Busy Plant Sale

Today was quite busy at the Spring Plant Sale at the Horticulture Center. It was extremely busy during the first couple of hours of the sale and we sold out of some herb selections and tomato varieties. Thanks to Tina B. for the pictures above! The traffic was steady throughout the day though. We still have plenty of selections left for the sale tomorrow on Mother's Day (9 am - 4 pm). Tomorrow is a "free day" for admittance to the gardens for all mothers. With a large brunch crowd at the other building tomorrow, we hope we'll get some traffic from that event trickling over to the plant sale. The weather looks pretty good and despite the chance of some morning showers today, we just had overcast skies and nice temperatures in the mid 60 degrees F. To the right is just one of the many colorful cartloads of plants that departed the sale today.

We had another great batch of volunteers assisting in the yard and at the cash registers. With three shifts of volunteers, I wont remember everyone involved but it was a good crew and customer service was quite evident and readily available. Janice and Marianne were again instrumental in keeping everything running smoothly. We ask most of the volunteers to wear the construction orange construction vests which makes the conspicuous for the customer to approach with questions.

There seemed to be lots of visitors out in the gardens today too as it was a free admittance day. There was a fundraising walk of some sort over on Lion's Beach and along Palmer Drive this morning which made parking scarce but everything smoothed out after lunch. Bill and Larry went out in the gardens to collect garbage, tidy the wedding garden (sunken), mowing and some other tasks. Marv was in for some projects which included significant spray painting. Del was in to do some mulching in the main parking lot and had the help of Evan, one of our new volunteers. Evan also weeded the vegetable beds near the Horticulture Center. The Janesville Area Herb Society (JAHS) had a meeting this morning and they were out working in the three herb garden sections for spring clean-up. They selected a wide range of herbs from the sale and with the new path improvements in those garden sections, the herb garden will look dynamite again this year.

The other photos included in this blog are from yesterday and catalog the efforts by Dale S. in his improvements of the moss island in the fern & moss garden. Dale, with the significant help of Marv, Terry and John, did a great job creating a "new look" for that garden space.

Tomorrow should be another nicely attended Spring Plant Sale day.

The Plant Sale Begins Amongst Flurries

Of course we didn't have any snow today as is was quite pleasant outside with temperatures in the mid 70 degrees F. The top photo shows our "flurries" of cottonwood (Populus deltoides) seeds that are floating down around the gardens. This process always gives us a real "shiver" as we know the implications of these seeds germinating all over the gardens. This will create our weeding round #2 but we're pretty used to it by now. The photo directly above is the white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) starting to bloom with those wispy white blossoms. To the right are the beautiful dangling bells of the Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica). I like this blue a lot although you can get this fall-planted bulb in pink and white as well.

Today was our RBG Members Only Presale at our Spring Plant Sale. Our members were able to get first crack at our offerings with a 10% discount on all purchases. This is one of the many benefits to RBG membership, not the least of which is free admittance to the gardens! The sale was steady and we had a great contingent of volunteers helping out in the yard and at the register. There are too many volunteers to list but we certainly appreciate their assistance. Marianne did a great job keeping the check out process running smoothly despite some major problems with our registers (later solved by Gary and Rita, thanks!). Janice kept all the yard help organized and we had plenty of customer assistance available.

To the left is Kay who was out weeding on the east end of the shade garden along the periphery of her assigned garden. She did a great job as usual. Ron was back in the woodland walk garden continuing his extensive weeding efforts. He has one of the largest of the assigned gardens and is keeping up with it nicely. Dr. Gredler came in for his standard Friday mowing rounds. To the right is the maroon-leaf contorted filbert (Corylus avellana 'Red Majestic') which I think is pretty neat. This variety is only about three years old so our two specimens were quite small when planted but are now filling out. The maroon coloration is the best in spring and gets more greenish/maroon in summer. Regardless, I like this one and will be trying to find one for my home garden very shortly. Directly below are the showy blooms of the fragrant woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata 'Plum Perfect') in the woodland walk garden. Look at the hints of blue on the flower petals.
Marv, Terry, Big John and Pat kept busy out in the gardens. John pushmowed right away and spent his day painting the arched bridge (two photos up). John also helped with some other projects including the moss island renovation (directly above) that Dale S. ("Mr. Moss") continued throughout the day. Marv and Terry (seen above with Dale) spent a good portion of the morning with Dale and moved rocks, hauled rocks, brought in topsoil and really lent some muscle to these improvements. Dale brought another three loads (on plywood) of moss for this project (see to the right) and he impressed everyone with his knowledge (and stamina!). The improvements to the moss island are significant and Dale will continue to return to finish the island but also has some additional plans in the Japanese garden for mosses of all sorts. To the left is a horsetail (Equisetum sp.) stem near the fern & moss garden. We have a large patch of this interesting plant and while we don't know the specific species, we know it predates the establishment of the gardens. We have many visitors call it "bamboo" but it is a plant from the dinosaur days and reproduces by spores. It also is a "healthy spreader" and can establish quite readily, particularly in wet soils. To the right is another of our unknown columbines (Aquilegia) that I noticed for its pastel coloration. I've realized that I'm taking lots of columbine pictures this spring and I think it's because they are really filling in around the gardens after years of incorporating them in multiple locations. Directly below is the 'Electrocution' hosta (Hosta) that has wavy leaves and some nice colorations. At the bottom is the variegated weigela (Weigela florida 'Variegata') that has a nice combination of showy pink blossoms and a clean variegation that looks good until fall. We have many varieties of weigela and this variety has always done well for us. Tomorrow and Sunday continue the sale and we hope to see lots of plants walking out the door.

The Best (& Busiest) Day Of The Year

My blog title today refers to the fact that we had perfect weather with sunshine, a light breeze and temperatures right around 70 degrees F. Just perfect! We also had more volunteers helping today than I've seen since last fall. The morning break room must have had over 30 volunteers and I'm not sure I would be able to remember everyone I saw this morning. I had to make a run for more plants this morning (Ahren's Acres, Brodhead, WI) for the last of our plant sale plants and some for the grounds as well. I returned with all of our neat basils (Ocimum) and some other goodies as well. With everyone selling plants nowadays (including us!), always patronize your local garden centers and nurseries first!!! Janice had the tagging crew working at full speed. The top pictures show some of our many helpers today. We literally have over 30,000 plants that require their own labels and in some cases, their own color-coded pricing tags. This is a lot of work but our "many hands" approach worked well. Thanks to Ellen, Pearl, Don, Ruth Ann, Mary, Kathy, Magda, Glenna and all the people I'm forgetting! To the right is Bill O. doing a great job "meatballing" our boxwoods (Buxus hybrida 'Green Velvet') near the pergola in the French formal garden. Bill is a top notch pruner and we're lucky to have his talents.

When I returned to the Horticulture Center this morning with my load of plants, I found a full parking lot and the Grumpies also in full swing. Del and Ron Y. set up our temporary parking lot for the plant sale and moved on to some mulching. Bob C. was out "air edging" which involves a sharp spade and the redefinition of some of our beds in turf areas. Big John and Pat also worked on mulching projects this morning and transitioned to more painting. Pat continued work on the back porch and John has been working on the arched bridge. The guys are doing a fabulous job and the results are readily apparent. The gazebo will be our last target structure. Dr. Gredler was also in for mowing and some turf repair. Larry worked on may projects including quite a few related to the looming sale. Our Thursday "Grumpettes" included Marilyn, Mary R., Suzy, Karen and Donna (new). These ladies joined Jenny in the sunken garden and they did a great job tidying up before our first garden wedding of the season (this Saturday!). The ladies all then transitioned to the rose garden for similar tasks. Janice orchestrated the plant sale duties all day and Marianne was in later to help get the cash registers and other details ready for tomorrow. We also saw Bob T., Maury (ran many errands), Gary, Chuck S., Lori, Dr. Yahr, Deb G. and many others. My memory was seriously tested today with seeing so many great volunteers helping out! We're ready for our RBG Members Only pre-sale portion of the Spring Plant Sale tomorrow (9 am - 4 pm) at the Horticulture Center. Aside from my plant run and some major desk work, I was able to head out in the garden for two rounds of herbicide application. I kept my camera with me and took the photos above. The top photo shows some of our peonies (Paeonia) mixed with ornamental onions (Allium 'Purple Sensation') along Palmer Drive. Two photos up shows the nice white blooms of the Chardonnay Pearls slender deutzia (Deutzia gracilis 'Duncan') which has nice golden foliage as well. The buds of these white flowers stay rounded early in spring (hence the name Chardonnay Pearls) but open up nicely. Not many gardeners know deutzias but there are some nice varieties out there. Directly above is the hosta (Hosta) variety 'Percy' which I thought looked quite robust in our Hosta Hollow Garden. While we currently have about 400 varieties of hostas, I do hope to add another 200 varieties this year. The Wisconsin Hosta Society will be having a meeting/tour at the gardens in mid-June and I want to show off our "growing" collection (literally and figuratively!)! To the right are the fragrant white blooms of the golden black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia') in the English cottage garden. We have about six specimens of this tree around the gardens where they have been positioned for their bright coloration which is the most intense this time of year. The sweet fragrance of black locust is delightful. To the left are the bloom clusters on the red buckeye (Aesculus pavia). I've shown these blooms a couple times already this spring but make no apologies as I can't stop taking pictures of these bright flowers! Early hummingbirds should be targeting the blooms on this small-statured tree very shortly.

Tonight was the Local Artisan Fair at the gardens (4 pm - 8 pm). I'm sure it was a success as these types of events seem to continue to attract increased attendance each time we have them and the weather was perfect. With a nice forecast for Mother's Day, we expect to see some large crowds and our Mother's Day Brunch is almost sold out (500+ attendees). We hope all brunch attendees will then head over to the Spring Plant Sale! Although our white tulips (Tulipa) are done in front of the Parker Education Center, our white ornamental onions (Allium 'Mt. Everest') are blooming strong. To the right are some of the 500 that are currently blooming out front. These "puff balls on a stick" are quite architectural as they appear to be floating. We had the Horticulture Club from Jefferson (WI) High School come visit the gardens today and I was able to give them an introduction to the gardens. They looked like a nice group of kids and perhaps our next generation of garden workers, volunteers and supporters! Below are shots of the fern/moss garden (Ma Chii' in the distance) and the Japanese Garden respectively.

Terrific Tagging Team

With our Spring Plant Sale starting this Friday, May 11th (presale for RBG Friends Members, 10% off, 9 am - 4 pm), we had a great team of tagging volunteers helping today. The sale is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday (May 12th & 13th, also 9 am until 4 pm). At the top is Shirley posing amongst the perennials. She and Marianne did a nice job getting all those plants priced and organized. Directly above are Ellen (left) and Deb tagging some of our hot peppers (Capsicum sp.) this morning. We also had Pat (in brown) & Joy (to the right), Doris, Barb, Myrt, Gena and Nancy. Thanks Ladies! Of course Janice and Marianne kept everything coordinated and moving along nicely. We have a second batch of taggers coming in tomorrow to finish the peppers and to price all the herbs which were delivered today. I made a run for plants this morning and have one more trip tomorrow morning that will include the last of the plant sale offerings. We have a pretty good system for tagging and organizing the sale and this will be our 14th spring plant sale! I remember the early days of the sale, before the Horticulture Center was built, when we would use part of Lion's Beach for the sale and inevitably, there would be a frost warning. We'd then have to bring all the plants in to our little garage until the following day. I don't miss that shuffle and we're looking forward to a successful sale. To the left is the golden sedge (Carex elata 'Bowles' Golden').

Gena, Myrt and Nancy, after tagging plant sale veggies, headed down to the sunken garden for some weeding on the south border of that space. Directly below are Gena (left) and Myrt hunched over weeding. Kay and Jenny were down there weeding as well and did a nice job along the north and east borders. We really had a great team down there which was certainly augmented by the dynamic duo of Bev and Ron (second photo down) as they dealt with some serious "carpet weeds" in the southwest corner of the sunken garden. Our overall "weeding attack force" of seven did a great job although we still have a bit to finish. Dr. Gredler was in for mowing and we also saw Sue M., Christine R., Deb G. and many others. Ed Lyon, former Executive Director at RBG, stopped by to pick up some vegetables for the Allen Centennial Gardens (UW-Madison) where he is currently Director. To the right is one of the many oak leaf art projects that continue to get positioned out in the garden. Janice and Marianne were entirely tied up with plant sale preparations today although Marianne broke away to compose a nice cutting display at the other building. This cutting display features 12+ samples of interesting blooms, foliage, etc. out in the gardens and Marianne locates these on a large map which is part of the display. I've seen these displays at other gardens and feel they have a lot of value for showing "What's in bloom?" or what might be of interest. Our display features the most samples I've ever seen and is refreshed very often. Bragging? Darn right. To the right is the textural but extremely hardy maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) in the shade garden. We have this fern in many locations and I always enjoy the visual texture from a distance but also the exquisite foliage details from a closer perspective. Janice will direct the next batch of taggers tomorrow and hopefully we'll get some gardeners as well. We're positioned to have the sale ready to go for Friday morning.

Marv and Terry finished grading and composting one of our large parking lot islands. This is one of the two islands where we planted new trees this spring and we're looking ahead to a full "makeover" of both islands by fall. The guys also placed/secured obelisks and continued putting up the oak leaf art projects. Big John pressure-washed the arched bridge (next target for painting) and painted most of the day (back porch). This morning, Pat mulched with shredded bark and later helped with painting as well. Jenny, as mentioned above, hung out in the sunken garden and did her usual awesome job. To the left are the wispy blooms of the 'Lace Carpet' foamflowers (Tiarella cordifolia). This early bloomer also has nice foliage and is a great candidate for partially shaded areas or woodland gardens. To the right are some of our bearded irises (Iris germanica, unknown variety, sorry!) near the gazebo garden. You can see the gazebo in the distance. I love irises in bloom. Years ago when we displayed 600+ varieties of iris for the American Iris Society National Conference (Madison, WI), the irises were early and peaked about a week before the conference. This year, they would have been about three weeks early! Regardless, they are beautiful. Directly below is a photo that celebrates the bright "candle" stage of this Colorado spruce (Picea pungens). This variety, 'Rick's White Tip', is top notch for bright interest. Of course those needles will eventually turn greenish blue but that new growth is tellingly vivid. At the bottom is the bright yellow 'Dancing Queen' hosta (Hosta). This bright variety is in our shade garden where it really glows. We're looking forward to adding a couple hundred more varieties of hostas this year and enjoy our growing collection of this tough perennial. As a National Display Garden for the American Hosta Society, we want to continue to expand the collection but also need to make sure we have it properly labeled.

The Vegetables Arrive!

Today involved two trips with our truck and enclosed trailer to the greenhouse that started our vegetable varieties for the plant sale. We've had the same arrangement with this grower for many years now and they do a nice job with the seed that we provide. They also start other plants for us which we wont pick up for another week or two. The top photo shows some of the oak leaf art projects up in the gardens. Marv and Terry will continue to place and secure more of these neat leaves out in the gardens tomorrow. Directly above is a robin using our pedestal urn planter as an outlook or possibly a nesting site. The weather today was neither warm or cold and neither overcast or sunny (a typical early May day). To the right is our 'Blue Spruce' stonecrop (Sedum reflexum) in the alpine garden that was planted last year to simulate a flowing stream. It's filling in nicely and we should have a solid patch I would think by next year. To the left is the showy new growth of the dappled willow (Salix integra 'Hakuro Nishiki') which offers great coloration, particularly in spring with the vivid new growth. We cut our specimens back severely to not only encourage the bright new growth but to keep this variety around 3-4' tall with the newly regenerated growth.

At the end of the day yesterday, "Mr. Moss" (Dale S.) showed up at the gardens to work on our moss island and adjacent areas. Dale, from Waukesha, WI, had visited Anderson Japanese Garden (Rockford) earlier in the day to visit with their Curator of Gardens (Tim Gruner) to chat about mosses as well. Dale brought three sheets of plywood (stacked) all covered with mosses (look to the right). Dale will be improving our moss island (in the fern & moss garden) dramatically and will be installing mosses throughout that garden and our Japanese garden. We appreciate his expertise and look forward to the results. Directly below are the small but showy blooms of the white fernleaf bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa 'Aurora') which we have in many locations throughout the gardens. The lacy, bluish foliage of this perennial (12" tall) is also quite striking. Further below is the cascading form of the common cranberry cotoneaster (Cotoneaster apiculatus) which I think always looks nice with glossy green leaves, pink flowers (what you're seeing in the photo) and the glossy red berries in late summer. Often overplanted in corporate landscapes, this durable shrub does have a following. One of the few drawbacks of Cotoneaster apiculatus is the the difficulty in collecting leaves and other debris from underneath as it is quite rigid and thick! We use a blower to "relocate" any accumulated debris at the base of all our specimens in late fall.

It was a busy day around the gardens in general. The parking lot was full most of the day as the Parker Education Center is a voting location this year. There were also some building rentals and it was the first day of our spring school programs and we saw little bands of little ones wandering the gardens. After Larry and Pat returned with our first load of vegetables, Pat moved on to work with Jenny in the color rooms garden which we're mulching as we clear the weeds. Jenny worked earlier in the shade garden removing weeds as well. Big John pushmowed early then he and I went for load #2 of vegetables. I'll have to make one more trip tomorrow morning for the last of our plant sale vegetables and we hope to see our herbs delivered as well. John moved on to some mulching with Pat and Larry spent the afternoon weedwhipping around the gardens after doing his round of pushmowing as well. Janice helped organize much of the plant sale and had some help from Deb G. and the guys later in the day. She also planted some fragrant lilies (Lilium sp.) in the Smelly Garden and weeded. To the right is another of Dr. Jim Ault's (Chicago Botanic Garden) hybrid false indigo (Baptisia hybrida) introductions called 'Solar Flare' Prairieblues. I like this one a lot and this specimen is only three years old and starting to fill out nicely. To the left are the showy blooms (look closely at the darker veination on each light pink flower petal...) of the gas plant (Dictamnus albus 'Rubra') which always catch my eye. I like the white version as well although I avoid touching this plant as I get a strange, itchy rash which isn't unlike a reaction to poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans).

Kay was in to continue her weed battle near the gazebo garden. She is very thorough and much appreciated around here (although any weeds in her vicinity quiver with fear). Dr. Gredler came in for more mowing and Bill O. was in for some quality shearing on some evergreens. The guys from Nature's Touch were here again today and are finishing the second of three herb garden sections with new flagstone paths. Directly below is the result of their first path conversion. I think it looks great and is installed quite nicely. We also saw Bev, Corky, Ron K., Bill O. (#2), Kris and many others today. Our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee met (Dr. Gredler, Big John, Hal, Iza, Christine and Mary). I also saw Marianne, Cindi and Barb C. leading kids groups through the gardens. To the right is our weeping golden Norway spruce (Picea abies 'Gold Drift') which to me, looks only slightly yellow but sure has a nice form here on the west side of the Parker Education Center. At the bottom are the three musketeers (John, Pat and Janice from left to right) with their matching hats. Note all the headache medicine in front of Janice that might get her thru the spring plant sale (maybe...).