Yesterday was balmy and in the mid 80s. Today was windy, cool and in the mid 60s. Autumn is here. It was misting this morning but ended up a pretty nice day despite the winds. Nice shot above of the pumpkins that
were donated for our upcoming Halloween Walk (Oct. 21,22,23). Lori (our new volunteer coordinator) secured the donation and Ron W., Ron B., Dick P. and Bob C. went yesterday to pick these up (from the fields). The assortment looks very nice and these are huge improvements over some o
f the pumpkins we've used in the past for this event (and the price was right!). We'll be having middle school kids and RECAPPERS carving these in a couple of weeks and the jack o' lanterns then become part of the route for this popular event. The Halloween Walk is a family-friendly event that is not meant to scare attendees but to engage them in interesting skits put on by Spotlight On Kids (SOK), a local organization. This partnership between RBG and SOK has a long history and we hope this event will again be well-received and well-attended. Nice shot to the left of one of my favorite coleus' (
Solenostemon scutellarioides) called 'Freckles'. I order it every year and always enjoy the mix of yellow and orange on those leaves. This specimen is in the sunken garden but we have it in many locations. To the right are the inflorescences (flower/seed heads) of the maiden grass (
Miscanthus sinensis) although the variety is in question. I mentioned the value of maiden grass, also called Japanese silver grass, in my talk on grasses this past Tuesday. Each variety has different features and merit and they have plenty of applicability in our gardens (as do all ornamental grasses, both perennial and annual). Below is one of the staples of our maroon/red theme this year. This is the 'Bishop of Llandaff' dahlia (
Dahlia sp.) that is such a rich combination of almost black foliage (darkest in full sun) and bright red blossoms in profusion, particularly later in the season. This is one of my favorite dahlia varieties and it rarely gets over 36" in height. I prefer most of the darker leaved varieties as the foliage serves as a foil for the colorful flowers. Look in to the 'Mystic Series' for some other neat, dark leaf varieties.
We had a small crew today with Terry, Little Jerry and Larry off. With the initial inclement weather this morning, we started on indoor tasks. Marv started bringing in our holiday lights show twinkle lights for testi
ng and repair (never too early to start!) while Marianne sorted our new bulb order and did some nice organizing and tidying up in the Horticulture Center. Once the weather improved, Marv went to widening out a bed in the gazebo garden which involved sod removal, the addition of compo
st and some serious rototilling. He always does such a nice, thorough job and I can't remember ever having to check his work, ever. Marianne then moved to tidying up, hauling/arranging more plants for sale in front of the main building and watering. Janice helped make signs and helped water later as well. Big John was in briefly and hauled both plants and barricades (see below for the reason for the barricades). We also had Dr. Gredler here mowing, Vern doing drafting and also saw Mary W., Maury, Geesje and Kay. Nice shot to the left of the blossoms of kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate (
Polygonum orientale), an old-fashioned, tall (8'+) annual that readily self-sows in the garden and is nibbled by the Japanese beetles. The later summer, arching flowers are quite showy though and always impressive. To the right are the inflorescences of the native prairie dropseed (
Sporobolus heterolepis) seen at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. I love this durable, perennial grass and the wispy blooms that smell like buttered popcorn. We have this grass growing in some pretty tough spots out in the gardens, including our parking lot islands. Below is the foliage of the variegated forsythia (
Forsythia viridissima var.
koreana 'Kumson') that has this neat "netting effect" on an low, arching shrub that while having minimal spring flowers, has dynamite foliage. We sold many of these at our fall plant sale.
Tomorrow is a huge cross country meet that always occurs this time of year and involves 50+ high schools and all their parents jamming in to the driving range and golf course adjacent to RBG. I believe that there is a school from Texas that comes every year too. It is actually a nightmare for us as it is near impossible to control the erratic parking on our peripheral lawn and parking lots. The influx of people wanting to use our bathrooms instead of the porta-potties and the general congestion is unbelievable. There are currently 20 porta-potties for 2,000+ people. That ratio doesn't seem right....We've had issues with the kids climbing over our fences and gates in to the gardens to warm-up or stage their school's equipment/tents/etc. We hope we have a smooth day tomorrow. I can sympathize with the logistics involved with this event but we have termed this as one of our worse days of the year because of the challenges it creates for our limited weekend staff. I hope some of the cross country parents buy our leftover mums though....There are also two weddings out in the gardens and homecoming photography later in the day. Crazy times. Too bad I'll be out of town! :) See below for the 'Pink Mass' shrub rose from Bailey Nursery (MN). This was one of their test roses years ago and always has looked awesome for us (picture taken this morning).
Yesterday was balmy and in the mid 80s. Today was windy, cool and in the mid 60s. Autumn is here. It was misting this morning but ended up a pretty nice day despite the winds. Nice shot above of the pumpkins that
were donated for our upcoming Halloween Walk (Oct. 21,22,23). Lori (our new volunteer coordinator) secured the donation and Ron W., Ron B., Dick P. and Bob C. went yesterday to pick these up (from the fields). The assortment looks very nice and these are huge improvements over some o
f the pumpkins we've used in the past for this event (and the price was right!). We'll be having middle school kids and RECAPPERS carving these in a couple of weeks and the jack o' lanterns then become part of the route for this popular event. The Halloween Walk is a family-friendly event that is not meant to scare attendees but to engage them in interesting skits put on by Spotlight On Kids (SOK), a local organization. This partnership between RBG and SOK has a long history and we hope this event will again be well-received and well-attended. Nice shot to the left of one of my favorite coleus' (Solenostemon scutellarioides) called 'Freckles'. I order it every year and always enjoy the mix of yellow and orange on those leaves. This specimen is in the sunken garden but we have it in many locations. To the right are the inflorescences (flower/seed heads) of the maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) although the variety is in question. I mentioned the value of maiden grass, also called Japanese silver grass, in my talk on grasses this past Tuesday. Each variety has different features and merit and they have plenty of applicability in our gardens (as do all ornamental grasses, both perennial and annual). Below is one of the staples of our maroon/red theme this year. This is the 'Bishop of Llandaff' dahlia (Dahlia sp.) that is such a rich combination of almost black foliage (darkest in full sun) and bright red blossoms in profusion, particularly later in the season. This is one of my favorite dahlia varieties and it rarely gets over 36" in height. I prefer most of the darker leaved varieties as the foliage serves as a foil for the colorful flowers. Look in to the 'Mystic Series' for some other neat, dark leaf varieties. 
ng and repair (never too early to start!) while Marianne sorted our new bulb order and did some nice organizing and tidying up in the Horticulture Center. Once the weather improved, Marv went to widening out a bed in the gazebo garden which involved sod removal, the addition of compo
st and some serious rototilling. He always does such a nice, thorough job and I can't remember ever having to check his work, ever. Marianne then moved to tidying up, hauling/arranging more plants for sale in front of the main building and watering. Janice helped make signs and helped water later as well. Big John was in briefly and hauled both plants and barricades (see below for the reason for the barricades). We also had Dr. Gredler here mowing, Vern doing drafting and also saw Mary W., Maury, Geesje and Kay. Nice shot to the left of the blossoms of kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate (Polygonum orientale), an old-fashioned, tall (8'+) annual that readily self-sows in the garden and is nibbled by the Japanese beetles. The later summer, arching flowers are quite showy though and always impressive. To the right are the inflorescences of the native prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) seen at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. I love this durable, perennial grass and the wispy blooms that smell like buttered popcorn. We have this grass growing in some pretty tough spots out in the gardens, including our parking lot islands. Below is the foliage of the variegated forsythia (Forsythia viridissima var. koreana 'Kumson') that has this neat "netting effect" on an low, arching shrub that while having minimal spring flowers, has dynamite foliage. We sold many of these at our fall plant sale. 
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