A Busy Morning

News bulletin! Daffodils (Narcissus) are blooming on the north path (where it's a bit warmer) and most are budded up around the gardens. We probably have 150,000 daffodils out there and I sure like them when they peak (10-15 days from now). After this warm weekend, we'll really start to see them "stretch" and open up. Today was one of our busiest spring days thus far with all sorts of garden volunteers and continued progress in the Japanese garden. Our contractors have been removing rocks out of the stream and scouping out years of accumulated sediment (in some cases, over 12"!). The pictures to the left and right show some of the progress. The stream will be widened and narrowed in select spots to create calmer areas and faster moving water here and there. I've been involved with these decisions and I think the final product is going to look awesome. The waterfall rebuild will be the last piece of the puzzle and it will be restored to its original glory (and then some!). If spring rains don't slow this process too much, we should see a completion before Mother's Day (knock on wood). The weather was cool but pleasant today and the Grumpies worked at an amazing pace. Above is Dick H. replacing coolant lines on our Cushman garden vehicle. He's so handy and it's nice to utilize his skills for very quick (and professional) repairs. Directly above are Gary and Urban who worked with Ron W. and new Ron on composting the entire sunken garden. This is a huge space and the four of them did an awesome job. The timing was perfect as plants are just starting to poke up and were easier to work around than they would be next week. Bob C. and Del helped Big John compost a border as well and Big John moved on to other composting and has started spreading fresh shredded bark around the periphery of the children's garden. Our window for mulching/composting is narrowing with warmer temperatures but we should get thru it in the next two weeks. To the right is some of the bluestone that will be used for our new patio very shortly and to the left are more glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa) which are blooming everywhere and thankfully, are not blooming out of the snow (which happens every now and then!). What a beautiful flower and I'll feature the white variety in a future blog as well. Bob A., Dave and Jim continued work on our new cedar garden benches and will have no shortage of projects this spring for sure. Bob T. worked with Joe (to the right), one of our new Grumpies, on some air edging techniques and the guys did a real nice job tidying up bed/turf edges in the garden east of the Parker Education Center. Maury dug himself in to a hole (literally, to the left) as he and Pat dug five of these large holes that will be the location for our culvert pipe planters (to be installed next week). They ultimately dug down 36" but were sure to mention that only the first 18" was any fun (rocks, etc. further down)! Janice did a nice job tidying up more gardens and straightening garden signs which is an annual spring event. She had some meetings and is the featured speaker tonight at the gardens with her presentation on "Heirlooms, Hybrids & History" (7 pm - 8 pm). Larry flagged more irrigation heads and Dr. Gredler was out aerating lawns most of the day. Larry also installed new garden signs and repaired a water pipe leak that thankfully was not as bad as we had feared. I was out in the gardens today and really walked every garden end to end, taking notes and using tape, flags or spray paint to lay out some "near future" projects. The hellebores continue to impress and to the right is one of the darker blooming varieties (Helleborus orientalis 'Ruse Black') in the woodland walk garden. Below is one of four signs (modified by Pat) that are now installed and are promoting our tree sale with the Golden K Club on April 22 and 23 (see www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information). I'm here for a half day tomorrow but am then travelling up to Green Bay and will participate in their "Spring Thaw" symposium on Saturday. I haven't been up that way in a couple years and am looking forward to it.

To Milwaukee And Back

More information on the worm castings (seen above) to follow below. I spent the morning in Milwaukee presenting to a group of 50 or so Milwaukee County Master Gardeners. I recognized a lot of faces and always enjoy going to Milwaukee. I did get snarled up in I-94 traffic and construction which wasn't enjoyable but I was prepared for it and arrived in a timely manner. This afternoon, I caught up on some smaller projects and was surprised that we hadn't had more rain (looks like tomorrow). It looked ominous this morning and was sprinkling significantly all the way to Milwaukee. Above is a close-up of worm castings which we are now selling in 2.5 lb. bags ($5, 10% off for RBG members) as seen to the left, but are also using it in bulk out in the gardens (see our yellow sacks to the right). This natural material (also called vermicast) is rich in plant nutrients and offers a nice time-release fertilizer for plants as well. This is essentially what comes out of the back-end of the worm which can produce its own weight in castings every 24 hours. Aristotle said that earthworms "are nature's plows and intestines of the world." This odorless material has trace minerals and greatly increases the microbial life in the surrounding soil. Worm castings, when applied around plants or incorporated in to soil, will not burn plants and also helps with increasing both the nutrient and moisture-holding capacity of the soil. University studies have shown increased plant growth, stem thickness, root growth and even flower size and flower count increases with the use of castings. The side benefits may include reduced watering, reduction or elimination of water soluble chemicals, pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, fungicides, etc. Do more research on worm compost, vermiculture and vermicomposting and see what you think. My brother has a worm bin at home that ultimately produces some great compost for his developing garden. Below is one of many large piles of castings that we'll be using on our vegetable beds. These are larger castings that weren't bagged up (like above) and were donated by our supplier. We'll be spreading these piles out and working them in the soil soon. We're doubly pleased to be selling worm poop and using it out in the gardens. Marv and Terry did some shopping this morning during the drizzle and came back with our spring lawn fertilizer and some heavy duty stakes that we'll use to mount the butterfly art projects. The guys spent most of the day hauling out more containers and mixing up their special potting soil blend (66% soil-less potting mix, 25% mushroom compost and 9% worm castings). I actually made up those percentages but they are probably fairly close. John fueled up the vehicles and went on a gas run which, of course, is becoming a more significant bill with each passing week. John helped Larry flag (locate) irrigation heads prior to our aeration routine (to avoid damaging the irrigation heads) and continued to pot up more caladiums. Larry worked on many projects and kept an eye on the work occuring out in the gardens. Jenny and Dave E. came in to prepare annual labels and Gary was around to continue on the laser engraver. Maury was around today and we also saw Janice, Jumbo Jim, Deb, Bev, Vern, Dick H. and I'm sure others that I missed this morning. Below are the emerging leaves and flower buds of the twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) named after Thomas Jefferson (located in the gazebo garden). These purplish leaves will become a deeply divided (hence "twinleaf"), blue-green leaf that is quite unique in appearance. The brief spring flowers are a white daisy with eight petals. Further below are over 200 boxwoods (Buxus 'Green Velvet') and some other trees and shrubs that are one of our first deliveries (arrived Monday). These plants are destined for the North Point garden which will see the bluestone patio being installed over the next week or so. The bottom picture is more winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) in full bloom near the Japanese garden. I was happy to hear that our second "Story and Stroll" program was attended by an estimated 25 adults and 3o kids. That bodes well for future programs and what a nice day to enjoy the gardens. Thanks to our wonderful volunteers for facilitating such neat programs. I hear it's going to be 70 degrees F on Sunday. Crazy!

An Active, Sunny Day

I had a nice walk around today with Mike M. and noted lots of flowers blooming. Directly above and to the lower right are some hellebores (Helleborus orientalis) that have beautiful, albeit downward-facing, blossoms this time of year. It was nice to continue my "reconnection" with both the gardens and Mike M. (UWEX Horticulture Educator, Rock County) whom I haven't seen much this winter. We talked about some of our horticulture therapy initiatives and other projects and ideas. I also was checking on the three tasks that were being accomplished by contractors out in the gardens. We had the irrigation guys here today for our spring start-up which included some bad news about expensive, imminent valve replacements this year on our aging system. We also had landscapers working on the North Point garden and in the Japanese garden. I hope the weather is conducive to continuing progress on all of our spring projects although it looks a bit damp later this week. To the left is a bag of the worm castings that we are selling this spring (Saturdays in April and May, 8am-noon). We've not offered this fine product in the past but are excited about using it in the gardens as well as offering it to the public. I'll blog more tomorrow about this awesome soil amendment that results in increased plant growth and plant health. More later. George, our castings supplier, stopped by today and brought more castings that will be used out in the gardens immediately. To the right is American or wild ginger (Asarum canadense) that has furry leaves that unfold in to nice, heart-shaped leaves on a solid groundcover. Look at the network of above ground stems that will thwart any weeds from trying to compete. Some more rain and increasing temperatures will really make plants explode over the coming weeks. Below is the bright yellow foliage of the golden wood rush (Luzula sylvatica 'Solar Flair') that will soon have new, bright yellow growth and does well in shaded locations, offering a nice punch of color.Above are the emerging leaves of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) in the woodland walk garden. We have Virginia bluebells everywhere and I love the early foliage that will later turn blue-green and look great with those classic blue dangling "bells." Jenny spent most of the day tidying up the woodland walk garden and Janice was doing the same thing in the azalea/rhododendron garden. Janice uncovered thousands of buried winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) including the one to the left that can be seen with black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens') which isn't hardy (and actually not a grass at all) but looks like it made it this winter. To the right are Danford irises (Iris danfordiae) in their full glory in the hosta hollow garden. Larry worked with the irrigation guys all day and did his annual "oiling of the locks and gates" around the gardens. Dr. Gredler was in to make some dump runs and we saw Pat here earlier finishing up the last of his sign work for the looming tree sale. Luis was here to continue his woody plant inventory in the Japanese garden. This is one of the toughest gardens to inventory due to topography and lack of records. We appreciate his efforts with this inventory as his work will eventually result in both an accurate database but also will translate in to new signage (laser engraver). Speaking of the laser engraver, Gary had it humming again today with some woody plant labels. We're waiting on some new labels to arrive but continue our data entry. We had a good Earth Day meeting over here with Kris, Bev, Jumbo Jim and Bev D. We were just finalizing some details (soon to be on our website) prior to the real advertising push for this free event. Mary W. was in to help organize our butterfly information. Sally stopped by with a nice donation of over 150 gardening books for our growing reference library (much appreciated!). We also saw Maury often who was hauling butterflies around (see another new one to the left) to be sealed and returned when complete. The butterflies look awesome but in some cases, the materials utilized will have an impact on how and where we can display these cool projects. To the right is our Japanese "muck stream" that will be totally replaced in the coming weeks. This is the debris (fish poop, etc.) from the koi pond that was recently pumped out of that water feature. It will be nice to have all of our water features operational this year. I'm off to Milwaukee tomorrow morning to speak for a Master Gardener group and will be up in Green Bay this Friday afternoon and Saturday for their big "Spring Thaw" symposium (speaking on "Edibles in Containers"). Below is the arbor in the North Point garden. That compacted gravel pad will soon support our bluestone patio. We've never known a "non-busy" spring and this one is no exception.

We Beat The Rains

Today was quite busy around the gardens and the Horticulture Center in particular as we had the convergence of Grumpies and our grounds staff (Marv, Terry, Janice and John) who started today. Jenny, Marianne and Pat will start later but we have no shortage of projects. We also had some new volunteer "faces" at the gardens. Above is Urban to the left and Ron W. to the right. In the middle is "new Ron" that we welcomed as a Grumpy. He made it thru the morning and has survived the light hazing from the other guys. He jumped right in to mulching with the guys and we hope to see him on a regular basis. We also had Joe (a new volunteer) stop by and we all got to meet Peter, the new maintenance guy for RBG. John was giving Peter a tour and we look forward to his contributions here at the gardens. Below is the vertical planter that Big John and Larry set-up and secured this morning. John added soil and our hope is to plant this with early spring annuals/veggies and actively start using it in this sunny, accessible spot.

Nice shot to the left (below) of pink glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii 'Pink Giant') in the entrance garden. Ron W., Ron, Dick H., Pat and Del all worked on spreading shredded bark around the remainder of the parking lot island beds. They later shifted to composting the old iris beds near the arborteum which will become our "Ornamental Edible and Compact Vegetable Display" this year. They composted 11 of the 13 beds as we'll be trying some different compost and worm castings on the other two remaining beds to observe their immediate benefits. This wont be an official trial but an informal "comparison." Gary finished some work on hauling benches and helped the guys with their projects too. Dave, Bob and Jim did some more bench construction work and were at the other building working on some projects. Big John started "lifting" some of the containerized plants that we mulched this past winter as we'll let them warm up in the yard. He later moved to planting more caladiums which is a project we'll continue thru this rainy week. We have about 300 bulbs to start inside. Janice was in to tidy out in the gardens (and brought back significant debris) as was Little Jerry. Little Jerry pruned and collected debris as well. Marv and Terry continued leveling benches and are hauling out our large, garden containers and filling them with their custom mix of soil for early planting. I believe their mix is 2 parts "soil-less" mix, 1 part mushroom compost and a liberal dose of worm castings. Larry worked on various projects and we also had Bill come in for some clean-up duties. Mandy was in to continue entering label information. Gary also entered some of our new woody plants for new labels as they are planted. Maury was here to help with various projects and continues to be our "go to guy" when running for time-sensitive supplies. We also saw Laura, Kelli, and many others over here today as well. More butterflies below. Keeping track of them has been challenging and I think we have over 2/3 of these turned in thus far.

Two More Butterflies

I'm not one to pick favorites but he butterflies shown here were finished by my daughters this weekend (albeit after the deadline!). My older daughter, Dejanique, and her boyfried Russell did the monarch above with the top being the stained glass arrangement and the bottom being the traditional monarch. They are both very artistic and my wife and I were quite impressed (that it as returned relatively on time too!). We were equally impressed with Luciana's butterfly below. The pastel shading is perfect and this butterfly represents her love of all animals. I didn't get a good shot of the other side as it was still drying (and our house still smells like spray paint). It will be nice to have the girls (and Russell) visit the gardens this year to see their butterflies and the 32 others that will be real features out in the gardens.

More Color Each Day

All of the pictures here were taken yesterday as I was leaving work. There is a nice, south-facing slope near the front sidewalk that warms up quickly every spring. It's not hard to find bulbs blooming in this location very early. To the left is crocus (Crocus sp.) which we have blooming elsewhere in the garden. To the right is the first glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa sp.) I've seen blooming although I have yet to see the white and pink varieties yet. It's still a bit early as we normally see this bulb blooming in about three weeks. And below the crocus and to the left is the striped squill (Pushkinia libanotica). This is a very affordable bulb and while the flowers look white from a distance, the subtle "sky blue" stripe on each flower petal is a nice look from up close. Off to Fond Du Lac soon. Hope the compost sale went well on this cool but sunny day. Enjoy more of the butterfly projects further below.

April Showers Welcome

I was off most of today but did pop in this morning for a couple of hours. The top picture above is the stump of an ailing redbud (Cercis canadensis) that we had to remove near the Japanese garden. Last year an overzealous rental company decided to back up a truck down the narrow path near this tree and clipped off a good portion of this tree which we later found to have lots of rot. Oh well. I did count the rings at it looked to be about 20 years old and was about 15' tall. The other shot is of emerging primrose (Primula sp.) down near the zig-zag bridge that is teasing its way out of the soil. Below is another hellebore (Helleborus purpureus) coming out with some early blooms that unfortunately are hard to see as they are dark and lost down low with the surrounding dark soil. Pretty though (located in the purple color room garden). This morning we had a nice productive meeting of our Home Garden Tour Committee (Tim, Bill, Barb, Cora, Jean and Janet). I also saw Mary W., Dr. Gredler, Marv and Marianne. I also popped by the main building to take shots of more of the cool butterfly art projects that are coming in daily (I'll feature some of these recent submissions in a blog this weekend). Although the Home Garden Tour event is four months away (July 23rd, 10 am - 4 pm, rain or shine), we have a progression of events that includes soliciting our sponsors and producing an event booklet/ticket that we hope will be available by Mother's Day. Last year we had over 600 attendees enjoy this event. This year is our 17th annual Home Garden Tour and we have another nice line-up of seven home gardens and the eight site to visit is RBG which should be peaking with summer color. This event is a nice fundraiser but involves lots of planning as well as volunteer assistance on the day of the event. Tickets ($10 in advance, $12 day of the event, children 12 and under free) will be available and K&W Greenery (one of our kind sponsors of this event) and RBG. Other primary sponsors include DWG Landscaping, Wirkus Nurseries (Clinton, WI), Evergreen Irrigation, Petranek Bros. Landscaping and Sullivan Signs. To the left is our double dolphin wall fountain in the English cottage garden. We'll get most of our water features going in April and it was nice to see continued work today on the arduous cleaning of the koi pond. To the right is the already emerging (and quite frost resistant) foliage of the monkshood (Aconitum sp.) in the gazebo garden. I'm always amazed at how early it comes up and has a nice pinkish tinge. This is one of the later blooming species that has flowers in October. Below is our potting soil which will be utilized for myriad projects. We'll, of course, use this in our containers which Marv and Terry will place out in the gardens next week. We'll also use it for our "plant your own container" option at the spring plant sale and for our May 18th "Container Planting Workshop". Check out the website for more details. Tomorrow I speak at UW-Fond Du Lac for the annual DIG (Day in the Garden) symposium. I'll talk about "Edible Landscaping" and have presented at this event in the past. I really like the UW-Fond Du Lac campus and my older daughter was a student here a couple years ago. This event is a fundraiser organized by the Fond Du Lac County master gardeners with proceeds benefiting county projects, youth education and college scholarships. Looking forward to it. I'm also looking forward to more rain over the next couple of days to give spring a good jump start. The bottom shot is of our soon to be assembled cedar benches that the guys (Dave, Jim, Vern and Bob) have been working on recently.