Volunteer Power!

The wind chill this morning was well below zero degrees F but it warmed up to around 20 degrees F by the afternoon.  We had a nice turnout of volunteers that worked both inside and outside throughout the morning and afternoon.  The photo above shows Vern (red) putting the second coat of primer on our garden art suns.  The guys have totally finished some of these with the remainder to be completed on Monday.  In the distance is Del disassembling the deer cutouts from the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  He will then stack these on pallets for efficient storage.  Directly below are Dr. Gredler (red obelisk) and Dick W. (blue obelisk) doing some painting this morning.  Dr. Gredler came back to apply another coat of red this afternoon.  Urban helped Dick with some of the blue painting.  The second photo down shows the assembly line on the suns with the application of primer being the focus (and last stage of the process).  That photo also shows Bob, Urban, Dave T. and Jim.  The third photo down shows Dave (white) and Jim working on the suns as well.  Jim D. (new Grumpy) was in to help wrap up some more cords and Pat, Larry and Dick H. went out in the gardens to take down more lights. The guys also hauled back the rest of the temporary spruces (Picea) although their trips this morning were quite frigid.  Gary spent time creating templates for some new labels that will be used this year.  These included labels for memorial benches and some nice signs that will recognize our assigned gardeners out in the gardens this year and beyond.  

I've always appreciated a nice sunrise and/or sunset.  The sunrise this morning was beautiful (7 am here) and worthy of a photograph for sure (directly below).  This is a shot from the Horticulture Center parking lot across Palmer Drive to the east (obviously).  I then took a shot of one of our "bean towers" at the same time (second photo down).  Twenty five of these were built by the Grumpies four years ago and they were installed in the vegetable beds around the Horticulture Center.  These towers are 8' above ground with 2' below ground (set in concrete).  They've supported heirloom runner beans, gourds, squash, tomatoes and this year, they will be supporting miniature pumpkins (Cucurbita).  Janice has selected some fun varieties that will lend themselves to being trained as climbers and the fruits shouldn't be too heavy for the elevated vines/stems.  We'll offer seeds of these various varieties at the Spring Plant Sale (May 11th and 12th).  With names like 'Baby Boo White', 'Batwing', 'Crunchkin', 'Goosebumps', 'Munchkin', 'Snowball' and 'Wee Be Little', these should be oodles of fun!

I spent more time today working on seed ordering and had small orders with three more companies.  I now have 90% of my seed ordered and all the vegetable seeds for the spring plant sale have been ordered.  I also worked on a grant, slide lists for upcoming presentations, plant records and am getting together spring plant orders.  I was exchanging emails with Jeff E. (Director of Horticulture) at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) and we both agreed on the merit of the Black Lace elderberry (Sambucus nigra 'Eva').  This dark-leaved shrub has textural value for sure but the threadleaf, almost black leaves have immense value too, particularly when placed near lighter plants (yellow, white, powder blue, etc.) that allow that dark foliage to "pop" out.  The three photos down show this plant and the wonderful foliage and flower features.  We have a couple of these around the gardens and every other year we cut them back severely for fresh new growth and a more compact size at 6' or so.  These will normally get 8'-10'+ in size and have an arching or vase shape.  Black Lace responds well to aggressive pruning and is durable in a wide range of soils and lighting conditions.  I'll include this one in my talk on shrubs next week at Olbrich.  At the bottom are some of my kitschy garden items on my porch table out back.  The recent light dusting of snow and the collective stares of these creatures attest to the cold temperatures although it looks like rain next week!

A "Sunny" Day?

Today was not sunny at all.  It was cloudy, cold (not frigid like the past two days though...) with light snow.  Of course my blog title refers to the garden art project seen directly above.  These suns are 48" in diameter and the guys are finishing putting the second coat of primer on 36 of these that will be available starting February 4th.  All project fees, rules, expectations and deadlines will be on the website soon.  Every year we're impressed with the quality and variability of what the artists accomplish on these shapes (both sides).  We've now done daisies, butterflies, oak leaves and suns for this year.  Vern was in today working on these and spent some time priming them as well.

The light snow didn't keep volunteers away today.  Aside from Vern, we had Dr. Gredler and Pat again painting obelisks this morning.  Doc has graduated on to red paint and Pat has a few more narrow obelisks to convert to lime.  Dr. Gredler came back this afternoon to apply the second coat.  Above are Kris K. (left), our Education Coordinator, and Cindy B. making plans for the "Pollinator's Paradise" theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden this afternoon.  We also saw Mark S., Ryan, Chuck and many others.  Janice continued research on plant sale vegetables as we like to include more descriptive signs with everything that will be offered.  Below are Myrt (left) and Gena painting obelisks this afternoon and they were later joined by Nancy who tackled that third obelisk that was ready and waiting.  

I made a large plant order today, worked on special event planning, Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com/) presentations and finalized details for my talk on shrubs next week up at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI).  I'm including many of the panicled hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) as they are very durable and have a long season of flower interest with a progression of white blooms in mid-summer that age to a pink and then light amber by November.  Essentially, the blooms have 4-6 months of interest and may contribute textural interest over the entire winter too.  Some varieties are chosen for a more vivid and/or lengthy "pink stage" like Pinky Winky seen at the bottom.  There are other varieties with neat names like Vanilla Strawberry, Pink Diamond, etc.  There are many varieties out there and new ones are coming out every year.  Some are also promoted for a more intense and extended lime coloration prior to turning white.  The variety Quickfire ('Bulk') was selected because of its early start to blooming in late June. Panicled hydrangeas prefer full sun in moisture retentive, rich soils and I've never met a panicled hydrangea that I didn't like. However, there are some varieties that I like more than others and I included a couple directly below.  This is just a drop in the bucket in terms of available varieties and I have to say that many look identical to me.  Many varieties will ultimately get well over 8' tall and end up in the 12-15' tall range.  There are some nice compact varieties though that don't get much taller than 5' or so and are more appropriate for the smaller home landscape situation.    Directly below is 'Dharuma' which has more open flowers but lots of them on a nicely rounded, compact form (5' tall).  Olbrich has many of these and they look great.  The next photo down shows the later summer stage (pink) of 'Phantom' which has some huge, dense flowers.  Next down are 'Silver Dollar' (my favorite for flower power), 'Little Lamb' (nice and compact at 5') and Pinky Winky ('DVPpinky').  We have probably 15 or so varieties of panicled hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) at RBG although there are some varieties that I'll look for based on my observations elsewhere (and not just the eye candy catalog photos!).

The Inside is So Delightful...

This morning was quite cold and made me wish we had more insulating snow cover (around the gardens and my  drafty house!).  There is a chance of snow later in the week but these frigid temperatures (see above) don't make for outdoor work at all.  Note on our little weather station above, in the upper left corner, that there is a "warming trend" at least!  UGH.  We had some fun around the Horticulture Center today though.  I spent the day ordering more seeds, finalizing presentations and working on upcoming events like the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com/), Spring Tree Sale (April 19-21), Spring Plant Sale (May 11-12), etc.  There is no shortage of work for me at my desk this time of year and my pace is dictated by what I know will happen in April as things pick up speed around the gardens!  Dr. Gredler and Pat (seen below) continued painting this morning and will probably never buy lime paint in the future after this experience!  Vern came in for some carpentry work and we also saw Dick H. briefly.  Janice was in to work on various projects and met with Lori regarding future volunteer opportunities.  Lori and I also talked about some of our upcoming events and volunteer needs.  We should have a fun Volunteer Soup & Social tonight!

As I wind down with my seed ordering (should be done next week), I'm starting to locate some "perennials of interest" for the gardens.  With all of the new coneflower (Echinacea) hybrids and varieties being offered over the past decade, I've avoided trialing unknown varieties that may prove to be poor performers or not be an acceptable "what you see is what you get" from those pretty catalog photos.  I'm relying more on my photographs/observations and have been keeping an eye out for interesting coneflower varieties for acquisition.  It was nice to see many trials out in Michigan this past summer (2012) for coneflowers and the collection at the Chicago Botanic Garden is top notch.  While I have no intention of keeping up with all the new "eye candy coneflowers" in the catalogs, I will seek those out that have strong stems, a nice stature, heavy flowering, consistent color and durability.  Below are some of the varieties that I think look interesting and have potential.  I wont indicate which are hybrids but the variety listing should guide you if you decide to seek any of these out.  This is just a smattering of what is out there but again, be wary of those that don't have much of a trialing history.  Keep in mind that some of the varieties have a color transition from new blooms to older blooms.  In sequential order, these are 'Doublescoop Orangeberry', 'Leilani', 'Sombrero Salsa Red', 'Snowcone', 'Pink Poodle', 'Pica Bella' and 'Green Jewel'.  Note that many of these varieties are not new.  I love the old gardening adage that "New plants aren't necessarily good and good plants aren't necessarily new!!!"

Calendar Fodder Of Interest

It was a frigid start to the day and needless to say, no one was out in the gardens working today!  Tomorrow looks even colder although a warm up is inevitable.  Of course it was mostly inside work today although Larry, Gary, Maury, Jim D., Del and Dick H. had to run an errand this morning involving hauling some materials out in the cold.  They looked frozen thru when they got back!  All these guys shifted to helping with other projects once they were back.  Pat and Dr. Gredler continued painting obelisks (two shades of lime) and Del helped organize some things in the shop.  Dave T., Jim, Vern and Bob A. continued work on the garden art project suns which should still be ready by the February 4th availability date (details on the RBG website soon).  Bill O. came in to help wrap up cords and we also saw Rollie, Mary W. and Urban over here today.  Above is the 'Crimson King' basil (Ocimum basilicum) which is one of the many offerings we'll have at our Spring Plant Sale (May 11th and 12th, 9 am - 4 pm).  Directly below are the 'Gretel' (white) and 'Hansel' eggplants (Solanum melongena) which are both past All-America Selections winners and will also be available at the sale.

The blog title refers to making sure our spring events are on your calendar at home.  Some items of note include the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com) on February 8th, 9th and 10th as well as our Spring Symposium on March 23rd.  We are currently selling tickets for the Garden Expo in the Cottage Garden Gallery (while supplies last).  The annual symposium, Our Gardening Heritage, will include four great speakers, excellent food & snacks, a silent auction and all sorts of other neat things including a Market Mingle event the evening prior to the symposium (Friday).  See the RBG website for more information on this always popular (and frequently filled to capacity) symposium including the complete itinerary and speaker biographies.  The remainder of the photos in this blog also feature plant sale offerings including the 'Chilly Chili' hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) directly below which makes up for its lack of heat with impressive ornamentality.  The next photo down is the 'Snow White' cherry tomato (Lycopersicon) which won our visitor taste tests twice in a row at the Garden Festival (Rock Prairie Master Gardener Association) and continues to be one of my personal favorites for flavor.

I had a productive day of ordering seeds from two catalogs and I finished preparing my next four presentations, three of which will be given at the Garden Expo.  Next week I present on "Durable Shrubs for Foliage Appeal" at Olbrich (Wednesday evening).  I continue to chip away at my catalog stack but feel good about the progress this month.  Tomorrow evening is our Volunteer Soup Social (5 pm) which is a fun and effective way to connect with our volunteers over the slower portion of the year.  We'll talk about upcoming events, collections, etc. and I'll also give a presentation on my trip to the Netherlands last April.  Larry had no shortage of tasks today and continues to shift various things around the Horticulture Center to make room for our various tasks.  Further below are just some of the herb offerings that will be included in the Spring Plant Sale.  We typically offer over 100 varieties of herbs.  Directly below is the 'Amethyst Falls' trailing oregano (Origanum hybrida) which is nice in a container or hanging basket.  Further below are the golden sage (Saliva officinalis 'Icetrina') and silver garden sage (Salvia officinalis 'Berggarten).  Both of these sages are great ornamentals in the full sun garden too!

9.2 Inches To Go!

I've impressed myself with steady progress through our catalogs this winter, particularly over the past week or so.  Granted, I'm reading about three of them at home every night (much to the chagrin of my wife).  However, the stack of those yet to peruse is only 9.2" tall (as seen above).  I did some small orders today but shifted focus to the upcoming Wisconsin Public Television (WPT) Garden Expo this February 8th, 9th and 10th.  See www.wigardenexpo.com for more information on this popular, well-organized and much anticipated event.  RBG is currently selling tickets from the Cottage Garden Gallery for the Expo.  The website also gives a full schedule for the seminars and demonstrations which are becoming very well attended and perhaps the primary draw for the entire event.  The Exhibition Hall also has lots of booths with other gardens, plant organizations, non-profits, nurseries, etc.  Denise (our new Funds Development Director) and I met this morning to talk about our booth layout and some other details related to the event.  I'm giving four seminars (three topics) at the Garden Expo and spent some time preparing those presentations today as well.  Just about every presentation I do shows nice pictures of the gardens and talks about future collections and the benefits of both visiting and becoming a RBG Member!  I'm also done ordering for the Spring Plant Sale and below is one of our offerings this year.  This is the 'Lizzano' compact tomato (Lycopersicon).  This 2011 All-America Selections winner is perfect for the container or hanging basket and produces 1"-size cherry tomatoes over a long season.  It's also late blight tolerant and quite tasty.  I took this photo in Michigan this past July so the fruit hasn't ripened quite yet but this plant sure looks happy in a basket (probably three plants in there)!  Aside from 'Lizzano', we're offering another ten varieties of compact and/or cascading type tomatoes at the sale (and over 30 other varieties including many popular heirlooms).  Our entire vegetable listing will be on the website by the end of the month.

We had a small crew today but much was accomplished.  Dr. Gredler had the paint brush in hand again today and is painting these smaller obelisks (below) a vivid lime.  Lime is one of our focus colors this year and these obelisks will be nice vertical elements in our displays.  Janice was in to work on various projects including significant research on our plant sale varieties for future signage and promotion.  Vern came in with some supplies as did Maury.  We also saw Dick H., Bill O., Pat, Elsa, Denise and others.  The big focus on Monday will be further work on the garden art projects.  These sun forms (seen in the bottom photo) are taking up some space but we should have them ready to go by the February 4th start to this event.  Interested artists (or sponsors) will be able to pick these up starting that day and all the details regarding this event will be on the RBG website shortly.

I was working on a presentation today that will include the perennials that I've been most impressed with over the last couple of years.  It's always tough to select "favorites" but I thought I'd share a perennial grass that really impressed me over the past two years.  I blogged about it previously but it deserves another shake.  This is the 'Blonde Ambition' blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) which is a species native out West and in the prairie states.  This drought tolerant grass has an extensive root system and is used as a turf substitute in dry locations.  It's also the state grass of Colorado and New Mexico.  This selection is from Dave Salman of the recently closed (bummer) nursery High Country Gardens.  This tall selection features these horizonal flower/seed heads that offer interest from late June through winter.  Wet snow will bury this grass but the third photo down shows its rigidity in December while dormant.  Don't forget to check out the RBG website for all the information for Our Gardening Heritage, the annual spring symposium at the gardens (March 23rd, 8 am - 4:30 pm).  Kris put together another nice program!

Fast-Paced Thursday

We had another solid day of volunteer efforts out in the gardens and in the Horticulture Center.  Unfortunately Larry was sick and the cold & flu season hasn't left the RBG staff unscathed, myself included.  I continued seed ordering today amongst other activities.  Above is the 'Denver Daisy' gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hybrida) which has performed very well for us at RBG as an annual (18"+).  Introduced to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Denver, CO, this showy plant also won the 2010 American Garden Award competition.  When I ordered this variety, I envisioned it going in our "Pollinator's Paradise" which is the new theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden this year developed by Kris K., RBG Education Coordinator.  The butterflies are going to love this one!  I had some meetings and also went on Tim Bremel's show on WCLO this morning with Dave Flieg from TravelScope.  We collectively promoted the upcoming England trip in May (see the itinerary at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org).  

We had a nice crew of volunteers head out in the gardens this morning to continue bringing in various elements of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  Terry, Dick W., Pat, Larry H. and the new Grumpy, Jim D. did a nice job hauling items back including trees (see Terry three photos up).  Bill O. came in to help process in the late morning and early afternoon.  The Horticulture Center was also hopping with Janice (two photos up) inventorying seeds, researching plant sale varieties, etc. and Gary (directly above) ordering new labeling materials for improved and expanded signage this year.  In the carpentry area, Jim D. (seen below sniffing glue), Dave, Vern and Bob A. continued work on the garden art projects (suns) and the new blue obelisks (seen behind Jim below).  Dick H. (second photo down) worked on various projects including helping put primer on the new suns.  It looks like he's preparing an extra large pizza!  Maury ran many errands and along with Dick H., picked up our latest order of strap aluminum (1,150 ft) that will be later cut up in to various lengths (and bent) for our plant labels and other signs.  

Yesterday we received some of our trialing seeds from Ball Seed.  Many came in little pill containers and it looks like we're running a pharmacy!  Most of the seeds (seen below) are pelletized and I'm excited to try so many new varieties out in the gardens.  Janice and I were talking about our plant sale varieties this year and how popular the hot peppers (Capsicum) are in the sale.  This will be the second year that we offer the "ghost pepper" or 'Bhut Jolokia' which was the hottest in the world at 1,000,000 Scoville heat units (SHU).  The new hottest pepper in the world is the 'Trinidad Scorpion' which tops out at 1,500,000+ (SHU).  We did find some of this rare seed and while we wont offer it for sale, we're going to try a couple for fun.  Deb G., RBG volunteer, sent a neat YouTube video regarding this pepper that was collectively informative, entertaining and disconcerting!  I normally don't pass along links but do check this out.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53BQqfDpAB8&feature=player_detailpage