Hitting The 50/50

This is the time of year where the grounds staff has a 50/50 split between gardening tasks and preparation for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). In a week or so, the percentages will shift heavier in to the HLS preparations as we take advantage of some of the warmer days before mid-November cold makes it considerably more unpleasant to be outside. The image above is of an area we're calling our North Point Border. With the creation of the North Point garden this year, we noted the need for a visual and functional separation between that new garden and both the alpine garden and French Formal garden (rose garden). The area above is a raised border about 60' long and 15' deep. For orientation, I took this picture from the North Point garden and what you see is the alpine garden in the distance to the left and the pergola (in the rose garden) at the top of the image. We'll be planting oodles of bulbs out there shortly and will follow up next spring with the addition of woody plants and perennials. To the right is the Autumn moor grass (Sesleria autumnalis) which is a great, short clumping grass that we've used in many tough (full sun) locations around RBG. To the left is a portion of our Horticulture Center that Del is using to "touch up" the plywood deer cutouts that we use out in the gardens for the HLS.

Grounds staff today consisted of Big John, Janice and myself. John went out and continued clearing perennials and pockets of remaining annuals from both the shade garden. He also made a run for gas and decorated obelisks with lights for the HLS in the afternoon. Janice did some office work, went shopping for LED lights and supplies for the HLS and continued to decorate obelisks with lights. The day was overcast with occasional drizzle but never amounted to much rainfall. We saw the sun by the afternoon. I finished my presentation for tomorrow night at RBG (Bulbs, 6-8pm), continued work on our six new garden signs and am working thru my desk work so I can get outside with cords (probably tomorrow). To the right is some interesting pink fall color on the Sunjoy Gold Pillar barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Maria'). This color should go to orange shortly but I love this stage too. This upright variety was bright gold thru the summer. Despite Japanese barberries (Berberis thunbergii) becoming a weedy nuisance in many woodlands, I've always appreciated their vivid and variable fall coloration. Directly below are some of the luminaries awaiting attention and placement from Marianne. Above is a shot of our compost pile today which becomes quite large this time of year. It's tough to visualize the dimensions of this pilefrom the photo but as you view it, it is about 10' tall, 20' wide and 60' long (and growing). Marv has done an awesome job managing our composting and suggested the idea over seven years ago. He has done most of the mixing, turning, piling, sifting and processing which has resulted in budget savings (we buy less compost) and it is very appropriate to recycle and re-use our garden debris. Marv has done some tests with his compost and some of our purchased compost and his has less weed seeds (kept hotter) and is just as easy to work with out in the gardens. Pick up a book on composting basics or scour the internet for sources and see how easy it is to do this process on any scale. The basic recipe involves 3 parts "brown" material (dry leaves,etc.) to 1 part "green" material (grass clipping, etc.). Marv is good at guiding ingredients in to the pile as needed and to the left you see his sifter that is used to create the final, fine compost that goes directly out in to the gardens. The pile just beyond the sifter is next in line for sifting. Marv has spent many a volunteer hour sifting composting which removes (obviously) rocks, twigs, plastic labels and other unwanted debris from the final product. To the right are some of our larger containers, emptied, cleaned out and flipped over for winter.

We saw lots of volunteers around the Horticulture Center today. Kay came in and dodged raindrops for awhile with John as they worked on clearing out portions of the shade garden. She did a great job as usual and we appreciate her continued involvement and valuable time at the gardens. Maury was in to run some errands which also included getting some LED lights for the HLS. We also saw Bev D., Bev F., Mary W., Pam T., Dick H. and Jumbo Jim today at the Horticulture Center. Kris was over to talk with Janice about the looming Plant Appreciation Symposium on November 5th (it's not too late to register! check it out at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org). Below are the last of the hot peppers (Capsicum sp.) picked at the gardens yesterday. Note the streaked/striped peppers that are from the 'Sparkler' variegated hot pepper (Capsicum annuum). At the bottom are Terry (left) and Marv (right) hunched over the boxwood (Buxus sp.) hedges in the formal gardens yesterday. This is the third time they've worked on these hedges, although this time was to put on lights, the previous two involved shears!

Just Another Manic Monday

Does anyone remember that song (my blog title) by the Bangles in the 80s? 80s music is still the best! Today was a manic Monday with all sorts of volunteers, staff, good weather and a very productive day. Our Grumpies went right down the list this morning and I had to even suggest some additional projects at break to keep everyone busy. In the top picture are Ron W. (left) and Urban (right) along with Dennis (left) and Larry (right) directly above out front of the Parker Education Center planting tulips (Tulipa). Ron Y., Dick K. and Bob C. were also out helping plant tulips. The guys collectively planted 1,000 'White Triumphator' tulips (Tulipa) in the three center planters in the entrance garden patios. Marv and Terry started the process this morning by removing the plants from those circles and loosening the soil. They also helped loosen the planting bed once all the circles had been excavated down 6-7". The guys all did a nice job and made quick work of that project before moving on to other opportunities. Pat, Dave, Ron B. and Rollie (see Rollie in green sweatshirt below) worked on removing the plants from the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Display. They were later joined by some others and finished that task in short order. Dick P., Dick H., Gary and Bill S. worked on hauling/storing/winterizing our terrace garden furniture and the guys also brought back the 'Dancing Waters' fountain. Most of the guys worked on multiple projects and went on to other duties like preparing luminaries for the Holiday Light Show, woodchipping and raking leaves. Jim, Dave, Vern and Bob A. worked on some carpentry projects and helped winterize our raised planters and the vertical wall planter. We also saw Polly and Kelli for break. Above and to the right is the yellowing fall color of the 'Blue Ice' hybrid bluestar (Amsonia hybrida) which is a great perennial with plenty of spring interest with dark blue blossoms in profusion. The the left is a shot I took this foggy morning at the Horticulture Center with the rising sun coming thru a bald cypress (Taxodium distichum). To the right is the showy fall color of one of our red maples (Acer rubrum) also at the Horticulture Center. Directly below is Rollie removing plants near the arboretum. The crew sure kept busy this morning as evidenced by all the muddy boots (rain last night)! Although I've featured it on many previous occasions, I can't stop photographing the grass above. This is a perennial fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) called 'Red Head' that I've not tired of observing. Those inflorescences (flower/seed heads) were very dark months ago but the fading to a pink hasn't lessened the visual impact of this grass. There are actually three specimens massed in this area creating this effect. The only drawback to this grass species is that is wont stand up in significant snow so has little winter interest. I think I'll bulk up on this variety next spring as I've seen mass plantings up at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) that were quite impressive. To the right are the formerly green, now reddening stems of the 'Flame' willows (Salix hybrida 'Flame') along the west bank near the Parker Education Center (overlooking Lion's Beach). The winter color of these stems rivals any red-stemmed dogwood (Cornus sp.). We cut these back every year to 6" in March and get new growth shooting up to 6-8' that same year. To the left is a shot behind the seating walls in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. The lime obelisks punctuate a "sea" of over 80 feather reed grasses (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster') which continue to be my favorite upright grass (48"-60" tall).

Larry is off this week but we had Marv, Terry, Marianne and Big John here today to keep things moving along. Aside from the assistance that Marv and Terry gave to the guys planting bulbs in front of the Parker Education Center, the fellas spent plenty of time putting out lights/displays and have again been the "go to" guys for the majority of lights preparations. They also helped move, empty and store the raised beds/vertical wall planter over at the Horticulture Center. Marianne started and finished the day with some serious gardening (removing annuals and cutting back perennials). The bulk of her day involved putting out milk jug luminaries for the Holiday Lights Show. She and Jenny have done this for years and the ultimate effect is really cool during the show with all the paths marked out with these colorful luminaries (with C7 bulbs in each jug). Big John worked on cutting back and removing plants, hauling back obelisks and other odds and ends. I had some meetings, worked on my talk for this Wednesday evening (Bulbs, 6-8 pm) and am working on finalizing some new garden signs (6) for some of our newer gardens. Our consultant is in Puerto Rico but email communication is such a great thing! To the right is the dynamic fall color of the Beaver Creek fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii 'KLMtwo') in the woodland walk garden. The progression of fall color lasts 4-6 weeks and it typically peaks after Halloween. Below (left to right) are Ron W., Rollie, Pat and Gary filling luminaries this morning (still plenty left to go as Marianne puts out 2,000....). The bottom picture shows Vern starting to empty out the vertical planter which, with wet soil and ample plants, was extremely heavy and required Marv and the endloader to move it for final emptying.

Seven Of Seven

We had our seventh of seven work day today and had a great group of over 20 volunteers out in the gardens to help assist with bulb planting, fall clean-up and other duties. We planted over 2,000 tulips (Tulipa) in front of the Parker Education Center as well as 500 'Mt. Everest' ornamental onions (Allium). We have another 1,000 or so tulips to plant out front on Monday and still have other bulbs to install yet this month. After planting and tidying up out front, we shifted down to the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden and planted over 1,000 lily (Lilium) bulbs for early summer fragrance in the Smelly Garden next year. Our team worked well together. Special thanks to Big John and Janice who both facilitated the work day this morning and we had some help from Larry as well. Larry had some other duties and we also saw Dr. Gredler here mowing and Bill O. was around collecting garbage and debris from around the gardens. Our bulb planting (etc.) volunteers included Ron, Bev, Jody, Sue, Marti, Sue C., Dawn, Rita, Mike, Bill S., Bob C., Dave, Larry, Alfredo, Marissa, Zack and Gary. Thanks everyone and thanks to Nancy N. who worked the register for our compost sale. We also saw Elle, Polly, Amanda and Laura B. today. All these images were from this morning.

Staff Retreat

Today we had a staff retreat to Rockford, IL and enjoyed nice weather and some time "away from the office." Kelli took 15 of us out for lunch first (John, Kris, Marv, Marianne, Janice, Jenny, Pat, Larry, Terry, Amanda, Lori, Polly, Sue, Mark S. and me) and we then headed down to Rockford to get a preview, "behind the scenes" tour of the new Nicholas Conservatory. The conservatory opens up in a week or so for the public and we certainly appreciate them accomodating our early visit. The staff were very cordial and gave us a great tour of the entire building (conservatory, offices, greenhouse, etc.). When Kelli and I were out in Philadelphia for the APGA (American Public Garden Association) Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Kelli met the Director for the conservatory and they arranged this much appreciated tour for our staff.

The Nicholas Conservatory is located in Sinnissippi Gardens which is operated by the Rockford Park District (as is the Conservatory). I remember visiting Sinnissippi many times in the past and enjoying the extensive rose collection outside and the original greenhouses (now removed). The gardens have gone thru many phases and it was nice to observe that improvements will be made around the existing lagoon and throughout the extent of the original park as well. The conservatory was very impressive with lots of water features, plants (of course), art work (see to the right) , etc. We spoke with some of the staff that were maintining the plant collections. When we arrived, we watched a DVD that gave a brief history of the conservatory which included a really cool, "quickened" time lapse sequence showing not only the construction of the conservatory structure but the delivery and installation of the huge palm trees and larger plantings. As we left, we invited their staff to come up to RBG next year so we can return the hospitality. These images are just some of the many I took today. I definitely plan on visiting this conservatory in the future and was reminded of the fact that this destination is only a couple minutes from Anderson Gardens, the premiere Japanese garden in North America.After departing the Nicholas Conservatory, we drove to Edwards Orchard (Poplar Grove, IL) for a visit to their various shopping opportunities which included all sorts of food items, jams, jellies, fudge, apples, pumpkins, etc. It was quite crowded and I never did determine the entire extent of this operation but it was quite large in scale. The shot to the right shows the mums lining the exit from the larger retail barn. I ran in to an old college buddy (Scott) in the retail area and met his wife and daughter. Scott is a landscape architect in Rockford and some of his current work involves the garden improvements around the lagoon adjacent to the Nichols Conservatory. I hadn't seen Scott since my wedding back in 1999! We had a safe trip back and I think everyone had fun and it was a nice opportunity to have some staff bonding. Kudos to Kelli for setting this up (and buying lunch!). To the left are some signet marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia 'Lulu') that weathered the light frost last night and are still looking vivid (at RBG, under the 'Dialogue' sculpture).

While our staff retreat didn't start until lunch time, I saw many of the grounds staff early this morning. Marianne, Marv and Terry were in early followed by Janice and John. John was helping Mark S. with some work (as a volunteer) while Janice worked on some preparations for the upcoming symposium and made labels for our "soon-to-be-planted bulbs). Marianne finished testing/repairing our lights (YAY!) while Marv and Terry braved the cold and put up some lights out in the gardens (see to right). I worked on my presentation about Bulbs for next Wednesday, October 26th (6 pm - 8 pm) and worked on some other odds and ends. Kay was in to remove spent annuals in the reception garden and she came back with many loads. Dr. Gredler was in to mow and collect leaves and Del stopped by this morning to continue painting the plywood deer cutouts (white) for the Holiday Lights Show. Tomorrow is a work day and I hope we get at least 20 people in to plant our tulips, alliums and lilies! The bottom picture shows some happy gnomes at the home of our volunteers Ron & Bev (Happy 50th Anniversary!). Directly below are the late inflorescences (flower/seed heads) of the variegated maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis 'Variegatus'). These heads don't emerge until October (as they do any many other varieties as well) but I like that pink tone. The volunteer appreciation dinner last night was a load of fun and attended by close to 110 people.

Tis The Season

As a kid, I remember the "Christmas momentum" starting the day after Thanksgiving ("Black Friday"). I can't believe how early stores are focusing on holiday sales and it gets earlier every year! When you can buy Christmas decorations next to Halloween candy, you know capitalism is still doing well. Our Holiday Lights Show preparations fall in to that early time frame as well with preparations actually starting back in September with the testing of lights. We'll set up over 50% of the show before Halloween and should be done by mid-November. The time frame is tight as we then have to test, modify and finalize the show and tweak it before the premiere at the Taste of Chocolate event (December 2nd, check it out on the RBG website). Directly above is Shirley who was helping test lights this morning which was a warmer (and more dry) alternative to dealing with high winds, chilly temperatures and sporadic drizzle out in the gardens. Despite the weather, we had a solid volunteer turnout of over 21 volunteers, including Shirley. To the left is Janice who I think finally went "bonkers" as she played with these "leaf grabbers" for a couple hours. Imagine her doing robotic, rigid movements in this scenario and you have an inkling of the horror (and permanent mental scarring) I experienced. Janice and her volunteer committee have done a great job preparing for our big volunteer appreciation dinner tonight which will be fun (and well attended). It's nice to gather like this and is at least a small way to thank our RBG volunteers for such a great year.

To the right are just some of the hundreds of thousands of lights that are going through our rigorous testing and repair gauntlet. To the left are some of the antlers (plywood deer cutouts) getting touched up before placement out in the gardens. Big John started the day working on lights and went out with the Grumpies to finish clearing annuals out of the entrance garden. He eventually helped in the sunken garden too and brought back more obelisks for decoration. Larry worked on water features this morning and kept up with loading the truck for Dick H. to run to the dump. I was "desk bound" again but was out in the gardens briefly to review some current projects and activities. I finished my presentation for tonight and will finish my presentation for the Bulbs lecture next Wednesday (6 pm - 8 pm). Above are Bob A. (left) and Vern (right) who, along with Jim (out of picture) and Dave (MIA), have been developing a wheelchair accessible planting table that will be used in the gardens next year. This solid table will have inserted planters (note the white cardboard cutouts) and is designed to be accessible with everything in easy reach. Last year the guys built six different accessible planter styles and this is a new one. They've all generated interest and we hope to also include them in a future "wellness" garden at RBG. To the right are the flower plumes (inflorescences) of the 'Border Bandit' Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis). These plumes will turn cream soon enough but are very striking in a breeze and from a distance. This is one of the "banded" silver grasses with creamy, horizontal bands. I didn't feel this one is showy as many of the others but is a sturdy specimen. Untouched by frost, the ornamental shamrock (Oxalis vulcanicola 'Molten Lava') to the left still looks good and is always showy with orange/pink highlights on the youngest leaves (tiny yellow flowers thru the summer too). This annual is used heavily in the partly shaded areas around RBG. The overnight low of 30 degrees F may finish this one off or make the leaflets curl and turn deep orange. We'll see what Mother Nature throws at us tonight.

Aside from our carpenters, most of the Grumpies (Steve, Dennis, Larry, Bob C., Dave, Rollie, Dick H., Gary, Dick P. and Ron W.) were out pulling plants with Big John in both the entrance and sunken gardens. The guys brought back lots of debris and Dick H. made many dump runs. Pat worked on winterizing some of the perennials and woodies that we'll plant next spring while Maury shut down, cleaned and winterized some of our smaller water features. Bill O. was in around lunch time and spent the afternoon collecting leaves from the areas where they are the thickest. Dr. Gredler was on the mower collecting leaves as he mowed the grass. Bob and Chris G. were in the sunken garden removing plants from their area and we also had Suzy "clearcutting" in that garden. Marilyn H. popped by and helped Janice with some label work and we also saw Rhonda, Kris K. and some others at the Horticulture Center this morning. Next week will involve an aggressive shift to lights show set-up, continued plant removals and lots of odd jobs that are vital before winter (hauling our terrace furniture off site, pulling in our fountain, winterizing water features, putting up deer barriers, etc.). We do try to balance gardening and the lights show set-up obligations. To the right is the yellowing fall color of the native royal fern (Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis) in our fern & moss garden. This fern can get quite large (5'+ tall) when it is happy and will tolerate quite a bit of sun if kept in damp soils. Below is Bob C., caught with an odd expression or the start of a sneeze!