Snow, Painting, Petunias

We had about 2" of fluffy snow come down yesterday afternoon in to the evening hours.  Above (photo from today) are the fruits of the 'Red Peacock' crabapple (Malus) which will be targeted by the birds over the coming months.  There was some very light snow this morning but that disappeared quickly and was replaced by blue sky and sunshine.  Bill and I used snow blowers to clear the primary paths and thanks to Ron W. for taking care of the significant amount of hand shoveling!  Bill went out later to tidy up as the sun was starting to melt the paths down nicely.  We're worried about some freezing drizzle on Thursday night which is when the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) resumes.  We're ready with our sand and salt for the paths and hope the weather turns out alright as it looks to be a return to the frigid cold towards the weekend.  These next five nights of the HLS (see our website for details) historically see the largest crowds which is what we want for this fun event (and vital fundraiser).  The second photo down shows Pat pruning crabapples (Malus) near the east gate.  He's taken a dent out of this annual pruning project and Urban (third photo down) did similar pruning on additional crabapples (Malus) near the Horticulture Center.  Dr. Gredler (fourth photo down) continued his painting projects and Pat helped him earlier in the morning with painting and was back for afternoon pruning.  We also saw Janice, Mark S. and had a nice visit from Marv and Marianne.  Below is a shot of the pergola this morning.  We had just enough snow to fill in the 100,000+ deer tracks throughout the gardens.  UGH! 

I love petunias (Petunia) and we typically will plant about 20,000 each spring of many different varieties.  Petunias have done well for us in our full sun bedding schemes and in container arrangements.  Their flower power throughout the heat of summer is welcome and they are great partners for other annuals and perennials.  There are a wide range of colors, growing habits, etc. available from seed catalogs.  Years ago I thought about a petunia collection but quickly realized that there are hundreds (if not thousands) of options out there.  Breeding efforts with petunias in the past couple of years have resulted in some very interesting colors and patterns.  The petunia above is currently experimental (un-named) but wow!, isn't that cool?  Many of these "new fangled" varieties are propagated vegetatively which means you'll find it as a plant in the garden center.  Regardless, there are some really neat varieties out there and below are all images of petunias I photographed this year.  This represents a small sampling of the neat ones I saw but consider the "wow factor" when using some of these interesting varieties.  I need to mention that we have had some white mold (Sclerotinia sclerotiorum) issues with mass plantings of petunias over the years which is evidenced by massive and quick "die out" in mid summer.  We have moved to essentially a "crop rotation" with our petunias and grow them in different areas each year to avoid re-infection in questionable areas that have experienced white mold.  Keep that in mind but understand that happy petunias can be a prominent feature with plenty of impact in your garden.

Petunia 'Cha-Ching Cherry'

Petunia 'Flash Mob Bluerific'

Petunia 'Potunia Plus Strawberry Ice'

Petunia 'Crazytunia Star Jubilee'

Petunia 'Sweetunia Mystery'

Petunia 'Marvel Beauty Cranberry'

Petunia 'Suncatcher Pink Lemonade'

Petunia 'Rim Purple Ray'

Petunia 'Suncatcher Vintage Rose'

Petunia 'Sun Spun Purple Star'

Petunia 'Rose and Shine'

Petunia 'Pinstripe'

Petunia 'Potunia Mochaccino'

Petunia 'Surprise Blue Sky'

Golden Conifers For A Winter Glow

Golden conifers can be garden "contributors" every day of the year by offering a wide range of gold,  yellow and chartreuse tones to the landscape.  It's important to note that some golden conifers get their peak coloration in late fall well in to the winter months and later become chartreuse or green the following spring.  Above is the 'Chief Joseph' golden lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) which has superior color in winter through early spring.  In essence, be aware of the best golden coloration in regards to seasonal timing.  There are other selections that get peak yellow tones in spring with new growth (later fading) and some deciduous conifers like larches (Larix) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) offer their golden coloration as a fall color that is gone when the needles drop in mid fall.  The selections included in this blog all have a decent winter gold/yellow which can certainly brighten any dreary landscape.  Understand that the intensity of gold may vary from year to year, based on health and/or location and is certainly subjective in regards to visual appreciation.  I would agree that some golden conifers look "sickly" but ultimately, you as the gardener can select those that you prefer.  Keep in mind that the winter landscape should also feature ornamental grasses, ornamental bark, colorful berries and other features and plants offering color and form.  Golden conifers should certainly be considered as part of your palette though!

Today was quiet around the Horticulture Center.  It was frigidly cold this morning with a wind chill of -3 degrees F this morning.  We have a chance for some snow overnight which should help refresh the look of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) which had a strong showing this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  There are still nine more nights of the HLS so check out our website (www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org) for more information on this event.  Due to the cold, no one headed out in the gardens but we had some action at the Horticulture Center.  Vern, Jim and Dave worked on carpentry projects while Del and Dr. Gredler did more container painting.  Doc came back for round two in the afternoon.  Maury ran multiple errands for us and Chuck S. was in for some recycling tasks.  Pat helped repair some lights and worked on some other projects as well. We also saw Big John, Gary, Bill O. and I had a nice visit with Kathy H. (Jenka Blossom).  I'm continuing my progress on perusing catalogs and preparing for 2014.  

'Carsten's Wintergold' mugo pine (Pinus mugo)

'Gold Coin' Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)

'Golden Mops' falsecypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)

'Sungold' falsecypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera)

'Lemon Thread' falsecypress (Chamaecyperis pisifera)

'Golden Spreader' Nordmann fir (Abies nordmanniana)

'Aurea' golden Korean fir (Abies koreana)

'Repens Gold' bird's nest spruce (Picea abies)

'Wate's Golden' Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) in November

'Wate's Golden' Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) in January

'Hillside Winter Gold' white pine (Pinus strobus)

'Golden Splendor' Canadian hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)

'Aurescens' golden Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) - marginally hardy

'Skylands' Oriental spruce (Picea orientalis)

close-up of above

'Saybrook Gold' Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis)

close-up of above

'Gold Lace' Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis)

'Yellow Ribbon' arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)

'Holmstrup Yellow' arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)

'Rheingold' arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis)

HLS With Snow - Don't Miss It!

The Holiday Lights Show (HLS) opens up tonight (4:30 pm - 9 pm) for the public and will run for only twelve evenings this month.  See www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information on this event including event dates, entertainment schedule, sponsor information, etc.  The HLS also features a model train set-up by the the Southern Wisconsin Garden Railway Society, a quilt display, refreshments, scheduled Santa stops, etc.  Tonight is also "Ugly Sweater Night"!  All the photos in this blog were taken by me last night as we had the show on as part of the "Business After Five" (BA5) event that had a huge crowd.  I was able to walk the show for a couple of hours and do some tweaking and photographing prior to the public opening this evening.  While we've posted some photos of the HLS previously, they didn't have the benefit of the snow which really adds the "icing on the cake" as seen in all of these photos.  We had lots of positive feedback from guests last night and it was nice to see everything working well.  The evidence of deer traffic throughout the gardens is a bit disconcerting but hopefully we'll see minimal damage by spring.

I worked on various projects for 2014 but also saw many volunteers today.  Dr. Gredler and Pat were in for painting and Pat headed out for some winter pruning.  Urban was also in for some crabapple (Malus) pruning.  We also saw Maury (errands), Glenn, Vern, Jim D., Al and Janice.  It was relatively quiet which was perfect for sifting through more catalogs and other desk work.  We hope it will be a busy weekend for the HLS.