A Nice Gardening Day

There was no shortage of beautiful spaces out in the gardens today as evidenced by the Japanese garden photo directly above and the fern & moss garden directly below.  It was another warm, sunny day with temperatures around 80 degrees F.  Tomorrow looks more mild but the heat and sun were welcome today.  It was a nice day to garden and by the looks of it, a nice day to visit the garden.  We saw lots of visitors and some of the youth education participants out in the gardens.  We had plenty of work to accomplish and it truly is "brush fire mentality" as we bounce between the most important projects which still include the new electrical service to the future fountain, watering and other tasks.  Further below are some additional nice shots from the garden.

'Bloodgood' Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) foliage from below

emerging foliage of the variegated sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus 'Variegata')

 

Volunteers abounded today. Above are Stan (left) and Jumbo Jim in the Japanese garden which they tend religiously with Karen.  We did a tour of that particular garden to talk about removals, additions and other "edits" we'd like to accomplish yet this year.  Stan came back later in the day to do more pruning in that garden.  Jim brings the RECAPPERS down regularly and is a huge asset to the gardens.  Marsha M. (directly below) was out with her camera in hand and has no difficulty capturing the beauty of the gardens almost daily as our resident volunteer photographer.  Kay (second photo down) was busy tidying in her area of the shade garden when she wasn't posing for a photo.  She does thorough work and if I had 20 volunteers like Kay on a daily basis, I'd sleep better at night.  Eva and Kathy spent significant time in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden doing more weeding in the real tough spots.  Mary, Myrt and Nancy came in for similar weed patrol on the east end of the gardens and never ran out of work.  They do a nice job and are my reliable Wednesday afternoon team (with Gena too).  Bob K. (third photo down) was with us for another day of working on the new electrical line for the fountain.  He really took on this project and has done spectacular and much appreciated work.  He's received some great help from both volunteers and staff and we're looking forward to the new fountain being installed next week.  Bob T. was in for most of the day for tidying up our edging and Janice worked with Dawn and three of our Chestnut House Volunteers.  We also saw Julie G., Dick P. and many others.  Lots of people coming and going!  

 

 

 

Our Wednesday grounds staff worked wonderfully as a team with lots of bouncing between projects.  Pat and Terry helped Bob K. (above) for most of the morning and tidied up the gazebo garden after this electrical project because of looming weddings in that space this weekend.  Terry later made a trip to pick up plants.  Big John had various tasks this morning followed by a morning trip for plants.  He later watered, rototilled and worked on some other projects too (including also helping Bob K.).  Cindy and Cheryl started the day deadheading spent tulips (Tulipa) in front of the building which made the next wave of 2,000 'Pink Diamond' tulips (Tulipa) stand out at peak coloration.  Cheryl moved on to work in the Japanese garden and spent most of the afternoon watering our almost full yard of newly arrived plants.  Cindy helped organize and prepare the cosmos collection with Jenny.  Jenny spent her day in the yard matching labels to plants, organizing plants, working on the cosmos collection, etc.  She does a great job and did have a small planting project as well.  I was able to also spray some herbicide in vital areas and helped with some other projects while chipping away at my desk work.  Below are more photos from the gardens this morning.

'Fire Dragon' barrenwort (Epimedium hybrida) today

'Pink Lanterns' wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)

'Waterperry' creeping veronica (Veronica peduncularis)

two vigorous perennials combining well today - golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') and spotted deadnettle (Lamium sp.)

'Turkish Delight' alpine wallflower (Erysimum sp.)

11,520 More Plants Arrive

Have you ever wondered what 11,520 plants look like?  Well, double what you see above and that's what I picked up today from one of our growers over in Brodhead, WI.  These were exciting and fruitful trips as the block of plants above are all the varieties (65?) for our Cosmos Collection.  The other load included plants for other collections and displays.  We hope to plant these in the coming days.  The trailer below is quite handy and will be on the road daily over the coming weeks.  I made both plant runs this morning so I can select and haul plants based on collection and the "proximity" to planting time.  In essence, I'm bulking up on plants that we can install over the next two Saturdays (May 24th and May 31st) at our Volunteer Workdays (8 am until 12 noon). 

The grounds staff sure put in their time today.  Big John and Larry helped Bob K. further with his trenching project (see some of the photos further below from yesterday).  This new electrical service will be hooked to a brand new fountain to be installed next week in our small pond.  Funded by a donation, this fountain will be an aesthetic and functional addition to that pond and not only add beauty but will provide some help with water aeration and circulation.  John also worked on rototilling, watering and myriad other projects.  Larry also did some mowing and his usual "morning rounds" to check water features.  Pat finished up his securing of Giant Obelisk #2 and moved on to mowing and edging.  Janice worked on mowing, the cutting display, weed control in the moss garden, watering and other duties.  Cindy had multiple areas to tidy up and moved to major watering in the yard including all the new arrivals from today.  Cheryl did some early watering and focused her attention in the Japanese garden which needed some help.  Aside from my two trips, I'm just trying to keep my head above water and get ready for the next day!  More nice weather on the way though!  We saw a good sized tour come through the gardens as well.  Below are some more recent plant shots from the garden.

'Akebono' barrenwort (Epimedium hybrida)

'Sun King' golden Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata)

Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans) in full bloom

Bob K. above assaulting a tree root

Terry (yesterday) helping with the trenching

 renting a trencher was certainly helpful

We had a great volunteer turnout particularly this morning.  Above is Ron K. who spent most of the morning planting perennials in the woodland walk garden which he has tended for his third year in a row.  He does a nice job for sure!  Kay, Eva and Kathy came in for more weeding and tidying in the entrance garden and Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden.  Dr. Gredler and Bill O. came in for mowing duties and Urban was in for some more pruning.  Mary H. and her daughter Kathy came in for some planting in their assigned garden. We also saw Ray, Dr. Yahr and many others today.  Below are some additional shots from the gardens from yesterday and today.

'Aureola' Japanese Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra)

'Tiramisu' coral bells (Heuchera)

white bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba')

'June Fever' plantain lily (Hosta)

I saw this neat bike planter for years just outside of Brodhead, WI (east of town on Hwy 11) and had to get a photo.  I tried to take it for a spin but it was secured quite well.  Neat!

Just Another Manic Monday

 

I've "aged" myself with my blog reference to the Bangles song "Manic Monday" (1986) which does indeed capture the crazy day we all had today.  There were a lot of different tasks occurring simultaneously and the grounds staff and volunteers multi-tasked splendidly.  We had a full parking lot at the Horticulture Center and immediate projects included taking down the plant sale tents, trenching in 600' of electrical service for a new fountain, putting up Giant Obelisk #2 and securing some doors in our Jungle Garden.  Lots of progress was achieved with about 30 volunteer bustling about all morning. Above is the wild hyacinth (Camassia cusickii) which is planted as a fall bulb.  This native species is one of six and the light blue is quite fetching.  Some other fun shots from today and Saturday can be seen further below.

 

'Valentine' bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) - dark red selection!

'Orange Crest' globeflower (Trollius x cultorum)

emerging foliage of Lady In Red ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Tuilad')

 

Pat M. did a nice job getting the giant obelisk up today.  His involvement started way back with preparing, painting and securing the two pieces of this obelisk both inside and outside.  Above are the guys assisting Pat with assembly and ultimately getting this structure upright.  In that same area, the carpenters (seen below) of Jim, Dave, Vern and Ron Y. started hanging doors for our Jungle Garden.  You'll have to come in summer and see how this collection fills out!  Our weeding team of Shirley, Kathy, Eva and Bethany (second photo down) did a great job in the entrance garden which really needed their attention.  Our "tent takedown team" of Ron W., Ron R., Lloyd, Bob C. and Gary B. did a nice job and helped with other tasks as well including some composting.  Ron W. helped his child bride Bev (third photo down) with some weeding in the sunken garden as well.  Dick P. (fourth photo down posing with 'Pink Diamond' tulips) led his team of Dick H., Kevin and Jill with dismantling one of our brick patios out front.  We'll be converting all the block patios to concrete for accessibility and longevity.  They did a nice job and it was not easy work.  Larry worked with Bob K. and Emmett on the trenching project which ended up lasting all day with later assistance from Big John and Terry. Dr. Gredler was in for mowing and we also saw Karen (Japanese garden maintenance), Jumbo Jim, Dr. Yahr, Mary Kay T., Jason, Mike P. and many members of two committees (Horticulture Therapy and Home Garden Tour) later in the day as well. 

 

 

 

 

The grounds staff had a busy day and were incorporated in to most of the activities mentioned above.  Cindy accomplished some major shifting of plants from the greenhouses out in to some fresh air.  She also tidied the entrance garden, watered and continued with yard watering and more plant shifting.  Big John and Terry  helped haul the doors out for the carpenters, picked up/installed/watered all of our hanging baskets and helped with trenching and rototilling later in the day.  While we had a bit of rain, it didn't thwart our progress much.  Larry was involved with the trenching project most of the day but also helped with various other projects as needed.  I continue to stay busy with a wide range of tasks.  More fun plant photos below!

spring foliage of barrenwort (Epimedium x rubrum)

'Cherry Cola' coral bells (Heuchera)

'Sweet Kate' golden spiderwort (Tradescantia x andersoniana) - will have blue flowers soon!

Above are just a fraction of the plants in our yard that need a new home soon (not yours)!  Come to any and all of the next four Saturday Volunteer Workdays (Saturdays of May 24, 31, June 7, 14) from 8 am until 12 noon for some planting fun and fulfillment!  Meet at the Parker Education Center, dress for the weather and bring gardening gloves.  We'll supply the plants and donuts!

Successful Saturday Volunteer Workday

Our first Saturday Volunteer Workday of the season went well with many in attendance.  Janice and Big John helped facilitate and a big thanks to Jim S., Carol S., Marty F., Pat, Hal, Doris, Gary, Sue, Andrew, Dawn, Gary, Mary D., Bethany, Pat R., Pete R., Renne, Joe, Mark, Chuck, Emmett, Britta, Britta's mom, Jenny, Bob K. and Mike P.  These 25 volunteers weren't the only ones!  Jumbo Jim brought in three RECAPPERS to tidy up the Japanese garden and Bill O. came in to help Larry with various projects.  Dennis J. and Elaine S. ran the Bagged Compost Sale (runs three more Saturdays!, 8 am - 12 noon) and the Janesville Area Herb Society was at the Horticulture Center for their monthly meeting.  It was a crazy day but the weather was nice and our planting and tidying focus was all around the gazebo garden and the east end of the gardens as there were weddings on the other end!  We'll have four more of these workdays in succession over the next four Saturdays (8 am - 12 noon).