Now That's More Like It

Despite the mess that Canadian geese create in our garden, it's nice to see the young families milling about (see top picture). Note the parents eyeballing me while trying to encourage the chicks to make the jump down to the next level of the terrace in the North Point garden. There are three families working our ponds and I'm sure they enjoyed the day as much as we did with sun and warmer temperatures. Despite the return of some rain tomorrow, we accomplished a lot today and were happy for a quick warm up after seeing the frost this morning. We're not out of the woods yet in regards to potential frost. Again, I'm very glad we had most of our touchy plants inside as there would have been fatalities last night!. We are leaving almost everything outside now to "harden off" with evening temperatures above 40 degrees F for the next week or so. It looks like two days next week will be close to 80 degrees F. That should get plants emerging (including weeds...). The photo directly above shows some of the containers that we'll be offering at the plant sale (see details at http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/). These plastic urns are perfect for planting vegetables and herbs. Terry and Marv, who custom prepare the soils for our containers at RBG, mixed up a nice blend of soil/compost and prepared 72 containers for the sale. These will be $20 each (ready to be planted) with the additional cost being the plants selected. Customers can also bring their own containers and will be charged for soil, fertilizer, plants, etc. We'll offer assistance for this unique opportunity. I took many interesting "foliage photos" today. Above and to the left is the early foliage of burnet (Sanguisorba menziesii) which is quite textural. However, the maroon-red, bottlebrush like blooms of this hardy perennial in summer will later steal the show. To the right is the fresh yellow foliage of the golden bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis 'Goldheart'). Yellow/gold foliage is very conspicuous and effective in spring. To the left is the bright yellow growth of the golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold') that really is an eyecatcher throughout the growing season. This specimen is one of many "shoe horned" in to gaps in a large boulder retaining wall. These grasses help soften what would look like a rugged pile of boulders and the addition of "textural gold" adds nice color from April thru October.

This morning, Amy Carlson, the weekend anchor for NBC 15 (Madison), and her cameraman (Mark) came to the gardens to film a segment with Kelli. Sue M. and I joined the group and we had a nice time out in the gardens. The interview went very well and Mark took footage in the wishing well garden (Children's garden), Japanese garden and gazebo garden. The interview and footage will air this Sunday morning (7:40 am?) and will encourage viewers to visit the gardens (perhaps for Mother's Day). This Friday is also National Public Garden Day (see http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/ for information on this opportunity, including directions for printing out a free admission pass to RBG for that day) and we hope to see plenty of visitors enjoying the gardens. To the right is the vertical planter with the ornamental mustard (Brassica juncea 'Brazen Brass') starting to establish. Janice added some blue pansies (Viola) yesterday and this arrangement should be solid color in the next four weeks.

Marv and Terry (aside from their container prep mentioned above) worked on another small retaining wall, rototilled, set-up obelisks and mowed. Big John did a nice job rototilling three of our huge annual beds and moved on to mowing and mulching. Larry also mowed and helped organize our plants out in the yard. He is also plugging thru his handyman tasks as well. Marianne tidied up here and there, did a nice job on her cutting display and spent most of the day cleaning up the rose garden for looming weddings this Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. Kay was in to weed and quickly joined Marianne in the rose garden. The ladies weeded the rose crescents but also pruned back all the dead stems on the roses (laborious!). We also saw Gary, Vern, Mary W., Shirley H., Maury, Bob T. and Dr. Gredler. Doc mowed but also took our big truck out for a new tire. Directly below is the exquisite bloom of the bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis). The bleeding hearts are just starting to bloom and should look nice for the weekend. What an interesting flower! Further below is a young leaf of the katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) with some nice backlighting. Today was our first "free day" of the year. The first Wednesday of May thru October is free and we usually see increased visitation (no surprise). I'm glad we offer this opportunity and it is refreshing to see so many people enjoying the gardens. There are also "free weeks" in both May and September. The hope is that visitors on these days become members and/or supporters and appreciate the fact that as a non-profit, we are very reliant on financial support and the quality of the gardens (and future improvements) are so very budget dependent as well. Aside from the NBC 15 visit, I spent the morning inventorying trees for new lables. Luis, a Master Gardener and RBG volunteer, has done a superb job of collecting information on our woody plant collection. I'm verifying all his data and making sure that Gary will have accurate information for the new labels. This afternoon, I sprayed another round (4 gallons) of herbicide in some of our weediest areas and in spots that would help streamline our mowing. While I'm not a huge fan of chemicals in general, I justify my use of herbicides as I target areas that would be near impossible to hand weed (patios, slopes, etc.). With very few exceptions, I do almost all the herbicide applications as I feel it is important to be consistent and if there are any "errors", I'm the one to blame! To the right are the emerging leaves of 'Designer Genes' hosta (Hosta) that will have reddish stems too. I like this hosta a lot and look forward to adding new varieties of hostas each year. To the left is a nice star magnolia (Magnolia stellata 'Royal Star') blooming in our color rooms garden. About half of our magnolias are starting to bloom and I sure appreciate what they add to the spring landscape. I'm hoping to get up to Longenecker Gardens yet this spring to see the magnolia collection. Longnecker Gardens is the woody plant collection portion of the UW-Arboretum (Madison) which also includes a huge prairie, woodlands, wetlands, etc. The spring trip can catch magnolias, crabapples and lilacs galore. To the right is another nice daffodil (Narcissus). The daffodils are at peak and will fade quickly with the heat next week; just in time for the tulips to take over. Our yellow tulips in front of the Parker Education Center are just starting to open up and will hopefully have some color for the weekend. They'll be at peak the following weekend though if you want to see some bright colors! The third "Story& Stroll" program today was very well received with over 60 attendees. Our volunteers do such a nice job with this event and Laura B. is a natural with the kids. Kudos to Kris, Mary, Laura and all the volunteers that have helped promote and facilitate these fun opportunities for the kids. These are our future visitors, members, donors and maybe my replacement! See the pictures below.