Epping's Not Camera Shy

We had a great staff retreat to Olbrich Botanical Gardens (OBG) in Madison, WI today.  While Sue, Kris, Larry and Jenny couldn't make it, twelve of us traveled north to this wonderful botanical garden (see my blog from this past Sunday).  We had a nice tour of the gardens to start the day from Jeff Epping, Director of Horticulture at OBG.  Our crew included Pat, Terry, Janice, Cheryl, Cindy, Denise, Mary, Mark S., John, Rita, Polly and me.  Jeff E. can be seen in the above photo, second from the right.  Jeff and his legal team insisted that I include Jeff in the majority of my shots as he is the living embodiment of all that is good in horticulture.  Oddly enough, he ended up in most of my shots anyway and always seemed to be just "right there." (look for the mustard colored shirt!).  Below are some other shots of Jeff (and our retreat).  We also thank Roberta, Mark S., Sam P., Patti, Marty and all the other OBG staff that met with us after the tour to "talk shop" before lunch.  It was a productive exchange and we enjoyed visiting with our counterparts.  We found it very informational and the OBG staff were wonderful hosts.  We then had a great lunch in downtown Madison and did some more team building activities.  Kudos to Larry, Bill O., Ron K., Kay, Eva and all the other volunteers that helped hold down the fort at RBG today.

Jeff showing us the nuances of Irish dancing above

Jeff in the sunken garden

Jeff with rolled up sleeves

Jeff in the herb garden

Jeff flexing his pipes

Jeff in the new Rose Garden

Jeff looking pensive and thoughtful

Jeff asking for tips for the tour....

Jeff in the greenhouses insisting on tips before we're allowed to leave

the only shot without Jeff...water lily (Nymphaea 'Dauben')

A Hot Week Looms

It looks like we'll have some hot days in the 90 degrees F with plenty of sunshine this week.  I don't mind the heat and many of our tropicals which have been despising the recently cooler temperatures will love it.  Our primary goal today was watering after the hot and dry weekend.  I believe everyone was involved with watering today and there were lots of irrigation heads popping up and sprinklers being set-up and moved frequently.  We have a staff retreat tomorrow and are leaving Larry back to mind the gardens.  With daily watering more than a one person job, we're trying to soak down as much as possible to carry over until mid-week.  Above is the 'Queen Lime' zinnia (Zinnia elegans) which I always find striking.  We have this variety around the gardens and of course, it's also represented in our lime collection.  Below are some additional flower shots from this morning.

'Mr. Majestic' marigold (Tagetes patula) looking showy - annual

'Blue Star' morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) - 1949 All-America Selection - annual

This morning was actually nice and cool before the afternoon began to warm up.  We had a nice turnout of volunteers.  Above are Bob C. (supervising) and Gene skimming and replacing gravel along the woodland walk garden.  The guys also collected leaves as they went along.  Ron P. was at the other end of this path collecting leaves and heading this way.  Del (below) focused clean-up efforts in the sunken garden while Gary and Rollie hauled water to our new trees near the beach.  The guys also watered all the new trees and shrubs in the main parking lot islands.  Pat M. continued repairing some broken sprinklers and did some pre-Fall Plant Sale tasks in the yard.  Pat C. was in for more label work (inventory, data entry and production).  Vern, Dave T. and Jim continued work on our new benches.  Two photos down are Vern (left) and Dave.  Betty H. was in to maintain her garden space and Stan was in later to work in the Japanese Garden.  We also saw Karen M. in the Japanese garden doing some pruning. Cathy O.H. came in to discuss the woody plant records which she'll be helping with shortly.  She brought her mom, Betty, and both ladies are associated (daughter and wife) with the late Dr. Luis Owano, a wonderful RBG volunteer (and person!).  Luis did a comprehensive woody plant inventory and map over a recent, two-year period.  We also saw Dr. Yahr, Maury (errands), Dick P., Joe S., Mary W. and many others.  Our Horticulture Therapy Committee also met this afternoon.

trailing aluminum plant (Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls') in PVC planter - annual

The grounds staff all had a productive day although it was quite a temperature difference in the afternoon compared to the cool start to the morning.  Above is Larry who worked on many water features and other repairs today while constantly running irrigation.  Larry also worked with our aquatic specialist on some of our recent pond improvement equipment.  Cindy did plenty of tidying, watering, the cutting display and more watering (yard too).  She spent some time tidying up the American Garden Award (AGA) bed which was looking a bit tired over the past couple of weeks.  Big John set-up sprinklers, cleared out some containers for replanting, leveled benches and replaced gravel.  He kept a lot of sprinklers going today in some tough areas.  Terry also had many sprinklers to disperse but also worked on shearing a small tree and many boxwood (Buxus) hedges along the herb garden..  John and Terry also watered most of the containers..  Janice was in later for some office work and our Horticulture Therapy Committee meeting.  I worked on various odds and ends.  Directly below are more "shots of potential interest" from today.

turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) with pollinator - perennial

'Splendide' Chinese meadowrue (Thalictrum delavayi) - perennial

'Gloriosa Double' gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) with 'Rhubarb' Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) - both annuals

arching foliage of 'Miyazaki' toadlily (Tricyrtis hirta) which will bloom soon - perennial

Schedule A Visit To Olbrich

Olbrich Botanical Gardens (OBG) in Madison, WI is a must see botanic garden.  There are 16 beautiful acres of outside gardens and the Bolz Conservatory is also a wonderful experience not to miss when you are visiting.  This botanical garden, founded in 1952, is funded by the City of Madison and the non-profit, Olbrich Botanical Society.  I've been visiting Olbrich for the past 20 years or so and it's always been fun to look at plants and enjoy the gardens (with camera in hand of course!) as they have developed over the years.  There are many different garden areas, styles, themes and seasonal arrangements.  There have been recent garden improvements including some neat new gravel gardens (see below).  OBG also has a great education department with lots of opportunities for everyone!  I would encourage anyone to check out the OBG website at http://www.olbrich.org/ to get more information on the gardens, educational offerings, directions, etc.  Of course the suggestion to visit another botanic garden doesn't mean we don't want visitors coming to Rotary Botanical Gardens!   Botanic gardens exist to collectively educate and inspire so visit often and challenge yourself to visit great public gardens in your area.  The images included in this blog are just a few to entice you to get a closer look!

Blue Sky Friday

It was nice to have about 7/10" of rain yesterday which made our "Friday Scramble" less stressful.  It was beautiful out in the gardens today with blue skies and temperatures right around 80 degrees F after a cool morning start.  The gardens look so vivid after a good rain and it was also nice to see a decent stream of visitors out in the gardens.  Above is the 'Chilly Chili' hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) which is just coming in to peak fruiting color late in the season.  This is one of the selections in our All-America Selections (AAS) Display Garden; this variety was introduced in 2002.  We're submitting our materials for the Design Contest hosted by AAS and feel that our collection is both beautiful and educational with a chronological component (by year of introduction).  We hope to repeat our first place finish from 2012!  We all had a very productive day and will enjoy the weekend before the heat wave returns next week.  Below are some additional plants of interest from today.

'Marbles' hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) - annual

'The Blues' little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) - perennial

popcorn plant (Cassia didymobotrya) - annual (smells like buttered popcorn)

pallet planter in the All-America Selections (AAS) display garden.  That's 'Bright Lights' Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) at the top! - annual

It was a beautiful day to be out in the gardens and we had some great volunteers come in to help out. Above is Terri who worked with Eva (below) in the Potter Daylily Collection. The ladies weeded and tidied up that entire slope this morning.  Later in the day, Lisa I. came in and we removed and divided some daylilies and hatched plans for that collection (which Lisa has overseen for years).  Kay (second photo down) was back in action and tidied up a good portion of the shade garden first which had lots of debris down from the rain and winds yesterday.  She does a great job and ultimately reconnected with Terri and Eva later in the morning.  These three ladies collected plenty of debris and their improvements were readily apparent!  Mary W. (third photo down) helped tidy in the herb garden and continues to collect plant data that we'll use to generate new labels for the herb garden.  This is the last garden that doesn't have any of our new, laser engraved labels.  Dr. Gredler and Bill O. both did their mowing rounds while Del (fourth photo down) came in for some path clean-up in various locations.  Betty and Shirley were in for a mobile cart tour with Chuck and enjoyed the gardens from his perspective (and from our neat, new cart).  Mary H. and her daughter Kathy were in to maintain their area as well.  We also saw Elsa, Dean and many others today.  I forgot to mention it yesterday but Jumbo Jim came in with two RECAPPERS and they did a nice job in the Japanese garden.

The grounds staff did their normal Friday rounds which included additional projects as watering duties were not as involved.  Big John and Pat were both here for half days.  Pat push mowed and patched our numerous potholes along our main gravel paths.  Big John worked on an edging project, secured a bench, hauled items back to the Horticulture Center and worked on some other projects.  Cindy tidied up the front entrance garden, did a nice cutting display and really sunk her teeth in to tidying up the AAS Display Garden.  She has officially adopted that space and has spent the most time of anyone in that area since it was planted in May!  Terry checked paths for washouts from the rain, did some shearing, watering and did a great job adjusting some gravel areas around the Horticulture Center which was a vital improvement.  I planted some perennials today as we still have some of our plants to clear out of the holding yard before the Fall Plant Sale arrivals take up space in the coming weeks.  See our website for more details on this sale which is a vital RBG fundraiser.  Be sure to check the bottom of this blog for upcoming educational opportunities at the gardens!

'Autumn Minaret' daylily (Hemerocallis) at 7' tall

orange border on terrace garden

variegated Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium 'River Mist') - perennial

flower (umbel) of dill (Anethum graveolens 'Fernleaf') - annual

duck with 'Dancing Waters' this morning

new bench placed by John and Terry near gazebo

Evening Garden Seminars, September – November 2013 

From the Mountains to your Backyard: Alpine Plants and Rock Gardening

Ed Glover, North American Rock Garden Society

• Wednesday, September 18, 2013

• 6:30-8:00pm

• RBG Friends Members & Master Gardener Volunteers $5/General Public $7*

Alpine plants might look delicate, but nothing could be farther from the truth.  An alpines expert, Ed Glover, will share his extensive knowledge of these tough little plants, the conditions they require to thrive and how to construct home rock gardens to accommodate their needs. Ed has managed the rock garden at Allen Centennial Gardens for the last 10 years, as a volunteer, and is involved with RBG’s rock garden as well.

Seed Saving 101

Christy Marsden, UW-Extension Horticulture Educator-Rock County 

• Wednesday, October 16, 2013

• 6:30-8:00pm

• RBG Friends Members & Master Gardener Volunteers $5/General Public $7*

Saving seeds preserves the diverse garden heritage of North America for future generations.  Whether you’re interested in joining the seed saving movement or just curious about the topic, please welcome the new UW-Extension Horticulture Educator for Rock County, Christy Marsden.  Christy will present basic seed saving concepts, and attendees will also become well-versed on the differences between open-pollinated, hybrid, and heirloom seeds; gain an understanding of plant taxonomy; and discover facts about reproductive structures and pollination methods of backyard vegetables.  Christy’s background is in Environmental Horticulture and she is passionate about connecting people with plants while promoting sustainability.  She comes to UWEX-Rock County from Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, IA.

The Sticky Business of Bees and Beekeeping

Wally Brown, Beekeeper and Southern District Chair, WI Honey Producers Association

• Wednesday, November 20, 2013 

• 6:30-8:00pm

• RBG Friends Members & Master Gardener Volunteers $5/General Public $7*

You’ve probably heard about Colony Collapse Disorder, a problem that is decimating honey bee populations worldwide.  Theories abound as to the factors contributing to this widespread phenomenon—bees leaving their hives and never returning—including pesticides, viruses, mites, cell phone transmissions, and more.  Come and hear tales from the front lines as Wally Brown, local beekeeper and honey producer, shares his knowledge of this ancient trade as well as some of the problems affecting bees and beekeepers everywhere. 

*Pre-registration not required for this series.