Morning glories (Ipomoea sp.) can sure be beautiful like the one above, but they are notoriously prolific re-seeders. I have thousands coming up at home right now and they would be 
the equivalent of "Midwestern kudzu" and bury everything if I don't remove them soon. Depending on the variety, many will not come back "true to form." Essentially, they wont be the same color and again, can be quite vigorous and persistent as the seeds will germinate throughout spring, summer and early fall with the intent of quick blooms and plenty of seeds! Be wary! To the right is a bright container arrangement in the sunken garden. The centerpiece is golden elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta 'Elena'). The tra
iling, golden plants are a cutleaf sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas) called 'Illusion Emerald Lace' that have already buried some neighboring plants but still look good. To the left is one of our yellow culvert planters in the terrace garden. That is blue lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) that while a perennial, is a thug that should never be planted where it can't be contained. We only use it as an annual. This grass is also very "thirsty' and has needed lots of water to keep up this healthy, metallic blue look. Our 2011 blue/yellow theme in both this garden and the entrance garden has worked out very well.
I was at work very briefly this morning and later this afternoon as Kelli and I had a presentation for the Watertown (WI) Rotary Club over the lunch hour. Watertown was about 1 hour away and we had some productive discussions about events and ideas for next year during our travels there and back. Our presentation was well received and the Watertown Rotary Club gave us a nice donation for the gardens too! The only unfortunate thing about me being gone is that Larry was solo today out on the grounds. With Marv, Marianne and Terry on vacation (Pat too!), that left Larry with lots of watering today which he handled well in this crazy heat. Tomorrow looks to be hotter but we have Janice and Big John too. To the right is a narrow border in the sunken garden that has plenty of red and maroon. I wanted to point out the important use of white (Artemisia 'Powis Castle') that is repeated throughout this richly colored border. White is so important and often understated or even overlooked in our perennial borders, containers, etc. Repetition of a color (or form) can be quite effective too. Below is a new coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) called 'Sultana' from Ball Seed. This variety is in our trialing area and I'm impressed with the color combination on the leaves. This is definitely one I'll use in the future.
Directly above is the common horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) that I photographed at Boerner Botanical Gardens (Hales Corners, WI) this past Friday in their h
erb garden. Horseradish is the topic for discussion this T
hursday, August 4th at the Parker Education Center (7 pm - 8 pm). Members of the Janesville Area Herb Society will present on this interesting herb at this sixth of six seminars organized by the Rock Prairie Master Gardener Association. Our "Member's Only" bus trip is also occuring that day but I'll be back in time for the presentation. The next topic that is part of the RBG lecture series is Rain Gardens on August 17th (6 pm - 8 pm) by Chrissy Regester, Walworth County Horticulture Educator. To th
e right is a tropical that we started as a bulb called summer hyacinth or spire lily (Galtonia candicans). Topping out at over 3' tall with dangling, fragrant bell-shaped flowers, this plant (native to South Africa) is punctuated throughout our Smelly Garden. To the left is the silver-foliaged 'Berggarten' sage (Salvia officinalis) which is one of the common varieties used for seasoning. I like it as a foliage ornamental and while we use it as an annual, it is a marginal perennial in our climate here. We had a nice Grumpy turnout this morning. Dick P., Maury and Tom C. did some electrical tr
oubleshooting for us and Maury cleaned up our lady fountain water feature in the English Cottage garden. Gary worked on editing and finalizing the next batch of labels while Rita came in to start taping more signs on their holders. We use an industrial two-sided tape that looks to be durable and strong (recommended and used at Olbrich Botanical Gardens). Vern, Bob A. and Jim worked on a special obelisk and some other carpentry projects as well. Dick H. spent most of the day working on repairing/creating a new tailgate for one of our utlity vehicles that is in desperate need of such attention. Dr. Yahr was in to do some pruning and Dr. Gredler did quite a bit of mowing. Most of the other guys (Ron W., Ron B., Dick K., other Ron, Bill S. and Bob C.) worked on regraveling various paths. Rollie was out working on bricks and Winifred was around for some weeding. We also saw Mary W., Kelli, Polly, Kris, Bill O. and many others today as well. To the right is the 'Milkshake' double white coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) and below is an image from our increasingly popular Smelly Garden. The containerized plants (mints, scented geraniums, lemon verbena, fennel, etc.) seen in this photo are there for visitors to fondle and really get a whiff of those plants. We have some fun activities planned for that space this month so do check out our website. 
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