Chilly & Productive

There were some concerns about frost last night but I didn't see any this morning and it was almost 40 degrees F by 9 am. While it certainly was chillier than it has been recently, these are the temperatures we come to expect in early April. I'm actually hoping we can get a good soaking rain soon to dampen things a bit. While it's not dry, we haven't had a lot of decent precipitation recently and April showers would be timely. The top picture shows one of our crabapples (Malus, unknown variety) in full bloom by the gazebo. We had another great volunteer turnout this morning with plenty of Grumpies and Grumpettes. Two photos above is Glenna working in the North point garden. She was joined by Janice and Suzanne this morning for a weeding tour in that garden area and the fern & moss garden. Directly above are Bev and Ron who continued hauling, placing and securing our benches out in the gardens. Both moved on later to some other projects. What a sad commentary that we have to chain everything down but we've learned some hard lessons in the past. To the right is Del tidying up in the woodland walk garden. With the plants filling in so quickly, we're accelerating our clean-up and mulching schedule as well! Dennis and Stan did a nice job composting two good sized garden beds along Palmer Drive. Dick H. ran some debris to the dump and was helping Larry with some projects as well. To the left are Jim (in blue) and Dave T., who (along with Bob A.) were installing new timber edging around the gazebo garden beds. The end result looked great and offers some nice crisp definition to that area. The previous edging was rotted and in need of this total replacement. The guys have plenty of projects on the near (and far) horizon! Dr. Gredler aerated the remainder of our lawns after Larry located/flagged the irrigation heads. Maury was in to run various errands and we also saw Shirley (weeding), Kris, Pat M. and many others. Karen M. and Lucas worked in the Japanese garden. Jenny was in later to continue gardening efforts in a couple different locations. Cindi was in to weed in the afternoon and Tom and Nancy F. helped organize many of our historic plans/designs. To the right is the emerging foliage of the oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) which has some nice silvery undersides to the leaves. While our oakleaf hydrangeas only bloom sporadically (summer), I like them for bold texture and a pretty reliable reddish maroon fall color (late October). Directly below is the chartreuse foliage of the 'Pistache' coral bell (Heuchera) which has a nice big leaf and is one of the "villosa hybrids" which are known for size, vigor and durability. Further down is the emerging orange-maroon foliage of the Coppertina ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Mindia') which is quite an eyecatcher with that interesting foliage coloration. It does maintain an orange tint thru the summer and gets a nice maroon-red fall color as well. This is my favorite of the ninebarks (at the moment!). Our 4,000 white tulips (Tulipa) in front of the Parker Education Center continue to fill out and approach peak for the Easter weekend. The variety above is 'Wildhof' and is known for a clear white coloration. I think we have three varieties of white tulips out front and as usual, the color of our spring bulbs in that area segways in to the summer color selection. We're excited about our silver/white/light blue combinations and I think it will look quite nice. Tulips from previous plantings (yellow, red, etc.) occasionally pop up although Marianne is quick to snip those and put them in a vase. We do change over the tulips annually in this garden space. To the right are the bloom clusters of mukdenia (Mukdenia rossii or Aceriphyllum rossii) that is a coral bells (Heuchera) relative from China. We have these in shady locations and it's interesting to see the early bronze foliage (before bloom) and this perennial also gets a nice red fall color in October. The variety 'Crimson Fans' is the best for fall coloration. I didn't appreciate the flowers much until this spring. To the left is another nice example of the artistic oak leaves that continue to trickle in to the gardens. To the lower right is the start of an ornamental onion (Allium 'Purple Sensation') that is about six to seven weeks early. Granted, this specimen is in a "hot spot" with lots of sunshine and radiant heat but we typically don't see ornamental onions blooming like this until late May and early June! Since our tulips (Tulipa) shifted to Easter, maybe our ornamental onions (Allium) will shift to Mother's Day!?

We're seeing a nice increase in visitation this month with the nice weather and I imagine it will be a record in terms of the number of visitors. We don't start formally charging admissions until mid-April but continue to promote the benefits of being a RBG Friends Member (see http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/ for more information). Planning continues for our April events and we'll start really pushing the Spring Plant Sale as well. Details are on our website and there are plant listings for all of our vegetables and herbs as well. Directly below is the early foliage of the 'Amber Waves' coral bell (Heuchera) which was one earliest (and best) orange cultivars. I still like this variety but 'Caramel' is pretty nice too (also a villosa hybrid)! The bottom picture shows the early white bloom clusters and brilliant foliage of the 'Sutherland Gold' cutleaf elderberry (Sambucus racemosa).