Back To Winter

It was a mild weekend with rain and warmer temperatures. Lots of snow melted but we saw only a smattering of sunshine. It has been snowing lightly today and it looks like we'll head back in to arctic temperatures by mid-week. Above is Dr. Gredler putting primer on these plywood daisies. I've mentioned these earlier and details will be finalized regarding using these for a local art project. The final products will be mounted and displayed in the gardens this summer. More details to follow...Nice shot to the left of 'Skylands' spruce (Picea orientalis) in front of our visitors center. This specimen will be an even brighter yellow when new growth flushes out in spring. Now is a good time of year to assess your landscape for structural and color needs, both of which can be fulfilled with the appropriate use of conifers. This spruce offers a nice punch of yellow in front of our entrance when color is lacking the most. The golden mugo pine (Pinus mugo 'Aurea') to the right does the same thing although it will lose its golden winter color by early summer. Yellow, blue and myriad shades of green are easily achievable. Look out your windows for areas that could use color, screening, structure, etc.

Busy day here at the gardens with Little Jerry, Dick H., Marv and Terry out bringing in lights from the gardens. The guys are also bringing more of the temporary pines from the gardens as well. Dave, Jim, Bob A. and Vern were helped by Dick W. with carpentry projects while Del continued his reindeer creation. Urban was out pruning and Larry bounced around helping here and there as needed. We also saw Maury, Gary, Dr. Gredler and Dick P. Marianne worked on processing seeds and handouts while Janice continued her gourd/cucumber seed projects (see below).
I've been working on finishing seed orders this week and am continuing to keep ahead with preparations for various seminars and talks thru February and March. I'm not lacking for projects and find myself writing more notes to help my failing memory. A neat project that we'll be putting together in display format this year will address many of the new biodegradable and recyclable containers. Janice is securing samples of many of these containers that we hope are the "wave of the future" and will help minimize all the plastics that go in to the landfills from our current nursery pots. To the left is an "Eco-pot". This hard, almost plastic-like, material is a nice ornamental pot. The twist is that it is made of biodegradable materials and is 100% biodegradable once it enters a landfill. From one of the primary suppliers,
"Our eco pots are made from grain husks (primarily rice hulls) and natural binding agents (starch based, water soluble binders and biodegradable additives). No pollutants are used or produced at any stage of the manufacturing process. There are no wasted materials because scraps are recycled back into the production process. Only a small amount of water is used in the binding formula along with safe and environmentally friendly organic pigments. A combination of heat and pressure is used to cement the ingredients together to produce a beautiful, durable, guilt-free pot."

Much of the display will also show peat and compost-based pots that can be "planted" with their respective contents and will break down quickly. We look forward to creating this display and hope that the selections of such products become more available in the near future. Another nice shot below from today. This is a golden falsecypress (Chamaecyperis pisifera var. filifera 'Golden Mops') that really looks good all the time. Now that is a showy winter yellow!