"A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand. I think, I too have known autumn too long." E. E. Cummings. Well, this quote sums up today although I would disagree with knowing autumn too long as we need a couple more weeks of warm autumn days to get thru our Holiday Lights Show preparations. This is one of the few times that I am not using pictures solely from the same day I blog. The weather was wicked today with rain coming in sideways and significant gusts. We've had no trees down in the gardens but plenty of branches and debris. Other areas near us received more damage but it sounds like we'll have another day of these strong winds on Wednesday. Our steel maintenance building has been creaking and groaning all day. Nice shot above of the spotty fall color of the fullmoon maple (
Acer shirasawanum 'Autumn Moon') which caught my eye due to the interesting autumn speckling. Below is the Northern sea oats (
Chasmanthium latifolium) that has formed its beautiful seed heads that are quite fetching (and nice in a dried arrangement). Despite seeing seedlings of this grass over the past couple of seasons, we enjoy the durability and interest provided by this ornamental grass. Look for 'River Mist' too, the variegated form of this grass.
Everyone braved the winds today except me. Granted, no one lasted very long out there but Little Jerry went out to collect debris and prune while Big John and Larry brought in some of our culvert
pipe planters. John and Larry worked on myriad projects here and there too. Janice and John also worked on lights repair and Janice put lights on more obelisks. Larry continued to test and repair more displays and will put some up tomorrow, wind permitting. I spent the day in a meeting and finalized my slide list and presentation for tomorrow. I replicate t
his presentation three more times so it's nice to have it completed. Dr. Gredler was here to haul debris to the dump but didn't get out on his mower (rare)! We also saw Maury, Dick H., Chuck, Bill O. and Mike. The weather was simply brutal and the weather warnings were right on this time. What is a bit disconcerting is that they're comparing this wind storm to the one in 1998 which created a swath of destruction throughout Janesville. The 1998 storm knocked over our pergola and some trees out in the gardens. The new pergola (steel beam reinforced) should withstand a tornado but a worry about many of our larger trees (cottonwoods, hackberries, etc.). Nice shot to the left of cardoon (
Cynara cardunculus) blooming in the reception garden with such picturesque blooms. To the right is the clear yellow fall color of the vernal witchhazel (
Hamamelis vernalis 'Sandra') which will next show yellow with early April blossoms in 2011. Below is the start of chartreusy fall color for the Lavender Twist weeping redbud (
Cercis canadensis 'Covey') that is in a nice position along our pond.
Much of our volunteer work over the past couple of weeks has involved hauling back seasonals that we're removing fr
om various areas and accomplishing various fall activities. We do plant over 100,000 annuals each year and after five months of watering, fertilizing and nurturing, we tear out plants that have increased in size quite dramatically, some over 100x! All of this biomass results in hundreds of t
rips with our carts, hauling back debris and dozens of trips by Dr. Gredler running debris to the dump. Much of our waste does go in to our large compost pile, maintained by Marv. We have a good system and have fallen in to some predictable patterns, keeping in mind that the weather is always a factor. Aside from our lights preparations, we still have to plant some tulips, wild hyacinth (
Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube') and grape hyacinths (
Muscari armeniacum) that have been backordered. Next week we'll pilfer what is left of our plant sale bulbs that have been for sale in the gift shop. We usually plant these leftovers in November and they certainly add to the spring experience out in the gardens. Years ago, when our budget accomodated more bulbs, we were planting over 100,000 bulbs each fall. I hope we can return to that rate in the future as there are so many neat spring bulbs that I'd like to try at the gardens. To the left is Big John getting chauffeured around the gardens so he can conserve energy for break time. :) To the right is Bob C. hauling one of many loads on Monday, keeping up with our piles. Below is a plant that I'll be promoting tomorrow in my talk as a wonderful "tactile" plant and one that we include in the gardens every year. This is the wooly sage (
Salvia argentea) that while hardy to zone 5, rarely overwinters for us (doesn't like winter wetness) and we simply plant it as an annual. Look for the variety 'Hobbit's Foot' that has bigger leaves and supposedly more fuzz. Great plant for kids to enjoy too. At the bottom is more Japanese silver grass (
Miscanthus sinensis) of an unknown variety (maybe 'Helga Reich'?). Ornamental grasses are said to add movement to the garden. That is certainly the case today and tomorrow!
pipe planters. John and Larry worked on myriad projects here and there too. Janice and John also worked on lights repair and Janice put lights on more obelisks. Larry continued to test and repair more displays and will put some up tomorrow, wind permitting. I spent the day in a meeting and finalized my slide list and presentation for tomorrow. I replicate t
his presentation three more times so it's nice to have it completed. Dr. Gredler was here to haul debris to the dump but didn't get out on his mower (rare)! We also saw Maury, Dick H., Chuck, Bill O. and Mike. The weather was simply brutal and the weather warnings were right on this time. What is a bit disconcerting is that they're comparing this wind storm to the one in 1998 which created a swath of destruction throughout Janesville. The 1998 storm knocked over our pergola and some trees out in the gardens. The new pergola (steel beam reinforced) should withstand a tornado but a worry about many of our larger trees (cottonwoods, hackberries, etc.). Nice shot to the left of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) blooming in the reception garden with such picturesque blooms. To the right is the clear yellow fall color of the vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis 'Sandra') which will next show yellow with early April blossoms in 2011. Below is the start of chartreusy fall color for the Lavender Twist weeping redbud (Cercis canadensis 'Covey') that is in a nice position along our pond. 
om various areas and accomplishing various fall activities. We do plant over 100,000 annuals each year and after five months of watering, fertilizing and nurturing, we tear out plants that have increased in size quite dramatically, some over 100x! All of this biomass results in hundreds of t
rips with our carts, hauling back debris and dozens of trips by Dr. Gredler running debris to the dump. Much of our waste does go in to our large compost pile, maintained by Marv. We have a good system and have fallen in to some predictable patterns, keeping in mind that the weather is always a factor. Aside from our lights preparations, we still have to plant some tulips, wild hyacinth (Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube') and grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) that have been backordered. Next week we'll pilfer what is left of our plant sale bulbs that have been for sale in the gift shop. We usually plant these leftovers in November and they certainly add to the spring experience out in the gardens. Years ago, when our budget accomodated more bulbs, we were planting over 100,000 bulbs each fall. I hope we can return to that rate in the future as there are so many neat spring bulbs that I'd like to try at the gardens. To the left is Big John getting chauffeured around the gardens so he can conserve energy for break time. :) To the right is Bob C. hauling one of many loads on Monday, keeping up with our piles. Below is a plant that I'll be promoting tomorrow in my talk as a wonderful "tactile" plant and one that we include in the gardens every year. This is the wooly sage (Salvia argentea) that while hardy to zone 5, rarely overwinters for us (doesn't like winter wetness) and we simply plant it as an annual. Look for the variety 'Hobbit's Foot' that has bigger leaves and supposedly more fuzz. Great plant for kids to enjoy too. At the bottom is more Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) of an unknown variety (maybe 'Helga Reich'?). Ornamental grasses are said to add movement to the garden. That is certainly the case today and tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment