Frosty Start But Quickly Pleasant

This morning was quite frosty and involved more windshield ice scraping. However, it warmed up nicely and the daffodils above appreciated the thawing value of sunshine this morning. Years ago we planted over 300 varieties of daffodils (Narcissus) in our parking lot (8,000 bulbs total). It continues to be a nice display although we've lost track of many of the varieties. Our collection represents all 13 "divisions" which vary in their flower characteristics for the most part. The only drawback of daffodils (in my mind) is waiting for the foliage to go dormant after blooming. This usually occurs by late June but that foliage is easy to obscure with other emerging plants, grasses and woody plants. If you are "in to" daffodils, check out the American Daffodil Society (http://www.daffodilusa.org/) and the Midwest Daffodil Society (http://www.midwestdaffodil.org/) that incidentally, is having their flower show at the Chicago Botanic Garden on April 24th and 25th. Daffodil competitions include cut blooms, floral design and photography. Don't ever pass up the opportunity to go to a flower/plant show for anything as you get to see some neat things and talk to the plant geeks that have devoted their gardening lives to that specific plant. Mark down June 5th and 6th to come to RBG to see the cut peony judging as part of the American Peony Society national convention. Marv and Terry can be seen below working on their brick project today. The guys did a nice job leveling off this walkway and really took the time to do it right. It was another skeleton crew today but we accomplished quite a bit of work. Marv and Terry worked further on composting after their brick project and I spent time laying out where our obelisks and "pillar planters" will be located. I also worked on pricing for our spring plant sale. Dr. Gredler spent the day on reseeding many of our lawns. Jumbo Jim brought down four RECAPPERS and the guys did an excellent job composting the Japanese garden which is a monumental task that requires carrying in buckets of compost by hand due to access constraints. We also saw Maury, Urban and Dick P. here as well. Lots of plants continue to emerge and bloom out in the gardens. To the left are the leaves of bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis). This native perennial has neat leaves and the white flowers (blooming now) are quite showy, particularly for the double-flowering variety 'Multiplex'. Ants distribute the seeds of this plant and the red dye from the roots was mixed with animal fat and used by Native Americans as war paint. The plant to the right is twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) starting to bloom. The root of this plant, named after Thomas Jefferson, had many herbal uses but note the interesting "double leaflet" look of the foliage.

The continued emergence of new spring foliage is quite refreshing. Note the tuber oat grass to the left (Arrhenatherum elatius) which has a nice clean variegation and prefers part shade for best effect and appearance (18" height). As a cool season grass, this plant resents summer drought so keep it irrigated and realize it looks the best in April thru June and turns brown quickly in July and August without proper watering. We have many clumps of this grass in the woodland walk garden and fern & moss garden (both partly shaded situations). The tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa) are foliating very quickly and are beautiful to observe as they go thru the process of unfurling leaves and blooming in a month or so. While they may look a bit ragged in late summer, the tree peonies are one of the few plants with a very short bloom window that are worth the space (and expense). We probably have 50+ tree peonies out in the gardens and they get bigger and better each year. See below for two other daisy entries. We hope to have the remainder next week so all can be sealed and prepared for positioning and installation out in the gardens.

Back To March Weather

After scraping light snow and ice off my car this morning, I had a feeling that it would be a cold one today. The weather, while quite a bit different from Monday, was expected and no surprise. Unfortunately, many plants weren't ready for that frost and will get hit again tonight. See the pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) below (featured in an earlier blog) that looks to be a bit bummed out with the cold temperatures and is dejectedly awaiting a warm-up. Daffodils looked rough today and the magnolia blooms will be browning out this week as they thought it was early May already. Oh well. All we can do is accept the vagaries of Mother Nature. Many staff and volunteers braved the weather today and headed out in to the gardens. Marianne was here and worked primarily on her irises. She has really kept this collection organized and looking good too. Janice was here to work on various projects including more preparations for the spring plant sale, including information cards for our various herbs (100 varieties at the sale). Our website at http://www.rotarygardens.org/ should have lists of our vegetable and herb offerings for the May 14-16 sale. Little Jerry was here composting the Japanese garden and Larry helped out with all sorts of activities and hauled off more daisies to be sealed with preservative. See two more entries at the bottom. Ron and Gary worked on running out the rest of our benches in the gardens. This has become a monumental task physically but also is stretching our memories on where particular benches go. I think the guys will have a system for next year. Bob C. and Roger continued to mulch the woodland walk garden and are doing a nice job. Vern, Bob A., Jim and Dave mounted more daisies and are starting on building some new benches for the alpine garden. Maury, Dick H. and Big John (above right) worked on the sitting area near the 'Dialogue' sculpture. This also involved a jackhammer (on loan) which was quite handy in cleaning off the old cap stones. John later worked on digging holes for our culvert planters which we hope will go in next week. We also saw Urban, Rose, Bev, Deb, Jumbo Jim, Jackie, Dave, Rollie and Dick P. here today. Lots of activity. To the left are the emerging spears of the variegated Solomon's seal (Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum') which is beautiful in the shade garden with white bell-shaped flowers in May and variable leaves with interesting creamy variegation (see below) thru summer. Warning, this hardy perennial will double in size each year and can create quite a colony. This perennial is one that I promote as low-maintenance but understand that you'll need to divide this plant often to keep it contained (if that is the intent). See below for a nice shot of this perennial in early summer. The hellebores (Helleborus sp.) haven't minded the cold snap and have a long bloom time. Beneath the variegated Solomon's seal image is a close-up of 'Red Lady' that I took today. While hellebore blooms can be variable, 'Red Lady' is promoted as having darker red tepals than what can be seen here. Whether this hellebore is misidentified and/or a bit exaggerated in terms of flower color, I like the "bi-color" look and this plant is a keeper.

Drudgery In The Rain

The image above was from two days ago before the gloom (but needed rain) descended. The forsythia are in bloom (early) and the specimen above is one of our dwarf varieties ('Happy Centennial'). Forsythias are very noticeable around town this time of year. It has been overcast and misting most of the day but the gang was able to get outside between raindrops. We had our annual spring orientation for the grounds staff and everyone was there (Larry, Marv, Marianne, Terry, Janice, Jerry, Jenny, John and me). We like to review what's coming up and had a nice lunch later on. Janice had to run to a conference in Milwaukee but we'll see her tomorrow. It was nice to see Rollie and Maury back after their Florida respites. We all felt horrible that it was so cold for them down south. :) The lungworts (Pulmonaria sp.) are starting to bloom and their ornamental foliage is emerging nicely (see below). I love lungworts for many reasons including their mature look out in the garden as they fully foliate (see further down). I select them for leaf size and degree of "silvering". Their flowers are neat but all too fleeting. Larry and John cleaned debris off the gazebo garden roof and planted an Accolade elm (Ulmus hybrida 'Morton') out in the arboretum. Marianne worked on her cutting display, irises and labels inside. Jenny worked on more labels and we're in good shape to match pre-made labels with incoming plants over the next couple of months. When our laser engraver becomes active, we'll start on our woody plants first. Little Jerry was here briefly for our meeting and was out in the gardens showing Jumbo Jim and the RECAPPERS some work out in the gardens. Marv and Terry set out more obelisks and worked on leveling a brick path that had buckled up due to root growth from an adjacent elm tree (see photo below). They did a nice job and helped avert future tripping accidents in that space. We shifted inside for a good portion of the afternoon and worked on our inside projects. It was nice to get the tropical bulbs potted up yesterday and it looks promising for more outside work later in the week. I went out and put out flags for more obelisk placement on Friday and took some pictures of more emerging plants. To the left is the white grape hyacinth (Muscari botryoides 'Album') in the entrance garden and to the right is a very interesting perennial for part shade called mukdenia (Aceriphyllum rossii 'Karasuba'). This Asian woodland plant is known for its maple shaped leaves with hints of crimson (particularly in fall). I've never noticed it blooming until today and figure I was lucky to catch the blooms early. As primarily a foliage plant, this zone 4 perennial is top notch. There are some other varieties out there too. We've received 20 of our 27 daisies for the "Petal Thru The Garden" art project. Below is a neat one brought in yesterday by one of our RECAPPERS. He is very talented and these shots are the front and back of that daisy respectively.

Rainy But Welcome

We've really needed some rain and knew it was coming. It was a drizzle most of the evening with periods of heavier rain. This morning, it let loose for an hour or so and quickly filled the retention basins (see above) at the horticulture center and created some path washouts and messes out in the gardens. Look at the "sheet flow" of water across our yard. Much of that runoff is from neighborhoods above the garden that drain out of a culvert pipe behind our yard. It has been misty most of the day and overcast. It was the perfect day to catch up desk work and upcoming events (spring plant sale, home garden tour, etc.). John started today and joined Janice potting up some of our summer bulbs (see to the left). They potted up well over 300 bulbs that included cannas, dahlias, fragrant tuberose (Polianthes), caladiums, etc. We'll rotate these outside on warmer days and this little jump start will be beneficial for these bulbs when we put them out as established plants in late May. Janice also worked on her various projects and everyone helped Larry unload a delivery of 9 trees and 40+ shrubs that came in around lunch time. Little Jerry (to the right) had time to sharpen some tools and is a great asset on rainy days too as he keeps our tools in good order.

I was thinking about how much earlier plants seem to be blooming (on average) each year and recalled an article that I read over the winter. I found the small article, entitled "Spring Comes Earlier", in Science Illustrated (Jan.-Feb 2010, pg. 61) and thought there were some interesting similarities described. This article mentions Europe's 78 International Phenological Gardens (IPG) that are located around Europe with genetically identical trees and shrubs. Coordinated by Humboldt University in Berlin, dates have been recorded for over 40 years regarding when these plants bud, blossom and lose their leaves. See http://star.arm.ac.uk/nci/docs/Instructions-IPG.pdf for more information on the IPG program. Regardless, they determined that between 1959 and 1996, the growing season has lengthened by almost 11 days, "a trend confirmed in other locations across the world..." Follow-up data has indicated that spring is coming earlier at a rate of 2.5 days per decade. The article wraps up by saying that "if the trend continues, an earlier onset of spring and a longer growing season could alter interactions between plants and animals in these ecosystems, which could change competition between species and allow new pathogens to move in." Implications? Seems obvious to me. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy seeing these daffodils below a little earlier than usual though... We had a small crew today as mentioned above. Jerry also did some work outside between raindrops; including dealing with major shoreline path work due to some over-diligent muskrats. Dr. Gredler ran a load to the dump and will return tomorrow. We also saw Rose, Urban and Rod over here today. We're still processing incoming daisies (see bottom photo) and are waiting on about ten more to arrive (hopefully soon). Once these daisies are out in the garden, visitors will be able to pick up a handout that maps out their locations and gives some information on each entry. Should be a nice twist out in the gardens and we'll place them around the gardens in prominent locations.

My younger daughter (10) has essentially the same digital camera as I do (CANON Powershot) and we've been practicing our flower close-ups recently. We had some decent luck with some Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) as seen to the left and right with the standard blue and white ('Alba') respectively. These early bloomers will finish in a week or so and while quite small (6" tall with .5" flowers), they have impact en masse. It is so nice that our little one is in to plants and gardening although it never "took" with her older sister (19). I think just the exposure to the garden for every child is essential and can lead to a lifelong appreciation of nature, conservation, wildlife and of course plants in general. One of our primary "target audiences" here at the gardens are the children. The digital camera we gave our daughter for her birthday has been a wonderful tool for observation and perhaps we have an aspiring professional photographer. Check out her close-up below of Norway maple (Acer platanoides) flowers. Maple flowers, while fairly small, are quite beautiful. Take time to enjoy the details out in the garden (not just weeds!).

Lots in bloom today including the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) above which is quite exquisite when viewed up close. There was palpable excitement and energy out in the gardens with our grounds staff and volunteer activities considering the perfect weather day and plenty to accomplish. Marv, Marianne, Janice and Terry all started today with John tomorrow and Jenny Wednesday. Everyone kept busy and worked on various projects. Marv and Terry leveled benches, put out obelisks, composted, etc. while Janice and Marianne cut back roses as needed. Both ladies worked on other projects and Marianne put together a nice cutting display; our first for 2010. Little Jerry pruned and tidied up while Larry led the charge with composting the front of the building with Gary, Ron, Bill and Bob (see below). Access was tricky (lots of emerging tulips too) so the guys spread the compost entirely by buckets and did a nice job topdressing the entrance garden that was in dire need of some soil improvements. Del and Roger swept up the sunken garden and started mulching the woodland walk garden. The composting crew later helped mulch and the carpenters (Dave, Jim, Vern and Bob A.) kept busy with projects, including mounting more of the plywood daisies which continue to be the topic of conversation around here as they arrive. Very neat. See "Ocean Fun" at the bottom. It is amazing how original and unique each of the daisies is and we continue to process them for eventual placement out in the gardens. Shirley was here to do some weeding and Bill O. came in to clean up our stump grinding messes. We also saw Barb, Mike, Chuck, Dave, Bev, George and Deb over here today. Dr. Gredler continued his lawn work and is aerating lawns in advance of the coming (and welcome) rains this week. I was on the north path this morning and caught some neat shots thru the weeping willows (Salix) of our observation pier and arched bridge. It was truly a delightful day out there and we look forward to a nice spring. In talking with Mike, we've determined that many plants out in the gardens are 1.5-2 weeks ahead of schedule and in some cases, even further ahead. The warmer microclimates are showing some plants even three weeks ahead (like the magnolia below). This is one of the star magnolias (Magnolia stellata) and is near the main building and some warm asphalt. While many of the daffodils (Narcissus sp.) are at peak or beyond, I caught the unique 'Rip Van Winkle' just starting to peak but still showing hints of green on the petals. Beneath 'Rip Van Winkle' is grape hyacinth (Muscari latifolium) in bloom along the woodland walk shoreline and not too far away (next picture down) in the woodland walk are many Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) with its conspicuous white "pantaloons" and lacy foliage. Fun.

Friday Before The Storm

Our bagged compost sale starts tomorrow although I wish it had started a week ago as this was a nice week to get compost out in the gardens with the warmth and impending showers tomorrow. We've had lots of enquiries about this product and its availability. This is good stuff and has proven to be a nice little fundraiser for us as well. We're looking (literally) at the bulk version of this material with a 40 cubic yard pile awaiting dispersal next week (hopefully). We definitely need the rain this weekend as March was extremely dry. However, rain does put a "damper" on our compost sale. Oh well. It was overcast all day but still quite warm (and windy). We had lots of action out in the gardens, including some blooms. See a beautiful primrose (Primula pubescens, variety unknown) in bloom near our Japanese garden. This plant is less than 12" in height and that flower is about 2" in diameter (multiple blooms per plant). Pretty neat though and in a nice rich, damp soil. This is the first to bloom among another dozen or so neighbors that will continue the show thru the next two weeks or so with many other primulas poised to bloom around the gardens.

Kay was here to work her "weeding kung fu" on some quack grass and other early offenders. Big John came in and continued to remove brick from our 'Dialogue' sculpture sitting area. This demo has gone fairly smoothly and we hope to formulate our rebuilding plan early next week. Ron, Dick H., Dick P. and John have taken on this project and we expect some masons to help in the coming weeks as we determine final scale, materials and most importantly, budget! See the shot to the left for some of the progress. LP Tree Service (Janesville) came today to level some soil for us in a space that will accomodate a new seating structure that the Grumpies are building (remember the big arches in previous posts?). Chris also did some stump grinding for us (below) and it's always impressive to see that machine in use. It sure made quick work of the large Siberian elm (Ulmus pumila) stump and is always impressive to watch. Small crew today but high productivity. Marianne came in and worked on getting things ready for the compost sale and spent some time on her alpine labels. Janice came in with her new dog and we touched base on upcoming events of interest. Vern took some of the new daisy art pieces to be sealed and we'll continue that process thru the month as they arrive and we start placing the finished/returned pieces out in the garden. I'll post more pictures next week of these unique and beautiful works of art. See the bottom photo for a neat daisy from Molly and Emily, both art students at Craig H.S. (Janesville). Rose was here to put some touch up paint on a steel arbor and Dr. Gredler continued his lawn aeration program after a quick run to the dump. Warming soils continue to provide some emerging interest. I certainly love the early spring blooms but the nice, clean, crisp, colorful foliage is neat as well and can rival flowers for color. Below is golden comfrey (Symphytum officinale 'Belsay Gold') which looks dynamite until mid-summer where it then becomes quite large and a sickly chartreuse. This clean gold is nice in spring though. Beneath the golden comfrey is golden tansy (Tanacetum vulgare 'Isla Gold') which looks like a yellow fern when emerging. This perennial keeps it's gold coloration (yellow flowers in summer) and isn't as invasive as its green counterpart. The last plant emerging below is the variegated false-forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla 'Variegata') which should have small blue flowers very shortly and is a nice foliage plant in part shade (15" tall). Sometimes we'll see green reversions on this cultivar and have moved on to 'Jack Frost' and 'Looking Glass' for stable leaf "silvering".

Disconcertingly Warm But Enjoyable

Today was quite warm and mild even in the morning. We had a canna (started plants) delivery yesterday and were able to put them outside for some fresh air right away. That sure seems strange on April 1st! The wind was quite strong but didn't affect everyone heading out and accomplishing a lot of work today. The "Grumpies" welcomed a new member, Roger, who was immediately pressed in to service spreading mulch with Bob C. all morning. Trial by fire as they say. Dick P., Big John and Dick H. continued dismantling the brick wall around the 'Dialogue' sculpture and have a good feel for what needs to be done to renovate that feature. Marv and Terry continued to haul out containers and helped the guys haul back materials from the dismantling project. Marianne did a great job organizing tools and getting ready for our spring rush. Janice worked in in the fern/moss garden. Dave, Bob A., Vern and Jim continued on their carpentry projects and are mounting the daisy projects as they arrive. Gary did some mulching until Ron came in and they both shifted to hauling out benches in the gardens. Del did a nice job tidying up out in the gardens too. With more visitors arriving daily due to this weather, our schedule has been pushed forward to get everything ready and looking good (water features are next on the list). Little Jerry was sick today and Larry worked on all sorts of things including assembling our new push mower. Dr. Gredler worked on his lawns again and I sprayed another 8 gallons of herbicide on early emerging thistles and garlic mustard. Bill did a nice afternoon of clean-up out in the gardens too. Urban, Rose, Lisa, Mike, Julie, Dave, Malcom, June and Shirley (below) were here as well.

We have tulips (Tulipa) in bloom! This is no April Fool's joke! See below for one of about a dozen early tulips starting up in the "warm spots". Microclimates are truly amazing, particularly in how they affect the variability of bloom times. Not sure which tulip this is but note the pink outer petal color. The front of the Parker Education Center with 3,000 red tulips will look dynamite in a month or so (or sooner with this weather). Beneath the tulip shot are the blooms of coltsfoot (Tussilago farfara) which has a long history as a medicinal plant. Blooming before leaves emerge, this native of Europe/Asia has been used herbally as a cough suppressant and the crushed flowers for skin conditions. These aren't recommendations as there is also some toxicity issues with this plant as well. I have a long history with this plant which I call "beauty and the beast". Essentially, it spreads quickly and is hard to eradicate. When I worked at Fernwood Botanic Garden in Niles, MI (www.fernwoodbotanical.org/) I planted it in the herb garden and quickly realized my mistake. That was 14 years ago and I'm sure they're still cursing my name. We'll keep on top of it here and it is beautiful but not a plant to "turn your back on"!!!
I'm quickly getting to the point where I can't show everything I've photographed in bloom on that day. Lots going on out there in the gardens. As I was spraying in the alpine garden, I noted one of my favorite early perennials as seen below. This is the pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris formerly Anemone pulsatilla) that has wonderful blooms above feathery, silky emerging foliage. The seed heads of this plant are interesting later in the season but I caught some sweet shots today. I realized that I had this in the blog last year and seem to be noticing some of the same things each year! Look at the center of the close-up flower (3" diameter) shot with the violet "center piece" amongst all the yellow stames. Totally cool. At the bottom is another entry to the daisy art program. Although I don't have the artist's name, do come and see all 27 of these out in the gardens in 5-6 weeks.