The Visitor's Center

 

Today was beautiful with sunshine and highs in the 70 degrees F in the afternoon.  We had some clouds but no sign of rain.  My "historical blog component" today will show the development of the visitor's center at Rotary Botanical Gardens over the past 25 years.  In essence, the modification from the old Wilcox Sand & Gravel Company office building (seen below) to the Parker Education Center (seen above) is an interesting story.  More on that process further down.  

 

We had a great turnout of volunteers for both gardening and Spring Plant Sale processing.  Janice and Jenny were in the sale all day with some help from Cindy and Cheryl.  Our volunteers helping tag and organize today included Carol S., Tina, Peggy, Pat R., Mary D., Shirley, Gary B., Nancy B., Janet M., Bev D., Joy, Eva, Kathy P. and many others.  I lost track of everyone as it was so busy but everyone did a great job helping tag and price plants for the sale.  We'll continue this process tomorrow.  Our gardening volunteers included Kay, Eva, Kathy, Myrt and Nancy.  Bob T. renewed his love of air edging and did a nice job too.  We continue to tidy and mulch out in the gardens and aren't far away from planting over the coming weeks.  We also saw Maury, Dr. Yahr (welcome back!), Glenn D., Terry S., Dick H., Kurt, Urban M. and a wide range of volunteers that came in for some cash register training for the upcoming sale.  Apologies to anyone I missed but my memory isn't what it used to be.

 

After helping out in the sale, both Cheryl and Cindy (half day) were out tidying in the garden.  This weekend will see big visitation out in the gardens (and a Saturday wedding!), so we're getting everything in order.  Pat helped with the sale too and then continued his air edging project in the entrance garden.  He always does a nice job.  Janice was in the sale most of the day with Jenny but both were able to get in the gardens briefly.  Big John and Terry helped with a wide range of projects including plant sale duties, water feature preparations and the installation of more of our 2014 Garden Art submittals (cool Adirondack chairs!).  I had a diverse set of activities today including a road trip for plants.

 

 

When Dr. Yahr walked the site that would ultimately become Rotary Botanical Gardens, he saw the building above which had stood for over 75 years and was the original office building for the Wilcox Sand & Gravel Company.  With mining activities ultimately ceasing and the pits finally filling with water (natural springs), the building went through a variety of uses including use as a residence, cattle barn, City storage, etc.  The building was slated for future demolition but Dr. Yahr envisioned this building as the entry point for visitors coming to the future botanical garden on the original 15 acre site situated on City of Janesville property.  In essence, he saved this building and along with a generous donation from local businessman Duane Rath, the building went through a dramatic renovation and became the Rath Environmental Center.  That portion of the current structure still bears that name although the transformation was amazing.  The entire building was gutted, the roof replaced and all the original brick work "re-tucked".  These images show the progression of this work which involved help from countless volunteers, the Wisconsin Conservation Corps and craftsmen from the General Motors Jobs Bank program.  When I came to the gardens in 1998, that building housed an office upstairs for seven of us and the first floor included bathrooms, a small gift shop, meeting room and a solarium as well (later removed).  This building served as the primary visitors center for the first 11 years of the gardens' history.  A two year capital campaign starting in 1999 raised funds to add a 10,000 square foot addition to this structure and our Horticulture Center.  Named the Parker Education Center, this new addition includes an expanded gift shop, atrium, expanded bathrooms, meeting space, an education classroom, storage and other amenities.  The original Rath Environmental Center is primarily expanded office space which was vital as well.  This brief history doesn't do this transformation justice but the photos below will help tell the story.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plant Sale Focus

 

Today was a beautiful day and I think I received my first light sunburn of the season.  The weather was perfect with sunshine all day long.  We had some great progress out in the Spring Plant Sale with another four loads delivered today.  Our Tree Sale processing will occur on Thursday with the arrival of all the trees.  Above is a shot of the perennials (organized nicely by Jenny today) and below are 150 small magnolias ready for a nice Mother's Day gift at only $15 each!    Janice, Jenny, Cindy, Cheryl and I spent the bulk of the day in the plant sale but also had help from Pat, Big John and Larry.  Larry and Cindy went on a road trip to pick up the plants seen below.  Everyone had duties too diverse to try to describe. It was a crazy morning out in the yard but we had some great help from Nancy N. (second photo down) and Mary D. (third photo down). Organizing the plants in a logical fashion is quite an art form and everyone did a great job today.  I continue to get pricing information processed with incoming orders and we'll be putting up more signs and information shortly.  With the RBG Friends Only sale on this Friday, we'll need to be ready.  Interested customers can become members on Friday if they like and walk right in to the sale for a 10% discount (for the duration of the sale).  The Tree Sale is open to the public on Friday from 9 am - 4 pm (no RBG member discount).  Further below are a few plant photographs I took today as I spread crabgrass preventer over turf areas that have been prone to that problem in the past.

 

 

 

 

species tulip (Tulipa tarda)

emerging 'Root Beer' coral bells (Heuchera)

Prairie Gem pear (Pyrus ussuriensis 'Mordak')

unfurling leaves of burnet (Sanguisorba tenuifolia)

The gardens were certainly not neglected today.  Pat spent his time air edging in the formal gardens and both John and Larry had garden tasks as well.  Above is Ron K. who spent almost the entire day working on mulching the woodland walk garden.  He did a great job and hauled/spread an amazing amount of mulch today.  Kay (below) worked her "clean-up kung fu" in multiple areas including the shade garden.  Eva and Kathy were also out in the gardens and did major clean-up around the sunken garden hedge of deer ravaged arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis).  Mary and Roy came in for weeding and tidying in the shade garden and were thorough as usual.  Bill O. came in for mowing and helped us unload incoming plant deliveries.  Maury ran errands for us and Stan came in for work in the Japanese garden.  Urban did some pruning and came back with some cartloads of debris.  The last photo is the snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) looking sharp as it opens up this week. 

Delivery Day #1

 

Today was pretty intense with a wide range of activities occurring, particularly in the morning.  Nice shot above of a pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) fully open this morning in the alpine garden.  The threat of drizzle didn't materialize thankfully so we were able to prepare for the Spring Plant Sale and Tree Sale this weekend, accept/process three deliveries and even get some gardening done too!  There were some other activities happening at the gardens this morning including the pouring of concrete sidewalks in front of the Parker Education Center and continued maintenance on our water features with the goal of every thing up and running by Mother's Day weekend.  Below are some images of our deliveries this morning which included woody shrubs and two loads of perennials.  Tomorrow we'll see most of the vegetables and herbs arrive with Wednesday being the last day for "incoming product!"  We'll have a wide range of plants for everyone and thanks to both staff and volunteers that helped with the myriad set-up details, unloading and staging efforts.

 

 

We had an energetic and efficient group of volunteers today.  Above and below is our talented tent crew (Ron W., Larry H., Ron P., Jim D., Bob C. and Gary B).  The guys set-up seven tents in quick succession and have this down to an art form.  Kevin was nearby preparing buckets for our signs and helped out with the unloading of deliveries as well.  Some of the guys headed in to the gardens for composting later in the morning.  Dick H. ran to the dump and helped with other activities and Dr. Gredler came in for his mowing duties.  Dick P. and Rollie made a road trip to pick up memorial bricks (near Milwaukee) and Maury helped with a wide range of activities.  Pat M. worked on one of his projects and our carpenters (Ron Y., Vern, Dave and Jim) continued work on the second giant obelisk which is ready for painting.  Eva went out for garden clean-up as did Tina B. (second photo down).  We also saw Denise, Mary F.P., Chuck S. and many others today. 

The grounds staff bounced between gardening duties and pre-plant sale duties seamlessly.  Above is Cindy tidying near the North Point garden.  Cindy, aside from tidying multiple areas, hauled plants and helped water all our new plants this afternoon.  Larry worked with our water feature guys, worked on troubleshooting duties and did some mowing as well.  Big John and Terry planted two trees (sugar maple and serviceberry) and installed (and prepared) our three large culvert pipe planters.  The guys helped unload shrubs and later were a big help with positioning tables for the plant sale.  I'm working on many different projects with a "brush fire mentality".  The Spring Plant Sale and Tree Sale are our priority but we're also getting the gardens in shape for a traditionally very big weekend out in the gardens for the Mother's Day Holiday.  Lots going on but that's typical for May and June (and July and August...).  Once the sale is over, we begin "planting in earnest" out in the gardens.   Below are some recent plant images from out in the gardens.

'Blue Sunrise' perennial geranium (Geranium hybrida)

wind anemone (Anemone blanda 'Blue Shades)

variegated sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa 'Fruhlingsgold') emerging

most of the lungworts (Pulmonaria sp.) are starting to bloom now

'Leonard Messel' magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri) is starting to bloom!

More Clouds - Plenty of Progress

There was a threat of rain today but we only had the lightest of drizzle to complete a solid week of overcast skies!  Next week looks better.  Of course, the overcast day was perfect for photography and capturing more color around the gardens.  Above is the start of bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) just starting to open up.  We have lots of bleeding heart species and I enjoy every one of them out in the spring garden.  Directly below is the white snake's head fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris 'Alba') just starting up.  The cooler weather has slowed down the start of some bulbs (they'll catch up!) but those already blooming have had an extended window with this "preservative cold spell"!  The hellebores (Helleborus sp.) are looking dynamite with the variety 'Blue Lady' seen two photos down.  We had a great day out in the gardens although Janice and I had more plant sale preparations at the Horticulture Center.  With six deliveries early next week for the Spring Plant Sale and trees arriving mid-week for the Tree Sale, we'll need to be "ready to receive!"

We had a great day of volunteerism.  Above is Ron K. tidying the woodland walk garden which he has kept pristine for many years.  He'll be mulching this garden next week as we can still get "in the gaps" with this slow emergence of perennials.  Directly below is Kay who did an awesome job composting her garden area in the shade garden.  She was later joined by Shirley (second photo down) who started with some weeding and transitioned to "composting helper" for Kay.  Urban came in for more pruning and both Dr. Gredler and Bill O. worked on the riding mowing of the entire gardens. 

The grounds staff had a very productive day as usual.  Pat can be seen in the above photo (center) preparing this space for our second giant obelisk.  Pat finished training our weeping ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 'Pendula') and had some other projects as well.  Cindy tidied a wide range of areas with a focus on the sunken garden and gazebo garden.  She also composted in the terrace garden along the perennial border in that garden.  Janice had some outdoor labeling work and refreshed the cutting display.  She also worked on a wide range of plant sale preparations as I did as well.  Below are Terry (foreground) and Big John continuing edging the Thomas Jefferson Collection beds.  We continue to add plants to this collection every week and are focusing on the cool season crops and early greens right  now.  The guys also did a nice job edging in the sunken garden and divided up all the push mowing duties.  Further below are some other colorful images from today.

'Sunningdale Variegated' masterwort (Astrantia major) - the variegation fades by mid-summer unfortunately

a specimen of the 'Royal Heritage' strain of hellebores (Helleborus)

'Black Diamond' hellebore (Helleborus)

our 18" diameter, painted culvert pipes are ready for plants as part of the expanded Jungle Garden this year

Lots of Juggling

There was a lot going on today out in the gardens and at the Horticulture Center.  Of course we had another rainy day although it was light enough most of the day that we were able to get outside.  There was plenty to see out in the gardens and I was able to tour quite extensively.  Above is the arched bridge this morning with weeping willows (Salix) showing early color in the distance.  This bridge is the most photographed spot out in the gardens and I take my share of images each year (and seasonally) as well.  Below is the 'Mt. Hood' grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) looking sharp today.  Most of the grape hyacinths (Muscari sp.) have started blooming and will peak over the next week or two with plenty of color.  The second photo down shows the colorful foliage of the variegated sweet iris (Iris pallida 'Albo-Variegata') which will be blooming light blue in a couple of weeks.

The grounds staff had a busy day.  Larry focused on getting the sunken garden pool and fountain operational and bounced between some other tasks.  Jenny organized some labels and moved on to a huge mulching project near the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden.  Cheryl focused her tidying efforts in the sunken garden and Pat worked on securing the giant obelisk (third photo down) as well as some other projects including helping train a weeping ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 'Pendula') with staking and wiring.  Janice worked on greenhouse duties, plant sale details, the Thomas Jefferson Collection (with John) in the fourth photo down and many other tasks.  Big John also worked on edging, securing benches, staging mulch piles and other duties.  Between meetings, I continue to prepare for the crazy spring that will become very involved next week with our Spring Plant Sale and Tree Sale (see our website).

 

 

 

There was additional activity out in the gardens this morning.  We have concrete contractors preparing our front walkways for new concrete on Monday (see above).  It will be nice to have these paths upgraded and we'll also be replacing much of the older bricks/blocks in the entrance garden patios.  We had a great turnout of Grumpies today for a wide range of tasks.  Directly below are Ron R. (left) and Larry H. continue to mulch paths and compost beds in the future Jungle Garden.  The guys loaded, hauled and spread many loads of materials this morning.  The second photo shows Gary B. (left) and Dick H. working on assembling our Spring Plant Sale tables that will go in to immediate use early next week as plants begin to arrive.  Dave, Vern, Jim and Ron Y. continued to work on carpentry projects including preparing doors for our Jungle Garden and further progress on our second giant obelisk.  Maury helped with various projects, ran for supplies and worked on looming Tree Sale details.  Bob K. had some electrical work at the Parker Education Center and Dr. Gredler did some mowing.  Bill O. came in later to help tidy up and we also saw Bev D., Bev W., Joel R. and many others today.  Further below are more showy images from today.

white pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris 'Alba')

more daffodils (Narcissus) blooming today

lungwort (Pulmonaria) emerging and just starting to bloom

'Black Diamond' hellebore (Helleborus)

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)