Making Of A Moss Garden

Today was another snowy one and while my trip in to work wasn't too bad, the return trip should be interesting to say the least.  I'm still in favor of more snow and any precipitation this month to help augment the deficiencies from 2012 is welcome.  As I type this blog, I don't have any one else here to report on but I've been busy getting seeds ready for our growers and I'll be hauling most of those out tomorrow and on Thursday if the roads are passable.  We still have a couple seeds trickling in from late orders or back orders but the bulk of our seed grown material for the Spring Plant Sale and the gardens is ready to be dispersed and delivered.

Our Fern & Moss Garden is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.  Built just north of the Japanese garden this space (4,000 sq. ft?) has been fun to develop with a vast collection of ferns and a "moss island" surrounded by streams and a small pond.  The original intent with the fern collection continues to be to acquire, grow, display and evaluate every fern that we can find that has a hardiness rating to zone 6.  We are not zone 6 but we're finding quite a few ferns that have established and were not thought to be hardy.  We are involved with the Hardy Fern Foundation (www.hardyferns.org) and are one of eleven satellite display gardens for that organization in the United States.  In our fern garden, the six garden beds in this space have ferns loosely grouped by "region of origin" including Asiatic, North American and European.  This garden, positioned under the shade of many large cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) was developed to mimic the Japanese garden style and includes lanterns, bridges and in the photo above and below, you can see the Ma Chii' (spelling?) structure which is an authentic Japanese resting structure for contemplation.  This garden has had some trials and tribulations in the past including flooding in 2008 which covered over 2/3 of the garden with standing water (13 weeks) when our surrounding ponds (and the adjacent streams and Rock River) peaked at 5' over normal levels.  A good portion of the Japanese garden was also flooded and we've been replacing plants for a couple years now in all if these gardens.  Many ferns were replaced and while we've dabbled with slight improvements to our moss island, we took a serious step this past spring.  We continue to augment the collection, tweak the misting system, amend soils as needed and hope to re-establish one of the largest fern collections in the Midwest.

The top photo shows the original moss island in late winter.  Why grow moss?  Why not?  Wisconsin has 400 native species of moss and while I can't identify very many, our hope was to include and promote moss as a groundcover option in the shade.  Originally quite flat, this mossy expanse was established by Jenny E. and Janice.  Janice has been the moss caretaker since the beginning and has been in charge of adding moss, additional watering, debris collection, etc.  In recent years, Marv B. had helped by adding mosses and re-configuring that garden with additional rocks, clubmosses, etc.  The flooding mentioned above created some problems including an influx of weeds and while the moss island was nice, we knew it could be improved after visiting the garden of Dale S. in Waukesha, WI on two occasions (2005 and 2011).  We decided to enlist the help of Dale S. ("Mr. Moss") this spring to create a new moss garden (same location) with more topography and a wider selection of mosses.  I essentially asked Dale to approach our moss island like he has his moss plantings at home.  The end result can be seen below.

Dale S., a retired economics instructor from MATC (Milwaukee), contacted me years ago regarding moss.  He mentioned his garden and sent some pictures along.  I was mesmerized by the healthy moss beds and his entire 1 acre garden is unbelievable.  His knowledge (and appreciation) of mosses is quite extraordinary and after our first trip to his garden, I realized that Dale's passion for mosses could be replicated at RBG.  

Mosses have a 400 million year history and are quite adaptable in a wide range of conditions.  Mosses have no true roots or flowers.  They reproduce by spores and the reason you see mosses growing on rocks, tree trunks, bricks, etc. is that they attach with rhizoids (anchoring structures) and take in water and nutrients on an intercellular level (rainwater).  Mosses are also evergreen and will photosynthesize year-round.  In fact, they are green right now under the snow.  There is a great, award-winning book on mosses by George Schenk that is worthy of consideration (Moss Gardening: Including Lichens, Liverworts, and Other Miniatures).  The biology of mosses is quite interesting and there are various thoughts on how to establish mosses.  Of course, mosses in warmer, more humid climates can be problematic (i.e. the Pacific Northwest) and may not be promoted as a garden asset.  However, in the Midwest, mosses can add a wonderful touch in a woodland or shade garden as a durable groundcover.  The quick summary of the process that Dale employed includes site preparation with soil mounds, rock placement and ultimately the re-positioning of moss transplants.  Dale had help from Marv, Terry, Big John and Janice although most of the moss acquisition and placement was done by Dale.  The "quiltwork" approach of positioning patches in close proximity works well if mosses are immediately and consistently watered.  These collected moss patches were skimmed below the rhizoids and tamped securely in place.  Keep in mind that it is illegal to collect mosses from State or Federal lands and when collecting, only take a portion of a moss patch from the wild so it can regenerate the open space.  We are also encouraging mosses on all the rocks in that garden.  We did secure some light netting over newly planted moss sections to deter birds and squirrels from collecting prime nesting material.  The process can be seen below and the results have been spectacular.  We'll continue to add mosses as needed but this new, mounded look with additional rocks and a wider variety of mosses has become immediately popular and a great garden asset for RBG.  Included further below are some inspirational shots of Dale's moss garden.

Dale's moss island preparation (Marv & Terry in background)

moss transplants ready to go

Mr. Moss, poised and ready

the "patchwork" approach

Janice and Mr. Moss consulting

moss island (east bed)

moss island (west bed)

moss clumps in fall: filling in nicely

one of many moss troughs at Dale's garden

Dale's garden

woodland path in Dale's garden

mossy patch at Dale's garden

moss at Dale's garden

moss at Dale's garden

consider mosses!

Brilliant Begonias for the Basket

I thought today's blog should include some bright colors as it looks like a lot more white stuff is on the way tomorrow and Wednesday.  They are predicting between 6"-10" of accumulation.  I envision an imminent future for me that includes a snowblower and shovel.  Regardless, we had a solid turnout at the Horticulture Center today.  Urban was the only one to head out in the garden (pruning) but we had plenty of activity inside the Horticulture Center.  Dr. Gredler continued painting cucumber supports while Vern continued re-staining benches.  Our bench sanding team included Mary W., Gene, Ron Y., Jim D. and Dave T.  Del worked on tool sharpening and Pat continued some improvements on his giant obelisk project.  Larry ran some errands, purchased supplies and is working on some of our vehicles in preparation for spring.  We also saw Big John, Bill O. and many others.  Jenny and Dave E. came in to pick up plant stakes as they are preparing our annual labels at home.  Gary worked on servicing the laser engraver and all seems to be well and it's running smoothly.  Mandy worked on mounting perennial labels on their stakes and Pat C. finished production of our first wave of vegetable labels for the spring plant sale.  I worked on various projects, all of which involve preparations prior to the busy spring.  

The two photos above and the one directly below are of the trailing begonia (Begonia boliviensis) called 'Santa Cruz Sunset'.  This new variety from Benary Seed is a non-stop summer bloomer and as seen here on a 104 degree F, July day in Michigan, can tolerate plenty of sunlight.  I took all of these images at C. Raker & Sons Nursery trial gardens although we had this variety at RBG as well.  We have been using trailing begonias here at RBG for many years in not only containers but along the edges of low walls, slopes and other nooks and crannies where the spreading/cascading nature of these selections is appropriate.

Our first two trailing begonia varieties that enticed me years ago can be seen directly below, side by side.  To the left is 'Bellfire' and to the right, 'Bonfire Orange'.  I was so impressed with their durability, particularly in part sun areas.  We use lots of "other" begonias at RBG in bedding schemes, containers and other compositions.  We always have durable wax begonias, Dragon Wing begonias, Rex begonias and other types for either foliage and/or blooms.  While many of these are durable in shadier conditions, most of the trailing begonia species will be fine in part sun or even full blazing sun with adequate moisture.  Imagine the impact of having thousands of dangling blossoms with accompanying pollinators and hummingbirds!   The trailing begonias are a primary focus in breeding and promotional efforts and are finding a permanent niche in containers; particularly in hanging baskets.  I've identified each photo below and encourage you to do some more research on those that entice you to re-engage and appreciate begonias in the summer garden!  There are many more wonderful varieties out there that should be explored as well.

'Bellfire' (left) and 'Bonfire Orange' (right)

'Bellfire'

'Bonfire Scarlet' at RBG

'Bonfire Scarlet' bloom close-up

'Bonfire Orange'

'Bonfire Orange' w/ 'Molten Lava' Oxalis vulcanicola (RBG)

'Sparkle Scarlet'

'Careless Whisper'

'Summer Wings Orange'

'Waterfall Encanto Falls Red'

'Waterfall Encanto Falls Red'

'Waterfall Encanto Falls Orange'

'Ikon Blush White'

'Oi Anna' (Ball Seed)

Lungworts For Durability

We had some light snow today but nothing overwhelming.  It was a relatively quiet day at the Horticulture Center with Pat working on his giant obelisk project, Dr. Gredler painting cucumber supports (orange) and Vern continuing work on our newly sanded benches.  He's putting a nice preservative oil/stain and the benches are all looking brand new.  Many looked rough out in the gardens next year but we're happy to restore them to their original grandeur.  Pat C. was in the office preparing more plant sale labels for processing next week and I worked on lots of small but vital projects.  

My recent winter blogs have included lots of photos of plants and today is no exception.  I've been considering many of my "favorites" and am trying to show a wide range of ornamental and durable woody plants, perennials and annuals.  With not much to photograph out in the gardens quite yet, I'll rely on past photography and try to initiate some excitement for the looming growing season!  

Today I'm featuring lungworts (Pulmonaria sp.).  The top photo shows the variety 'Diana Clare' and the leaf shot above is from the variety 'Majeste'.  Also called Bethlehem sage, Jerusalem cowslip, spotted dog and many other common names, this tough perennial is native to Europe and Western Asia.  In short, lungworts are great in the partly shaded or full shade garden for the combination of spring flowers (showy but quick in mid to late April) and ornamental foliage.  Flowers are typically pink, blue or more commonly, opening pink and transitioning to blue.  However, there are selections that are a deep raspberry color or even white.  The rough, "sand papery" leaves are durable and rarely affected by insects, diseases or nibbling deer.  Leaf coloration will transition from spring to summer with those having white or silver becoming more intense.  We have many Pulmonaria varieties in some very tough soils in shadier locations and they are durable, adaptable and drought tolerant.  The dry spell last summer was tough on those we couldn't water frequently but I can't ever recall saying, "Wow, that lungwort is dead."  They are tough.  I recommend selecting them for the foliage (which comes out in rosette clusters).  As a clumper, this perennial will ultimately widen out but        is a nice compact mass that rarely needs division (accomplished in spring).  Lungworts look nice paired with hostas, hellebores, ferns, bleeding hearts, Jacob's ladder, coral bells and other perennials for the partly shaded border.  Don't put them in too much sun or the leaves get scorched along the edges and they look ragged and "crispy".  Most varieties are in the 10"-15" range for height with spreads from 12" to 24".

'Mrs. Moon'

'Mrs. Moon'

'Silver Bouquet'

'Gaelic Spring'

'Silver Shimmers'

'Raspberry Splash'

'Majeste'

'Majeste' grouping

'Victorian Brooch' in bloom

'Victorian Brooch'

'Cotton Cool' (spring)

'Cotton Cool' (summer)

'Bubble Gum'

'Samurai'

'Trevi Fountain'