Proactive Planning Has Its Merits

Today is a good example of how crazy things can get around here. We are trying to juggle the plant sale, picking up plants, weeding, etc. Our proactive approach to everything should keep us from falling too far behind. Larry went on two trips today to pick up wax begonias and the start of our heirloom tomato and hot pepper plants. We had to put them all inside as it's still a little chilly tonite and they are predicting possible thunder showers. I envisioned all our tender vegetables pummeled by torrential rainfall. Anyway, they're safe for now but can't be inside forever. Thus begins the shuffle to bring plants inside and out depending on the weather outside. To the left is another sedge called 'Silver Scepter' (Carex morrowii). It has a nice silver variegation on sturdy leaves. It is essentially a clumper but will spread slightly over the years. I would not catagorize it as a running sedge. Regardless, look to clumping sedges for texture and color in the part shade to full shade garden. This vine below is a variegated climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris 'Miranda'). It is a great vine for working it's way up the furrowed bark of larger trees (a cottonwood in this instance). It is a weak "attacher" but snugs in nicely in these situations. The nice variegation is conspicuous and we've planted this vine at the base of 7 cottonwoods in our fern & moss garden. The reward will be in 20 years when people see these vines working 30'+ up these tree trunks. Patience.....

Mondays Sure Come Fast!

And all of the sudden it's Monday! This week will go fast with the plant sale looming on Saturday and many plant deliveries and pick-ups occurring this week as well. The structure above is called a Ma' Chii' (ma chee-i). My spelling is absolutely wrong on this but the structure itself is an authentic Japanese resting structure (not a tea house). It is positioned to allow a nice shaded area that provides a view across the fern & moss garden. We've nicknamed it the "make out" Ma' Chii' due to the amorous activities that continue to unravel in that location. Oh well. I hope they take time to enjoy the 250 varieties of ferns in close proximity.

The structure to the left is our fishing pier which was originally built to provide an overlook across the pond and had dimensions to accomodate all accessible fishing. We now call it the observation deck but fishing is still quite popular here. We've had a struggle with fishing at the gardens as there are some teenagers that have really abused the priviledge by leaving garbage, trampling our shoreline beds, rolling our shoreline boulders in the water (looking for worms underneath), cutting up their fish on our benches and leaving the debris, fishing our Japanese koi out of our ornamental ponds....etc... It's a few bad apples but they've really taken their toll. They know when the grounds staff isn't there and swoop in later to do as they please. I wish they would just respect the gardens more. Below is one of our upcoming projects. We'll be installing these limestone steps in our woodland walk garden and will actually be planting most of it this Saturday.

Happy Mother's Day!

Windy, cool and wet today. I wonder how many visitors are wandering the gardens today? The plant above is golden sedge (Carex elata 'Bowles' Golden') that comes up and flowers early. Sedges (Carex sp.) are not true grasses but offer a nice "grass-like" plant in shadier areas. This golden sedge is one of my favorites. However, if you start to dabble in sedges, be sure to target what are termed clumping sedges. There are many sedges that are spreading and so vigorous that they are very difficult to control once they've established themselves. There are some nice options out there.

This sunflower sculpture is another of Brady Lueck's creations. We installed it recently and will put some perennials around the base to "visually anchor" the sculpture itself. This is a result of a donation that was accepted by our garden development committee. We have installed some nice art around the gardens and are currently waiting on another piece (tulips I believe). Gardens are more than plants and sculptures like this are positioned as garden accents and/or focal points.

Barrenwort (Epimedium sp., see below) is blooming now and once done, still forms a nice perennial for the shade garden with clean foliage. For those with shady gardens, there are a wide range of hardy barrenworts out there that can be great contributors in your garden.

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A Typical Mother's Day Weekend

Above is a neat, cutleaf Japanese maple (Fern & Moss Garden) that is surrounded by a sea of golden Scotch moss (Sagina subulata 'Aurea'). It's not a true moss as it has tiny white flowers (moss reproduces from spores) but it has a beautiful appearance and will thrive in sun or preferably part shade.

I can't remember the last time we had a nice Mother's Day weekend; sunny and 75 ish. This weekend has cooler temperatures which aren't unusual, however, it looks like we'll have some rain tomorrow. We used to have a huge "Herb & Annual" plant sale over this weekend at Rotary Gardens. At one point, we were featuring over 200 varieties of herbs and 100 varieties of unusual annuals. Unfortunately, we ALWAYS had poor weather and a mediocre turnout. People still ask about the sale and the truth of the matter was simply that we didn't make any money on that event. As a non-profit, special events (in most cases) need to provide some income that offsets the time, effort and materials put in to the event. For a couple of years, we never even had a spring plant sale and just sold the bagged mushroom compost. The sales have become more involved recently but it seems that many people are selling plants and the competition is tough. We have some local garden centers that are opposed to us selling plants as they see it as competition. I think that their theory is that for every plant we sell, they sell one less. I don't believe that at all. We only sell plants twice per year and our existence in the area has increased the level of gardening and has exposed visitors to new plants that they will seek out at these same garden centers. It's an interesting situation but I can sleep at night knowing that our meager plant sales have brought in some much needed revenue that is absolutely essential to continue to operate and develop.

I was at the gardens only briefly today to check in with Larry and Janice who had everything well in hand. We're selling the bagged compost like crazy and will be sold out at the end of the month for sure. Next week will be quite busy but of course the garden will continue to transform itself as early spring bulbs and perennials finish blooming and a new phase of color and interest phases in to view. What an exciting year. Pagoda + redbud + Japanese Garden = cool.

Spring in the Gardens; A True Juggling Act!

The cherries (Prunus) are in full bloom. The blooms above are a cluster on the purple leaf birdcherry (Prunus padus 'Colorata') located in the Scottish garden . The Schubert cherries (Prunus virginiana 'Schubert') are arching downwards with their fragrant white flower clusters. Unfortunately, plums and cherries have many problems and don't seem real long-lived in the garden. I'm certainly enjoying them right now regardless.

I'm embarassed to say that I didn't even set foot in the gardens proper today. I was at the Horticulture Center making handouts and signs for our upcoming plant sale (May 17). Jenny and Terry worked out in the gardens with Kay, Shirley and Dr. Gredler. It was a productive day and I just held down the fort. It' s interesting how many unexpected things happen during the day (hence the "juggling" reference in the title of this posting). Today there were many people stopping by for various reasons, new plants to tag, UPS delivery, phone calls, etc. That "roll with the punches" phrase is very applicable at the gardens; particularly on a Friday.

Keeping consistent with my promotion of foliage, this picture above of Rodger's flower (Rodgersia podophylla 'Rotlaub') in the shade garden (despite the sunny shot). The bronzy foliage emerges early and unfolds in to this tropical looking perennial (30"+ tall); however, it's totally hardy. There are many Rodgersias for the garden and they all will send out large creamy plumes in late spring/early summer reminiscent of a giant astilbe. I love Rodgersia for part shade as a textural plant. This is a good one for real bronze foliage. Variegated sweet iris (Iris pallida 'Albo-variegata') below. The blue blooms will come out in June and create even more interest.

The Lush Arrival of Spring is Apparent

Everywhere you look there is color out in the garden. I often forget to enjoy things like this redbud (Cercis canadensis) in our Japanese garden and get distracted by weeds and other duties that need to be addressed. That old proverb of "taking time to smell the roses" is very appropriate. We had another great Grumpy day and accomplished more composting and mulching. We're continuing to prepare for our plant sale and had a nice "volunteer evening" last night with over 20 volunteers showing up to finish up the last of our perennial dividing. We even had time to move plants in to place for the sale. I hope it's successful as it has the potential to bring in some MUCH needed revenue.
Here's a shot of one of my favorite spring bulbs. This is a grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) called 'Valerie Finnis'. It is a powder blue color and offers a nice pastel touch to the landscape. Remember that this species will also send up foliage in late summer to collect energy for the bulbs. Place it near a neighboring perennial that will obscure (or distract from) that foliage. Plant them in grouping of 25-50 in October.

We tend to get distracted by all the emerging blooms. Don't forget about foliage! I noticed this bloody dock (Rumex sanguineus var. sanguineus) out in the gardens. Look at the awesome veination on the leaves. This is a hardy perennial but also nice in bedding schemes and containers. We are pulling up hundreds, if not thousands of boxelder (Acer negundo) seedlings out in the gardens right now. It's ironic that we're encouraging a boxelder in the garden but the golden boxelder (Acer negundo 'Kelly's Gold') is so showy with it's bright foliage (bright yellow in spring, chartreuse in summer) that we have planted it as a "foliar focal point" out in many places. This weekend will be insane at the garden centers for Mother's Day. Be sure to patronize your local garden centers first!!!

The "Convoy" Has Begun in Earnest!

This morning was quite rainy but a perfect day for Larry and I to take the truck and trailer over to Stonefield Plant Farm (Evansville, WI) to load up with petunias. We ended up with over 120 flats of mixed petunias with a heavy focus on blues for our blue/orange theme this year. It's a bit early to plant petunias but supply is an issue at these wholesalers as warm weather will bring out many of their customers on that "first come, first serve" basis. Herb and Pat (owners) are good friends and have specialty grown lots of cool stuff for us over the years. We have over 1,000 more flats of specialty stuff to pick up in the coming weeks. The convoy has truly begun. We log lots of miles with our truck and trailer as we travel to our various suppliers. We have four great nurseries that are "specialty growing" for us. Our yard will fill quickly and has to accomodate our upcoming plant sale items as well (see below). Incidentally, unknown tulip above but definitely photo worthy. I love the peony-flowering tulips!

The struggle this time of year, as it is for everyone, is how to temper your desire to plant with the reality that you should also be composting, weeding and getting other things in order as well. I have many volunteers ask why we aren't planting yet. There are a lot of reasons for that and I have been warning volunteers that we only have 20% of our plants in yet! Another intense planting season awaits. We usually don't have a lack of people to plant. We appreciate the help of course but there's nothing better than a good weeder! Spring is in full swing. Bridalwreath spirea below, a true classic (that really only shines for 2 weeks or so, but worth the wait).