Cold, Cloudy, Comfortable

While we were all hoping for a solid day of precipitation, we didn't see much until the lunch hour. We had alternating drizzle and light sprinkles throughout the afternoon but it didn't amount to much (at the time of me typing this blog of course!). I'm glad we didn't count on the rain and jumped right in to running irrigation and watering in general. The top photo shows a look back at the Parker Education Center from the formal gardens this morning. The second photo up is the 'Royal Purple' zinnia (Zinnia elegans) which has a beautiful, dahlia-like form and is one of our many All-America Selections (AAS) winners. We sent in our entry for the AAS Landscape Design Contest which was offered this year for AAS Display gardens as a friendly competition. To the right are just some of the many tomatoes (Lycopersicon) that we picked today at the Horticulture Center. The photo directly above shows the arching yellow sprays of the 'Fireworks' rough-stemmed goldenrod (Solidago rugosa) in the sunken garden.

The lack of morning rain allowed us to accomplish many tasks with our volunteers. Larry H., Del, Ron Y., Eugene and Lloyd worked on taking down and packing away our plant sale tents. The guys also shifted the remainder of our plants and started working on disassembling all of the plant sale tables for storage until next spring. Jim and Vern installed our repaired window for the Horticulture Center. A couple of weeks ago, someone broke the window and tried to sneak in the facility. They didn't make it in to the building but the complimentary broken window was a headache we could have done without! Dave T. worked on some carpentry projects as well. Maury was around to run errands and both Rollie and Dick H. took a road trip to The Flower Factory where they returned our borrowed plant sale wagons. The guys also picked up some plants for the gardens. Dr. Gredler spent some time mowing and processing our huge accumulation of cardboard. We later saw Victoria, Dawn and Kayla after lunch. The ladies helped sort and organize our pricing labels for the Fall Plant Sale. See below for Suzy (in pink) and Sue (to the left) working this morning with Janice out in the vegetable beds at the Horticulture Center. The ladies picked lots of produce and later were joined by Amy for some weeding near the gazebo garden. Shirley weeded in multiple locations and had no trouble finding some action. To the above left are the small but fragrant blooms of the sweet Autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) which is just starting to bloom. We have this perennial vine in many locations and the fragrance will become more conspicuous over the coming weeks as this plant should bloom thru some frosts too. To the right is one of our fragrant tuberoses (Polianthes tuberosa 'The Pearl') in the terrace garden. Planted in pots back in May, this fragrant summer bulb has an unbelievably sweet scent that will perfume a large area. The second photo down shows (from left to right), Larry H., Del, Ron Y. and Eugene working on the tent takedown project. I'll always look back at the summer of 2012 and remember the lesson that was learned regarding rainfall predictions. The lesson learned was simply to keep watering regardless of the percentage chance of precipitation. Big John ran irrigation all day and with the lack of visitors due to the potential weather, it was a good soaking over a large area. One of our visitors today was a gentleman (and his wife) that came with the Morton Arboretum crew on Tuesday! He said that he enjoyed the garden so much that he had to bring his wife to visit. We saw some others here and there but the gardens were fairly empty for the most part. John also watered most of our containers and worked on some other projects as well including bringing in some lights in advance of our Holiday Lights Show (HLS) preparations. To the right is the "otherworldly" bloom of the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). Closely related to artichoke (Cynara scolymus), cardoon has been planted throughout our silver/white/light blue theme this year for the bold silver leaves. However, the blossoms are an added bonus and don't reliably appear every year on this annual. Cardoon is also in the edible garden as the stalks/lower stems have long been used as a food source. To the left are the blooms of the 'Supertunia White Russian' petunia (Petunia hybrida) which we have around the gardens. I like that very interesting throat coloration and patterning.

Janice spent the morning working with our volunteers and kept them moving between multiple projects. Janice also watered the front entrance garden and had some plant inventory projects for me. I caught up on some plant sale details, desk work and had some meetings. While I didn't do much work outside, I was able to do another entire walking tour and am pleased with the general garden appearance and overall color schemes this late in the year. I have some ideas for 2013 that should work well although we need to get thru 2012 first! To the lower right are the beautiful, single blooms of the 'Confetti' rose (Rosa sp.) from Bailey Nursery. This trial rose is at our Horticulture Center and has been blooming strongly most of the summer. I like that combination of pink and white with the yellow center.

While I didn't attend the gathering at RBG last night for the World Water Ski Competition participants and guests, I heard it went well. Team members from China, Australia, Canada, Belgium and the USA were present. Apparently about 300 guests enjoyed the gardens as well as a nice spread of food, drinks and entertainment. The photo directly below shows a boat that was put on display for the evening. Note how the boat color oddly matches the flowers in the foreground. The bottom picture shows the Australian team in our English cottage garden. Thanks to Sue M. for the two photos below.

Incoming International Crowd

Tonight is an important social event at the gardens. This evening reception is held in conjunction with the upcoming World Water Ski Competition hosted by Janesville's own Rock Aqua Jays. There were many preparations going on today, not the least of which were our efforts to tidy up the gardens prior to the arrival of 200+ international guests. The top photo is a shot in the formal gardens. The dark-leaved dahlias (Dahlia 'Mystic Spirit') have filled in nicely and those formal sections defined by boxwood (Buxus sp.) are looking good. Whether you call them fountain plants (Amaranthus tricolor) or summer poinsettias, our leaf amaranths ('Early Splendor' above and 'Illumination' to the right) are still looking good and would also be a healthy addition to the stir fry (edible leaves). To the left are the large yellow daisies on the golden-leaved, giant tickseed (Coreopsis tripteris 'Lightning Flash'). This variety will get 3-5' tall at maturity and has showy golden foliage which is brightest in the spring.

We saw many visitors today and we hope the large crowd tonight enjoys the gardens. The grounds staff hit the ground running as we had our normal tasks and some others that related to preparing for tonight. Big John and Pat loaded up our borrowed plant sale wagons for return to The Flower Factory (thanks Nancy and David!) tomorrow. The guys both ran irrigation through a good portion of day and also had their own watering tasks. John also set up sprinklers, mowed, helped water containers, etc. Pat weeded in the parking lot and helped with a good portion of the watering today which included our containers. Marianne planted pansies (Viola sp.) this morning, touched up the front entrance garden, weeded, watered and continued to help process the end of the plant sale. Marv and Terry helped put more of our plant sale elements away and continued to work on improving a storage area at the Horticulture Center. The guys also set up sprinklers in many locations, helped water and are doing a nice job dealing with some erosion along our north path (connects the gazebo to the arched bridge) near the pond. I spent the morning out in the plant sale area processing our leftover plants. Many are returned to the supplier although a good portion are also donated to the gardens. One of our suppliers came with a truck and we spent some time helping load up the leftovers. To the right is the 'Ruby Moon' hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab) which is an annual vine with sweet pea-like, fragrant blooms (pink/purple) followed by these glossy purple seed pods. Directly below are the prolific blooms of one of our boltonias (Boltonia sp.) which is also called the white doll's daisy. I'm not sure which one this is as it reseeded to this location near the English cottage garden. The dainty orange daisies are from the 'Irish Poet' orange tassel flower (Emilia javanica) which is also called lady's paint brush. The standard color is red although this one looks great repeated along our orange border this year.

There were many volunteers at the gardens helping get ready for tonight. Polly, Mark S. and Lori (all RBG staff) were hustling around getting ready for the event. We had some nice volunteer assistance out in the gardens today and at the Horticulture Center. Urban (lower right) and Rose stopped in for another round of painting on one of our sheds near the Horticulture Center. Our smaller sheds are over 15 years old and we're trying to limp them along in to the future. A new coat of paint is definitely an improvement. Urban, and particularly Rose, have done lots of painting and staining at the gardens over the years. To the right is the early fall color changes on the leaves of the native buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis). In past blogs, I've featured the white, "ping-pong/sputnik" appearance of the mid-spring flowers which look really cool.

Mary (left), Myrt and Nancy spent time in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Collection this morning. That picture of Mary gives you an idea of the scale of those overhead planters. The photo directly below shows Nancy (left) and Myrt as they head out in to the gardens. The ladies weeded, removed spent annuals and collected plenty of produce. Dr. Gredler came in for some mowing today. We also saw Rose, Bob T., Gary, Tom C., Dr. Yahr and many others today as well.

This Saturday we have members of the Wisconsin/Illinois Chapter of the North American Rock Garden Society (NARGS) coming to the gardens for a work morning. Iza G. (RBG volunteer) and Ed G. will help orchestrate clean-up, weeding and significant planting in the alpine garden. This is the second time this year that members of the group have made themselves available to help out. We received a nice grant from NARGS a couple years ago and will be purchasing some new plants for that space as well. At the bottom is one of the short vining melons (Cucumis) that we have out in the garden that grows nicely on this support which also keeps the fruit elevated and the air circulation steady.

Plant Sale Closure

With the Fall Plant Sale now complete, we were able to start dismantling the sale and began untagging many of the plants that will be sent back to our participating nurseries. We will continue to sell spring blooming bulbs from our gift shop over the coming month or so and there is still a nice selection available. The top photo shows some of our volunteers from the Chestnut House removing pricing tags from plant sale perennials this afternoon. Janice had the group helping with untagging, consolidating, watering and other helpful duties as we continue to finalize the end of the sale. We thought the sale was a success and we cleared out almost all of our mums, most of our shrubs and a decent amount of perennials as well. Marianne was in this morning to help finalize some of the finances and she helped organize many of the items we need to put away until the spring sale (May). The photo directly above is the 'September Charm' Japanese anemone (Anemone x hybrida) which is blooming strongly throughout the gardens. This specimen is in the woodland walk garden. To the left is the 'Indigo Rose' tomato at the Horticulture Center. I also have this one at home as it was offered at our Spring Plant Sale. What a neat color on this variety from Oregon State University. It's not ready for eating yet though until this purple fades to a red/brown and the outer flesh is slightly soft. I ate one too early and realized my mistake with the first bite.

We saw plenty of volunteers today. Janet (to the above right) came in to tend the orange wall bed and continues to do a top notch job. Mary H. and her daughter were in to work in their assigned garden as were Magda, Ron K. and Joanne A. Rose came in later for some painting duties and many others stopped by throughout the day. Our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee had a productive meeting which also included Big John, Dr. Yahr, Dr. Gredler (mowed today too), Maury, Gary, Joanne, Dick P. and Iza. We continue to talk about a future wellness/healing garden at RBG. To the right is the trailing, 'Amethyst Falls' oregano (Origanum hybrida). This variety, while not typically used as a culinary selection, is a wonderful trailer in the container or hanging basket. Another nice variety is 'Kent's Beauty' (Origanum rotundifolium). This specimen is in one of our repurposed "pallet planters" in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Display. Directly below, also in that display, is the 'Basket of Fire' ornamental hot pepper (Capsicum frutescens) which has a nice mounding habit and no shortage of showy fruits. The next photo down, taken in the edible collection, shows my tour participants from the Morton Arboretum this morning. The small tree in the distance starting to bloom white is the seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides) which is a really neat plant and a bee magnet right now.

With Larry off this week on a well-deserved vacation, we were a small grounds crew today with Big John, Pat, Janice and me. Everyone helped with some early plant sale closure details as we prepared to thwart late shoppers coming to the sale (which happens every year). John and Pat then jumped right in to push mowing around the gardens. John kept irrigation going most of the day and worked on setting up other sprinklers and handwatering beds/containers as needed. Some areas out in the gardens are still damp while others appear quite dry. After all the watering we did this summer, it would be unfortunate to have anything dry out at this point. Pat also hand watered, weeded and worked on myriad tasks. Janice also had significant watering duties and made it back to the Horticulture Center to help facilitate the efforts of our Chestnut House volunteers. To the right is another hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) called 'Marbles' which seems to be an apt naming convention. To the left is the golden waxy bells (Kirengeshoma palmata) starting to bloom in the shade garden. Also called yatabe, this hardy perennial has large, architectural, maple-like leaves earlier in the season which are a nice textural component on a sizeable, 40" tall plant.

We're really trying to tidy up the gardens prior to a social event tomorrow night (Wednesday) at the gardens. This event involves the World Water Ski Competition that the Rock Aqua Jays Water Ski Club, Inc. (Janesville) are facilitating this weekend. It sounds like we'll have many international guests and participants coming to the gardens and we hope they'll get out and enjoy our September garden. To the right is the fragrant pink spire from the 'Pink Spike' black cohosh (Cimicifuga simplex or Actaea simplex) in the woodland walk garden. This variety also features lacy, dark maroon foliage which is a great visual component when paired with lighter neighbors that allow that foliage to "pop".

I love this time of year with cooler nights and mornings followed by a warm sunny day. Today was a bit windy and I'm hoping we do get some rain later in the week. It wasn't hard to see signs of fall, particularly with cottonwood (Populus deltoides) leaves consistently fluttering to the ground. Other signs of the impending fall include ripening fruit structures like that of the oakleaf mountain ash (Sorbus hybrida 'Oakleaf') as seen directly below. At the bottom is another of our many clusters of Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale 'The Giant'). Colchicums are in the lily family while "true crocuses" are in the iris family. Regardless of this differentiation, they both look great although the true fall crocuses wont bloom until October. I'm so glad we planted these years ago as they are still going strong and offer some vivid coloration throughout the gardens.

Put Your Hands In The Air!

Bob, Jim and Vern (left to right) above couldn't avoid this photo today as they were holding up the new rolling garage door for installation. Dave T. was just off camera looking for a ladder. These four Grumpies were some of many that showed up this morning to help. Today was also our Fall Plant Sale Clearance (15% off) and we appreciate all those that helped as volunteers (Alice, Sandy, Joy, Renee, Mary W. and Gene). We also appreciate the customers of course and we saw a steady stream of customers all day long. We marketed the sale in the newspaper and on the radio and our four days of sales were collectively a nice (and vital!) fundraiser. Directly above is a blossom close-up for the 'October Skies' aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius) which is just starting to bloom. Seeing these blooms confirms to me that our entire growing season was consistently advanced 3-5 weeks from average. We normally wouldn't see these until early October (not that they aren't welcome of course!). To the right is the Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger') just starting to show tinges of its orange-red fall color. The cooler mornings feel like fall but it looks like we'll have some days this week with highs in the upper 80 degrees F. To the left is a view of the northeast corner of the English cottage garden (note the pergola in the distance). Lynn was again in today tidying up and that entire garden looks great. Lynn can be seen in the second photo down where she is planting the center containers with mixed kale (Brassica sp.) and pansies (Viola sp.). Marv and Terry cleared out the old annuals from these containers first and brought plants for Lynn to play with this morning. Other Grumpies today included Bob. C. (path tidying), Urban (painting), Maury, Gary, Rollie and many others. Rose was in to paint as well. Del and Eugene took down our temporary parking lot stakes/ropes and moved on to raking as well. To the right is a bee on the brilliant golden blooms of the stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) near the Smelly Garden. Lloyd, Bill S. and Ron B. started sorting our vast piles of empty flats and empty containers (see the guys three photos down). Maury (standing) and Dick P. brought in our 'Dancing Waters' fountain from just off the alpine garden today. Dick brought his boat and the guys brought it back to be hauled in for servicing.
Marianne kept the sale moving along nicely today but was able to get out in the gardens briefly and freshen up the cutting display. Marianne and I remember when the Fall Plant Sale was a 12+ day affair and are glad that it has been consolidated. Big John helped with many tasks today which included watering, running irrigation, hauling items here and there, etc. He also helped "Mr. Moss" (Dale S.) with modifying some large rocks and he hauled some supplies for Dale as well. Marv & Terry worked on many tasks today. They were able to prepare the English cottage containers for Lynn and hauled the plants over to that space. The guys also watered (containers too!) and worked on a sizeable project on the North path that involves erosion control. The guys also organized some of our material storage spaces at the Horticulture Center. Little Jerry came in to sharpen some tools too. He did a nice job on our hand pruners and hand hoes and it was nice having him back in action around here. To the right is the 'Explosive Ember' ornamental hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) which has the double feature of increasing colorful fruits but also uniform dark foliage. Our ornamental hot peppers around the gardens are getting plenty of compliments as they get more colorful with each passing day. To the left is just a small fraction of the large patch of 'Blue Spruce' stonecrop (Sedum reflexum) in the alpine garden. Planted by Pat last year, these stonecrops are mass planted to flow together and look like small ponds with waterfalls. Blue carpeting junipers were originally used many years ago but have been replaced with this approach. I thought this sedum looked great this morning with some dew on it. It took many blurry photo shots to finally capture the neat blooms of the Mona Lavender spur flower (Plectranthus hybrida 'Plepalila') in the shade garden. Developed in South Africa, this plant is commonly used as a low-light houseplant but has application in the partly shaded garden due to the darker foliage and a very long bloom window (June thru frost) out in the garden. Below is the cigar flower (Cuphea ignea) along our orange wall planting which is enjoyed by all visitors. Similar to a "Where's Waldo?", there is an ant in that shot if you can find it! At the bottom are six of the eight Adirondack chairs along the edge of the North Point garden. That view across the water will get increasingly more interesting as fall color sets in shortly.