A Balmy November Day

Though frosty this morning, the day warmed up quickly with plenty of sunshine and highs in the lower 50 degrees F. Overall, it was a great day to get outside and accomplish some outdoor tasks. We had a small but productive crew today. Above is Larry who was hanging lights on the remainder of the building for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). Off camera to the right was Big John passing Larry lights but I think making him reach further and further for them...The guys finished the building lights which is always a challenge as it also involves time on the roof. Larry spent much of the day running cords to our recently installed icicle lights (from L.P Tree Service's efforts yesterday) while John decorated a large spruce (Picea sp.) tree with lights and also began decorating the temporary white pine (Pinus strobus) trees set in place by Marv and Terry yesterday. Janice worked on some office projects, did some garden clean-up but spent a good portion of time trimming trees with lights along with John. My day can be summed up in three words: I ran cords. To the above right is the vivid foliage of the Italian arum (Arum italicum) that foliates in early fall every year and the leaves remain green thru the winter. While considered a bit vigorous for warmer climates, this perennial has done well for us and has nice clusters of orange summer berries. To the left is a leaf from our sycamore maple (Acer pseuodplatanus). Note that interesting fall color pattern on this single leaf although as a whole, this species has poor fall color. I liked the look of this leaf on top of the dark-leaved bugleweed (Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop') groundcover in the shade garden. Bugleweed will keep much of its color thru the winter but is replaced by vigorous new foliage in the spring. With my camera in my pocket all day, I had no shortage of plants that caught my attention with interesting bark, berries, fall color, etc. To the right is the late fall color of the shrubby St. Johnswort (Hypericum kalmianum 'Ames') that also has some pretty neat, yellow summer flowers. There is so much late fall color after the "peak" has passed that I think many gardeners miss these later contributors in the garden. Directly below is a cool season grass sending up new growth (thinking it is April I believe!). This is the tuber oat grass (Arrhenatherum elatius) with a vivid variegation and eye-catching appearance. This species will be back up in spring but does prefer the cooler portions of the growing season (not July and August!). I like it in partial shade as you see here in the woodland walk. We also have this species "peppered" throughout the fern & moss garden for color and texture. We did have some solid volunteer help today too. Kay was in and continued her clean-up efforts in multiple garden areas. Recent high winds have really knocked leaves down and created some sizeable "drifts" of debris to clean-up. Kay spent a good portion of time in the sunken garden and we'll see her tomorrow as she finishes off the shade garden. The grounds staff, with HLS preparation time coming to an end, have had little time to accomplish traditional gardening tasks so our volunteers become even more important this time of year as we attempt to tidy up 20 acres of gardens before the snow accumulates. We typically don't leave much clean-up for spring as we need to hit the ground running. We should have everything completed in the next couple of weeks but hope to have the HLS completed soon and will test it before Thanksgiving. We'll have plenty of Grumpy gardening tasks for Thursday and next Monday as we still need to finalize clean-up but also our deer browsing prevention methods! Bill O. came in to work on one of our flat tires and spent the afternoon out in the gardens helping collect leaves and fallen branches. Collectively, Kay and Bill did a huge amount of work and we appreciate the progress on such a balmy day! Dr. Gredler also stopped by and we'll see him next week. To the above right is a close-up of the corky bark of the Eyestopper Lavalle corktree (Phellodendron lavallei 'Longenecker') which was selected by Dr. Hasselkus from the Longenecker Gardens at the UW-Arboretum. The fall color (clear gold) was spectacular but I love the bark as well. It is really corky to the touch! To the left is the red/maroon fall color of the Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa) which is marginally hardy for us. This is our only one and while I've never seen it bloom (flowers and fruits are cool), this small tree has had consistently nice fall color late in the season. We'll see how it continues to grow. I've seen a nice one up at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) so hope this specimen will prosper. To the right is the red fall color of the maroon European smokebush (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'). The summer foliage is a very dark maroon but I also enjoy the autumn progression of bright red with an interior orange on this shrub. We occasionally butcher these down to get vigorous new growth in spring that will get up to 8-10'+ in one season. However, we lose the wispy, late spring flowers with a pruning of that severity. As I was running cords through the woodland walk this morning, I chanced upon some interesting foliage (see below). This is a leaf from the 'Electric Lime' coral bells (Heuchera sp.). Heucheras will maintain leaf color well in to winter and I'm glad I caught a glimpse of this one looking just fine along the water's edge. Tomorrow will be exclusively HLS work for Marv, Marianne, Terry, Big John and myself. We may get some volunteers too. I see cords in my future....