Back To Being Chilly

Today was a reminder of what the temperatures should really be like in January.  Although it was sunny all day, the highs were only in the 20 degrees F with this morning being quite chilly for the Grumpies that headed outdoors.  Above, Jim is putting primer on the garden art project (suns) this morning.  The center circles still have to be affixed but the guys already have a good system for getting these primed and assembled.  Dave T. and Dick H. were helping with this process and Bob A. was off in the wings continuing his painting (violet blue) of the new formal garden obelisks.  Dr. Gredler continued processing cords inside and Del and Maury ran our reindeer displays to storage.  Maury also ran out for some supplies.  Gary continues to assemble or label order for this spring and we'll be getting various samples that will allow us to expand the use of our engraver for other sign needs, name tags, etc.  Our outside crew included Dick W., Pat, Jim, Larry H., Urban and RBG Larry.  The guys continued to haul back trees, displays, obelisks, lights and cords.  The dusting of snow this weekend didn't slow anyone down and thankfully, Larry and Bill pulled up all the underground cords on this past Saturday when it was mild and the ground was unfrozen.   Below are some of the pvc arches that Larry brought back to have the lights removed inside.  We also had a nice visit from Little Jerry and caught up with him.  

This past weekend, I was reading a great article by Marty Ross on the color orange ("Orange Crush") in the January/February edition of Horticulture Magazine.  Keep in mind that orange is the main color of our entrance garden and terrace garden themes this year.  Marty did a nice job describing what orange can do in the garden and described it as versatile, fiery, electric, etc.  She also pointed out that depending on what color you combine with orange, the "effect" can be quite different.  I quote, "Orange is perhaps the most polarizing color - people seem to either love it or hate it.  Often associated with energy, vitality and warmth, it has a real "look-at-me" quality."  I totally agree.  With our combination of maroon, based on Marty's description, we should have a vibrant and flamboyant composition.  Count on it!  Below are just three of the many ingredients that will be used in our collection.  Featured in order are the 'Gallery Cobra' dahlia (Dahlia), 'Pazzaz Tangerine' purslane (Portulaca oleracea) and 'Torch' Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia).  We'll also include plenty of orange foliage annuals and the overall composition should be very showy.

I continued with my seed ordering responsibilities today but also spent time finalizing details for our 2013 Photography Contest.  Last year was our first year hosting this contest with the 24 winning photos (all taken at RBG) included in the 2013 RBG calendar.  We're tweaking the details but are looking forward to more great submissions and a popular 2014 calendar that will also celebrate our 25th Anniversary.  Details will be included on our website in the coming weeks.  Larry continues to help orchestrate the dismantling of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) which is very organized and ultimately should be finished in the next six weeks or so.  The take down of this event is only second to the actual set-up in terms of the amount of time invested.  I have a presentaton this afternoon on the Landscape Design for Winter Interest in Evansville, WI.  While I also have plenty of meetings this time of year, my primary intent this week is to shorten the height of my "to be perused" catalog stack!  Below are just some of the spruces (Picea) that await mulching after their effective use out in the HLS. 

April In January

Today was very productive for me in terms of seed ordering.  I don't mind rainy days at my desk although I would have preferred some snow instead of the 40 degrees F temperatures that have arrived (albeit temporarily).   I'm going through some of the supplemental catalogs with a primary focus on 2013 collections and the vegetables for the spring plant sale.  Above are some species tulips (Tulipa sp.) sprouting up already in the entrance garden although the flower buds haven't poked out yet which is fortunate as this foliage will take a beating for the next three months in all likelihood.  Almost every seed order I place has some unavailable items or backorders that I have to consider as I progress with ordering.  I categorize every selection based on the general collection that the variety will ultimately be part of (i.e. All America Selections, Fleuroselect, ornamental edibles, orange collection, etc.).  These categories will then correspond to various colored labels that follow these varieties through seeding, transplanting and ultimately retrieval, organization and finally planting out in the spring garden.  The three annuals below are three that will be part of our "Lime Collection" of foliage and flowers.  In order, this is the 'Queen Lime' zinnia (Zinnia elegans), flowering tobacco (Nicotiana langsdorfii) and Bells of Ireland (Molucella laevis) respectively.  

We didn't see a lot of volunteers today and Friday is usually quiet around the Horticulture Center.  Dr. Gredler came in to process more drop cords and Bill O. came in to wrap up more of the larger cords for storage.  Pat arrived in the afternoon to haul back some of our temporary spruces (Picea) for future chipping in to our mulch pile.  Piles of trees like those in the bottom photo await relocation.  Maury ran some errands for me this afternoon and that was most of the action for today.  We had a productive staff meeting that covered some wrap up items for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  We also talked about the looming Garden Expo sponsored by Wisconsin Public Television on February 8th through February 10th at the Exhibition Hall of the Alliant Energy Center (Madison).  RBG will have a booth as usual and I'm giving four presentations (Trendy Annuals (twice), Annual Grasses and Vertical Gardening) over that weekend.  The Expo is a great way to get a taste of spring with hundreds of vendors, demonstrations and seminars.  See www.wigardenexpo.com/ for more details.  Don't miss the RBG Spring Symposium this March 23rd (8 am - 4:30 pm) entitled Our Gardening Heritage.  Check out our website under the Adult Ed tab and get more details on this popular, annual event.  Below is another neat bench quote out in the gardens and further down, a heron trapped in the ice (only a sculpture, don't worry!).

Thursdays continue to see a nice turnout of volunteers and the warm temperatures certainly helped.  The high today was close to 40 degrees F although we may have some cold rain on the way both today and tomorrow.  Above are Dick W. (left) and Terry heading back out in to the gardens for one of their many trips to collect lights, displays, trees, etc from our Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  Urban (below) is taking the lights off of one of the 100+ that were decorated.  All of these donated spruces (Picea sp.) were wired up on stakes.  We haul the trees back to the Horticulture Center where they are later chipped up in to our mulch pile for direct use out in the gardens.  Other outdoor helpers included Pat, Larry H., RBG Larry and Bill O.  At the Horticulture Center, the carpenters continued work on our eight new obelisks.  Two photos down are (left to right), Jim, Vern and Dave working on assembling these obelisks ("How many Grumpies does it take to assemble an obelisk....?").  Bob A. was off camera continuing the painting of these structures.  Dr. Gredler also did some re-staining and cord processing.  Gary researched some new label options for us this year while Maury ran some errands with Larry and Dick H. and talked electrical issues with Tom C.  We also saw Del, Bob C. and many others today.  

I was able to tour the gardens again today and aside from the same hellebores (Helleborus) that have been starting to bloom, there isn't much action yet.  It's hard to believe that I took my first snowdrop (Galanthus nivalis) photo on February 1 last year!  That started what turned out to be an advanced year all the way to the end.  I hope we don't replicate the weather patterns from last year and I would rather have the snow than these rainy days coming up!  The snow cover from December is melting away but there is still ice in some areas.  The ground is barely frozen and in some places, isn't frozen at all.  I did note some interesting bark as seen below with a small redbud (Cercis canadensis) and a Snow Fountains weeping cherry (Prunus hybrida 'Snofozam') respectively.  The third photo down shows the 'Grasshopper' evergreen sedge (Carex hybrida) looking nice with surrounding snow.  This plant will be more ragged by April but will still regenerate new growth.  

I finished my biggest seed order (Ivy Garth Seeds) which will ultimately account for over 50% of our seeds for the garden and a nice portion of the vegetable varieties for the Spring Plant Sale (May 11th and 12th, 9 am - 4 pm).  We should have our plant sale vegetable varieties on our website by the end of the month.  I also received some seeds in the mail from Fleuroselect which is trialing program (established in 1970) in Europe that is very similar to All-America Selections (AAS) in its purpose and mission.  We have been a display garden for Fleuroselect since 2003 and are one of only nine approved display sites in North America.  Some of these varieties are also AAS winners but there are some neat varieties sent to us each year.  Throughout my tour of the gardens this morning, the deer "presence" was apparent as seen below with the decimated yew (Taxus) and evidential poop nearby.  The garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) seen in the next photo down is as evergreen as ever and this second year stage (biennial) should be targeted in March on a warm day with manual removal or herbicides.  Larry has done a masterful job organizing the incoming HLS elements and continues to process piles like the one seen at the bottom.

Catalogs Galore

I'm tackling my pile of catalogs daily and it's like shoveling in a snowstorm as more and more arrive each day!  If you were to stack all my 2013 seed and plant catalogs, I think I would have a 5' tall pile but I shouldn't complain as I really enjoy scanning each and every one.  It was a quiet day at the Horticulture Center with me only seeing Dr. Gredler, Dick H., Maury, Stan K. and the copier repair guy.  Dr. Gredler continued repainting our trash bins and then moved on to the pile of cords you see above.  This photo was from late yesterday afternoon but shows Larry (left) and Bill working thru this one of many incoming piles of cords.  Dr. Gredler put a dent in that brown pile of drop cords.  Stan was the only one to head out in the gardens to do some pruning in the Japanese garden.  He also commented on all the deer poop and evidence of light browsing here and there.  As I continue to put together seed orders, I keep in mind our various collections.  In the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden, the last two years have had our Smelly Garden theme.  We are now moving on to Pollinator's Paradise and my selections are changing accordingly.  It wont be hard to select plants that will attract adult butterflies, hummingbirds, etc. but we're also considering the larval food sources for the caterpillar stage of the butterflies.  We'll certainly include lots of dill (Anethum graveolens) seen directly below and parsley (Petroselinum sp.) seen two photos down.  This parsley photo was taken in a section of the herb garden at RBG.  

RBG was just asked to be part of the National Plant Trails Database program which was initiated last year by All-America Selections (AAS) and the University of Georgia - Athens.  This program will serve as a repository for flower trial information around the country and will have value for participating companies and growers because of the utilization of standardized data.  Nineteen gardens were involved in 2012 with thirteen of these being University-affiliated.  We're proud to have been asked to participate and while this will add to our current trialing responsibilities, we're excited about the opportunity to feature more plant material for our visitors and look forward to building relationships with more green industry growers and companies (more free plants too!).  :)

A Winter Warm-Up

Today was quite mild with temperatures ultimately in the mid 30 degrees F.  It was a nice day for a walk and some fresh air.  My tour of the gardens was my first of the year and while I thought things looked pretty good, I was amazed at all the deer prints and poop throughout the gardens.  They are certainly combing the gardens for snacking materials and I'm glad we did as much protective fencing and netting in December as we did.  Above is the south entrance structure to the Japanese garden.  Below is the 'Cinnamon Snow' hellebore (Helleborus) opening up by slow increments.  I first photographed the buds back in November and have been keeping track of this one.  This variety seems aptly named in this shot!  I spent most of the day progressing with my seed orders and other time sensitive desk work.  We also had a Garden Development Committee Meeting which included Dr. Gredler, Big John, Gary, Joanne, Hal, Maury, Christine and myself.  We talked about our many 2013 plans and goals.  Larry was here all day and focused on more Holiday Lights Show (HLS) takedown efforts.

We had some helpful volunteers today.  Two photos up is Dick W. out in the gardens collecting cords.  Dick came back to the Horticulture Center with many loads this morning and the weather is ideal for pulling up these cords with very few still stuck in frozen ground or ice.  Directly above is Dr. Gredler (far left) painting with three supervisors (Bill, Larry and Big John) involved with quality control.  Bill also worked on wrapping dozens of cords up after they thawed a bit inside the Horticulture Center.  He's very good at preparing HLS items for storage.  Everything that comes in from the HLS is processed and packed away neatly for storage in our garage.  Vern came in to work on some carpentry projects and we also saw Dick H., Jumbo Jim and many others.  Below are just some of the ducks and geese that are hanging out in the pond.  It's amusing to watch them go from the water to the ice (or vice versa) with that edge crumbling more with the warm temperatures.  The next photo down features the bold, golden needles of the 'Wate's Golden' Virginia pine (Pinus virginiana) near the rose garden.  Further down is some deer damage (needle nibbling) on a limber pine (Pinus flexilis), the fruits of the cranberrybush viburnum (Viburnum trilobum) and our Ma Chii' structure in the fern & moss garden.

Back In Action

While I'm not quite at 100% recovery from my cold (day 5), it was nice to be back at work.  It really was the "welcome back" looks like the one above from Dick H. that made me feel missed.  It sounds like there are lots of colds/flu going around and my symptoms were not unlike those of others I've talked to recently either.  Regardless, I spent most of day trying to catch up from last week.  I was able to continue seed ordering and made some calls to our growers regarding the status of our orders.  Janice has already selected the vegetable offerings for the Spring Plant Sale in May and I'm locating these varieties in the various seed catalogs as I progress slowly through the stack.  At some point we'll have our plant sale variety listings on our website.  Seed ordering is my primary focus right now but with 2013 upon us, there are many other projects that I'm starting as well.  We'll be pulling together details for our 2013 Garden Art Project which will feature a sun form as seen below.  These will also have a raised, center circle too and the guys have done a nice job moving ahead with this project.  Larry held down the fort and was involved with taking down lights and various tasks inside the Horticulture Center as well.

I was impressed with our volunteer turnout today.  We had ample sunshine and nice blue skies with the promise of more warm days (over 40 degrees F) later in the week.  This is a bit warm for my taste but is perfect for dismantling the lights show.  Larry H., Jim (new Grumpy), Urban, Terry, Dick W., Pat and RBG Larry were all out collecting various lights and features of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) throughout the morning.  The guys alternated collecting items and ultimately also spent time processing incoming lights as well.  They have a good system and are keeping everything organized.  Dr. Gredler was in for some more painting projects as was Bob A. (directly below).  Bob is painting uprights that will be on our new obelisks for the formal annual sections this year.  Dave, Jim D., Vern and Dick H. spent most of their morning working on the garden art project preparations.  Maury came in to run some errands and we saw Bill O. later in the day.  He came and helped wrap and pack away more lights.  We also saw Tina B., Stan and Mary today.

A Trio Of Sick Days (UGH)

Although the above is just an illustration (thank you internet), it is sure how I felt over the past three days (Wednesday thru Friday).  I'm rarely sick and this snuck up on me after the holidays. For my three loyal blog readers, I'll be back in action on Monday as we continue to take down the Holiday Lights Show and I get very serious about seed ordering!