78% Complete

While yesterday had some significant drizzle, today was just overcast and chilly.  It wasn't bad weather to be outside and we really jumped right in to our activities out in the gardens.  I had my camera with me all day (typical) and have still not run out of neat things to photograph.  There are so many subtle and not so subtle changes out in the gardens and I'm happy to capture those features.  My blog title today refers to our progress with the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  As of today, we're in very good shape for testing in two weeks and the progress today was quite significant.  We'll be hauling back trees tomorrow and Monday and these will be staked in the gardens and decorated.  L.P. Tree Service will be here tomorrow and/or Friday to "dangle" our hanging icicles from the taller cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) and aside from wiring these last couple of elements up, we're in pretty good shape.  The top photo shows the fall color of the bloody cranesbill geranium (Geranium sanguineum) which shows hints of red starting in September but becomes spectactular by this time of year.  The photo directly above shows clumps of our 'Dixieland' variegated Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) getting some fall tinting of orange and pink near the decorated observation pier.  Directly below are the seed heads of the sweet Autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora) which still has some stubborn blooms hanging on resolutely.

The grounds staff had a busy day with primarily HLS duties although John also got involved with some gardening tasks.  Directly below are Marv (left) and Terry putting some lights on our "ever-flowing" urn.  These guys have been putting out lights longer than any of us and did a nice job getting the remainder of the displays positioned and secured today (amongst other duties).  We still have a couple displays that will be repaired this weekend and immediately placed out in the gardens early next week.  A big "thanks!" to Randy M. for repairing these displays. The next photo down shows Marianne putting pea gravel in some new half-gallon jugs that were donated for "the cause."  Our older luminaries need replacement and we've been taking in additional jugs to augment our supply.  Some more jugs came in today too.  The addition of gravel to the jugs it so keep them from blowing over during inclement weather.  Marianne strung out more luminairies and was a huge help to me with her cord-running skills.  She also tidied up our HLS staging area in the Horticulture Center which was in need of some organizing.  Big John pounded stakes (below) that will be used to support incoming trees and hauled out some displays as well.  He also did quite a bit of digging and bulb planting near the shade garden and helped get some volunteers involved with that project as well.  John spent a good half day gardening and had no shortage of leaves and garden debris to haul back!  Pat was in (off the clock) to repair lights and do some crabapple (Malus sp.) pruning as well.  I stretched out my share of cords and had a couple meetings.  One of the meetings was a wrap up with of the Halloween Walk (with Mary, Kris K. and Becky).  We look forward to doing this event again in the future.  I'm very pleased with the HLS set-up which has even exceeded our quick set-up from 2011.  Well done team!

Volunteers were again an important part of the day. From left to right (below), Jim, Stan, Karen and I did a tour of the Japanese garden today to talk about fall/winter maintenance goals, future improvements, etc.  They do a great job in that area.  We have had so many past volunteers involved with that space including Little Jerry, Dr. Neeno, Tom McKaig and of course, the many RECAPPERS that have helped over the years.  Dr. Gredler was in for a bit and Maury was around running errands.  Dick H. came in this afternoon and we saw Vern working on the large obelisk.  Bob C. was around all morning relocating shredded leaves to our entrance gardens slope as a mulch.  We also had Gena and Nancy in this morning to plant over 800 tulips (Tulipa) along our raised wall bed near the larch area (see second photo down).  I dispersed the packages, John dug the holes and the ladies planted and covered all the bulbs.  This should look quite colorful in spring.  The last three photos show some of our latest collections of falling leaves.  In sequence, our samples include leaves from a cutleaf European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Laciniata'), sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua) and the 'Green Mountain' silver linden (Tilia tomentosa).  Note the silver backing on the upside down leaves of the linden.  More HLS and gardening tomorrow to be sure!

Off To Madison

The morning was brisk and the day didn't look real promising for a warm up with rain in the forecast.  I spent most of the day up in Madison hanging out with Shelley Ryan, host and producer of The Wisconsin Gardener program on Wisconsin Public Television (WPT).  It's hard to believe that Shelley has been doing this for 20 years.  She is one of the neatest people I have ever me and without a doubt, the 15+ segments she has done at RBG have helped encourage awareness and visitation of RBG.  I encountered rain on the way up to Madison and saw some snow as well although it didn't "stick".  The trip back was damp too.  Shelley is from Blue Mounds and said the snow was actually acumulating lightly this morning.  We talked shop and are already discussing the next WPT Garden Expo which will be held on February 8th, 9th and 10th at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center.  We always have a booth at the Expo and I've seen this event morph in to a very anticipated, well attended and much appreciated venue.  I've always done some presentations at this event and it's traditionally been a great way to connect with current and potential visitors and supporters of RBG.  The top picture shows some of the many leaves that we're still collecting.  These are the leaves from one of our English oaks (Quercus robur) in the main parking lot.  While most of our trees have dropped their leaves already, there are some that are still thinking about it over these next couple of weeks.  The leaf clean-up duties at the gardens are monumental and we'll continue to work on this project until the snow flies.  The leaf directly above is from one of the many Diabolo ninebarks (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo') in the gardens.  The summer leaves (maroon) will typically get a bright, reddish maroon in fall but there are occasionally some other colorations that become apparent.  Directly below is the exfoliating bark of the paperbark maple (Acer griseum) and further down, the frosted leaves of the 'Black Scallop' bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) peaking out of some fallen leaves.  This is a durable groundcover (moderately spreading) that also has neat blue flowers in early spring.

This is the time of year when our toughest of volunteers becomes apparent with the cold temperatures warding many others away.  Kay came in this morning to continue removing the last of the annuals from the entrance garden berm.  She showed me how many of our plants in that area had some serious roots and were challenging to dig out.  I think the heat and drought were a factor as we observed some annuals developing major root systems that we've not noticed on previous occasions when they were removed.  I'm sure there is a correlation there somewhere!  Urban headed out in the gardens to continue to remove the suckers and water sprouts from the crabapples (Malus sp.) around the gardens.  Urban has been doing this for many years and does a nice job.  Bill O. was in this morning and worked on repairing one of our John Deere gator tires and later moved on to gardening work.  We also saw Maury and many others.  Directly below is ornamental kale (Brassica oleracea) still looking great.  Every morning, our remaining kale look frosty and withered down.  With some minor heat and sunshine, they perk up nicely and should look great beyond even Thanksgiving.  The next image down is of my twinspur (Diascia barberae) at home.  This is the variety 'Juliet Pink Eye' which looks great even now (planted back in May).  This is a cool season annual (like pansies) that like the cooler months of spring (April thru early June) and the later months of summer and fall (late September thru October).  Cool season annuals don't thrive or bloom well in the hot summer months but will rebound in fall (as my twinspur did) with cooler temperatures.

With Janice and Pat finished for the year (not necessarily as volunteers...), it was a small grounds staff today.  Big John started out with some more gardening which included cutting back perennials and planting bulbs (tulips) in the formal gardens.  He also set up more displays, ran cords and bounced between some different projects.  Larry was a big help running cords to various displays and tweaking some of our cord arrangements.  With some expanded displays this year, we might run out of cords shortly and will have to obtain more as needed.  The guys also had some indoor plans ready in case of the arrival of rain.  The photo down below is interesting as it is a collection of three plants, only one of which is desireable.  The larger grey stems are from the desireable black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) which is a very nice shrub.  However, the tan stem (just left of center) is from a red mulberry (Morus rubra) and all the green leaves are attached to smaller stems of a European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica).  When all the leaves were on the chokeberry, the interlopers were hard to detect.  However, now is the time of  year to look around the "knees" of your shrubs for these other plants that take advantage of the camouflage.  Both of the non-desireable plants were probably introduced by birds as they were nibbling on chokeberries and pooping out the seeds from these other plants.  That is also why fence rows get all sorts of woody plants growing up thru them (or under power lines) as the birds like to "deliver" seeds to various locations, particularly directly below where they are perched.  Back to the situation below...I would be sure to clarify the non-desireables and then cut them at ground level.  With a small paintbrush, I would then apply a full strength herbicide (Round Up concentrate) or other brush killer directly on the exposed cut.  While it would be near impossible to removed the mulberry and buckthorn by traditional digging (without damaging the chokeberry), this "cut and paint" routine has served us well.  Look for this situation as it is more prevalent than you might think.

Monday Maneuvers

Mondays are traditionally the busiest days of the week out in the gardens as we have most of the grounds staff and always a good volunteer turnout of Grumpies and other volunteers.  Thursday would be a close second for having the largest "presence" out in the gardens.  Needless to say, it was another busy day with a wide range of tasks going on at the Horticulture Center and out in the gardens.  I saw a group of four ladies (visitors) enjoying the gardens today and they asked me some questions regarding various trees.  I knew they were "true gardeners" as they really enjoyed all the finer points of the late season garden and were roaming for quite some time.  The top photo features the fruits of the American cranberrybush viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) near the zig-zag bridge.  We have many specimens of this species and while they have variable fall color at times, the fruit production this year has been nice and I'm sure the birds will enjoy it later in the season.  Directly above is a photograph I took in my garden yesterday.  This is the 'Single Korean Apricot' perennial mum (Chrysanthemum) which is my latest blooming plant and has ignored the thermometer every morning to bounce back and look great.  The pollinators are doing what they can before the season ends for them as well!  Directly below are the "silver backed", recurved needles of the 'Horstmann's Silberlocke' Korean fir (Abies koreana) in front of our building.  This slow-growing (and expensive) conifer looks great every day of the year and appears "silver frosted" from any distance.  The object two photos down is our "acorn" (sometimes called a pineapple by others) that adorns the peak of our gazebo.  I've never photographed this as I've also never found myself up 15' looking at it and happening to realize I had a camera in my pocket.  I don't like heights but Larry and I strung some lights on the second tier of the gazebo and I even put some lights on this adornment as I was already there anyway!  The new roof this spring (thank you donors!) made traction decent.

Some of our Grumpies were camera shy today (see below) which is unusual for most of them!  Actually, these guys were cutting back a patch of roses this morning and bent right to the task.  That's actually Russ, Lloyd and Eugene although all of these guys later moved on to collecting leaves and debris.  The next photo down shows Ron W. (foreground) and Ron Y. in the distance collecting leaves and debris near the gazebo garden.  Pat and Bob C. continued collecting old cocoa bean mulch from around our rose collection in the French formal garden and Stan was tidying up in the Japanese garden (with later help from Russ).  Dick H. ran to the dump and later helped Dick P. with some projects (including hauling our terrace furniture to storage).  Rollie helped with various projects as did Maury after he returned our rental screen (from the Saturday symposium) to Madison.  Dr. Gredler peeled labels for re-use next year and he should be back to mowing tomorrow as his repaired mower was delivered after he left for the day.  Mary W. collected debris from the herb garden and Tom C. finished some electrical projects for us.  We have plenty of work for Tom C. and his help around the gardens has been invaluable.  Dave T., Bob A., Vern and Jim all continued work on the monstrous, 20' tall obelisk and should get it done by next week.  We hope to use the first (of five) of these out in the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  Gary and Pat C. did a nice job continuing to process, prepare and inventory many of our new labels.  While we're running out of labeling supplies for the year, the progress has been amazing this year with thousands of professional, new plant labels out in the gardens.

The grounds staff worked mostly on HLS activities today.  Above is Big John who secured many more obelisks and displays out in the gardens today.  John also hauled out the surplus, spring-flowering bulbs from the Parker Education Center that we'll now plant out in the gardens.  John also did some garden clean-up as well.  Marv and Terry continued to put up more displays around the gardens and unpackaged and prepared a new display for placement later this week.  Directly below is their project from Friday which looks amazing and is an improvement in size (and appearance) from last year.  This is the sixth week in a row Marv and Terry have worked on HLS and their progress is amazing.  Marianne finished up her luminary work and moved on to some other projects including helping run extension cords for me.  Larry finished working on lights along the eaves of the Parker Education Center and helped with other projects as well.  I ran cords most of the day and felt I put a "good dent" in this laborious process.

The second photo down shows the fruits of the cockspur hawthorn (Crataegus crus-galli) in the arboretum.  While the fruits aren't overly attractive on this species, they are great for birds and very plentiful.  All of our Crataegus in the gardens have proven quite an attractant for resident and transient birds alike.  The next photo down doesn't look real showy.  However, all of the green plants in that image are European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica).  There are almost no native, deciduous trees/shrubs in the understory that still have leaves.  This is the ideal time of year to be able to identify and locate this thug as it will retain green leaves throughout the month.  On a warm November day, we cut these to the ground and paint the fresh stump with concentrated Round Up or a potent brush killer.  We'd had enormous success killing buckthorns with this approach and quickly came to realize how difficult they are to hand dig!  The bottom photo shows Brent Gustason from Midwest Groundcovers (www.midwestgroundcovers.com/).  Brent was one of our speakers for our fall symposium (The Winter Garden) which went very this past Saturday.  My presentation was well-received as were the other two.  Stan Tekiela, author, photographer, naturalist, did a superb presentation on birds to end the event.  Kudos to Kris for a great event.

Non-Problematic Deer

Around twenty four deer could be oberved at the gardens today although the damage they caused was non-existent compared to their warm-blooded counterparts that have already started to tour the gardens for a snack.  The top photo shows Terry (left) and Marv hauling out deer for one of the displays that they put up for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  I'll have to post some shots of their creation this weekend as it is quite impressive and that's all I'll say.  Directly above is the sunken garden where Big John secured these three groupings of deer yesterday as part of the HLS display.  Del, one of our Grumpies, has made these for years and there are some for sale in the RBG Cottage Gallery Gifts.  I hope the Market Mingle held at the Parker Education Center went well tonight and was well-attended.  Directly below are the showy fruits of the 'Early Amethyst' beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) near the gazebo garden.  While the fruits are small, they sure offer an interesting color this late in the season.  The next two photos down show the beauty that frost can add to the garden.  The second photo down is the huge, rugged leaf of the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) that is normally silver but had this nice "frosty patina" this morning.  This plant is not winter hardy but can be found every year at the gardens and was a huge component of our white/silver/blue theme this past summer and in the Ornamental Edible display (edible stalks).  The next photo down is a leaf of the common lamb's ear (Stachys byzantina) which always looks nice after being tinged by Jack Frost.

We had some nice volunteer assistance today.  Cindy (directly below) came in for her second Friday in a row and was a huge help in clearing some of the last annuals along the front entrance garden slope.  The large silver plant in front of her is actually the exact cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) that I featured above.  Kay also helped tackle that slope and the two of them together were a force of nature.  I saw them going back and forth with full carts, empty carts, full carts,empty carts.  Well done ladies!  Dr. Gredler came in to do some mowing and Ron K. spent all morning purging leaves out of the woodland walk.  Maury ran up to Madison to pick up our huge rental screen that we put up for the symposium and when he returned, he, Mark S. and I assembled it (no small feat!).  We also saw Chuck S. and many others today as well.  The second photo down shows the ornamental, exfoliating bark of the three-flower maple (Acer triflorum) which should become even more interesting during the winter.  The bark on this species gets even more interesting with age.  There are actually still some plants blooming out there after eight light frosts over the past four weeks!  The third photo down shows the field scabious (Knautia arvensis) in the Scottish garden which is a blooming machine from June until the hardest of frosts.  The last of the pollinators are targeting these frost-resistant blooms (1.5" wide) when the day warms up.

The grounds staff had a very busy day out in the gardens.  It was Pat's last day (on the payroll for 2012) and he spent most of the morning working on gardening tasks.  He finished cutting back some roses (Rosa sp.) and did a nice job hauling the huge pile of leaves that Ron K. accumulated in the woodland walk.  Big John worked on securing the deer displays in the sunken garden, some light HLS decorating and he put up many of our larger HLS displays around the gardens.  John also helped haul some items over the Parker Education center for the symposium tomorrow.  Marianne was in all morning and finished decorating the saucer planters in front of the main building (they are going to look dynamite).  She then continued her work on spreading half gallon milk jug luminaries along the HLS route.  She has a good system and much of the way the lights are placed is directly related to the available power.  We've gotten better at this each year!  Janice was in to help Kris K. with final preparations for the symposium which included getting all the name lanyards created (among other duties).  It was also Janice's last day on the time clock for 2012.  Marv and Terry worked on their deer/sleigh project which is bigger and better than last year and will be one of the neatest features of the HLS this year.  I'll get some photos soon but to fully appreciate it, you'll have to come to the HLS!  I worked on various HLS duties and some other tasks this morning but left early to try to "nap away" a persistent cold that I'm hoping to shake by my presentation tomorrow at the symposium.  UGH! 

The gardens still have many beautiful plants; as your garden should as well.  Directly below is the 'Silver Tower' Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis).  There are many varieties of this Miscanthus species and this would be our tallest at close to 10' at maturity.  Be wary of other Miscanthus species as some can become quite aggressive.  The inflorescences (flower/seed heads) are top notch though and reminiscent of pampas grass which is not hardy for us.  The next photo down features the showy fruits of the Korean mountain ash (Sorbus alnifolia) which also has impressive, white spring flower clusters and an orange fall color.  I wish I had taken this shot a week ago as the birds have already been nibbling the fruit clusters (which I don't mind at all).  The third photo down features the capsules of the European spindletree (Euonymus europaeus) which gets great fall color (maroon) and these pink fruiting structures that finally split open, revealing the orange seeds.  Despite the toughness and beauty of this large shrub, it has proven to spread by seed in areas where it was introduced and we're starting to see many seedlings too with our milder winters.  These may be destined for removal but I sure enjoy the fall show!  The next photo down shows the architecturally impressive weeping Alaskan cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis 'Pendula') near the gazebo.  What a nice form.  We had to prune off the lower branches as the deer nibbled them to down to nubs a couple of winters ago.  Taxonomists are also calling this Xanthocyparis but the old name is still quite common in the nursery trade.  The last photo shows the frost resistant foliage of the Italian arum (Arum italicum) which will stay green throughout most of the winter.  This plant is a spreader in warmer climates and has proven happy in our woodland walk garden where it ultimately forms bright orange fruiting clusters in late summer, reminiscent of the native Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum).

A Mild November Day

Today was quite mild with temperatures ultimately reaching the mid 50 degrees F. The morning was chilly but not quite as frigid as the past couple of mornings.  I think this will be the warmest day of the week and we took full advantage of the weather out in the gardens.  At the top is the single leaf of a 'Sweet Tea' foamy bells (xHeucherella) in the shade garden getting a nice Autumn shade of brilliant pink.  The summer coloration is a cinnamon orange but I've been as impressed with the late season color changes on the foliage as well.  Foamy bells (xHeucherella) are a cross between coral bells (Heuchera) and foamflower (Tiarella) and are well-known for great foliage and interesting blossoms.  There are many great varieties.  Directly above can be seen the still bright foliage of the golden weigela (Weigela florida 'Looymansii Aurea') which is a nice shrub for not only foliage but a profusion of pink, trumpet-shaped blooms in late spring throughout the summer.  Many of our weigelas have dropped their leaves already but this variety always seems to be the last to drop!  Directly below is my "heads up" again that the garlic mustard (Alliara petiolata) is still looking nice and green outside and will become easier to locate, identify and eradicate.  Try to remove these plants yet this fall and if another warm day over 55 degrees F appears, don't hesistate to use a little spritz of herbicide to ultimately finish these thugs!  The next photo down shows the showy stems of the red-stemmed moosewood (Acer pensylvanicum 'Erythrocladum').  This variety of striped maple gets increasingly dark red stems over the winter and becomes a real focal point in the landscape.  We have two of these specimens and the one featured is located just south of the gazebo garden.  You can't miss it!

We had a good turnout of volunteers today that worked both inside and outside.  Directly below are the carpenter Grumpies working on their new project.  From left to right are Vern, Dave, Bob A. and Jim.  The guys are figuring out how to best build a 20' tall obelisk for the gardens.  Ultimately, we'll have more than one out in the gardens next year although this first construction may also find itself in the Holiday Lights Show (HLS)!  The guys directly below also did some work associated with our three donated greenhouses.  The next photo down shows Ron W. (in yellow) and Ron Y. hauling back our Adirondack chairs from the North Point garden.  The guys also made many return trips with benches from the the gardens and I believe that between today's efforts and those on Monday, most of the benches are back at the Horticulture Center.  Ron Y. also went out in to the gardens and brought back many loads of leaves from the sunken  gWe'll be re-sanding and sealing all of these benches this winter for sure.  The next photo down shows Rollie (left) and Dick (goofy red hat)  who both worked on many tasks including helping John pound stakes for incoming HLS trees.  Bob C. and Eugene K. headed out to the four rose crescents in the French formal garden and started skimming and removing our mulch of cocoa bean hulls which is replaced fresh each year.  Stan was in later to tidy up in the Japanese garden while Bill O. also did some nice time.  Maury helped Larry pick up some donated items and worked on myriad other projects relating to both of our buildings and some future upgrades.  Dick H. ran a load to the dump and  helped various people with various projects.  Gary and Pat were in the Horticulture Center office preparing and creating more plant labels.  We also saw Mary W., Kris K., Dean and many more today.   

There is still plenty of color and texture out in the gardens. I continue to take pictures and am really gettting some perspective on the changes of the season.  We're looking forward to a successful Market Mingle tomorrow (see www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org) and a great fall symposium on Saturday.  Our preparations for the HLS continue in earnest and we'll continue to take advantage of these nice days. Most of the grounds staff will be finishing up their season over these next two weeks so we'll continue to juggle the "year end" tasks out in the gardens.  Directly below is the colorful 'Evergold' Japanese sedge (Carex oshimensis) that holds color even over the winter until new growth replaces the old.  The next photo down shows the interesting seed heads of the Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium).  This ornamental grass gets about 36" tall and can tolerate part shade.  I really enjoy these seed heads and they even rattle/rustle in the breeze.  The next photo down shows a trailing foamy bells (xHeucherella 'Redstone Falls') which looks great in the border or container.  The rich, autumnal tones in summer then segway to this darker red coloration.  I like this variety a lot.  The bottom photos show one of the first to be installed dedication benches (we now have 55).  I like this quote a lot.