Cloudy & Decidedly Pleasant

There are so many blooms out in the gardens right now that I had no trouble taking lots of digital photos. It has been cool and overcast all day with perfect lighting for photography. The neat blooms above are the 'Moonlight' marigold (Tagetes) in our marigold (Tagetes) collection, the crested blue gentian (Gentiana septemfida) in the alpine garden and directly above is the yellow Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia 'Yellow Torch') standing 6' tall in our entrance garden. Today was quite crowded at the gardens with UW-Rock County having a staff retreat in the Parker Education Center and lots of visitors and even a tour. With our extended color out in the gardens, it's still an engaging stroll with lots to enjoy. I saw many UW-Rock County staff enjoying the gardens during break and lunch (including my wife). To the right is a variegated Japanese Joe-pye weed in our English cottage garden just starting to open with pink flower clusters held above very showy foliage. This is a new plant to the gardens and seems to be in a happy spot. To the left is one of the 34 butterflies that have attracted so much attention around the gardens this summer. This display will end on Tuesday when we take all the butterflies down and prepare them for the auction to be held on September 11th from 1 pm - 3 pm at the Parker Education Center. All proceeds from this auction benefit the continued support, operation and improvement of RBG.

Today was light on volunteers but we had some good ones. Kay (seen below in the shade garden) filled a couple cartloads of weeds and other debris from the shade garden and our seed trialing area. She is quite methodical and very patient when dealing with challenging areas. We appreciate every minute she volunteers at the gardens. Dr. Gredler was in to mow, aerate some lawns and also worked on turf repair and other projects. Bill O. was in to mow the arboretum and helped tidy up in the fern & moss garden and Japanese garden. We also saw Maury, Layton and some others. To the right is the Sweet Fragrance Easy Elegance shrub rose (Rosa 'BAInce') that is part of our trialing program in the rose garden. This variety is from Bailey Nursery (MN). What a neat color although I thought the fragrance was minimal. Speaking of fragrance, the flower photo below the shot of Kay is of the 'Black Knight' annual scabiosa (Scabiosa atropurpurea) which is a near black color. This fragrant annual, also known as annual pincushion flower, is scattered throughout the Smelly Garden and really shows near "light-foliaged" neighbors.We had a good crew out in the gardens. Larry kept the irrigation going in areas that looked to be the driest. We don't want to saturate everything this time of year with such cool evenings but we will be vigilant regarding watering needs. Larry also ran out to pick up our repaired chainsaw, organized hoses for the plant sale and watered all the containers. Big John push mowed and moved on to lots of watering, including our yard and the 400 newly arrived mums. He also helped purge some dead shrubs and dug up some undesireables from the sunken garden. Pat also push mowed and continued his composting job in the Japanese garden that he started as a Grumpy yesterday. Pat also smoothed out some gravel and worked on weeding out a tough area. I contacted all our plant sale vendors to schedule deliveries and confirm incoming plants. We will have everything here by next Wednesday although the arduous task of pricing everything will begin immediately. We aren't just selling plants as we also offer compost, obelisks (6') and tools. While perennials are our focus, we'll also have some quality shrubs, roses, bulbs, pansies, kale, etc. The sale is quite diverse and I hope people come to shop in droves! To the right is a variegated fuchsia (Fuchsia triphylla 'Firecracker') that we plant every year and it gets equal attention from visitors and hummingbirds alike. That subtle variegation is quite interesting and this variety is also a very strong bloomer. To the left are the large (2" wide) and eyecatching blooms of the alpine St. John's wort (Hypericum fragilis) that is just starting to bloom in our alpine garden. I love the blooms on all St. Johns worts and find this genus one of the least demanding. The interesting foliage to the right is from the variegated papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius 'Variegatus') that does well in garden beds with adequate moisture and the water garden. The variegation is variable but tends to be quite strong and interesting to observe. We've used this variety in bedding schemes as well as containers and actually will use over six varieties of papyrus around the gardens for various purposes. Directly below is the neat foliage of the 'Soldier' beet (Beta vulgaris) that we've displayed in clumping masses throughout the reception garden. The foliage is not only ornamental but edible as well. Beet greens are tastiest when young. Look at the bottom photo and you can see the huge beets that have formed already. These, while edible, would have been tastier if dug up a couple weeks ago. Regardless, beets and Swiss chard (very closely related) are considered true "ornamental edibles". The following quote is totally plagarized. "Beets are highly nutritious and cardiovascular health friendly root vegetables. Certain unique pigment antioxidants present in this plant have found to offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lower cholesterol levels in the body and have anti-aging effects."