottom.

The Last Best Day For Awhile?

2012-01-11T12:17:00.015-06:00

Today was another warm one with temperatures around 49 degrees F. Tomorrow looks like highs in the mid 20 degrees F with some snow coming in over the next two days. The Janesville Gazette ran a nice front page article this morning on the recent weather trends and the article featured photos of snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) and hellebores (Helleborus sp.) poking up at RBG. Bill O. (a RBG volunteer too) took those nice shots. While I'm not excited about imminent shoveling exercise, I'm glad we can get back to temperatures that are better for the garden. I had many people today update me on what was poking up in their gardens too. The top photo is Dr. Gredler wrapping up lights amongst the reindeer. We had a great volunteer turnout today and I think many showed up for outdoor work knowing that tomorrow will be less enticing with the snow and high winds. To the left is the rough, ornamental bark of the Turkish filbert (Corylus colurna) which is unfortunately not very well known. This is a great urban tree with a conical form early, ornamental bark and few insect/disease problems. While Japanese beetles have been nibbling on other filberts, we've only seen minor damage on this species. To the right is a variegated wood rush (Luzula sylvatica 'Marginata') which is a close relative of true grasses. This perennial stays evergreen thru the winter and has done very well in partly shaded areas with dry soil. We have many varieties of this species including other variegated forms and a gold-leaf variety as well ('Solar Flair'). To the left is my stack of catalogs to still go thru and create orders. The stack is growing, not shrinking as I can't keep up with the postal service as more arrive daily! The seed heads to the right are on the Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) which is a woody shrub for us that can get 10' tall or so with late season (August-October) blooms in a wide range of whites, pinks and blues. I thought these capsules looked tulip-shaped as I walked by a couple days ago.

Aside from Dr. Gredler, we had Ron W. and Larry H. out in the gardens hauling back the white pine (Pinus strobus) trees that were part of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) display. The bottom photo shows the growing stack with Larry H. in the distance on the gator. Pat and Urban were out doing more pruning while Terry and Marv continued taking down and bringing in lights. They ran in to some challenging lights that were wrapped intensely around trees and were difficult to collect. We'll have to really establish some quality control and set-up standards for decoration as we have so many people involved but want to make sure we can streamline both set-up and take down. To the left is the ornamental bark of the Sikhote pine (Pinus funebris) which is native to Korea and growing quite well for us not far from the rose garden.

Marianne was also in today and finished peeling more labels for our laser engraver. She also did a nice job cleaning up the office and break room. Maury was also here briefly and he took me to his weekly Golden Kiwanis meeting where I did a short presentation on RBG for a group of about 70. I had presented to this group on two previous occasions but it was nice to touch base again and talk about last year (while promoting 2012 plans, potential volunteer involvement and memberships too!). Five of our Grumpies were in the room (Maury, Dick P., Dick H., Gary and Dick K.) and it was nice to recognize them too. We also saw Mary W., Dick W., Pat H. and others as well. Dick W. purchased a brand new STIHL hedge trimmer for us that will be quite handy for not only shearing but cutting back grasses and other duties. To the right are Gena and Myrt who continued efforts today on removing lights off pvc pipes that formerly served as lit arches in the HLS. With snow on the way, we'll focus on some indoor projects and I'll see how many seed catalogs I can get thru tomorrow!

Can We Get Back To January?

2012-01-10T13:03:00.023-06:00

This continued warm spell has certainly been confusing for both plants and animals (including humans). It looks like the weather will start to cool down a bit thru the rest of the week but it's still unseasonably warm. It's odd to see Wisconsinites in t-shirts in January but these days have been quite balmy. Our Horticulture Center is adjacent to the Blackhawk Golf Course driving range and we've seen a flurry of activity out in that area over the past couple of days. As I walked thru the gardens today, I saw plenty of evidence of early emergence on both perennials and spring bulbs. Those in sunny spots or next to a "warm rock" were poking up a good 1" or so. This emergence reminds me of what we would see in mid March. A blanket of snow will insulate these nicely and these early emergers are quite frost tolerant. I worry about severe low temperatures combined with lack of snow in terms of potential damage. At the top is one of our early hellebores (Helleborus purpurascens) poking up in the color rooms garden and directly above is the winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis). Another week of 40 degrees F and those winter aconites would be blooming! To the right are the cones on the Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi) which is one of my favorite deciduous conifers. We have an "informal" garden area called the larch area based on the fact that there are a combination of European, American and Japanese larches punctuated thru this small area overlooking the pond.

We had another dedicated group of volunteers here today that took full advantage of the weather. Larry O. kept busy with more Holiday Lights Show (HLS) work and has been the mastermind with packing lights, cords, displays away in our small garage. He certainly maximizes our space. To the left are Pat (left) and Urban (right) continuing their second straight day of pruning in the Japanese garden. Their teamwork is quite impressive as they collectively tackle anything they can reach from our orchard ladders. Dick W. and Larry H. were here to continue bringing in HLS lights and cords. Dr. Gredler continued taking lights off of obelisks and had kept up with coiling and storing our drop cords as they arrive at the Horticulture Center. Janice was in to work on various projects including seed ordering and working with Nancy N. on re-organizing our reference library. Maury was here for various projects and activities including our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee that also included Iza, Gary, Dr. Gredler, Big John, Hal and Dick P. Gary also printed off more woody plant labels. We also saw Mary W., Neil, Bill O. and many others today. The plywood leaf cutout (48" high by 32" wide) to the right is one of forty that will be offered in early February for our 2012 Art in the Gardens project (like the butterflies of last year and daisies the year prior...).
Above is our new digital sign although I took the photo around 11 am when it was 50 degrees F! The software was installed later today so we can keep on top of changing messages and other information as needed. I think the sign looks classy and the digital lettering is not overbearing. We're considering some small, directional downlighting on the logo for better visibility at night though. We will use this sign to announce coming events, encourage memberships, collections of interest, welcome information for VIPS, weddings, etc. and I'm sure my birthday will be part of the rotation as well. The ornamental grass above is the little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues') still looking good with remnants of fall color and backlit seedheads (in the formal gardens). In walking around the gardens, I continue to notice colorful conifers and am glad we have planted such a wide variety of colors and forms around the gardens. To the right is a compact, golden Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis 'Aurea Compacta') in the Hosta Hollow garden. Although the needles look "chartreusy" close-up, the plant "reads" as a gold and will have the most gold coloration later yet this winter. To the left is another golden conifer of merit out in the gardens (near the shade garden). This is the golden Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana 'Golden Spreader') which we hope will fill out to be a nice rounded specimen. The foliage is yellow throughout the year and we provide some afternoon shade to keep the needles from burning. For a nice blue conifer, the compact corkbark fir (Abies lasiocarpa var. arizonica 'Compacta') is looking quite nice in our color rooms garden. This smaller-scaled conifer (upright) would be perfect in a home landscape situation and has done very well for us.

Further below is a shot of our koi pond and you'll note a tank heater (circular, red, floating) in the corner of the pond. We get frequent questions about what we do with the fish in the pond. If you look in the lower center of the image, you'll see the faint color from both a white and orange koi hanging out in the bottom. We leave the tank heater in to keep the ice open although we don't need to feed the fish over the winter as they are quite inactive until the water warms up significantly. We check this heater often as we don't want solid, thick ice as that will affect oxygen levels in the pond and could be damaging to the fish. The bottom photo shows some frosted bugleweed (Ajuga sp.) still offering a splash of color in our snowless landscape.

A Sign of the Times

2012-01-09T11:45:00.025-06:00

My blog title has a double meaning. The first reference is to our brand new, cool entrance sign that arrived today (see above and to the right) and was being installed throughout the morning. My second meaning was a reference to the crazy weather patterns we're seeing with yet another winter day that is more like April than January! More on that later. Tom and Maury were to finish connecting the electrical service to this sign once installation was complete. The new sign has a double-sided digital display (the black box underneath) that will be programmed with information and messages from a computer in the Parker Education Center. I believe the lettering is not the uber-bright red but a "tasteful orange." There was some debate about having a digital sign in this area and it actually took City Council approval for an allowance to install this sign. The sign itself (installed by JNB Signs) is being entirely funded by a generous contribution from the Morning Rotary Club. Years ago they mentioned a donation and we had looked at the option of a new information kiosk. However, I'm pleased that discussions shifted to this sharp entrance sign that should have some nice impact (and visibility) along Palmer Drive. We'll have to keep surrounding plantings under 18" for visibility issues but that wont be difficult.

We had another great turnout of volunteers helping in the office, Horticulture Center and out in the gardens. To the above left is Del taking lights off of the tree cutout display that he actually built a couple years ago. We had lots of activity with the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) takedown this morning and the cords (some to the right) keep coming in regularly. Marv, Terry and Dick W. focused on removing lights, displays and obelisks from the formal gardens while Rollie and Larry H. continued removing lights from various trees and shrubs. Larry O. was in the reception garden taking down the overhead "pavilion" of lights. Pat (directly below) checked over our deer protection fencing and burlap and re-secured as needed. We're seeing deer poop and hoof prints so know they are scoping things out recently. He and Urban then moved on to some serious pruning in the Japanese garden. They are focusing on trees that will be less fun to prune when it is 0 degrees and 24" of snow. Dick P. and Dick H. started taking lights off the pvc arches that were brought back inside on Saturday by Larry and Bill. Dr. Gredler continued to remove lights from obelisks while Dave, Jim and Bob A. finished building/securing the new, custom-made bookshelf in the Horticulture Center office. Marianne was in to work on some projects including preparing more labels for Gary while Gary worked on producing more signs and started training Luis on our new labeling protocols. We also saw Kelli, Mary W., Rose and Bob T. Further below the photo of Pat laughing (not rare!) directly below, are Marv and Terry bringing in deer cutouts and Dick H. and Dr. Gredler packing away lights this morning. I had a call from Stan Stricker on WCLO radio today for a short interview on the potential impacts of having such mild winter conditions thus far in December and January. We talked about the concern that some plants might be triggered to emerge early as seen to the lower left with this 'Pink Frost' hellebore (Helleborus sp.) poking up this morning (8 weeks early). I also saw more evidence of early spring bulbs taking a peak to see if it is late March already. We also talked about the lack of snow and the importance of having a winter with not only sufficient snow but some severe cold that will help keep some insect populations in check later this year. While the mild weather has been a boon for HLS takedown, pruning, late mulching, etc., I do hope we get caught up with some winter conditions ASAP. To the right is the dried flower structure of the Quickfire panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Bulk') that started blooming back in late June of last year. New growth will shed these bloom structures but they do offer something in the winter months as well.

I ordered seeds (and some plants) from four more catalogs today (The Cook's Garden, Select Seeds, Natural Gardening Company, Abundant Life Seeds). Ah, the simple joys of perusing catalogs for fun plants to try out in the gardens. I also talked to one of our custom growers and am excited about our 2012 acquisitons. Although I'm only up to about 70 varieties of annuals, I still haven't gone thru 90% of our catalogs including our big suppliers. I'll be up in Portage County this Saturday with Ed Lyon (Allen Centennial Gardens Director) and Sam P. (Olbrich Botanical Gardens) as all of our presenting at the Garden Dreams symposium hosted by the Portage County Master Gardener Volunteers and UW-Extension. Looks like travel conditions will be favorable and thanks to Char for arranging another neat event (I've done this one for three years straight). Lots more seed ordering and presentation preparations this week. To the right is a nice frosty shot of the prairie this morning although the frost didn't last long with the quick warm up. I've shown the plant directly below back in December and am amazed how well the foliage of the 'Electric Lime' coral bells (Heuchera) has held up yet this winter. At the bottom is a photo of Kelli and the gang at break this morning. The group expressed their appreciation of Kelli (and vice versa) and we all wish her the best as she transitions to a new job in the coming weeks.

A Balmy 50 Degrees F

2012-01-06T10:40:00.026-06:00

Today was another balmy day in the January garden with temperatures right at 50 degrees F. The image to the left is a shot of heron sculptures frozen in the lower fern/moss garden pond. We wont have much ice left after this warm weather but the shoreline ice patterns (right) caught my eye yesterday. Our 3 acre pond rarely freezes over as it is fed by multiple natural springs. Of course that means a Canadian geese population over the entire winter although the adjacent Lion's Pond freezes fairly well. We're looking at some options for maintaining water quality in our pond as we have not had the time (or funding) to do much over the past couple of years and the water quality, particularly in May thru August, is quite poor. The City of Janesville used to have money in their budget (Parks Department) for pond treatments but with tight budgets, that funding has not been available for over five years. The female cottonwood (Populus deltoides) population contributes to much of the debris every mid-spring with millions of drifting seeds. To the left is a nice patch of moss on a rock in the Japanese garden. The mosses are loving this weather and they photosynthesize year round if the sun can reach them. To the right is the remaining foliage (dead) of the golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold') in our boulder wall. I've taken dozens of pictures of this planting as it's matured over the years and looks great most of the year with the only "down time" in early April when we cut it back.

We had a nice volunteer turn out today with Dennis coming in to continue taking down lights. He focused on our icicle lights on structures and the overall progress on Holiday Lights Show (HLS) closure is going at a record pace. Temperatures next week indicate continued mild temperatures and we could have most of the show down by next Friday. Urban and Pat came in to work on pruning and some of the last cutting back of perennials out in the gardens. They focused on the far west side of our property which includes the garden areas between the Parker Education Center and Lion's Beach. They also worked near the new North Point garden and cut back a wide array of perennials that we didn't tackle back in the fall. As much as I lament the lack of snow and disconcerting warm temperatures, we would be foolish not to take advantage of this temporary "window". The work the guys did today will free up time in April when we would have accomplished those efforts. There is still plenty of pruning to accomplish and we should see more progress next week. To the left is the showy bark of the 'Whitespire Senior' grey birch (Betula populifolia) which really shows in winter. Although short-lived compared to maples and oaks, the white-barked birches have a charm all their own. To the upper right is some lily-turf (Liriope spicata) with light frost (photo from yesterday). This grass-like perennial is a great groundcover for us although it does spread significantly in rich soils. This is not a true grass but offers nice texture along a path as seen here. To the left is the ornamental bark of the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) in the arboretum. I like the texture and the hints of red on this deciduous conifer. Take the time to enjoy the contribution of colorful bark and stems in the winter landscape. To the right is the seed pod of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) which caught my eye in our prairie yesterday.

Today we also saw Janice who continued going thru catalogs to select vegetable varieties for our collections and the spring plant sale in particular. She is focusing on heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, basil varieties and is locating those vegetable varieties that have been developed for higher nutrient value. We should have some awesome offerings at our spring plant sale (May 12, 13, 14, 9 am - 4 pm daily) which will include oodles of herbs. All our plant offerings for the plant sale will eventually be on our website. Additionally, we had Dr. Gredler and Bill O. in to wrap cords and also saw Maury, Big John, Bill O. (we have two!) and some others. Below is a cool sonnet that Janice wrote recently. Very neat. All I know about sonnets is that they have fourteen lines. Well done Janice!

Throw Me Into The Compost Heap

And so throw me into the compost heap.

My vines have withered and my leaves decay.

I have no fruit, no seeds for you to reap.

My beauty, like your love, has gone away.

Yet, when I was young and barely rooted

You chose me! It was springtime, all was new!

I gave you air and love undisputed,

You gave me sunshine, nutrients and dew.

But now the snow falls and you are alone

With catalogs, searching for your next Eve.

A new variety, a sport well-cloned,

Double-flowered with variegated leaves.

I but pray she's perfect in form and hue

And never reverts, and always grows true.

Feels Like April In Many Ways Today!

2012-01-05T11:14:00.021-06:00

Today reminded me of the activity at the gardens that we normally observe as we head in to April! Not only was there lots going with a multitude of volunteers, but with temperatures in the mid 40 degrees F, it was a great day to be outside. Tomorrow will be close to 50 degrees F! The top picture shows some of the fruits on the 'Winter King' green hawthorn (Crataegus viridis 'Winter King') near Palmer Drive which has these showy fruits from late September thru much of the winter until the birds clear them off. We had lots of volunteers come in to help with the continued takedown of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) today. Above are Gena (left) and Myrt (right) working on coiling and storing just a fraction of our 6 miles of extension cords. Dr. Gredler was inside as well removing more lights from obelisks and Bill O. started working on the larger orange and green cords seen to the right in the image above. We were short two carpenters (Vern and Bob A.) but Dave and Jim (left) were here to start the installation of some custom-made shelving in the Horticulture Center office. These shelves will house our expanding reference libary and the guys have again shown their talents. To the right is some frost on donkeytail spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) which is such a nice architectural plant, particularly along pathways and low walls where it can cascade. This plant can reseed rampantly in warmer climates though. I took all of these photos today on my nice (and rare!) winter jaunt around the gardens. I found plenty of interesting things to look at but am still hoping for some nice blanketing snow in the near future. We had a weird power outage today which affected some activities at both our buildings and thwarted Gary's efforts to continue producing more tree/shrub labels. Gary can be seen directly below. To the right is Dick P. collecting icicle lights this morning in the warm sunshine. Other helpers included Marv, Terry, Dennis, Ron, Dick H., Dick W., Larry and we had Pat in the afternoon. Pat & Dr. Gredler worked on cord coiling all afternoon. We also saw Mary W., Kelli, Maury, Vern (briefly), Kris, Janice and others over at the Horticulture Center today. Further below is one of our Japanese garden yews (Taxus sp.) enjoying the sunlight and deer protection (bird netting). We haven't seen much deer damage (yet) as that usually becomes evident after the snow piles up and ground foraging is not available. We saw a bald eagle today too which isn't unusual. We had some news today that our Executive Director, Kelli, is resigning her position at RBG to take a position at Blackhawk Technical College as the Director of their foundation and alumni association. We wish her the best and thank her for her past 9.5 months here at RBG. Gary Smith, a Board Member and volunteer, will be our interim Executive Director for the third time in the past six years! We appreciate his help with the transition and look forward to another good year out in the gardens and with our events, education oppportunities and fundraising. To the right is Dick H. wrapping lights this morning. He and Dick P. (above right) like to match their red hats which is quite odd. To the left is the "architecturally cool" seed head of a purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea 'Prairie Splendor') out in the gardens this morning. Structures like this do double duty of offering visual interest and food for wildlife.

Our first lecture offering of the year is coming up in less than two weeks on Wednesday evening, January 18th at 6:30 pm at the Parker Education Center. We'll have Karl Bethke from the Badger Bonsai Society (http://badgerbonsai.wordpress.com/) coming to talk about Bonsai Basics. The lecture fee is $5 for RBG members and $10 for others (walk-ins welcome). He'll also be doing a hands-on workshop in the spring on this same subject. I'm excited about this as we've never had this topic presented at RBG and look forward to having Karl here. On Saturday, January 21st (10 am - 11:30 am), we'll be hosting a demo/tasting event called Reinventing Winter Comfort Foods that will be facilitated by Basics Cooperative (Janesville) at the Parker Education Center. Details including fees and pre-registration information is on our website (www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org). To the right is Ron W. taking lights off of the obelisks in the reception garden. Right after this photo was taken he asked whom he could "thank" for the creative application of lights on these eight obelisks (Big John) which was creating major headaches for the un-decoration process. I was asked years ago to never put lights on a tree again unless I was willing to take those same lights off! That's why I stick with cords. Below are two more colorful photos from today. Directly below are the needles of the Korean fir (Abies koreana) that show such nice silvering on the undersides of the slightly recurved needles. At the bottom is one of the ornamental kales (Brassica) that Marv and Terry planted back in September.

Efforts Continue

2012-01-04T10:40:00.017-06:00

We had an elite crew here this morning to continue dismantling and packing away the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). Above is Urban who emptied the sand out of 2,000 half gallon milk jug luminaries and packed the jugs away in bags for storage until next October. We've had some of these jugs for over 10 years and will need to replace some as they do become brittle with age. We'll take any donations as long as they are clean and "sticker-less." I could always identify a new visitor to the HLS when I heard positive comments about the luminaries that lined most of the paths of the show. We've used these for the past 13 annual shows and they are showy and functional. Dennis and Larry H. were in as well and headed out in to the gardens to start taking light strands off of our temporary white pine (Pinus strobus) trees that were donated back in November. This task is timely so we can get the trees hauled back for chipping in to our mulch pile (used later this year) and we'll then be able to get the stakes out of the ground before they freeze too solid. The image to the right shows our notched wrapping boards that our carpenters have made that allow for easy wrapping and storage of a standard (100 bulb) strand of lights. We wrap as much outside as possible and Larry has been packing and storing crates as we fill them. The black crate seen there is one of hundreds that we've saved from past spring bulb orders. Our quantity orders (in fall) of tulips (Tulipa), daffodils (Narcissus) and ornamental onions (Allium) typically come in these heavy duty crates. They stack nicely and are better being used then sitting in a landfill in perpetuity. I'll be blogging more about plastic usage in horticulture later this winter. UGH!

I made two seed orders today and am currently working on our biggest order which accounts for about 50% of our seeds. To the above left is the new Pinetree Garden Seeds (www.superseeds.com) catalog which has a nice assortment of seed, plants and garden-related products. I also ordered from Park Seed (www.parkseed.com) today and hope to get thru 2-3 catalogs each day. Ordering the seeds is only the first step in a five step process. The next steps include receiving/organizing the seeds, matching color-coded labels to each, sorting them by grower (+ delivery) and then finally pick up the finished product in May or early June. We have two primary growers for our seeds and have added a third this year. We also have three other growers that are ordering/starting vegetative selections for us as well. To the right and directly below was Dr. Gredler's project today as he unwrapped over 32 obelisks and has plenty more to go. We also saw Rose and Maury today.

While I consider all of our HLS efforts over the next month or two to be closure for 2011, we still have plenty of work to accomplish both inside and out for 2012. This "down season" goes all too quickly I've learned. While Larry, Bill, Urban and Pat started some significant pruning back in December, we'll need to continue our efforts over the next three months as we still have plenty of thinning, trimming and about six significant removals. To the left is a textbook pruning cut (don't flush cut!) in the arboretum which is just the start of our pruning efforts. The lack of snow is very concerning as we need the insulating blanket that will then provide needed moisture as it melts. I can't say I didn't mind not running the snowblower for the HLS (or at home!) in December but the snow would be welcome any time soon. However, we can currently access the entire garden and will take full advantage of this factor with the continuation of our pruning efforts. I think Pat and Urban will continue pruning tomorrow. In a couple of weeks, we'll start repainting our obelisks, re-sealing benches and the carpenters have some "new creations" yet to build. Our indoor projects are numerous as they relate to ordering plants and figuring out our collections. However, a huge priority is the continuation of our labeling momentum. New grant funding will allow us to bulk up heavily on labeling supplies (pre-cut labels for perennials and woodies) as well as aluminum stakes, etc. Gary already has a good start on the woodies based on Luis' comprehensive inventory. To the above right is a bear-foot hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) in the gazebo garden that I photographed right before Christmas. This evergreen perennial actually does look good even thru tough winters and laughs at winter temperatures. It's starting to send up it's flower stalks (early) as it typically blooms in late winter (normally late February / early March). Flowers are lime green, small arching bells. This plant is also called stinking hellebore or dungwort although those names don't refer to a flower odor but the smell of the crushed foliage (haven't tried it yet). Directly below is a sunset shot I took last week of the geese out on Lion's Pond (west of the Parker Education Center) on very thin ice. They were positioned nicely to enjoy the HLS and the sound of geese was part of the holiday experience. The bottom photo shows the annual effort that Marianne does (as a volunteer) each year as she collects, mounts and saves all articles, ads, publications, etc. that relate to the gardens. She has done this since 2005 and these huge binders have enormous value for future readers and we appreciate Marianne's efforts and scrapbooking skills.

2011 Closure and 2012 Preparations

2012-01-03T11:22:00.012-06:00

The Holiday Lights Show (HLS) is officially over although we'll be leaving some of the lights up around the Parker Education Center for some rentals yet this month. This was a record HLS with attendance numbers around 10,400. We had some great marketing and exposure throughout Northern IL and in surrounding counties (WI) that brought many newcomers to this event. Some advertising/exposure on NBC15 (Madison) was certainly helpful too! We did cancel one night (December 30th) because of excessive moisture (rain/slush) as I couldn't keep most of the show on. However, this event went well and as a fundraiser, was very timely during our "down period." A big thank you to all the volunteers that helped with set-up and facilitation and are now helping with the monumental task of taking the show down and packing it up. We also had some wonderful sponsors of this event as well as much appreciated donations. The image above shows just some of the 2,000 milk jug luminaries that were picked up today. These all have to come in to thaw before we dump out the bottom layer of sand, used to anchor them out in the show. Despite the 9 degrees F start to the morning, we had some tough volunteers join Larry out in the gardens for the start of this process. I saw Big John, Marv, Terry, Ron W., Dick H., Pat M. and Urban. Bill was here as well and Dr. Gredler (to the left) started removing lights from obelisks and wrapping up cords as they came in to thaw. Maury was around and did some work Larry orchestrates the take down as it is very weather dependent and we try to bring in as much as possible before we get real sour weather. On Saturday, Larry and Bill pulled up most of the primary cords that were buried under gravel pathways as we'd rather do it now than in March! Below are Larry (left) and Dick H. (right) taking down some of our dangling icicle lights. Their scowls have something to do with me being to delicate to come outside and join the fun. Warmer weather later this week will result in quite a bit of the HLS coming down in short order. After spending half the day catching up with bills, mail and emails, I now have to prioritize my indoor projects. Seed ordering, while being the most fun, is also the most daunting project as I am (as I type), looking at a stack of 60 or so seed catalogs. I've already done the "initial peruse" of most of these and circled some fun stuff. However, we need to order seeds for not only the grounds but also our plant sale offerings. Janice is assisting and we'll really get in to it this week and next. With the Wisconsin Public Television sponsored Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com) coming up in early February (10-12), I'm also working on some ideas for our booth and preparing three presentations (Annuals of Interest, Gardening Vertically and Eat Your Landscape). This event is always lots of fun and one of our best opportunities to expose the gardens to potential visitors (and supporters!). I'll get most of my spring presentations prepared this month and am looking forward to some new topics. To the right is Vern repainting one of our garbage bins today. The carpenters have plenty of 2012 work cut out for them and no shortage of projects. We also saw Bob A., Rollie, Deb G., Janice and Nancy N. today. Nancy (bottom photo) is helping Janice reorganize our ever-growing reference library which has benefitted from some very substantial book donations in 2011.

It looks like RBG ended 2011 on a positive note financially, thanks to a strong HLS and some nice year-end grants and year-end donations (it's not too late!). We received the WI DNR Urban Forestry grant which will allow for the addition of new trees in our main parking lot with interpretive signage for each of these tree selections. Other grants will help support operations in 2012 as well as some additional funding for significant labeling materials to continue our efforts on interpretive plant label production/conversion efforts out in the gardens. 2012 is starting off quite nicely as we finish out our 2011 obligations and look forward to another great year at RBG.

HLS Has More Than Just Lights!

2011-12-22T09:02:00.017-06:00

All the pictures in this blog were taken last night (Wednesday) at the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). While the lights may be the primary attraction (for most), we have truly made this event a fun family outing with the help of the Wisconsin Garden Railway Society (thanks Don, Joella and all the other members!), all of our entertainment volunteers (note the Blue Notes further below), the donated refreshments, quilts from the Rock County Quilters Guild and so many volunteers helping out. Attendance was decent last night and should be strong tonight and tomorrow night before Christmas. There are still six more nights of the walk next week (December 26-31) too!

Dialogue

2011-12-21T08:42:00.030-06:00

The picture above was taken of our 'Dialogue' sculpture this past summer. This sculpture (20 years old) will have a new sign this upcoming spring giving more information on this important garden feature designed and installed by O.V. Shaffer back in 1991. This blog is a photographic retrospective of this garden element. Thanks to Bill O. and Doug V. for scanning so many historic slides and photos of the gardens over the past two years. I'll do some more of these "before/after" blogs this winter and am developing a substantial historic presentation on the gardens this winter. The three photos directly below are after the patina formed on the bronze sculpture. Note the second photo down which shows the area under the sculpture as the primary entrance to the gardens from 1991 thru 1999. Look further down for some neat installation photos and the last two shots show the artist, O.V. Shaffer who is a well known independent artist and former art professor at Beloit College. We also have another Shaffer sculpture called 'Biota' at the Southeast corner of the gardens.

Not much action out in the gardens today. It was drizzling this morning with cloudy skies. I spent the morning snooping thru seed catalogs and saw Tom K. and Mary W. at the Horticulture Center. Marv and Marianne stopped by too. I'll work the Holiday Lights Show tonight and three nights next week as I alternate with Larry. I don't know the count from last night but the weather wasn't too bad and I heard (from Mary W.) that the traffic was steady. My blogging over the next week or so will be sporadic as a warning for those that can't do without it! :)

The HLS Continues...

2011-12-20T08:19:00.018-06:00

Last night (Monday) we had 458 attendees at the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) and it was a nice steady crowd throughout the evening. That is a good showing for a school night and we did see quite a few kids. Of course the train set-up (see above and further below) is always a huge attraction. The Wisconsin Garden Railway Society does a great job each year and various members will bring different trains each night. While the lights are an attraction, I've seen parents trying to drag their kids away from the trains to go out in to the HLS and usually are successful if they promise a return to the trains. We've seen kids entranced for hours in front of those trains. We had more great volunteer help last night but of course my pictures don't capture all the volunteers that work as greeters, ticket sales, gift shop help, quilt raffle helpers, trail walkers and refreshment volunteers. To the left are Bev and Ron who worked the ticket sales booth and are veterans at this task (and many others). To the right are Bob C. (left) and Maury (right) with their European shoulder bags (not man purses) with supplies for trail walking. Note that Bob has a kneeling pad around his neck which was prompted after his first night of kneeling on gravel at the HLS to replace 50+ luminary bulbs! With a chance of freezing rain tonight, we'll see how the show goes in terms of keeping things lit and attendance numbers. We're happy to see that we have almost reached our total attendance for the HLS from last year with 10 nights left to go!Tina stopped in today to share some photos she took at the HLS as well as some other neat shots of RBG. Tina photographed our marigold (Tagetes) collection this year among other things and has done a nice job in the past with many photos out in the gardens. She was one of our volunteer photographers of the iris collection years ago and we appreciate her continued commitment to being a RBG shutterbug. I'll share some more of her RBG pictures in upcoming blogs. Larry and Bill worked out in the gardens pruning most of the day although we also saw Pat M., Maury, Dr. Gredler, Big John, Bill and some others at the Horticulture Center as well.

I'll be "off" until January 3rd after tomorrow but will return for three more nights of the HLS next week. There wont be any easing in to January as there is a tight time line for me to get out seed orders, prepare presentations and get everything ready for spring. I like to be proactive but it becomes more difficult each year with more challenges. Gary and I have moved forward with starting on our woody plant labels and we already have three garden areas completed. Our realistic goal is to have all those labels (for the entire gardens) to go out before Mother's Day. We're considering some options for label bases to secure them in the ground and will look at some other signage opportunities for our laser engraver. To the right is a colorful shot of one of our weeping willows (Salix alba 'Tristis') that was taken at sunset a couple days ago. That house in the upper right of the image gets a good look at the HLS! The images below of the gazebo and HLS deer/sleigh combo were also taken recently. At the bottom is some of the pruning handiwork accomplished by Urban and Pat yesterday. This is our only example of espalier in the gardens. This apple (Malus) was here before I started and Urban has worked on this for many years. This specimen is now close to 25' tall. The guys pruned it back nicely and also modified the wall anchors as needed.

Another Good Night

2011-12-19T07:31:00.011-06:00

I worked the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) last night (Sunday) and we had close to 700 attendees which was a very good Sunday night. The weather wasn't too cold although there wasn't much snow left from Saturday. The forecast doesn't look real good for snow prior to Christmas but the plus side of that is path safety and saved time and materials for keeping the paths clear of snow and ice. Mother Nature is in charge of that component of the HLS. I was able to take all the pictures in this blog last night and caught some better shots of the show. Tina B., one of our volunteer photographers, was out in the show taking shots as well and I look forward to the results of her efforts. To the left are Pat (left) and Big John (right) who were our trailwalking volunteers last night. We usually have a couple of trailwalkers to keep an eye on the show and make sure visitors are safe (and staying on the paths!). Note their matching man purses which have supplies (bulbs, flashlight, etc.) that might come in handy. We also had Hal and Doris out on the trails as well. Preliminary counts for the HLS attendance thus far hover around 3,200 which is a strong start. We need to keep up this momentum and hope for good crowds for the remaining 11 nights.

We had a good turnout of volunteers today. Pat and Urban were out pruning in the garden while Larry and Bill were also outside securing some of the HLS trees. Gary was in to print up more woody plant labels and Maury was in working on some details for our 2012 tree sale. Maury also took our recently donated truck (used) for re-lettering. This vehicle will be extremely handy and we'll retire/sell one of our other ones at some point. Dave, Vern, Bob A. and Jim worked on carpentry projects which included efforts on our horizontal PVC planters for next year. We also saw Kelli, Mary W., Ron W., Rollie, Bill O. and Dr. Gredler.

I'm on deck to work the HLS again tonight as Larry and I split up the evenings with each of us taking about 9 nights. In past years, we've had more of a need for our troubleshooting efforts but so far so good with the HLS in regards to power issues. I'm a bit nervous about some rain/sleet/slush coming Tuesday and Wednesday this week but we'll deal with that as it arrives.

A Record Pace...

2011-12-18T09:33:00.006-06:00

The Holiday Lights Show (HLS) is off to a great start with attendance numbers of 650 on Friday night (opening night) and a record attendance of 1600 last night (Saturday, December 17th). We had about 1" of snow over night Friday and the white stuff always makes the show look better and brings more people in to the show. Larry and Bill took care of all the snow removal. Larry turned everything on last night and stayed until 10 pm as there was the "adult portion" of the show from 8 pm until 10 pm that also involved a band, bar, etc. inside. I, along with some of my family (see below), was at the show last night and it was interesting to see all the cars parking along Palmer Drive and even at the east end of the gardens. I've never seen it packed so much and while the crowd was substantial, the lights show looked great and I heard nothing but positive comments as I circulated thru the crowd. There were lots of H.S. instrumental performances too as part of the entertainment and that always brings a good crowd too. With our Taste of Chocolate attendance, some early bus tours and rentals, our attendance might be around 2,600 total thus far. With NBC15 (Madison) broadcasting the weather (David George) from the gardens this past Friday night during the show, I'm sure that will bring in plenty of people as well. David really did a nice job promoting the show. Our marketing has gone far and wide and I talked to some people from Milwaukee last night that heard something on WI Public Radio about the show. Cool. The combination of lights, trains, entertainment, quilt display, refreshments, gift shop items, etc. make this the perfect holiday outing. I'm working the show tonight and tomorrow night and I hope we keep seeing strong numbers as this event, as nice as it is for the community and all attendees, is a vital fundraiser that needs to support RBG thru the "leaner months."

First Six Lectures of 2012 Set!

2011-12-16T08:22:00.009-06:00

Although we're ending a successful year at the gardens, preparations for 2012 have been going on for quite some time and we'll have the majority of our events, lectures, etc. planned very shortly and promoted on our website and thru other venues. Kris has already organized the continuation of our popular lecture series that ran thru this year. In 2011, we had 653 adults attend our 12 monthly lectures which is a nice average of 54 attendees per lecture. The momentum continues with a January 18th (Wednesday) lecture on Bonsai Basics given by Karl Bethke of the Badger Bonsai Society. The lecture will be from 6:30 pm to 8 pm. RBG members will be $5 with others asked for $10. This pricing will be consistent for this lecture series. We're hoping to get Karl back in April for a bonsai workshop too! The image directly above is a bonsai at the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens (San Marino, CA). I've seen many bonsai collections and this one was spectacular as were the ones at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Hidden Lake Gardens maintained by Michigan State University (Tipton, MI) and Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

Orchids for Everyone will be offered on Wednesday, February 15th (6:30 pm - 8 pm) by Dee Speaker of K&W Greenery (Janesville). I can't recall an orchid topic here and Dee is very knowledgeable. Both the bonsai and orchid topics were heavily requested as topics by attendees of our 2011 lectures. We always appreciate input and are happy to oblige with facilitating these educational opportunities. On Wednesday, March 14th, Jeff Miller of Land of the Giants Hosta Farm (Milton, WI) will be presenting on Hostas, Hostas, Hostas!. This presentation will also be between 6:30 pm - 8 pm at the Parker Education Center. Jeff has donated many hostas to the gardens and has been a great source of information as well. His nursery is also top notch and his entire landscape (including the nursery) will be one of the destinations for our 2012 Home Garden Tour (July 21st, 2012, 10 am - 4 pm). Our April 18th speaker will be Jay Bando of Bando Organics (Madison, WI). Jay will be discussing Healthy Soils - Healthy Plants - Healthy People. Jay is well known for his knowledge and experience regarding organic gardening methods, composting, compost teas and their application and we're very excited to have him present at the gardens. I've known Jay for years and have enjoyed our conversations on topics that are becoming increasingly more relevant for all gardeners. The topic title speaks for itself. Unfortunately I didn't have a "pretty" shot of compost tea but the bucket of tea below is the leachate from my brother's worm bins (composting). He uses both the tea and the worm castings out in his garden. Last year we sold both worm castings and "worm tea" at our spring sale and saw some interest in both products but also quite a bit of confusion that should be addressed in this lecture. On Wednesday, May 16th (6:30 pm - 8 pm), I'll be presenting Vertical Gardening: Growing Your Gardens Upwards. This is a topic that has always been of interest to me and we're staring to dabble with some vertical "opportunities" here at RBG. This discussion will include vines and upright supports and structures that will maximize smaller gardening spaces. I'll also talk about the "green wall" movement and show some neat examples of going vertical as seen in the image to the left that I took at Chicago Botanic Garden in late September of this year. The orange you see are dwarf snapdragons and all the white blooms are from the perennial heath aster (Aster ericoides 'First Snow') which we have at RBG as well. This upright planter (very accessible) is showing it's third transition after having both a spring and summer display. Our June 20th presentation will be on Wisconsin Lichens: Love 'em or Like 'em by Dr. Jim Bennett from The Nelson Institue for Environmental Studies at UW-Madison. Dr. Bennett will cover lots of information on lichens and dispel some of the myths regarding their growth. Lichens are quite interesting and Jim is one of the foremost experts on this topic.

Kris will be further developing this lecture series along with workshops, evening events, Smelly Garden opportunities, youth education, etc. The spring symposium (March 24th, 2012) is coming together nicely as well. Stay tuned!

Quiet day today. Urban and Pat were out pruning this morning and I saw Maury, Bill O., Julie G., Kay and some others today. I'm blogging early as I'll take a Siesta this afternoon before returning to fire up the Holiday Lights Show for our first official night this evening (4:30 pm - 8 pm)!!!

Setting Up Some Winter Work

2011-12-15T09:54:00.016-06:00

Today was quite busy with volunteers at the Horticulture Center and despite some cooling temperatures, quite a bit of gardening was accomplished today. Most of my activities today resulted in creating more work for others and/or myself! At the top is a picture of the beginnings of our 2012 seed order. As I put together the orders, I enter everything on to this sheet which will later help us sort and organize the seeds and ultimately the returning plants from the greenhouses in May and early June. To the left are the remnant blooms of the 'Ozawa' ornamental onion (Allium thunbergii) which is actually still blooming (note buds in the middle right of the image)! To the lower right is a neat winter container arrangment I photographed yesterday at K&W Greenery (Janesville).

Directly above (left to right) are Pat M., Urban and Larry. The four of us walked through most of the gardens for 1.5 hours this morning to talk about pruning priorities, target plants, severe cutbacks and five larger removals. I put flagging tape on many of the "targets" and the guys will have no shortage of work over the coming months. I do hope for good snow cover this winter but hopefully not enough to dissuade these guys from continuing their "pruning onslaught." After our tour, Pat and Urban went right out and started on pruning and some of the smaller removals. They'll be back tomorrow and I think they'll make a good team. Larry (and Little Jerry) have done most of the winter pruning in the past and I hope we're able to get thru the entire gardens as there is not a woody plant out there that couldn't use at least a little attention. Larry H. was out in the gardens collecting more leaves (see directly below). The carpenters (Dave, Jim, Bob A., Vern) had multiple projects to work on and the second image below shows the guys figuring out the support system for some horizontal, elevated planters we'll have next year (should be cool!). Dick H., Del and Maury were in to help with various projects and we also saw Big John, Bill, Dick P., Glenn D. and many others today. Bill O. was in this afternoon to help Larry with some tasks and we also had Evergreen Irrigation here to repair some major valve issues that are connected to the water supply for the gardens proper. During our walk around this morning, I saw the flower structure above and did a double take as I didn't recognize it. There were a couple of these near the zig-zag bridge and as I got closer for a photo opportunity, I recognized these as the last remants of our spring ornamental onions (Allium 'Purple Sensation') which bloom in late May / early June. Many people leave the spherical flower/seed heads as they dry for summer structure. They will typically hold on to rounded ends at the edges of the sphere and those I noted today had shed those and looked like "starry tumbleweeds" for lack of a better description. Flower structure in the garden is always important although I've never observed it in December until now! To the right is one of the thorny stems of the Devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa) which is also called Hercules' club. This woody plant spreads vigorously by suckers and our only specimen "grove" is along the edge of our Horticulture Center property as the perfect screen. The best attribute of this woody plant are the huge, creamy flowers in late summer.

We had a meeting of our Spring Tree Sale Committee today and finalized our order for the April 20th-21st Tree Sale (8 am - 3 pm) that we'll offer in conjunction with the Blackhawk Golden K club as we did last year. This sale will correspond to our Earth Day activities next year and we're offering seedlings of white pines (Pinus strobus), Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca var. densata), Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens glauca), Norway spruce (Picea abies), concolor fir (Abies concolor), Eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis), sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa). All seedlings will be $1.85 although there is a 10% discount for 50+ trees. More details will be on our website in January regarding this event. All proceeds from this event benefit RBG as well as the Golden K efforts for children around the world. Directly below is a nice patch of smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle') at K&W Greenery which is still showing some nice winter interest and will stand up to snow. At the bottom is a photo shared by our grounds horticulturist Janice. Her daughter was married at the gardens late this past year and this is a photo of both rings on top of Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale 'The Giant'). I thought this looked pretty cool although Janice hasn't seen the bill yet for abusing those tender flowers....

Poinsettias Revisited

2011-12-14T11:04:00.020-06:00

All the photos in this blog were taken (with permission) this morning at K&W Greenery in Janesville, WI. Check out their website at www.kwgreenery.com/ for more information on location, hours, neat plants and much more for sale. I met with Chris W. at K&W as he will be custom growing some fun tropicals for us next year. Upon entering the greenhouse, I was amazed by the variety of "enhanced" poinsettias available for purchase. Poinsettias have sure come a long way over the past decade! K&W has a national reputation for not only their poinsettia variety but the creativity involved. I believe Chris W. does most, if not all, of the enhancements. I wont even pretend to know how these are painted and enhanced with glitter and other materials. While they weren't lacking for traditional red, white and pink varieties, these painted poinsettias were quite eye catching and each was subtly different. I particularly like the "tie-dyed" or "watercolor" looks to some of them. Neat stuff.

The history of poinsettias is quite interesting and is easily found in reference books or on the internet. There are some stories that also explain how this plant is tied in to the Holiday season and New Year. The most common misconception is that they are poisonous to humans. Ohio State University did a study that indicated that a 50 lb. child could eat 500 bracts (the colorful, modified leaves that provide the color) and only have a stomach ache (who wouldn't?). Poinsettias (Euphorbia pulcherrima) are native to Central America and tropical Mexico. Joel Robert Poinsett was the first U.S. Ambassador to Mexico (appointed by Pres. Andrew Jackson) and first brought this plant back to the United States in 1825. Needless to say, this plant became very popular and over $300 million in poinsettias are currently purchased domestically each year. Poinsettias, while produced in all 50 states, come primarily from California and roughly 90% of those produced domestically are exported. You missed National Poinsettia Day on December 12th but can still celebrate with the purchase of this popular holiday plant. Research more information on the care of this plant to maximize the "duration of appeal" for your selection(s). One of the best references I ran across was from the University of Illinois (http://urbanext.illinois.edu/poinsettia/index.cfm).
Today was fairly quiet at the Horticulture Center. I worked on my normal rotation of seed ordering, presentation preparations, label research and some other duties. I have some new topics to develop for the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo (February 10,11,12) at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. RBG has had a booth for the past 14? years or so and will do so again. After the New Year, we'll be selling advance tickets to this event out of our gift shop. I've always enjoyed presenting at this event as I believe it exposes people to the gardens and I always include some sweet garden shots of RBG to get them hooked on visiting. My topics this year are "Eat Your Landscape", "Gardening Vertically" and "Annuals of Interest". I've always done a talk on new and exciting annuals at this event but of course it is different each year. Crowds for these lectures have varied in the past but the educational component of this event has become so popular that I've seen full rooms for most topics. The attendance of 20,000 last year was a record and our booth is in a nice location for exposure. K&W Greenery had a booth last year too. Attendees (and vendors) aren't just from Southern WI as we talk to people from central and Northern WI as well as IL, IA and MN.

Janice was in today to work on her vegetable collections research for 2012. We also saw Kris K., Bill O., Dr. Gredler and Dawn T. It rained pretty well today and while many would prefer snow, this extra moisture before the ground freezes can only help the garden, particularly our conifers. The weather still looks good for the start of the Holiday Lights Show this Friday, December 16th (4:30 pm - 8 pm). Maybe we'll get some white stuff soon enough to augment the HLS.

Deer Spotted!...In the Parker Center

2011-12-13T12:11:00.012-06:00

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.

Monday The Fun Day

2011-12-12T12:48:00.010-06:00

We had plenty of volunteers here today (see above) and the week looks pretty good for the most part although we might get some freezing drizzle tonight. The lights show will be open to the public this Friday, December 16th (4:30 pm - 8 pm). I'm not one to mention names (Rollie, Maury, Gary, Marv, Del and Dick H.) but the guys above took an extra long break early today... Today was a "fun day" as I was able to start really going thru some catalogs and have finally sifted, sorted, purged and organized the past two years of photos (15,000+) so I'm able to utilize them for presentations and can minimize my time trying to find a specific shot. Kelli and I are figuring out the best way to back everything up in multiple locations too. I have roughly 20 categorical files for all my photos but could easily sub-divide those topics. I need to futher organize our historic photos (scanned from slides and photos) but overall, I'm glad to have caught up. To the left is Dr. Gredler going thru 5,000+ pens that we've had in storage for the past twelve years. These Parker pens have a neat flag design on them and were donated for our 10th anniversary way back in 1999. Most are still good but we need to sift out the dregs. I believe we'll be giving these away at upcoming events which may include the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).

We had a good turnout of volunteers. Larry H. and Dennis went out in the gardens to do some more clean-up. It's nice to have some gardening progress yet in December as this would be work we'd have to do in late March / early April when it is more soggy. Urban was out doing some more pruning. He, Larry and I will take a tour of the gardens later this week to discuss our pruning "targets" and goals for the winter months. We have some larger removals we'll consider as well. To the upper right is Bob A. putting the second coat of primer on the oak leaves for the 2012 Art in the Gardens project. Last year, some of the butterflies had some structural issues and we thought another coat of primer (we only did one last year) may make a difference for longevity out in the gardens. Vern, Jim and Dave worked on some other carpentry projects and we just gave them three more projects to consider for this winter. Aside from the guys mentioned above, we also saw Bill O., Mary W., Marianne and Janice (to the left) was in to go thru the latest catalogs. Here she is looking at potential tomato varieties for our 2012 veggie collections and spring plant sale. To the lower right is Dick H. who helped Larry put the chains on our Grasshopper mower/snowblower. Larry spent most of the day working on equipment repairs. Below are some newly repaired displays (thanks Randy!) that will be stored and used for the next HLS. Randy has been at the Horticulture Center working on repairs the past two Saturdays. However, we wont use them this year and compromise our power "grid". Randy (and his dad) were the original creator of these displays and we appreciate the generous maintenance package offered over the past decade!

Formulating 2012 Plans

2011-12-09T12:26:00.009-06:00

With the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) ready for the public opening a week from today (December 16th), I've already shifted my focus almost entirely to 2012 plans and preparations. Although we're over five months from planting our annuals for next year, the progression of events leading up to planting need to follow a tight timeline. The first stage is perusing catalogs (over 80) and cross referencing availability and price. The next step is ordering. Once we receive the seeds, we organize them by collection, write color-coded tags to go with the seeds and separate them by desired grower. After the seeds are delivered to our four growers (by mid-March), we then don't worry about them until we pick up the final product (flats) in May. The images here are all moss roses (Portulaca grandiflora) which will be part of our big collection for 2012. I've already found about 50 varieties and we'll put them side by side like we did the marigolds (Tagetes) this year. The variety to the left is 'Happy Hour Orange', to the right is 'Happy Hour Coconut'. To the lower left, the yellow variety is 'Happy Hour Banana' and the white/pink variegated variety is 'Happy Hour Peppermint' (lower right). At the bottom is 'Sundial Peach', an old favorite and All-America Selections winner (1999) too. In regards to having seed varieties grown, we'll really be tweaking and augmenting the varieties that we grow both in the Smelly Garden (year 2) and the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable collection. Last year we had a record 150,000 annuals grown representing 900 varieties for display.

Today was fairly quiet. I didn't make it out in the gardens yet but will be turning on the HLS lights for a private event tonight. HLS always looks better with some snow but I'm ok with not having to deal with snow removal issues quite yet. Del popped in this morning to take more deer cutouts to the gift shop and Janice was in this afternoon to go thru seed catalogs. Janice is selecting varieties of heirloom tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers and basils while I'll be selecting eggplants and compact varieties (good for containers too) of all sorts of veggies. All of these will be grown at RBG but will also be available at our spring plant sale (Mother's Day weekend). Maury was in to help receive a delivery of 8" diameter PVC pipe which will be converted in to some really cool garden features in 2012 (details later). Bill O. was in too and brought in a bunch of pine cones that will be used for a children's activity at the HLS. Next week will entirely involve 2012 plans and I'll continue to work on woody plant information for sign production this winter. It's nice to see so many volunteers coming in and hopefully we'll have plenty of help taking down the HLS which will start (weather depending) in early January.

Chilly But Sunny

2011-12-08T09:55:00.011-06:00

Last night as Kris and I were waiting for the last rental group to leave the Parker Education Center (after Patty's lecture on Holiday Plants), I took the top photo of our Mission Statement on the wall near the entrance out in to the gardens. As a non-profit, it's always a challenge to raise funds to support and improve the organization. I take every chance I can to keep the focus on why were founded and what our primary mission is on a daily basis. The plaque to the right is installed outside the Sholl Education Room (Dedicated to original Grumpy and strong RBG support, Dr. P. Richard Sholl by his family). Dr. Sholl passed away a couple months before I started in 1998. Based on all that I've heard, he was an amazing person and was only second to Dr. Yahr (our founder) in terms of being an advocate for RBG. The frozen puddle above is testament to the chilly temperatures today but I was amazed by how many volunteers we had at our morning break. We had a great turnout with plenty of help throughout the day.

I had an interview this morning with Shelly Birkelow of The Janesville Gazette regarding the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) and we look forward to her article and exposure for this event which opens for the public a week from tomorrow (Friday, December 16th, 4:30 pm - 8 pm). Check out our website for details. We are still in dire need of refreshment donations for the HLS to be dropped off at the Parker Education Center. We need powdered milk, powdered creamer, powdered sugar, apple juice, cranberry juice, small marshmallows and Hershey's unsweetended cocoa powder. I also went mobile today and went thru the steps in applying for a passport. It looks like our April trip to the Netherlands (April 10-17) is a "go" although there is still room for some last minute additions... Below is Gary who is already starting to produce our woody plant labels for the alpine garden. I'm taking Luis' inventory and preparing the data for Gary who then produces the sign graphically and then thru the engraver. I'll be preparing another area for Gary to work on next week too. Aside from Gary, we had Dennis, Larry H. and Pat M. cleaning up out in the gardens. Larry and Bill were working on some projects. Our carpenters (Dave, Jim, Bob. A. and Vern) worked on the new shelves for the Horticulture Center office. Our reference library grew by about 200 books (donated) this past year and we need a new shelf system to absorb the increase and future additions. We also saw Urban, Rose, Bob T., Shirley T., Maury, Del, Janice, Dick H., Dr. Gredler, Mark S., Chuck, Rollie and Polly. Myrt and Gena were in later for clean-up work as well. Marv spent some time turning our massive compost pile (see below). We've added lots to this pile over the last couple of weeks and look at that compost a-smokin' with Marv turning it. We'll use this pile next March in all liklihood. The bottom photo is of our wood chip pile. One of the best times to apply mulches in the garden is this month before the snow flies. One of the intents of the mulch application now is to keep the ground frozen and minimize severe freezing and thawing in late winter / early spring (March).

A Successful Year of Education At RBG

2011-12-07T12:12:00.012-06:00

Patty Bailey (photos above) did a superb job tonight presenting Holiday Plants - Past & Present for our 12th and final monthly lecture for 2011. Patty, of Patty's Plants Natural & Organic Garden Supply in Milton, WI, talked about a wide range of holiday plants (amaryllis, poinsettias, begonias, cyclamens, etc.) and had many live examples. I enjoyed her stories about the history of many of the plants as well. She also showed the crowd (16 attendees) some ideas for creating holiday gift baskets with a wide range of plants and other elements. Patty is so creative and had no problem mocking up some masterpieces like the basket below. The attendees seemed to enjoy the talk and both Kris and I were bummed that we didn't have more people show up for this popular topic. Regardless, this ends the 2011 season but Kris also handed out some "save the date" flyers that included four of our lectures after the New Year and gave more information on the spring symposium. For the March 2012 symposium, Kris rounded up four speakers and the line-up (sans me) looks top notch. The other three speakers have never spoken at RBG before and each has some national acclaim (not joking). Looking forward to education offerings next year and Kris is doing a nice job getting everything situated. There was another rental in the building tonight but we were all out of there by 8 pm.

Today was our last Story & Stroll program (graphic above was from our promotional flyers for the program) and we had about 20 attendees (adults and children) come this morning. The Story & Stroll program was extremely successful and exceeded our expectations for overall attendance. This year was really our "break out" year for education with successful spring and fall symposia (300 collective attendees), our lecture series (653 attendees), the Rock Prairie Master Gardener lecture series (183 attendees) as well as youth education opportunities, a full bus tour, workshops, etc. Kris K. is already making plans for our 2012 offerings and we look forward to really maximizing our mission of "providing horticultural education and appreciation for everyone." It is important (obviously) for us to plan well in advance for all our events here so we have them on the calendar and can start promoting them early (and often)!

Today was pretty much a ghost town over at the Horticulture Center. Pat M. came in early and was out in the gardens putting more protective netting on the yews (Taxus sp.) in the Japanese garden. He also collected leaves near the east gate and brought quite a few loads back. Del was in most of the day working on his deer cutout project and made great progress. I also saw Margo, Big John, Bill, Mary W. Dick H. and others today. Janice came in this afternoon and we came up with our goals for the vegetable collection in 2012. We're both pretty excited and have our own research duties. I also had a staff meeting. In organizing more photos today, I ran across an old (pre-1995) picture of one of our "environmental quote" benches. This is one of my favorites and certainly relates to many of our education goals here at RBG.

A "Sign" Of The Times

2011-12-06T11:27:00.021-06:00

Today we received our new signs (as seen in the top photo) that will have to be secured on all the doors of both our buildings. Regardless of how people feel on this contentious topic, I never thought I'd see the day we'd be putting up signs like this at the gardens. I've watched the NO BIKES, NO PETS, NO ROLLERBLADES, NO SWIMMING, NO FISHING (in our water features!) and NO SMOKING signs go up and this I suppose is the continued progression of informing our visitors (and addressing liability concerns). The photo directly above features some of the last blooms of the 'October Skies' aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius) in the garden. I imagine they will be frozen off this week as we'll be hovering around freezing temperatures for the high temps for the next couple of days. To the right are our ornamental kale (Brassica) planted near the gazebo. While some are looking better than others, they don't mind the cold and I'm interested in seeing how long they last (we'll leave them in until spring). To the left is the autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis) looking good out in the gardens. While many may see this grass as ordinary, I look at it as uniform clumping grass that has done well everywhere we have planted it and certainly looks good late in the season as well.

We had a couple volunteers straggle in today. Bill O. (lower right) was in all morning to do some clean-up and helped Larry straighten a couple more pine trees for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). Bill does a nice job and has been a huge asset over the past couple of years. He comes in every Saturday to help Larry too. This morning we also saw Dick H. and Dr. Gredler. Del was in most of the afternoon working on making more deer cutouts for the gift shop. The second photo from the bottom shows both he and Ron W. working on the start of the newest batch yesterday. Urban was in to do more pruning this afternoon near the arboretum. We also saw Maury, Kris, Matt and some others at the Horticulture Center today. Directly below are the cones for the Japanese hemlock (Tsuga diversifolia) in the gazebo garden. We only have two specimens and they are both doing fairly well. The second photo down shows a view of the observation pier with a look over the inflorescences of the 'Morning Light' maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis). Larry was outside most of the day and worked with Bill on some HLS tasks. Larry finalized our "trail packs" for the HLS which include fuses, pliers, bulbs and other troubleshooting supplies. During the event, we have two teams of two volunteers each roving the trails. They replace some bulbs here and there (mainly luminaries) but also make sure visitors are safe (and staying on the paths). Larry and I alternate nights for the HLS and hopefully don't have to deal with major outages or problems but that occasionally does happen, particularly if it's raining! Our Grasshopper mower came back today after getting a tune-up and replacement parts. We'll replace some tires, get the snowblower on and be ready for Old Man Winter. To the right and left are the colorful coral-red stems of the 'Erythrocladum' moosewood (Acer pensylvanicum). I featured these stems a couple months ago and they are even brighter now. It will be nice to see this specimen get some size.

I continued my progress on myriad projects and have gone thru my first dozen or so seed catalogs. I do like to cross reference prices and am starting to accumulate our listing for the 2012 moss rose (Portulaca) collection. We'll also be incorporating a "Grains of the World" collection in our ornamental edible garden with a focus on (at least) the top 10 nutritious grains. It's interesting how RBG has expanded it's collections and themes to include such a wide variety of edibles. Over the years, we've probably grown 200+ varieties of heirloom tomatoes, 230+ varieties of hot peppers, 100+ varieties of eggplants and our specialty collections of heirloom cucumbers, pole & runner beans, squash and miscellaneous edibles. Janice and I will talk tomorrow about our plan of attack for edibles for 2012 as she coordinates the volunteer team that maintains our veggie collection. Of course, we'll focus on varieties that will also be sold at the spring plant sale (May 11, 12 13). The spring sale next year falls over the Mother's Day weekend which is typically very well attended at RBG and we hope to capture that traffic and maximize our sale. We'll have all sorts of cool stuff including more perennials, compact veggies, bagged compost and edibles for containers. Don't forget the lecture on Holiday Plants - Past & Present by Patty Bailey (Patty's Plants, Milton, WI) tomorrow night, December 7th from 6 pm - 8 pm at the Parker Education Center. To the right is the furry stem of the staghorn (hence the name) sumac (Rhus typhina). This is the golden foliage variety 'Bailtiger' which goes by the trade name of Tiger Eyes. Below are Ron (left) and Del (right) working on deer cutouts yesterday and at the bottom are the State Street (Madison, WI) planters with plenty of greens, colorful stems and that red thingy is plastic but offers some winter cheer.

The Inside Is So Delightful

2011-12-05T11:40:00.017-06:00

This week, although clear of rain and snow, will get colder and while we'll still be out in the gardens pruning, the indoor work becomes increasingly more appealing. The top picture is one of our bear cubs on the bronze sculpture in the woodland walk garden. Directly above is some burlap surrounding a tender conifer (Korean fir?) in the Japanese garden. While the burlap does discourage deer, the primary intent here is to give some wind protection. Last week, Jumbo Jim pounded stakes around 20 or so choice woodies (coniferous and deciduous) in the Japanese garden and made these burlap "protective screens." To the right is some foliar color offered by the 'Angelina' sedum (Sedum rupestre) and deadnettle (Lamium maculatum, unknown variety). Both of these plants are spreaders to a certain degree but look good together here in the shade garden. To the left is the increasingly golden winter color of the 'Hillside Gold' white pine (Pinus strobus) that is only truly "greenish" in July, August and September. Some say this color is sickly...I think it at least offers something during the drab winter months.

We had a good crop of Grumpies this morning although Urban was the only one that did any gardening. To the lower right is Urban (and his pet ladder) working on more crabapples (Malus sp.) near the Horticulture Center. Del and Ron W. worked on cutting more plywood to create deer displays for the gift shop. Recent demand has exceeded supply. Dick H. was in later in the afternoon with Del working on the same project. The carpenters (Dave, Jim, Vern and Bob A.) worked on some other projects which included more work on the oak leaf project and some additional shelving for the office area. Maury ran out for supplies throughout the morning. We also saw Dr. Gredler, Tom C., Rollie, Mary W. and many others this morning. Gary came in and started work on our new woody plant labels based on Luis' recently completed inventory. Bill O. was in this afternoon to clean-up after Urban and work on some other projects. Directly below is some of our additional deer protection out in the gardens. As we had run out of burlap, the guys started using some green mesh bird netting that goes on very easily and should deter serious browsing on these yews (Taxus sp.).

Larry was out in the gardens this morning tweaking some of our Holiday Lights Show (HLS) cords and luminaries to make it easier for snow removal. We do have some cords under mats and in areas where they could be damaged or sheared by a snowblower so we are careful to make sure we don't have that nightmarish issue. Our Grasshopper mower will have the snowblower attachment put on shortly and our other snowblower and shovels are ready to go. It is quite a chore to keep the paths clear for the HLS although we get quite a few volunteers in to help "spot shovel" the tough spots. Larry worked on indoor projects this afternoon including getting our trail packs ready for the HLS volunteers that help us monitor the pathways and change out luminary bulbs (C7s) as needed. To the right is another (1 of 5) bear cub in the woodland walk garden. This sculpture was donated over 12 years ago and collected dust in storage until we brought it out when that woodland walk garden was replanted back in 2008. To the left is one of many gingerbread houses (or barns!) that were featured up at the Overture Center in Madison, WI this weekend. I was up there this weekend and saw some really creative displays. My daughter tried to convince me that they wouldn't miss a couple of the Andes mint chocolate "shingles" on that roof.....We'll have gingerbread houses as part of the decorations for the indoor train display of the HLS. I believe that interested parties will be able to get involved with this very shortly.

I worked on a nice hodge podge of activities today which included a presentation (coming up on January 15th), seed ordering, labels, etc. It's nice to have such a varied pile of duties to juggle although prioritization will shift shortly as we need to get seeds ordered right after 2012 begins. We're also not that far away from our involvement at the 2012 Wisconsin Public Television / UW-Extension Garden Expo up at the Alliant Center (February 10, 11, 12). We have had a booth at this event for the last 14 years and have seen the attendance for this event go from 10,000 or so to a record 20,000+ last February. It is always great exposure for the gardens and I'll be doing four talks and am involved in a panel discussion that will help recognize and celebrate 20 years of The Wisconsin Gardener program with Shelley Ryan. I believe we'll also be selling advance tickets for this event out of our gift shop in January. To the right is the 'Blondo' Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) in the parking lot. It sure looks awesome with the late afternoon light coming thru! Below are the persistent blooms of the witchhazel (Hamamelis virginiana) in the shade garden and at the bottom is the winter coloration of the 'Flame' willows (Salix hybrida) along the west bank near Lion's Beach.

Chocolate & Snowdrops (?)

2011-12-02T13:25:00.013-06:00

When I was in the Japanese garden yesterday, I ran across this patch of snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) above poking up with some confusion and thinking it was mid-March! They'll be fine as the ground gets colder and we get some snow. November weather this year, being quite mild, obviously created the confusion for this overzealous patch which is actually the first grouping that I photograph every April as it is in a location that gets some radiant warmth from a nearby rock. To the left is a garden gnome that is enjoying the perfect amount of snow that I'd like for the HLS (2" or so). And NO!, that's not in my yard...I collect gazing balls and pink flamingoes (no offense to those that do...). The picture to the right is one I took last fall at the home of one of our volunteers (Rose). Check out the creative use of the seed structures of the Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi). While the orange, inflated seed structures are cool, the unripe berries inside and most of the plant is poisonous. This perennial is a rampant spreader too! Cool decorations though.

Today was quiet around the Horticulture Center but very active over in the Parker Education Center. Tonight is the annual Taste of Chocolate event and we have a sold out attendance of 200 people! When I came in this morning, Polly, Mark S., Big John and others were already at the other building starting with set-up and decorations. Lori, Amanda and Kelli are also involved as are the committee members for this event. I haven't been over to the other building today but I'm sure the decorations are top notch. This event has become more popular over the years and as much as I like to think the HLS is the primary attraction, I'm sure the chocolate at least plays a minor role... It looks like the weather will be perfect tonight and I'll be back this evening to turn on the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) for the premiere lighting of the event. Years ago we had an ice storm that affected attendance at the event (hazardous travel) and negated the HLS as the paths were like a skating rink. Larry fired up the show briefly last night for a bus tour and said there were no problems. I featured a red-stemmed dogwood (Cornus) in the blog yesterday and to the left are just some of the shades of stem colors that dogwoods will achieve. These were used in our winter container class last December. Below are the airy plumes of one of our maiden grasses (Miscanthus sinensis). These will stand up pretty well through light snows and while this species is showing some reseeding issues in warmer climates, we've avoided that problem (for now).I worked on myriad projects today and came across the mother lode of awesome photos that I took this year at the Chicago Botanic Garden, Anderson Gardens (Rockford), Allen Centennial Gardens (UW-Madison campus) and Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison). I love these gardens and would not visit without my camera. I'll really sink my teeth in to seed ordering next week and have some interesting ideas on new annuals to try for 2012. Janice and I will meet soon to discuss our vegetables and other edibles for 2012 as we try to coordinate our selections based also on our spring plant sale, our trials and what the Rock Prairie Master Gardeners might like for their cool Garden Festival late in the summer (at the Rock County fairgrounds in 2012).

I saw Ron W., Maury, Vern and Amanda at the Horticulture Center today. No one gardened today but we'll continue clean-up efforts next week if the weather is ok. To the right is a "burlap tower" that is protecting an upright yew (Taxus sp. 'Hicksii') that was decimated by the deer last winter and is still recovering. Below is the golden fall color on the drying leaves of the hornbeam maple (Acer carpinifolium) which has very un-maple-like leaves. I can't wait to see this small, unique tree fill out in the upper Japanese garden. At the bottom is a last reminder to get out in your woodlands and locate the European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) which is still holding on to green leaves. Anything showing green in that picture is evil. This is the border along the Horticulture Center. It's not too late to cut these now and paint the fresh stumps twice with concentrated Round-up. This "target time" will be gone within the next week or two. Don't forget Patty Bailey's talk on Holiday Plants - Past & Present next Wednesday evening (December 7th) from 6 pm until 8 pm. at the Parker Education Center (free for RBG members, $5 for all others).

Happy December!

2011-12-01T11:12:00.024-06:00

We had a decent day of weather and quite a few volunteers coming in to help. It was hard to believe it is December already! Tomorrow night is the Taste of Chocolate event and I'll be around to turn on the Holiday Light Show (HLS) for attendees of that event. Larry will actually have the lights turned on briefly tonight for a "mystery" bus tour that will arrive. We've had many of these "mystery" tours in the past and the premise is that people have no idea where they'll be going. Larry put the finishing touches on the HLS today and will let me know if there are problems tonight that I need to address tomorrow. We alternate nights for the HLS and keep in touch regarding challenges. To the right is the chocolate colored leaf of the maroon, hairy alum root or coral bells (Heuchera villosa 'Purpurea') that is still holding color quite nicely and doesn't look too different during the summer months.

We had a great turnout of Grumpies this morning as evidenced by the pictures above. At the top are Dennis (left) and Larry H. (right) in the Japanese garden continuing to wrap our yews (Taxus sp.) with burlap. The burlap is a deer deterent and wouldn't be necessary for these plants if we didn't have our deer buffet problems. The guys ran out of burlap and moved on to using tight "bird netting" which should also prove effective. To the left are some of the yews (Taxus sp.) that were covered earlier this week. The second photo from the top shows Dick H. (left) and Del (right) working on cleaning up and sharpening tools. Dick H. also worked on some other projects (including a dump run) and Del has been doing a great job cleaning, sharpening and organizing our tools over the past couple of weeks. Little Jerry is also sharpening our Japanese hand hoes and hand pruners at home. The third photo down (from above) shows Bob A. continuing with his primer applications on the new oak leaf art projects. The guys have them finished up although we may put another coat of primer on them yet this winter before they are sold next year. Vern, Jim and Dave helped with carpentry projects and we also saw Gary, Maury, Big John, Dr. Gredler, Luis, Janice, Bev, Mary W. and others. Urban continued pruning trees all morning and we later had Bill O. in to help tidy up. Myrt and Gena finished tidying up the fern & moss garden and moved on to the gazebo garden. Pat was in this afternoon to continue putting protective netting on the yews (Taxus sp.) in the Japanese garden. To the right is the still golden foliage of the golden sweet flag (Acorus gramineus 'Golden Pheasant') in the Japanese garden. This perennial is not in the grass family but sure offers that nice look. We have three clumps of this along the edge of the new lower pond in the Japanese garden and it looks pretty cool.

With my handy Canon PowerShot SD1100IS in my pocket today, I was able to capture plenty more interest out in the gardens. Directly above (top picture) is the maroon fall color of the P.J.M. rhododendron. This shrub has evergreen foliage (green in summer) and later in the winter, those leaves will curl inwards to offer less surface area for drying winter winds to do damage. Many gardeners use anti-dessicants on conifers and broadleaf evergreens (rhododendron, boxwood, etc.) to help minimize moisture loss over the winter months. I have mixed feeling on these products but don't disagree that a tough winter can be quite damaging to many plants holding on to their foliage. The second photo down shows the golden wood rush (Luzula sylvatica 'Solar Flare') in the woodland walk garden. We have the variegated and green leaved versions of this species (a grass "relative") but I like this charteuse/golden variety for evergreen (or "evergold"!) color in a shaded garden. Directly above are the fruiting structures (obovoid cones) of the bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) in the arboretum. I featured these this summer when they were green "golf balls" and now they are splitting open as the seed ripen inside. Pretty cool. To the right is the neat foliage of 'Rosalie' coral bells (Heuchera) near the fern & moss garden. Based on my November and December blogs (previous years as well), it should be evident that coral bells are long contributors in the garden. We almost never cut back Heuchera foliage in fall as the current growth will help insulate the ground and the tender new growth that emerges next April. A nice winter mulch arond the crown will help minimize these plants from "heaving" out of the ground with the freezing and thawing in March. Clean them up (delicately) in spring. To the left are the colorful, red stems of the 'Avalon Gold' red-stem dogwood (Cornus stolinfera). This shrub has bright yellow leaves, white spring flowers and the extended interest of these stems that get their best red coloration late in the season and thru the winter.

Larry worked on HLS projects all day which included straightening and staking more of our decorated white pine (Pinus strobus) trees, getting our barricades up, tweaking displays and ultimately running another test as we found one small electrical issue today. I had a meeting and am continuing to juggle a couple projects. It's actually refreshing to have so many projects as I can switch back and forth and not spend an entire day on one monotonous project. I'm going thru seed catalogs, our woody plant inventory, organizing photos, preparing presentations and many other duties. To the right is the interesting bark of the native hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) which becomes even more apparent and interesting this time of year. This specimen had lots of lichen on it (harmless) and caught my eye this morning. We probably have 15-20 large hackberries out in the garden that pre-date the start of the gardens. They are great for structure and shade. The only drawbacks of this tree (in my mind) are the messy, small berries (good for birds though) and hackberries drop their leaves over a long period of time so we're constantly collecting. There is a nice "elm-like" form (vase-like) though on mature hackberries. Below is the evergreen yucca (Yucca filamentosa) which has form all year. I prefer the variegated varieties but all yuccas are pretty tough. At the bottom is our "dragon" which will get "fired up" (pun intended) tonight and tomorrow night.

Still Some Green Out There! (UGH)

2011-11-30T10:27:00.013-06:00

Today was just beautiful with sunshine and temperatures in the low 40 degrees F. There wasn't as much wind so it was quite comfortable. While I've been working on desk work the past couple of weeks, I was able to get out in the gardens for an hour or so with Luis (below right) to review the last of his woody plant inventory. We looked at the woody plants around the Horticulture Center, prairie and along the north path. He's done a superb job and my next task is to go over all the spreadsheets and make sure the data is ready for our label entry process. I had my camera with me as usual and did catch some greenery (see above). Unfortunately, this is garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) which stays green late and will be one of the first green plants noticeable in March (which also accomodates early detection/eradication efforts). Although it's getting a bit chilly for herbicide applications, these plants can still be dug and removed (get that root!). However, don't consider that space clear of garlic mustard as your digging will stir up the hundreds of seeds already in the soil from previous dispersal and you'll need to target the first year "sprouts" next spring too. Be vigilant. To the upper left is the colorful but aggressive Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) vine which has already dropped seed. Below are some of our tulip displays for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) positioned near the arched bridge. This grouping looks great from across the water. We also have daffodils and other flowers down in the sunken garden. Further below are just some of our sand buckets ready for path applications as needed for the HLS. During snowy Decembers, we have to be on top of snow removal and making paths safe and ice free. I was the only grounds staff member here today but Pat came in to continue work on securing burlap around our delicious yews (Taxus sp.) out in the formal gardens. We still have some wrapping to do but should finish that by next week. Our heaviest deer browsing month is typically February but we'll get our protection efforts in order shortly as we already see evidence of deer intrusions. Maury and Dick H. came in to go pick up larger table tops for our Taste of Chocolate event this Friday. This event is sold out (200 attendees) and should be another success. I'll be around that evening to fire up the HLS for the premiere lighting after dessert. Cora and Barb T. were over to spray paint some interior, HLS decorations for the Parker Education Center although maybe they are for the Taste of Chocolate now that I think about it. Possibly double usage?

We also saw Art and Jumbo Jim at the Horticulture Center today. To the right is the late fall color of the leatherleaf viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophyllum) which is just starting to turn this nice maroon. Below are the fallen leaves of the 'Saratoga' ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) which has a distinctively different shaped leaf than other ginkgo varieties with a longer leaf that is frequently indented quite dramatically. This variety did not have the clear yellow fall color though... More desk work tomorrow although I'm making progress in regards to many of our 2012 themes and projects.

Winter Blues? How About Some Summer "Blues"?

2011-11-29T13:26:00.013-06:00

The start of winter brings on the "blues" for many people. Our gardening is on hold for the most part until late March and shorter days (and less sunlight) may even trigger symptoms of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) in some of us. It's not unusual to get a little depressed over the next four months but as I've always said, hopefully your garden has colorful conifers offering form and interest as well as ornamental bark, berries and ornamental grasses. That winter "scene" out in the garden can help carry us over until spring. Regardless, the "blues" hit us all to some degree or another. As your seed catalogs roll in and that "eye candy" starts to get you thinking about next year, why not get the "summer blues" by focusing on more blue annuals out in the garden for 2012. I think blue is the most underutilized color in the garden (with white a close second). You can't go wrong with blue, whether it is a blue conifer, shrub, grass, perennial or annual. However, there are some neat summer annuals that will over vivid blue coloration for a significant period of time in the garden. At the top is amethyst flower (Browallia sp.) which we plant by the thousands in our shade garden and partly shaded locations. It blooms fine in very little light and offers a vivid blue (also comes in white). Directly below is the 'Rhythm & Blues' petunia (Petunia sp.) which also features a clean, white edge on all the flower petals. Further below is one of the many trailing or "carpet type" lobelias (Lobelia erinus). This is the variety 'Techno Hot Electric Blue' and it looks great in to early July but this species despises the summer heat and begins to fade. It is considered what is called a "cool-season annual."
Today was windy and quite chilly with temperatures around 38 degrees F all day. That wind had a bite to it and poor Larry and Bill O. toughed it out in the gardens all day. The guys spent quite a bit of time finishing some HLS preparations and also spent significant time straightening and securing some of our temporary pine trees that are like sails with all this wind moving them back and forth on their anchoring stakes. Bill also did some garden clean-up which is a never ending job any time of the year. Maury, Glenn and I met this morning to talk about our tree sale for 2012. Last year, RBG paired with the Golden "K" Kiwanis Club to help offer their annual tree sale and it was quite profitable (look for it in April!). We look forward to our joint venture again and today was a good start with some of the details. Maury, Dick H. and Rollie met and did some work at the other building with Rollie heading out later to install a new memorial brick. We also saw Pat, Mark S., Gary and some others today as well. I had some meetings and had a nice lunch with Big John and Janice. I also met with Kris and Kelli as we are formulating our plan of attack for 2012 education at RBG. Directly below are the large, dangling bells of the bellflower (Campanula medium 'Blue Improved'). We've grown this species simply as an annual although it does have some hardiness too and is considered a biennial by others. The second photo down shows the interesting shade of blue on the annual pimpernel (Anagallis 'Wildcat Orange')
Remember when considering blues that there is a very wide and subjective range of blues out there. These range from the traditional sky blues to navy blues to those blues that many would consider are more in the "purply" range of blue. Regardless of the shades of blue you use, consider the value of mass planting or grouping larger spaces with these plants. While these plants look beautiful singularly, they add more drama and impact as a grouping. Blue falls in to what would be considered a "cool" color in the garden. Cool colors also include green and maroon and help lend depth to a composition as well as a visual balance with the brighter, or "hot" colors. Hot colors include the yellow, oranges and reds that, while excellent in the garden, can be quite overwhelming if not "tamed" with some blues and/or other cool colors. There are lots of theories on color and I'm not one to preach. My only comment is to consider using more blues. Below, in sequence, are wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri 'Torrie Blue') which likes part shade, dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus tricolor 'Royal Blue Ensign') which isn't a vine but a scrambler that we used in our blue/yellow theme this year and finally, at the bottom is a beautiful shade of blue on the baby-blue-eyes (Nemophila menziesii) which is a native of the West coast and is a wonderful, cool season annual for us (looks good in May and June). What a nice shade of blue! This is a smattering of blues offered by annuals. In future blogs, I'll talk more about blues from other types of plants and we'll cover more on color in general.

Heading In To My Desk Season

2011-11-28T12:26:00.018-06:00

With the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) essentially set up and ready to go, I'm spending more time at my desk with my winter activities. My priorities will include getting our seed orders compiled, preparing for upcoming presentations, sorting and organizing my 2011 (and some 2010!) digital photos and really getting caught up with finalizing information for our new woody plant labels. I need to go thru Luis' (our volunteer woody plant curator) thorough inventory of woody plants and review all the information so Gary is ready to produce the new labels this winter. Needless to say, there is no shortage of work and despite no snow accumulation yet, I feel like spring will be here all too soon! The top picture above shows Larry, who along with Ron W., worked on finishing our deer fence installation and moved on to wrapping our yews (Taxus sp.) with burlap. The clumps near the pergola that he is targeting in the photo have been decimated by the deer each year. Directly above are the berries of the European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica) which are just waiting for relocation via "bird dispersal." It's not too late to target this thug in the garden which I talked about in detail in a blog within the past month or so. To the right is a close-up of our ornamental kale (Brassica sp.) which is looking even more vivid with the consistently cool temperatures this time of year. To the left is a close-up of the seed head of the Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium). You can see how it gets it's name with that structure, which holds up fairly well throughout the winter and has a neat rattling sound.

We had a good showing of volunteers today with the Grumpies and some others trickling in throughout the day. As mentioned above, Larry H. and Ron W. worked on deer fencing and "burlapping" while Urban was out in the gardens too continuing his crabapple (Malus sp.) pruning. Dick H. and Maury as well as Rollie and Dick P. all went mobile to pick up memorial bricks from Madison, WI and Sturtevant, WI respectively. Del worked on cleaning and sharpening tools while Dave, Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued work on the oak leaf project for the 2012 art in the garden program. Gary worked on organizing his labeling information and records. Jumbo Jim and one RECAPPER came in and did some work on winterizing our roses and continued protection efforts on the yews (Taxus sp.) in the Japanese garden. Janice was in to work on some lights and we also saw Big John, Dave G. and some others today as well. The image to the right is the 'Carmen' stonecrop (Sedum spectabile) which has gone way beyond the pink summer flowers but continues to offer form and interest in the late garden. Directly below is one perennial that continues to bloom despite the weather and Mother Nature's "death punch" hasn't found it yet. This is the red scabious (Knautia macedonica) which has lots of bloom power (May thru November) and also the capacity to create lots of babies so be prepared! Regardless, these little "pincushion-like" blooms do offer color and interest very late. Larry worked on tweaking some of the elements out in the HLS today and we're running some tests on a couple areas that were touchy last Wednesday evening at our last lights testing. Larry also installed some tree signs and is finalizing our HLS needs for the final route (barricades, signs, etc.). We have accelerated all of our set-up for HLS over the years and with an early set-up start (typically early October), we aren't so rushed at the end with our troubleshooting efforts. I remember years ago being out in the snow, three days before the start of the event, trying to re-route cords and deal with power issues. With everything now ready by Thanksgiving, we also then have the ability to solicit businesses to rent the facility/HLS for holiday parties or we can promote the event for bus tours as well. I think we have three or four instances (aside from our normal HLS schedule) that will involve the lights. To the right is the bronze fall color of the American beech (Fagus grandifolia) in the Japanese garden. To the left is the seed structure of the Bush's purple coneflower or yellow coneflower (Echinacea paradoxa). Seed heads, while ideally providing food for our winter wildlife, also have an inherent beauty (and form) as well out in the landscape.

We continue to garden outside and are focused on the last of our leaf collection before the weather turns sour on us. The leaf debris generated in a garden this size is unbelievable and recent winds have created more areas for us to address before snow becomes the limiting factor. Larry and I talked about some significant winter pruning and select removals out in the gardens too. We hope to have a good crew of Grumpies help with this pruning and it's been awhile since we've gone thru the entire gardens. Other winter projects (for Larry specifically) include vehicle maintenance and a lot of equipment cleaning, repairs, etc. This may be the "down time" for us but there is very little idle time! To the right is the foliage of the 'Plum Pudding' coral bells (Heuchera sp.) that is still looking pretty good near the gazebo garden. Directly below is an interesting mosaic of fall color on the leaf of the variegated wayfaringtree viburnum (Viburnum lantana 'Variegatum'). I will say that most of the leaves on this variety aren't as cool and just turn yellow very late in the season and drop. At the bottom is the clear yellow fall color of the columbine (Aquilegia sp.).

A Good Time For Grasses & Sedges

2011-11-25T09:03:00.013-06:00

Enjoying flowers (outside) will need take a hiatus very soon until mid-March when we see winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis), snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) and vernal witchhazels (Hamamelis vernalis) starting up as the snow melts. Remember that flowers are only part of a beautiful, four seasons garden that granted, does become more reliant on subtlety for interest as we head in to the December thru February quarter. However, ornamental grasses, sedges and other grass relatives do help carry interest late in the season. The picture of the 'Grasshopper' sedge (Carex sp.) above shows how visually interesting these plants continue to be late in the season. Although this variety may not prove winter hardy for us, it sure looked good planted throughout our fern & moss garden this year. Below is the plantain-leaf sedge (Carex plantaginea) as seen on this past Wednesday, still looking good late in the season. I've observed this sedge natively in both WI and IL as well.
On Wednesday night, we had our second testing of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) and while we only had four volunteers, Kelli and John go thru the show, it did allow me to evaluate the changes we made after our Monday evening test night. With the lights on at dusk for these tests, we see lots of traffic slowing along Palmer Drive and even some "hopefuls" that pull in to see if the show is open yet. I still have one area to tweak next week but was happy that most of the show stayed on for the entire day with minimal problems. Next Friday evening, December 2nd, is our Taste of Chocolate event which I think is going on either its fifth or sixth year as one of our more popular events. The premiere lighting of HLS has always been a part of this event and we're on track to have everything ready. To the right are two new brick pillars that our contracted masons put up Wednesday afternoon around the support frame for our new garden sign. We anticipate that the sign will come in by early January and we'll have it up and running shortly thereafter. To the left is the late season color of the golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold'). These are just some of the "tufts" coming out of the boulder wall near the fern & moss garden.

With our calendar year winding down, we are focusing on promoting and facilitating the HLS event which should be a nice source of revenue during a time of year that would not traditionally experience much garden visitation. We're preparing our educational offerings for 2012 but still have lecture 12 of 12 coming up on December 7th. Patty Bailey of Patty's Plants Organic Garden Supply (Milton, WI) will come in and talk about Holiday Plants - Past to Present (6 pm - 8 pm, RBG members are free, all others are $5). Patty had a great crowd for her herb talk in early spring and we hope for a strong showing to finish our popular lecture series which has already brought in well over 600 adults yet this year for the previous 11 topics. To the right is the wispy (yet tall) purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea subsp. arundinacea 'Transparent') which has a nice airy effect with the bulk of the grass foliage down low and the tall flower stalks elevated above. You can see how it got its name! Unfortunately this grass (variety and species for that matter) has no winter interest as it flops after even moderate snowfall. Below is the always showy prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) which offers a nice textural contribution in the garden from June until heavy snowfall. Look for those elements of interest that still exist out in your garden or be inspired to include more plants of this nature to create extended interest.

The Late November Garden

2011-11-23T12:11:00.019-06:00

Today was another nice day with blue skies, sunshine and temperatures in the mid 40 degrees F. It was a real skeleton crew today with various volunteers stopping in to help. Pat (above) did a nice job (here all morning) starting to wrap our yews (Taxus sp.) out in the gardens with burlap. This isn't a wind protection effort but a "deer nibbling prevention" effort. The yews above are the 'Hicksii' upright yews and two years ago they were decimated by our winter deer population. Pat and other Grumpies will hopefully finish wrapping the yews and other tasty evergreens next week as we also need to put the finishing touches on our temporary, protective deer fencing throughout the gardens. This time of year we also see other critter damage out in the gardens including some of our Holiday Lights Show (HLS) cords as seen to the right. This was probably a squirrel but we are rarely able to determine the specific culprit. We will frequently have a couple issues of critter nibbling on our cords and lights which necessitates running new cords. We've also had birds peck and remove/destroy some of the "accessible" icicle lights as they catch some sun during the day and I think the sparkle attracts the birds. In the past, we've also had deer get tangled up in our dangling icicle lights and drag them down from the trees. We now tie a little bit of blue tape about 4' off ground level on all the icicles to make the strands a bit more visible and intimidating. The wind has already blown down about eight of our icicle strands so we'd like to avoid any more losses! To the left is the fading orange to pink fall color of the three-flower maple (Acer triflorum). I showed these leaves on the blog weeks ago when they were a brilliant orange. As they have dried and are starting to drop, I thought this last phase of pinkish orange was neat. These leaves even look a bit like poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans)! Other volunteers today included Janice who went out for our last shopping binge for some additional LED twinkle lights and spent some time adjusting the lights on our obelisks outside. Bill O. came in to tidy up out in the gardens this afternoon and we also saw Maury, Jean S. and some others. To the right is one of our yarrows (Achillea, unknown variety) still showing color although I think it has been freeze dried! Yarrow blooms strongly in June but keeps on flowering well past frost with scattered blossoms. Below is my favorite, "lower-statured" golden juniper. This is the 'Saybrook Gold' Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) which does continue to widen but stays in the 2' tall range or so. We trim as needed and those trimming are nice in arrangements. The golden coloration is very consistent and this showy evergreen has always done well for us.
Above are our two HLS swan displays in the koi pond. These look great with the view from the other side. We put two "tank heaters" in opposite corners of the koi pond to keep the ice from freezing solid across this smaller pond. We leave the fish in over winter and will ultimately have that pond cleaned in spring. The heaters will allow for some open water and air exchange for the fish. The fish aren't real active and we're done feeding them for the year. They'll hang out in a large school down below and wait it out. I started the day with various indoor projects then went out and plugged in the entire show so Janice could work on the obelisks. I like to leave the show on for 6 hour periods during testing to see if there are any problems. When the HLS rolls around, we'll have the lights on roughly from 4 pm until 8 pm. Barring any challenges from rain/sleet, we don't anticipate any power problems. Today, I also put out some additional lights and replaced some questionable cords. Additionally, I string out "back up" cords on open circuits just in case I need to divert power for any reason during the show. To the above right is a close-up of the recurved, silvery (back side of the needle) needled Korean fir (Abies koreana 'Horstmann's Silberlocke'). This conifer looks great from a distance and despite the slow growth rate and high price, this is a showy, small-scale conifer for the full sun garden. Our best specimen (of our three) is in the front of the Parker Education Center. Conifers are really contributing from now thru April! To the left is the continued blooms of the 'Ozawa' ornamental onion (Allium thunbergii) in the alpine garden (photo from today). Today I also noted buds of this perennial that still hadn't opened up! Now that is one tough perennial as the frost has not slowed it down much (yet). I believe my November blogs always feature 'Ozawa' and rightfully so. To the lower right is the fall color of the little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues'). I like the mahogany/pink overtones on the stems and there are many good varieties out there with nice fall color but even more improved blue summer coloration. I took many pictures today and my November and December pictures over the years have given me a better appreciation for the subtle colorations and interest out in the late season (or fourth season) of the gardens, both at RBG and home. Below is one of the evergreen hen & chicks (Sempervivum sp.) and at the bottom, our large grouping (80 plants?) of 'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) behind the seating wall in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. This garden and five others will have new garden area signs next spring as Sarah (our consultant) and I just finished the layouts. Yay. I may blog a bit over the next four days but will get back to business on Monday for sure. Happy Thanksgiving to all.

HLS Teaser

2011-11-22T09:21:00.025-06:00

Our first lights test for the Holiday Lights Show went quite well last night. All the photos in this blog were taken last night and we were happy to see a front page shot in our local Janesville Gazette taken by Bill Olmsted (photo from last night too). We had quite a few staff and volunteers wandering through the show at 4:30 pm to see how it looks. We saw Polly, Lori, Amanda, Marv, Marianne, Terry, Pat, Big John, John's wife Jackie (and their granddaughter), Dave E., Rollie, Gena, Dennis, Del, Janice, Jenny, Christine R. and Mary (to the right and dressed for the occasion!). Look at Rollie over her shoulder mugging for the camera! In past years, the first test night is fraught with all sorts of power issues that we frequently struggle with over the following days. We had no power problems as the new circuits that Tom C. and Dick P. installed yesterday right before the test made a huge difference. We took a roll of pink tape with us and marked areas that needed attention the following day (today). I thought the HLS looked as good as it ever has and we've had about four years in a row where I think it has been quite impressive in scale and layout. We'll test the show another night as we have to make sure everything is in working order for the premiere lighting at the Taste of Chocolate event at RBG (limited seating still available! check out our website!).

Most of the displays, like the lily-of-the-valley to the left, were made years ago by Randy M. from Brodhead, WI. Randy and his father custom made over 90 special rebar displays for us and affixed rope lighting as well. They did an amazing job and although we haven't had the funds for many new displays over the years, Randy has come in the past couple of years to repair those displays in need of attention (free of charge). Some of the displays are enormous (and heavy)! The wreath to the right is almost 10' in diameter (200 lbs.?) and shows up nicely with a dark backdrop. We stake up many of our temporary pine trees (with no decorating lights) behind these rebar displays so the colors really pop from the primary viewing angle. We've rotated the displays significantly over the years and typically don't use every one every year. About half of the displays are plant or animal themed. This "rotation" helps make for a different "feel" to the event each year. Marv and Terry positioned almost all the displays this year and again, it looks awesome. We had two gentleman from NBC15 (Madison, WI) here last night as well. Both guys took lots of footage (they were at RBG until 8 pm!) and will be creating a custom commercial for us to promote this event to their viewing audience. I followed around and took photos from some different angles. I love the arches as seen below. The second photo down is taken from the zig-zag bridge (not an approved portion of the route for the HLS though!) and the reflection of the arches and dangling icicles was really neat. Today was a productive day of HLS corrections and modifications, at least before it started to drizzle and rain this afternoon. Larry turned everything on this morning to check over some trouble areas. Marianne came in to work on replacing luminary bulbs and I believe she went thru all 2,000 around the HLS route! Larry had a long list of items to check and I think he solved most of our problems. I'll finish the remainder tomorrow. Bill O. came in to do a little garden clean-up along the HLS route as we like to keep the paths clear of debris so they are ready for snowblowers, shovels, etc. Bill went on to decorate another nine trees that we thought could use some lights. We'll have to re-stake some of the larger trees next week as they continue to lean on their stakes because of their size and consistent winds we've had over the past week or so. I believe we'll have some Grumpies around next week, particularly if the weather is still favorable. Looks like a warm Thanksgiving this year!

Today, we also saw Vern and Jim D. come in for some woodworking. Maury popped in to discuss some projects, Chuck was in to recycle our cans and we saw Tom C., Marge and some others. I was able to start going thru seed catalogs, finished a presentation for our Board meeting tonight, had a meeting and am slowly organizing my 2011 photos by category for future retrieval and usage.

HLS Tweaking

2011-11-21T14:27:00.017-06:00

Today was another nice day for weather with plenty of sunshine and highs in the low 50 degrees F. Nice shot above of a 'Venus' coral bell (Heuchera) leaf in the shade garden. That white marbling is quite exquisite! It looks like this week will be quite pleasant which bodes well for our final Holiday Lights Show (HLS) touch-up work over the coming days. With the seasonal grounds staff finishing this past Friday, it was just Larry and I here today ("on the clock"). Larry started the day by turning on and plugging in the entire HLS display. He spent most of the day fine tuning each area as we found some power issues, displays that still needed to be plugged in, etc. He and I went out after lunch and did quite a bit of troubleshooting as we have a test night tonight with staff, volunteers and media folks getting a first peak at the show. Larry and Tom C. found some power problems early and to the right is Dick P, who along with Tom C., added some additional power outlets on this primary electrical box. Their modifications and additions will be a huge asset for the HLS and minimize power problems for us during that event. We have a couple more issues to share with Tom and Dick but appreciate their progress today. I helped with the lights later but had some morning deadlines with other projects to address.

We had a good turnout of Grumpies today as well and we were happy to see Dr. Gredler stop in to say 'hi'. The picture to the upper left is from Friday but both Marv and Terry continued (and finished) that same project today and secured lighting on this white tree that will be part of the model train display over in the Parker Education Center during HLS. The guys also shifted a large HLS display and helped troubleshoot some of our early HLS problems. Pat and Dennis did the rounds to make sure the tree staking was complete and then moved on to spreading shredded leaves and applying woodchip mulch along our east border. Dick P., Maury and Dick H. worked on various projects while Tom C. spent the morning troubleshooting electrical issues with Larry. Rollie was out working on placing the last of our memorial bricks. Urban was out pruning more crabapples (Malus) while Del worked on cleaning, sharpening and organizing our hand tools. Dave T., Bob A., Jim and Vern continued their oak leaf cutout project (see to the right). These will be the new "canvases" for the garden art project in 2012. They are turning out quite nicely. Gary was in as well. We also saw Luis who brought in his 2 year woody plant inventory for the gardens. It looks very impressive and his work is already extremely valuable for not only our records system but for our new labeling system. Below are some "leaf claws" which are like small hand rakes that have the primary value of allowing the user to pick up large piles. We've asked volunteers to come in over the next two weeks to help finish our fall clean-up efforts in the gardens before the snow flies. We still have some deer fencing installation to finish and will then transition in to wrapping our yews (Taxus sp.) with a light burlap to minimize browsing. A couple years ago we had an injured deer in the gardens that nibbled on most of our yews over the course of a couple weeks in winter, causing severe damage. The browsing damage here has been significant and while our protection/prevention methods have increased over the years, we've found it's hard to deter starving deer if it is a rough winter. We have some repellants left that we'll use once we see more evidence of active browsing out in the gardens. The ornamental bark to the right is on the dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) which has some nice shades of reddish brown with plenty of texture. The contribution of ornamental bark from this deciduous conifer (needles turned orange and dropped already) just gets better with age. To the left is some of our ornamental kale (Brassica sp.) still looking good after some tough frosts. Years ago we planted a large donation of kale (500+ plants) late in the season and couldn't believe how good it looked through most of the winter before it was buried with snow.

Once the HLS is set and ready to go, we make very few adjustments and focus on snow removal and keeping the paths for the event safe. I shift quickly in to seed ordering mode and also start securing orders for our specialty growers so they have time to secure and prepare plants for a spring pick-up. I also have another full winter of presentations that I'll pull together and the WPT Garden Expo is less than three months away (Feb. 10,11,12)! Two of my big winter projects include a revised Wellness Garden plan (future garden) and lots of work getting information finalized from Luis' woody plant inventory so we (Gary & team) can start cranking out labels yet this winter. To the right is the evergreen 'Ice Dance' sedge (Carex morrowii) in the woodland walk garden. While it does slowly colonize a space, it offers extended interest in the fall / early winter with pristine, variegated foliage. The forsythia blooms below (Forsythia viridissima var. koreana 'Kumson') think it's April but will "know their place" shortly. Still, always nice to see some late (or very early!) blooms.

An Awesome Grounds Staff

2011-11-18T11:11:00.022-06:00

Today was the last day for the grounds staff with the exception of Larry who will continue thru the winter and spend time working on equipment and other maintenance duties. We were able to go out for a nice lunch today and above (from left to right) are Terry, Marianne, Little Jerry (past staff, current volunteer), Big John, Janice, Marv and Pat. Larry and Jenny couldn't make it but RBG is truly lucky to have such dedicated and talented grounds staff that continues to work miracles every year as the gardens expand and improve. We heard more positive comments about the gardens this year than any year previously. This is a pointed reflection on all of our wonderful volunteers but certainly is a result of the solid commitment that our staff has for the care and improvement of the gardens proper. It was a LONG year with many challenges and it's always bittersweet to effectively end the season. John (to the right) is holding up all of the "task maps" that I gave him this year and I joked that at least he accomplished 25% of what was on there! To the left is the beautiful, exfoliating bark of the seven-sons flower (Heptacodium miconioides) which I've featured in the past for late season (late September/early October) fragrant white flowers. There are some considerably larger specimens up at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) that are very impressive and the bark is quite conspicuous in winter. To the right is the arching form of the weeping Norway spruce (Picea abies 'Weeping Blue') near the gazebo that will continue to be a neat feature in the landscape, particularly in winter (note the HLS cords in that image!). To the left is the chartreuse fall color of our cut-leaf forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia 'Tremonia') which had been a good shrub for us with nice spring flower coverage as well.

We had a solid day of work out in the gardens to put the finishing touches on the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). Granted, we'll need to turn everything on this upcoming Monday and finalize power issues, etc. but for the most part, we are done with the outdoor component of the HLS. We actually had to purchase another 1,500' in extension cords (thanks Maury!) for the remainder of our wiring needs. Big John filled more buckets with sand as a back-up supply for our path maintenance during the HLS. John also finished decorating some items, cut and placed evergreen (pine) boughs and helped run cords. Pat was here as a volunteer and continued to "wire up" the temporary pine trees that are starting to lean on their stakes with all these heavy winds. John helped Pat as well. Marianne made some power adjustments, worked on securing icicle lights, tidied the reception garden and did a nice job going over some of our areas to make sure our connections are snug and everything is in order. Marv and Terry secured and decorated the last of our trees and wired up the last of our power needs. The guys also started decorating an interior display (tree) that looks pretty cool. Janice worked on repairing LED lights on our last obelisk and went out to straighten some of the lighting that has been compromised with the high winds. We also saw Maury, Little Jerry, Bill and Deb G. today. To the right is the snowy wood rush (Luzula nivea) in the woodland walk which has this neat white, haze of fuzz (not a botanical term!) on the foliage. The summer flowers are white (somewhat unkempt but not unshowy) and this grass relative can tolerate part shade or full shade. It is a spreading clump so keep an eye on it. It caught my eye today as it still looks pretty good. Directly below is creeping lily-turf (Liriope spicata) which isn't a grass at all (lily family) but has a nice appearance and can certainly soften an edge as seen along this brick path leading to the sunken garden. This perennial, while evergreen, will send up fresh foliage each year and can also take up some real estate as a groundcover. I've seen this plant used as a groundcover in full sun, part shade and deep shade and it always looks good to me. Although there are still 43 days left in the year, our primary gardening season is over. We will continue to collect leaves and debris as time (and weather allows) and will also continue our extensive winter pruning efforts over the next four months. Urban has already had a good start on pruning the crabapples (Malus sp.) and was at it yesterday. The Grumpies will have their last official work day this upcoming Monday although some of the guys (primarily the carpenters) will continue to come in as long as there are winter projects. We typically will have some odds and ends to do inside which will include not only new projects but repairs and other duties like painting, resealing benches, etc. After the New Year, the hardiest of volunteers (including some of our off-season grounds staff), come in to start dismantling and putting away the HLS. The weather (snow cover in particular) is a huge factor in what we can access and safely bring back to the Horticulture Center for a little thawing before it is efficiently packed away and stored. Larry has historically done a nice job orchestrating this post-event process and I rarely get involved as I'm waist-deep in catalogs, orders and other preparations for 2012. To the right is a compilation of leaves from our sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) that has finally decided to drop everything this week. Look at that variability of coloration though! The leaf to the left is one I've featured previously this fall as the coloration has become better each week! This is from the 'Golden Zebra' foamy bells (Heucherella) in our woodland walk. What you see as pink along the margins of the leaf lobes was bright yellow five months ago. I really like the foliage on this perennial (from May thru November). Now that's impact. Conifers should always be considered for their appeal throughout the year but of course they become more conspicuous in the winter landscape. To the right is the contorted European silver fir (Abies alba 'Green Spiral') just outside of our English cottage garden. This specimen, when planted years ago, didn't impress me much but I like it now as it has filled in and become an eye catcher.

I've been thinking about next year for quite some time and am not starting from scratch. I find that I need to start earlier and earlier each year to get seed orders, plant orders, label information, etc. ready before "crunch time" starts in April. Some secrets for 2012 that I can reveal include a moss rose (Portulaca) collection, improved Smelly Garden, improved Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable display, Grains of the World (more on that later), oodles of new perennials, a new border planting, lots more new labeling (particularly for woody plants) and plenty of color with a vast array of neat annuals. Thanks again to a top notch grounds staff (Marv, Marianne, Terry, Janice, Larry, John, Pat and Jenny) for a great 2011 and an even better 2012! Directly below is a leaf of the 'Dale's Strain' coral bells (Heuchera americana) with a red sweet gum leaf nearby. Enjoy the details in every garden, especially your own.

Lights Show Almost Ready

2011-11-17T11:19:00.024-06:00

Today was our coldest morning yet this fall with temperatures in the lower 20 degrees F. At least it was sunny but the wind has picked up and it looks to be quite windy tomorrow as well. Despite the chilly start, we had a great group of volunteers and staff here working on myriad projects. The top picture shows the bright coloration of the golden Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Golden'). This specimen is its "brightest" from November well in to April and can be seen from quite a distance. Some golden conifers just look sickly to me but this one shines! The shot directly above is the fall color on the tricolor European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Roseo-Marginata') which has beautiful spring and summer foliage as well. Earlier in the season, the leaves are maroon with a nice pink edge. If you look closely, you can see traces of pink where that variegation was more prominent earlier in the year. To the right is the fall color of the fernleaf buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula 'Asplenifolia') which looks great. This isn't one of THOSE buckthorns that spreads everywhere!

Our volunteers today included some Grumpettes as well as Grumpies. To the left are Becky and Karen (sisters) and they did a nice job tidying up a large portion of the shade garden. They are both veteran volunteers at RBG and it was nice to have them gardening today. In the afternoon, Gena and Myrt worked in the gazebo garden doing the same type of fall clean-up. They gathered many loads of debris for our compost pile. Larry H. and Ron Y. worked on collecting leaves around the gardens while Dave E. did a nice job spreading a soil/compost topdressing over one of our newly planted (bulbs) borders near the North Point garden. Pat and Dennis were back at work with decorating the remainder of our trees (with John). The guys did a great job and it's a timely finish as I need to finish cords tomorrow. Dave T., Bob A., Vern and Jim continued to work on the oak leaf cutouts for the 2012 Art in the Gardens project. Dick P., Tom C. and Maury (along with help from Big John) worked on digging a trench (see directly below) for the power hookup for the new entrance sign. Note that John is the only one digging but at least he has three supervisors... Bill O. was in this afternoon to collect more debris out in the garden and Janice was in (as a volunteer) to work on some odds and ends. We also saw Kris, Mary W. and Cora was over spraying some branches for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). To the right is the upright maroon European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple') which is now turning a nice shade of orangey-bronze. This narrow specimen is a nice exclamation point in the landscape and its slow growth rate makes it suitable for smaller yards. We have four upright beeches and this is my favorite. Two photos down is the lasting color of the 'Havana' coral bells (Heuchera) which has a nice lime-green leaf with a white "frosting" between the veins. This variety also has a profusion of bright pink flowers in late spring thru early summer.

When the sun catches a grass like the one above (Miscanthus sinensis 'Blondo'), you can see the value and interest in regards to ornamental grasses in the landscape. This variety hold form well thru the winter but like most ornamental grasses in winter, will not tolerate a volume of heavy snow very well. We had a small grounds crew today with just Larry, Big John and myself. Larry helped me run more cords including some that are actually plugged in on the roof of our main building! Larry worked on multiple tasks including helping winterize our pumps and heaters as well as helping straighten and stake trees out in the gardens. Big John did more HLS work including decorating, pounding stakes, hauling trees, arranging greens, connecting cords, etc. He also trenched in some more cords (under gravel paths) for me which is something we do to minimize tripping hazards as well as avoiding snow blower "conflicts." John probably decorated the most trees and will help me finish up cord work tomorrow. I was out in the gardens this morning running more cords and then had some meetings and time-sensitive desk work to finish. To the right is the weeping Alaskan cedar [Chamaecyparis (Xanthocyparis) nootkatensis 'Pendula'] near the gazebo which has such a neat form. We pruned off the lower 5' of branches as they have been decimated over the years by the deer in the past. To the left is the fall color of the 'Winnepeg Parks' shrub rose (Rosa) that is quite showy right now. Many roses, particularly shrub roses and old-fashioned species, will get some decent oranges and reds late in the season. Look for fruiting (hips) interest with your roses too.

Last night, John Gishnock (lower right), owner of Formecology, LLC in Evansville, did a presentation at RBG entitled Gardens of Stone - Expressions of Our Natural Environment. Formecology (www.formecology.com/) is a landscape design, build and care firm. John had a very informative and engaging presentation for our 46 attendees. He used lots of visuals which were quite inspiring regarding the use of stone in the landscape for paving, paths, patios, walls, accent, etc. I hope to have John back at RBG in the future as a speaker (and consultant!). John's crowd can be seen below and the bottom photo illustrates our deer and sleigh arrangement (set-up by Marv and Terry) ready for the show! The last lecture for the 2011 season is Holiday Plants - Past and Present by Patty Bailey of Patty's Plants Natural & Organic Garden Supply (Milton, WI). Patty gave our March presentation on herbs which was VERY popular. Tomorrow signals the end of the year for our seasonal grounds employees and hopefully the end of our HLS set-up!

Frigid Frolicking Fun

2011-11-16T14:38:00.019-06:00

Today was quite cold although at least we had the sun shining throughout the day. There was again, lots going on at the gardens today. The top picture is the leaf of the golden false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla 'Diane's Gold') which is actually a selection found in the Madison, WI area. The spring foliage is bright yellow aging to a "summer chartreuse" and we're seeing the return to yellow right now. Today was also the check presentation for the $15,000 grant that RBG received from the WI Department of Tourism to help promote our Holiday Lights Show (HLS). We had plenty of VIPs including the WI Secretary of Tourism, Stephanie Klett along with WI State Senator Tim Cullen, WI State Representative Joe Knilans and Eric Levitt, Janesville City Manager. The crowd above, left to right included Christine Rebout (Executive Director of the Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau), Susan Melton (RBG marketing, CVB marketing, etc.!), Kris Kringle (aka "Santa"), Amanda Moucha (Funds Development at RBG), Stephanie Klett (WI Secretary of Tourism), Representative Knilans (in back), Kelli Cameron (Executive Director at RBG), Senator Cullen (in back), Polly Schluter-Punzel (Facilities Coordinator at RBG), Lori Ebneter (Volunteer Coordinator at RBG), Gil Sedor (Board Member at RBG), Eric Levitt (Janesville City Manager) and John Pearse (Board Member, Treasurer for RBG). It was a nice dedication with comments by many attendees. RBG will certainly benefit (as will WI tourism) with the use of this grant. I hope it brings a couple more thousand attendees to the HLS! Amanda and Santa can be seen to the above right too! To the left is the showy bark of the Himalayan birch (Betula utilis) in the shade garden. This bark is as showy as the grey birch (Betula populifolia) and paper birch (Betula papyrifera) in my mind and I hope to use more of these in the future. That creamy white bark is striking, particularly this time of year.

The grounds staff (Marv, Terry, Marianne, Big John and myself) spent most of the day outside as we're in that home stretch for setting up the lights show. Marv and Terry continued securing trees (see to the right) for others to decorate with lights. In this picture, Marv is the guy buried in the tree wiring the trunk to a stake. The guys not only secured all the trees but put out the remainer of the obelisks and worked on some other HLS preparations. Big John loaded up our sand buckets for our potential icy paths during HLS and moved on to a solid day of putting lights on trees and running cords. Marianne set out more lights for the newly secured trees, decorated trees (see below) and did a nice job connecting and securing our tree icicles out in the gazebo garden and woodland walk. She has a nice system that minimizes tangles and keeps the icicles hanging nicely. I ran a couple hundred drop cords and am about 90% done with running power out in the HLS. I'll tweak areas tomorrow and Monday in preparation for our first evening tests next week before Thanksgiving. We also had some solid volunteer support this morning with the help of Kay, Pat and Dennis. Bill O. was also in to work on some tire repair and Jumbo Jim had three RECAPPERS with him to help tidy in the Japanese garden. We also saw Mary W. today. Two photos up is Kay working out in the woodland walk garden where she collected many loads of debris. The wind was challenging but that didn't stop her from doing a great job of tidying up that space. We thought she was tough with no hat this morning (32 degrees F) but she had it on soon after this photo was taken. Kay was the only one gardening this morning (thankfully!) although Jim and the guys did a nice job in the afternoon. The picture above shows some of Dennis and Pat's jobs today. Here they are putting lights on the five trees that Marv and Terry secured on the arched bridge this morning. The wind coming across that water was frigid but the guys toughed it out. To the right and left are Pat and Dennis respectively decorating more white pines (Pinus strobus) in the formal gardens. Hard to believe these were just cut Monday morning and are now secured, decorated with lights, wired up and ready to roll. The trees were a bit bigger this year so the staking and decorating is a bit more challenging but we'll adjust! Tomorrow we'll put the finishing touches on the HLS and I'll probably turn everything on and get a feeling for how well everything will "stay on". We will ultimately test this show multiple times before the premiere at the Taste of Chocolate event at RBG on December 2nd (there is still room to attend, call soon!). The bane of the lights show is rain. We always hope for a little snow but are not real keen on rain and/or sleet. With an improved "power grid" out in the gardens, I think we'll have very few power issues and should have time to modify and adjust prior to the opening of HLS to the public on December 16th. Check out our website at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information as there are also other event components like refreshments, live music, Santa, quilt display, gift shop and a cool train set-up by the Southern WI Garden Railway Society. To the right is the fall color of the silver linden (Tilia tomentosa 'Sterling') which is looking quite nice right now and is still showing the silver backing on the leaves (which it does in summer too). Below is the exceptional fall color on another of our perennial geraniums (Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Karmina') which we use in many locations. At the bottom is a fallen ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) leaf which is just as interesting on the ground as it is on the tree. The fan-shaped leaves are quite unique and give the ginkgo the other common name of "maidenhair tree".

A Balmy November Day

2011-11-15T11:47:00.017-06:00

Though frosty this morning, the day warmed up quickly with plenty of sunshine and highs in the lower 50 degrees F. Overall, it was a great day to get outside and accomplish some outdoor tasks. We had a small but productive crew today. Above is Larry who was hanging lights on the remainder of the building for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). Off camera to the right was Big John passing Larry lights but I think making him reach further and further for them...The guys finished the building lights which is always a challenge as it also involves time on the roof. Larry spent much of the day running cords to our recently installed icicle lights (from L.P Tree Service's efforts yesterday) while John decorated a large spruce (Picea sp.) tree with lights and also began decorating the temporary white pine (Pinus strobus) trees set in place by Marv and Terry yesterday. Janice worked on some office projects, did some garden clean-up but spent a good portion of time trimming trees with lights along with John. My day can be summed up in three words: I ran cords. To the above right is the vivid foliage of the Italian arum (Arum italicum) that foliates in early fall every year and the leaves remain green thru the winter. While considered a bit vigorous for warmer climates, this perennial has done well for us and has nice clusters of orange summer berries. To the left is a leaf from our sycamore maple (Acer pseuodplatanus). Note that interesting fall color pattern on this single leaf although as a whole, this species has poor fall color. I liked the look of this leaf on top of the dark-leaved bugleweed (Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop') groundcover in the shade garden. Bugleweed will keep much of its color thru the winter but is replaced by vigorous new foliage in the spring. With my camera in my pocket all day, I had no shortage of plants that caught my attention with interesting bark, berries, fall color, etc. To the right is the late fall color of the shrubby St. Johnswort (Hypericum kalmianum 'Ames') that also has some pretty neat, yellow summer flowers. There is so much late fall color after the "peak" has passed that I think many gardeners miss these later contributors in the garden. Directly below is a cool season grass sending up new growth (thinking it is April I believe!). This is the tuber oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) with a vivid variegation and eye-catching appearance. This species will be back up in spring but does prefer the cooler portions of the growing season (not July and August!). I like it in partial shade as you see here in the woodland walk. We also have this species "peppered" throughout the fern & moss garden for color and texture. We did have some solid volunteer help today too. Kay was in and continued her clean-up efforts in multiple garden areas. Recent high winds have really knocked leaves down and created some sizeable "drifts" of debris to clean-up. Kay spent a good portion of time in the sunken garden and we'll see her tomorrow as she finishes off the shade garden. The grounds staff, with HLS preparation time coming to an end, have had little time to accomplish traditional gardening tasks so our volunteers become even more important this time of year as we attempt to tidy up 20 acres of gardens before the snow accumulates. We typically don't leave much clean-up for spring as we need to hit the ground running. We should have everything completed in the next couple of weeks but hope to have the HLS completed soon and will test it before Thanksgiving. We'll have plenty of Grumpy gardening tasks for Thursday and next Monday as we still need to finalize clean-up but also our deer browsing prevention methods! Bill O. came in to work on one of our flat tires and spent the afternoon out in the gardens helping collect leaves and fallen branches. Collectively, Kay and Bill did a huge amount of work and we appreciate the progress on such a balmy day! Dr. Gredler also stopped by and we'll see him next week. To the above right is a close-up of the corky bark of the Eyestopper Lavalle corktree (Phellodendron lavallei 'Longenecker') which was selected by Dr. Hasselkus from the Longenecker Gardens at the UW-Arboretum. The fall color (clear gold) was spectacular but I love the bark as well. It is really corky to the touch! To the left is the red/maroon fall color of the Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) which is marginally hardy for us. This is our only one and while I've never seen it bloom (flowers and fruits are cool), this small tree has had consistently nice fall color late in the season. We'll see how it continues to grow. I've seen a nice one up at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) so hope this specimen will prosper. To the right is the red fall color of the maroon European smokebush (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'). The summer foliage is a very dark maroon but I also enjoy the autumn progression of bright red with an interior orange on this shrub. We occasionally butcher these down to get vigorous new growth in spring that will get up to 8-10'+ in one season. However, we lose the wispy, late spring flowers with a pruning of that severity. As I was running cords through the woodland walk this morning, I chanced upon some interesting foliage (see below). This is a leaf from the 'Electric Lime' coral bells (Heuchera sp.). Heucheras will maintain leaf color well in to winter and I'm glad I caught a glimpse of this one looking just fine along the water's edge. Tomorrow will be exclusively HLS work for Marv, Marianne, Terry, Big John and myself. We may get some volunteers too. I see cords in my future....

The Annual Tree Run

2011-11-14T14:38:00.013-06:00

Today was a crazy day around the gardens although everything went smoothly. The pictures above are from our annual tree cutting expedition which resulted in 150+ white pines (Pinus strobus) coming back to the gardens from Paul's Tree Farm (www.paulstreefarm.com/). Paul has donated trees over the past 14 years and we estimate we've utilized over 2,500 of his trees as part of our Holiday Lights Show (HLS) set-ups over the years. Please patronize Paul if you're looking for a great tree! Thanks to the gang in the top picture for all the hard work which included not only dragging and loading (Larry and Big John went down early to "pre-cut" and get ahead of us) but also securing the load and ultimately unloading them and dragging them in to place (we all smell like pine sap!). In the top picture we have (back row, left to right), Rollie, Jim, Ron Y., Dennis, Ron W., Maury, Big John and Dave. Bottom row, left to right are Pat, Dick H., Dick P., Jenny, Bob A., Larry H., Larry O. and Curt H. (with his pup). We made quick work of the project and enjoyed a baked potato lunch (see to the right) organized by Kelli, Lori, Polly and Mark S. All but Kelli joined us as did Amanda, Kris and Roman. Thanks to Mary W. for baking the spuds and all those that helped with organizing this appreciation lunch. To the left is the coppery fall color of the purple beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Riversii'). This specimen was glowing from a distance and while beeches (Fagus sp.) aren't overwhelming with fall color, they offer interest late and will frequently get some nice yellows and golds too.

While we were off galavanting at the tree farm, many things were happening at RBG. The picture to the above left shows some preliminary work being done in advance of our new, digital entrance sign that will be arriving in the next month or so. This sign, and its installation, was donated by the Morning Rotary Club (thank you!). The contractors above dug and prepared a large concrete footing and set the sign frame today. L.P. Tree Service was also here with two bucket trucks as they hung over 250 dangling icicle lights from the upper canopy of our larger trees. They did a great job as usual and we'll spend the week "wiring" all these lights up as needed. Marv, Terry, Marianne and Janice were at the gardens "holding down the fort" and working on various HLS projects and garden clean-up while keeping an eye on all the "peripheral" activity. Marv and Terry removed our RBG sign to make room for the sign contractors and moved on to setting up and securing more HLS elements and did a great job wiring up trees to stakes as soon as they rolled in this morning. Marianne worked on HLS jobs including hauling lights out to the new trees for decoration tomorrow and Wednesday. She also collected quite a bit of debris. Janice worked on some HLS preparations but spent the bulk of the time collecting debris as we had major winds yesterday and we have another solid round of leaf/debris collection to accomplish. Del and Vern stayed behind to work on carpentry projects and we later saw Bill O. who helped tidy out in the gardens this afternoon. Luis was also in to continue his exhaustive (and much appreciated) woody plant inventory. To the right is the bronze/pink fall color tinge to our golden European filbert (Corylus avellana 'Aurea') in the Scottish garden. I love the bright gold spring growth as well although it ages to a "summer chartreuse." All in all, one of our craziest (but also productive) days! Below is Jenny out at the tree farm tidying up after our clear-cut. Thanks again Paul!