Pleasantly Productive

Today was a nice day outside and although it was in the mid 80 degress F., there was a cool breeze and it was a far cry from the brutal temperatures last week. Unfortunately we're headed back in to another heat wave this week! The top picture was taken in our Smelly Garden this morning. The plants have really filled in nicely and I experienced some scents this morning although they are not all sweet! Larry was weedwhipping in there later and said the same thing. We continue to promote this garden as an opportunity to learn about scent in the garden and to experience a wide range of flower and foliage smells. The picture directly above is a backlit leaf of the plantain lily (Hosta) called 'Sum It Up'. It's hard to see but there is a narrow golden edge around this huge textural leaf. This is a green-centered "sport" of the popular 'Sum & Substance'. Marv and Marianne are on vacation this week and we hope they enjoy their time off and come back all refreshed and relaxed. It was so fortuitous that it rained so well over the past 4-5 days as it was nice not to have the anxiety and burden of keeping things watered daily. The urn planter to the above right is filling out nicely with dark-leaved elephant grass (Pennisetum glaucum 'Vertigo') and the dangling begonias (Begonia boliviensis 'Bonfire'). To the left is a nice border taken care of by Don and Pearl C. As I went thru the Smelly Garden this morning, I looked for some of the more interesting varieties and came across the night phlox or midnight candy (Zaluzianskya capensis) that you see pictured to the right. Note the maroon backing on the flower petals which is most conspicuous when the flower buds are closed. This annual is sweetly fragrant particularly at night and is a nice component in a container or windowbox. The flowers are quite tiny but really pack a sweet punch. Check out our website for some August opportunities in the Smelly Garden and we look forward to continued promotion regarding this neat collection which will be carried over in to 2012 as well. The picture below of the waterfall was taken today and you can see how the lower level spills out in three sections. The guys will be building an additional level behind that spillway that will allow for another waterfall level and more visual (and auditory) impact. Further below is the reception garden really coming in to the pink theme that we decided upon for 2011. This space has always been blue and silver and while I miss that combination here at RBG, this pink collection is filling in nicely.We had a small grounds crew today with Larry, Terry and myself. Larry spent most of the day weedwhipping out in the gardens but also did some watering as well. Terry planted in the gazebo garden and sheared all manner of woody plants around the gardens. He has a good eye for "form" and does a nice job with shears. Janice and Big John popped in but were "off the clock" until tomorrow. I worked on going thru our Home Garden Tour information to help finalize that event and also started pulling together plants (annuals and perennials) for the new and improved English cottage garden. We'll try to plant some of it tomorrow.

We had a healthy volunteer turnout today as well. Mary Q. was in to do some weeding around the gazebo garden and Bev W. was down in the sunken garden touching up as well. Ron W. and our "new Ron" worked on replacing the gravel in the herb garden paths which is a tough job that they'll finish later in the week or early next week. Pat and Ron B. worked on spreading shredded bark in the gazebo garden while Urban, Bob C. and Dennis mulched various areas as well. Vern, Bob A., Jim and Vern worked on their bridge project near the Japanese waterfall and have some other looming tasks as well. Maury ran some errands and helped with various projects while Dick P. and Dick H. (above right) finished cutting our aluminum stakes for our new signs. Those guys make me nervous with that saw but they are two of our handiest guys around. Dr. Gredler was in to mow and Bill O. came in to trim some maroon weigelas (Weigela florida 'Midnight Wine') around one of our signs. We also saw Kelli, Bev, Deb, Mark (our new maintenance guy) and many otherd as well. Our butterfly art project is getting lots of attention and the monarch to the left was done by my older daughter and her boyfriend. To the right is a neat elephant ear (Alocasia plumbea) called 'Jurassic Dark' that is really getting some size and has nice shiny, almost black leaves.

I went thru the gardens this morning and would tell anyone that now is a good time to visit to catch a lot of the seasonal color. Our annual beds are almost filled in and are looking pretty good. The marigold (Tagetes) collection is thriving and I'm glad Tina B. is photographing all the varieties for me. Our intent in doing these comprehensive displays is to feature them for the public, the green industry and certainly to compare them on our own and perhaps select varieties for future use. With all the past controversy about the "holy grail" of a white marigold, I took some pictures today and while there is not a "clear white", there are some that are darn close. Directly below is 'Eskimo' and at the bottom is the best white I saw in our collection; 'Kilimanjaro White'. There is still room in the Scarf Dying class with Shelley Ryan (of The Wisconsin Gardener on WPT) this Saturday, July 30th. Check out our website.