The weather has been quite strange over the past couple of days with varying percentage chances for rain. We've had some nice soakers recently and when I arrived at the garden this morning, I was worried that it might be a bit muddy for planting. With recently rototilled and prepared beds out there, the wet soil can be quite soft to work in and we do try to avoid compacting these fresh beds with excessive foot traffic. However, the combination of plenty of willing planters (like Mary above with Ernie and Shirley in the distance) and workable soils, we cranked right in to planting. I had placed plants out in four areas yesterday in anticipation of some help today and we got thru all the areas and I had to lay out a fifth and sixth bed. We've averaged planting 4,000 annuals a day for the past month which is record for us. With my conference trip coming up next week, I am very pleased with the progress out in the gardens and quite proud of our awesome grounds staff and dedicated volunteers. Below is one of our new trial petunias (
Petunia hybrida) called 'Suncatcher Pink Lemonade'. This one really catches the eye and will be part of a huge flower bed that includes the majority of our trial plants for Ball Seed, PanAmerican Seed and Takii Seed (Japan). We'll finish this bed Saturday (or maybe tomorrow....). :)
Aside from Mary, Ernie (below right) and Shirley planting this morning, we also had the help of Karen, Hal, Doris a
nd our intern, Ariel. They all did a great job. Our afternoon planting crew (in the sunken garden) consisted of Mary, Gena, Myrt and Nancy. They planted a huge corner of that garden and also weeded as they progressed thru their planting space. It was also a very successful Grumpy morning. Ron Y., Ron B. and Bob C. worked on mulching the trees in the arboretum and did a great job not only mulching but weeding out tree seedlings prior to mulching. We have thousands of little European buckthorns (
Rhamnus cathartica), hackberries (
Celtis occidentalis), Siberian elms (
Ulmus pumila), etc. in various locations around the gardens and when the soil gets nice and wet, it's a lot easier to pull them out! Many of these seedlings appear where the birds poop out the seeds and that's why you see weird things coming up not only under trees but under hedges, fences, telephone lines, etc. The female cottonwood (
Populus deltoides) seedlings are not starting to germinate... Dennis helped Dr. Yahr reassemble and place our terrace umbrellas (recently repaired and refurbished) with some help from Larry. Dennis moved on to cutting back daffodil (
Narcissus) f
oliage in the parking lot while Dr. Yahr planted the last of our containers. Dr. Gredler and Little Jerry were both in to mow and did their entire route just in case we have thunderstorms tomorrow. We always like a nice "cut" before the weekend visitors and wedding parties descend on the gardens. Tom C. came in to install a new timer for our "Dancing Waters" fountain and is preparing for a larger electrical project too. Jim, Bob A., Dave and Vern worked on making more obelisks (for sale!) while Bob T. and Del helped tidy up the tool shed and Horticulture Center. Geesje popped by with more goodies and we also saw Kelli at break. Kelli introduced our other intern, Pingting, who is a student at UW-Whitewater that is helping with various administrative projects. The shot to the above left is the nice golden foliage of the Tiger Eyes sumac (
Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') that I feature every year and especially in fall when it turns orange/red. To the right is Ernie planting away and directly below is one of our "most asked about" annuals. This is pimpernel (
Anagallis hybrida 'Wildcat Blue') that comes from the University of New Hampshire breeding program. At only 14" tall, this annual will bloom non-stop thru the summer, is self-cleaning and has a
n unbelievable electric blue blossom (about 3/4" in diameter). We haven't grown many
Anagallis species or varieties in the past but that will be changing if this variety performs this summer. Marianne planted quite a bit of it in the front garden as part of the yellow/blue theme.
Directly above is the neat bloom cluster of the pink Maltese cross (
Lychnis coronaria 'Carnea'). This perennial (24") offers color at a point in June when most summer per
ennials are weeks away from color. Right now is what I consider a lapse in perennial flower color so June bloomers are most welcome in the garden. I like the straight species too which is a fire engine red. To the immediate right is Shirley who planted for 7 hours today! The grounds staff did a nice job as well. Big John continued to clear daffodil (
Narcissus) foliage from the daylily (
Hemerocallis) collection which is a monumental task. He also cleared weeds in that area and removed bulb foliage/weeds from another location. John later checked some containers (those under overhangs) for watering and di
d a nice job rototilling and preparing six areas for immediate planting (tomorrow or Saturday morning during our workday, 8 am-noon). Larry helped troubleshoot some issues out in the gardens, installed some signs (including our NO SMOKING IN THE GARDENS signs!), ran out for supplies, etc. Larry is so flexible and is used to me changing his direction multiple times in the day. Hopefully the NO SMOKING signs will decrease our annual collection of thousands of cigarette butts in the gardens (mainly from receptions...).
Yuck. Jenny did an awesome job inventorying areas for signs, creating signs and installing plant labels (particularly in the Smelly Garden). We both commented on how this has been our best year for labeling which also includes the efforts of Gary, Ariel, Mandy and Rita with the new engraver and labeling system. To the left is the maroon foliage of the dark-leaved beardtongue (
Penstemon 'Dark Towers') from the University of Nebraska. Topping out around 36", this perennial has the "double whammy" of great foliage (looks nice next to white and yellows) and light pink, trumpet shaped blooms in late spring/early summer (good for hummingbirds!). I like this variety a lot and for those that know 'Husker's Red' (similar), this one is undoubtably DARKER. To the right is the nice showy foliage of the variegated weigela (
Weigela florida 'Gold Rush') that is currently blooming with pink trumpets as well. I like weigelas in general, particulary those with colorful foliage (gold variegated, white variegated, solid gold, dark maroon, etc.). Directly below is a bloom close-up of another shrub rose in our rose garden. This is the Oso Easy Paprika shrub rose (
Rosa 'ChewMay Time') that caught my eye this morning. The entire rose garden is looking good too (bottom photo).
The weather has been quite strange over the past couple of days with varying percentage chances for rain. We've had some nice soakers recently and when I arrived at the garden this morning, I was worried that it might be a bit muddy for planting. With recently rototilled and prepared beds out there, the wet soil can be quite soft to work in and we do try to avoid compacting these fresh beds with excessive foot traffic. However, the combination of plenty of willing planters (like Mary above with Ernie and Shirley in the distance) and workable soils, we cranked right in to planting. I had placed plants out in four areas yesterday in anticipation of some help today and we got thru all the areas and I had to lay out a fifth and sixth bed. We've averaged planting 4,000 annuals a day for the past month which is record for us. With my conference trip coming up next week, I am very pleased with the progress out in the gardens and quite proud of our awesome grounds staff and dedicated volunteers. Below is one of our new trial petunias (Petunia hybrida) called 'Suncatcher Pink Lemonade'. This one really catches the eye and will be part of a huge flower bed that includes the majority of our trial plants for Ball Seed, PanAmerican Seed and Takii Seed (Japan). We'll finish this bed Saturday (or maybe tomorrow....). :) 
nd our intern, Ariel. They all did a great job. Our afternoon planting crew (in the sunken garden) consisted of Mary, Gena, Myrt and Nancy. They planted a huge corner of that garden and also weeded as they progressed thru their planting space. It was also a very successful Grumpy morning. Ron Y., Ron B. and Bob C. worked on mulching the trees in the arboretum and did a great job not only mulching but weeding out tree seedlings prior to mulching. We have thousands of little European buckthorns (Rhamnus cathartica), hackberries (Celtis occidentalis), Siberian elms (Ulmus pumila), etc. in various locations around the gardens and when the soil gets nice and wet, it's a lot easier to pull them out! Many of these seedlings appear where the birds poop out the seeds and that's why you see weird things coming up not only under trees but under hedges, fences, telephone lines, etc. The female cottonwood (Populus deltoides) seedlings are not starting to germinate... Dennis helped Dr. Yahr reassemble and place our terrace umbrellas (recently repaired and refurbished) with some help from Larry. Dennis moved on to cutting back daffodil (Narcissus) f
oliage in the parking lot while Dr. Yahr planted the last of our containers. Dr. Gredler and Little Jerry were both in to mow and did their entire route just in case we have thunderstorms tomorrow. We always like a nice "cut" before the weekend visitors and wedding parties descend on the gardens. Tom C. came in to install a new timer for our "Dancing Waters" fountain and is preparing for a larger electrical project too. Jim, Bob A., Dave and Vern worked on making more obelisks (for sale!) while Bob T. and Del helped tidy up the tool shed and Horticulture Center. Geesje popped by with more goodies and we also saw Kelli at break. Kelli introduced our other intern, Pingting, who is a student at UW-Whitewater that is helping with various administrative projects. The shot to the above left is the nice golden foliage of the Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') that I feature every year and especially in fall when it turns orange/red. To the right is Ernie planting away and directly below is one of our "most asked about" annuals. This is pimpernel (Anagallis hybrida 'Wildcat Blue') that comes from the University of New Hampshire breeding program. At only 14" tall, this annual will bloom non-stop thru the summer, is self-cleaning and has a
n unbelievable electric blue blossom (about 3/4" in diameter). We haven't grown many Anagallis species or varieties in the past but that will be changing if this variety performs this summer. Marianne planted quite a bit of it in the front garden as part of the yellow/blue theme.
ennials are weeks away from color. Right now is what I consider a lapse in perennial flower color so June bloomers are most welcome in the garden. I like the straight species too which is a fire engine red. To the immediate right is Shirley who planted for 7 hours today! The grounds staff did a nice job as well. Big John continued to clear daffodil (Narcissus) foliage from the daylily (Hemerocallis) collection which is a monumental task. He also cleared weeds in that area and removed bulb foliage/weeds from another location. John later checked some containers (those under overhangs) for watering and di
d a nice job rototilling and preparing six areas for immediate planting (tomorrow or Saturday morning during our workday, 8 am-noon). Larry helped troubleshoot some issues out in the gardens, installed some signs (including our NO SMOKING IN THE GARDENS signs!), ran out for supplies, etc. Larry is so flexible and is used to me changing his direction multiple times in the day. Hopefully the NO SMOKING signs will decrease our annual collection of thousands of cigarette butts in the gardens (mainly from receptions...).
Yuck. Jenny did an awesome job inventorying areas for signs, creating signs and installing plant labels (particularly in the Smelly Garden). We both commented on how this has been our best year for labeling which also includes the efforts of Gary, Ariel, Mandy and Rita with the new engraver and labeling system. To the left is the maroon foliage of the dark-leaved beardtongue (Penstemon 'Dark Towers') from the University of Nebraska. Topping out around 36", this perennial has the "double whammy" of great foliage (looks nice next to white and yellows) and light pink, trumpet shaped blooms in late spring/early summer (good for hummingbirds!). I like this variety a lot and for those that know 'Husker's Red' (similar), this one is undoubtably DARKER. To the right is the nice showy foliage of the variegated weigela (Weigela florida 'Gold Rush') that is currently blooming with pink trumpets as well. I like weigelas in general, particulary those with colorful foliage (gold variegated, white variegated, solid gold, dark maroon, etc.). Directly below is a bloom close-up of another shrub rose in our rose garden. This is the Oso Easy Paprika shrub rose (Rosa 'ChewMay Time') that caught my eye this morning. The entire rose garden is looking good too (bottom photo). 
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