Japanese Painted Ferns

The Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum) and all associated cultivars have become very popular components in the part shade and shade garden. These textural perennials (hardy to zone 4) offer quite a color contribution that helps brighten up gardens that become less reliant on blooms and thereby more reliant on foliage coloration. The "original" Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum) was offered over 10 years ago and the species is native to Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the surrounding areas. The Perennial Plant Association named this fern the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year which permanently put this deer-resistant, colorful fern in to the limelight. Over the past 6-8 years, we've seen quite an increase in "named" varieties of this fern although I'll state that for the most part, the differences are quite subtle. It is important to note that the mature coloration of a Japanese painted fern may take 2-3 years to establish and that in our spring and summers, the coloration of an emerging painted fern is quite different from the summer coloration. Other factors that affect the health and ultimate coloration of a painted fern selection include soil type, sun exposure, available moisture and other factors. These ferns though have few insect or disease problems. The images above are a good example of color variability as the top photo shows the summer coloration (more silver) with the image directly above showing spring coloration (more burgundy) that would later become more silver. There is a "transition of color" for all of these ferns between June and July. In the fern & moss garden at RBG, we have EVERY variety of Japanese painted fern that we've run across (about 16) and I would have to say that 10 or so of these varieties are indistinguishable from the original plant. They all have fancy names and I've included some below that, in my opinion, truly look different for the "extremes" in either the silver or burgundy coloration. Regardless, we have found all of them to be strong growers to about 15-18"" tall and good companions for other neighboring plants like hostas, lungworts (Pulmonaria), barrenworts (Epimedium), false forget-me-nots (Brunnera), etc. As seen directly below, the combination of visual texture and silver fronds makes this an indispensable fern in the partly shaded garden.A few of the more notable varieties are included here like the crested painted fern called 'Applecourt' directly above. Note the crested or flared ends of the fronds which are quite interesting. Cresting in ferns has long been a desireable trait and while subtle, does add to the visual interest and appreciation. I wont go in to all the specifics of each variety as they are really subjective assessments of slight differences in appearance. I should mention that in a clump of say, 10 of the same variety, there are slight differences as well. Do note not only the differences but the similarities in these varieties. To the left side are 'Burgundy Lace' and 'Pewter Lace' respectively which are both known for having stronger burgundy highlights in both spring and summer. I like both of these varieties very much. To the right are 'Ursula's Red' and 'Silver Falls' respectively. 'Silver Falls' truly has the most silvering of all the varieties and I feel is one of the best for offering that "punch of silver" in the garden. I've seen painted ferns used quite well as single specimens although consider the repetition of these throughout a long or deep border to create some balance and harmony in the composition. I've also seen huge drifts of multiple Japanese painted ferns used as a nice groundcover. By placing these clumping ferns about 24" apart, you can create a nice, effective groundcover although moisture and rich soils will certainly help increase the health and vigor of these ferns. Directly below is the variety 'Wildwood Twist' which is thought to have a twisting stem that creates more interest with the fronds (looks "wavier").A week or two ago, I blogged about the 'Ghost Fern' (Athyrium hybrida) which is a cross between the Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum) with the lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina). Directly below is a nice shot of the 'Ghost' fern which features the silvering of the painted fern parent and the vigor/height (30"-36") of the lady fern parent. There are other named varieties of these same crosses that have some merit for that same combination of traits. The second photo down (below 'Ghost') is 'Branford Beauty' and next down is 'Branford Rambler'. Both offer silvering, albeit not as "bright" as 'Ghost', and are good candidates for the garden. 'Branford Rambler' will create an expanding clump and is nice as a medium height groundcover (24"). At the bottom is a neat new variety called 'Ocean's Fury' which a cross between Japanese painted fern and the crested lady fern resulting in a 30" tall, silver fern with showy cresting at the frond tips.

Nice Oak Leaf

We had a skeleton crew today with most of the action occuring over at the Horticulture Center. The three images included first in this blog are from our first, returned oak leaf project and it really looks neat! This decoupage approach is quite striking and I liked both sides of the leaf. It will be nice to see all of these placed and installed out in the gardens this spring. The Grumpies originally made 42 of these leaves and I believe we still have about 16 left as part of our "art in the garden" project this year. Check out our website at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information and even if you don't have an interest in decorating one of these leaves yourself, consider sponsoring one ($40) for an art class, youngster or other aspiring artist as we would like to have all of them decorated and featured out in the gardens.

I had coffee with Kelli C. this morning and enjoyed catching up. I was also involved with a meeting with Polly, Amanda, Lori and Becky from Spotlight on Kids (SOK) regarding the Halloween Walk that will again occur at RBG as a joint venture between the gardens and SOK. In my 14 years at the gardens, I believe we've collectively done this event 11 times and it is always lots of fun. The event will be on Oct. 18th, 19th and 20th (5:30 pm - 7:30 pm) with a Sunday (Oct. 21st) component for smaller children at 1 pm. Information on this event will be on our website within a month or so as we finalize details. I also worked on some odds and ends and did an interview on WI Public Radio regarding our warm winter and implications for our gardens. I'll be finishing up the Wellness Garden plan this afternoon at home I hope. I can't believe there are some days next week near 70 degrees F!Dr. Gredler was here today to start repainting our cucumber supports (see above). These allow us to train compact cucumbers (Cucumis) upwards and many of the fruits become easier to reach under this framework. Of course Doc asked why we're bothering to paint them if they'll be buried with cucumber foliage. I mentioned that they'll look cool from April thru June out in the gardens and offer color before they are buried. I then told him to never question me again and docked his pay for the day... :) Janice was in to work on some projects and we also saw Chuck S. and Big John. Directly below are our 10 new signs that arrived yesterday from Baraboo, WI. These are a similar style and the same color as our garden area signs but these "smaller versions" will be used as labels/interpretation for our new parking lot island trees. These signs will not only include information on that tree variety but will discuss the history and implications of the Emerald ash borer (EAB) as it continues to spread and may soon become a reality in our immediate area. The signs and trees are funded thru a WI DNR Urban Forestry Grant and we're getting assistance from the Janesville Shade Tree Advisory Council as well as the City of Janesville Parks Department. We'll plant many of these new trees during our Arbor Day activities at RBG on April 27th. At the bottom is a batch of daffodils (Narcissus) that will be blooming by next week (4 weeks early). I'll be talking with the Janesville Area Herb Society tomorrow about our herb garden and will certainly recognize the help they've given over so many years in maintaining that space.

What Month Is This?

Today was another nice sunny day with temperatures near 50 degrees F. I was able to tour the gardens this morning with a couple of goals in mind. I wanted to look for more plants emerging, deer damage, pruning opportunities and additional spring clean-up needs. The warm weather is bringing in more visitors and I want to tidy up the "rough edges". It's like not vacuuming before you have guests come over! The top photo is a shot of our arched bridge thru the branches of a weeping willow (Salix alba 'Tristis'). This specific willow will receive some severe pruning next week to keep it a bit more "in scale" with that edge of the Japanese garden. Directly above are Marv (driving end loader), Terry and Larry moving our big culvert pipe planters outside to make room for the next batch of items to come inside for attention. To the right are more crocuses (Crocus 'Zwanenberg') blooming and to the left is the beautiful double snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno') in bloom. Unfortunately, these dangling double flowers are hard to appreciate unless viewed from below or turned upwards as seen here for a peak.

We had another very productive volunteer morning today. Aside from Marv and Terry helping out with the culvert pipes and preparing our rear yard for incoming materials (compost, shredded bark, topsoil, etc.), we had some major activity out in the gardens and in the Horticulture Center. Directly below is Marianne with her increasing pile of prepared labels. When we receive these pre-cut, plastic labels (Johnson Plastics), they all have a protective plastic film that needs to be peeled off before we can use them. I think Marianne has peeled over 2,000 of these the last two days! Marianne also prepared some handouts for me. Janice was in to work on more plant sale information and she and Cindy K. will soon start producing our 23,000 veggie labels. Urban (seen below) was pruning in the Japanese garden while Pat (also below) was in the rose garden digging up suckers and tidying up. A cold March would still have some major frost in the ground but we're having very little trouble digging anywhere. Urban and Pat took Stan, our rookie Grumpy, out in the gardens and he jumped right in to pruning and has a knack for this task with his past careers as an institutional groundskeeper (Beloit College) and orchard owner. We welcome him to our family! Dr. Gredler continued painting and is moving on from Adirondack chairs to cucumber supports. Dennis did a nice job removing more remnants of the Holiday Lights Show which included stakes, flags, cords, etc. (fourth picture below this text). Dave, Jim, Vern and Bob A. worked on building twenty more obelisks for the gift shop and Spring Plant Sale (see www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for information on this sale, including plant lists). Del was in to work on more carpentry and we also saw Gary, Mary W., Sue M., Bill and many others too. To the right is another hellebore (Helleborus orientalis, unknown variety) in bloom in the gazebo garden. Hellebore flowers tend to droop downwards but recent and current breeding efforts are hoping to create more upwards facing (thereby more conspicuous) blooms.

The Hostalicious presentation last night at RBG by Jeff Miller went very well and we had 50 attendees enjoy the lecture (see bottom photo). Jeff, from Land of the Giants Hosta Farm, not only talked about the merits of hostas but discussed division, fertilization, breeding efforts, slug problems and also mentioned some problems to be aware of in regards to our hostas (Southern blight, foliar nematodes, Virus X, etc.). There were lots of questions and I wasn't shy about mentioning that Jeff and Penny's nursery and home landscape are included as part of our Home Garden Tour on July 21st. The next topic in this lecture series is April 18th (6:30 pm) and the subject is Healthy Soils - Healthy Plants - Healthy People by Jay Bando of Bando Organics (Madison). I'll then present Vertical Gardening: Growing Your Gardens Upwards on May 16th (6:3o pm). Check out our website for more information on this popular lecture series. Incidentally, our March 24 Spring Symposium will be full within a couple days! To the right are the buds of the bearsfoot hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) which open chartreuse and blend with the flower stalks. I've been watching this specimen all winter and it is a tough perennial. To the left is the camouflauge bark of the lacebark pine (Pinus bungeana) which becomes more striking with age.

It was recently announced that RBG has hired our next Executive Director. Mary Fanning-Penny will start in early April and there is more information on her at the Janesville Gazette link provided here http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/mar/07/rotary-gardens-tabs-fanning-penny-executive-direct/. We're excited to have Mary here at the gardens and are confident that she'll continue the momentum created by previous Directors, our staff and Board of Directors. We also hope Mary will be here for the forseeable future. In 23 years, our leadership in that position has gone thru the following transitions: Jane K., Kim E., John A. (interim), Sue O., John A. (interim), Ed L., Gary S. (interim), Dave J., Gary S. (interim), Kelli C., Gary S. (interim) and now Mary. To the right is Bob A. putting a clear sealant on portions of the cedar obelisks that are currently under construction. I should finish the Wellness Garden plan by Monday and will have a busy week of plant orders and presentation preparations. I'm speaking at the Chicago Flower Show next Thursday and will travel to Navy Pier with Ed Lyon (Allen Centennial Gardens, UW-Madison) and Noel Valdes (developer of the cool Cobrahead garden tool, Cambridge, WI). Ed and Noel are also speaking and our carpooling in to the Windy City is the way to go!

More Signs Of Spring

Yesterday was close to 65 degrees F and t-shirts and shorts were in abundance around town. My daughter and I walked our dogs in the afternoon and it felt (and smelled) like May. The mild temperatures have continued today and I was able to do a quick tour of the gardens this morning and the transformation is quite evident as more plants continue to bloom and poke out of the ground. The top picture shows one of our hellebores (Helleborus) in full bloom in the gazebo garden. There are plenty more hellebores starting to bloom including the Christmas rose (Helleborus niger) seen in the bottom picture (located in the color rooms garden). Also above is the thuggish garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) looking nice and healthy. This is a second year plant that will bloom in 5-7 weeks depending on the temperatures. This biennial is evergreen and doesn't mind biding time under the snow until it warms up. I'm making plenty of progress on the Wellness Garden plan and should be able to finish it up by this weekend. We're also currently developing a Therapeutic Horticulture Workshop (April 25th) that will attract care-givers and other interested individuals regarding some of the basics on using horticulture to benefit physical and cognitive function for family, clients and ourselves. There will be a strong focus on programs for older adults and we hope this group will offer some insights on future programs for the Wellness Garden. Mike M. is spearheading this program effort and it will be exciting to see more of this occur in our region and at the gardens proper. To the above right are more snowdrops (Galanthus) in the gazebo garden. To the left is the winter adonis (Adonis amurensis 'Fukujukai') still looking good and to the right and below are the winter aconites (Eranthis hyemalis) which are blooming by the thousands. These pictured are from the gazebo garden border that is located in front of a sleep sloping woodland. I saw patches of these 20'-30' upslope and remembered reading that ants will frequently "relocate" the seeds and help this plant colonize. That slope should look quite yellow with aconites in 100 years if those armies of ants continue to spread these colorful plants!Directly above are the unfurling, confetti-like blooms of the vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis 'Sandra') near the sunken garden. I'm keeping an eye on the corneliancherry dogwood (Cornus mas) in the Scottish garden as that will be blooming in a week or two as well. While I caught up on some deskwork, which includes preparing for five impending presentations, we had some nice volunteer help this morning as well. Marianne was in to process more labels for the engraver. She's prepping the perennial labels which will be Luis' next focus after the woody plants are complete. The picture to the left shows the stacks of completed woody labels that have to be adhered to their stakes/anchors and ultimately "planted" out in the gardens. The blank stacks of smaller labels in the back will be utilized for our existing (and recently ordered) perennials. Marianne also worked on some other odds and ends and also met with Rita regarding our spring tree sale on April 20th and 21st. Check out http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/ for more information on the tree sale and details on the nine trees that will be offered. Dr. Gredler was in to continue painting Adirondack chairs (finishing lime green and moving to red). Gena and Myrt headed out in the gardens to do more clean-up before the rains arrive. We also saw Urban and Big John. With warm weather, our roofing contractor will be starting very soon on replacing the cedar roofs on both the gazebo and fishing pier structure. As much as I liked the "mossy" antiquated look on both those roofs, the original cedar shake was spongey and was starting to really deteriorate. This fresh look was thanks to some very generous donors (anonymous). I've had many calls regarding the Hostalicous lecture tonight (6:30 pm by Jeff Miller of Land of the Giants Hosta Farm) and hope we have a great turnout (walk-ins welcome!). Jeff's home garden and nursery will be part of our 2012 Home Garden Tour (July 21st) as well. Directly below is the emerging foliage of monkshood (Aconitum) which always pops up early and is quite frost tolerant.

Ginkgo Cookies

I made quite a bit of progress on the revised plan for the future Wellness Garden yesterday. I'll again work from home this afternoon on this project and hope to have it finished by the end of the week. Today looks to be a warm one with temperatures approaching 60 degrees F. I don't think we'll have much for snow cover by the end of the week. The blog title refers to the top picture which are some 2" thick by 8" wide "cookies" of ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) that are being prepared for the education department. Kris received a nice grant that will allow her to develop an educational, interactive, youth backpack program for the gardens. We'll be drying these, sanding them and putting a light sealant on them so they can be used for this program. Directly above is our flying saucer collection. These bowl planters will be united with their PVC supports very soon and we'll try to install these out in the gardens by late April. Yesterday, Marv, Terry and I discussed some of our plans for custom soil mixes for our various containers. With some of these new containers, we've certainly added the need for more watering time in the summer. To the left are the last of the larger culvert pipe planters; painted and ready to go back outside until we're ready to install them this spring. We'll bring in the set of five smaller culverts (18" diameter, 8' tall) next! Directly below is a shot of the Land of the Giants Hosta Farm in Milton, WI. The owner, Jeff Miller, will be speaking at RBG tomorrow night on the topic of Hostalicious from 6:30 pm until 8 pm. RBG Members will be $5 with all others asked for a $10 donation. This should be a great talk. Jeff has assisted us at the gardens in the past and will be helping with some identification, disease and slug control and has always been nice about supplying some varieties we don't currently display. Dr. Gredler was in to continue painting the Adirondack chairs and they will not be inconspicuous out in the gardens with our color selections (see below). Luis was in all morning entering more data for woody plant labels in the formal gardens. I would say that he is about 80% done with producing the labels although we have the next two steps of securing the labels on their anchored stakes and ultimately installing them out in the gardens. We just received another delivery of labels for our perennials which will be the next shift in focus after the woody plants are complete. We have many existing label needs out in the gardens but will also make advance labels for those varieties that will be installed yet this spring. What a novel idea to have the labels ready to go out with the plants. We are always well-intentioned but sometimes our planting speed exceeds our labeling intent/progress! Jenny has already entered most of our annuals and is ready for production. To the right is one of the five structural foam containers that will go out on the terrace. These have been red, yellow and now white to correspond to the main color theme which is featured in the entrance garden and always replicated out in the terrace garden.

Larry and Bill were out pruning again today and we continue to accumulate debris. We're getting to the point where we'll have to make room (because of so many debris piles) for our incoming shredded bark loads and compost. We also saw Vern, Mark S., Nancy N., Janice and many others today. At the bottom is one of the many sleighs that Del and Dick W. prepared over the past months. They got an early start on these and are contacting those that were interested in purchasing them thru the gift shop. They originally sold out in December.