Lots of Weeding

It was a cooler day today and fluctuated between sunshine and overcast skies. It was a great day for weeding and while we have plenty of plants waiting to go in the gardens, we're lacking our entire palette of goodies which we're running out for daily. Larry went on one pick-up for our entire marigold (Tagetes) from Ahren's Acres (Brodhead, WI) while I headed out later to The Flower Factory (Stoughton, WI) for our big perennial order. We still have another four or five trips yet this week and tomorrow might be a good day for it as it will be cool and rainy. The top picture I took of the formal gardens late this morning with two groups of students coming through as part of our Plants Program. This popular program exposes many children not only to the topic of plants and how they grow but also to the gardens as well. It's nice to see this connection as we hope the students learn something but also come away with a connection to the gardens that may be lifelong. The beautiful gentian (Gentiana dahurica) close-up above was taken at The Flower Factory today. We used to have gentians years ago but a "gentian thief" pilfered them as they bloomed. I'm not kidding. As our gentians bloomed, the next day, just a depression of soil....This happened over the course of many years and we currently have no gentians. To the upper right is the perennial sea kale (Crambe maritima) showing off it's ruffled blue foliage (edible by the way). We have plenty of these in the Scottish garden and will include it in our ornamental edible displays too. To the left are the engaging blooms of the creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens 'Flore-Pleno') also in the Scottish garden. To the right is one of our peonies just starting to open amongst a nice backdrop of ornamental onions (Allium 'Purple Sensation') which are at peak. I took plenty of plant shots today but not as many shots of our great staff and volunteers out in the gardens. Our break table was full of volunteers today which isn't very common on a Tuesday. Below is another nice peony. We don't know all the varietal names as so many of them were donated in the early days of the gardens. While we try to identify and label all plants at the gardens, these peonies may sneak thru that policy because of their historic significance and undeniable beauty. Directly above is the bloom cluster of a white ornamental onion (Allium 'Mount Everest') just getting ready to open up. The alliums really do offer a nice progression of color after the tulips (Tulipa) bloom. The drawback (in retrospect after planting 50,000 of them years ago) is that the alliums are filling beds that have "annuals in waiting" for planting. We just have to be patient. After Larry's run for plants, he continued to work on weedwhipping which is almost a full time job with the growth rate of the turf this month. Larry also checked our water features and helped water later in the day. Big John and Pat started the day by "lifting" the remainder of the tulips in front of the building. The guys also helped Dr. Yahr and Ron W. remove the fabric from our terrace umbrella frames. They've had some wear and tear and are in need of some rejuventation. John and Pat also took care of the pushmowing and Pat moved on to mulching tree circles, digging up some perennials and helping Janice string netting up for our climbing squashes. John rototilled and prepared three large beds for the marigold (Tagetes) collection and composted the future squash beds at the Horticulture Center. Janice worked on weeding and all sorts of projects related to our vegetable collections. Jenny did some gardening but moved on to getting our marigold labels ready to roll. Aside from my plant trip, I sprayed herbicide, had a meeting and am organizing plants for our planting work day this Saturday. To the upper right is the clear white, single bloom of the Scotch rose (Rosa spinosissima) that is quite a spreader but comes in to its full glory for a couple weeks in May. To the upper left is the English bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) in full bloom and to the right is blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens 'Sapphire').

Kay and Margaret paired up today to weed in the shade garden and children's garden. They are a good team and get a lot of work done. Mary H. was in to weed and we also saw Rose who was in to help Maury put on the second coat of red paint for our obelisks and has some other painting projects as well. Ron W. started taking down our plant sale tents with Dr. Yahr and Bev W. did some weeding in the sunken garden. We also saw Kay F., Mary W., Ruth, Renee, Bob T., Bill and of course Dr. Gredler was in to continue his mowing. We had lots of people coming and going and had a good day out in the gardens. Our new intern Ariel started today and will be helping Kris K. with educaiton as well as helping us with our labeling/plant records. Directly below is a sprouting walnut (Juglans nigra) that Bill brought in for me to show my daughter. NEAT-O. Further below is the white sheen on the hardy kiwi vine (Actinidia kolomikta 'Arctic Beauty') which has variable white, pink or green leaves with splotches, streaks, etc. The older male vines have the best variegation although the females can produce a tasty fruit. This vine can be quite vigorous but will tolerate some shade and offers superior foliage interest. At the bottom is the awesome bloom of the Rock's peony (Paeonia rockii).