Culvert Conversion

As seen above, our culvert pipe planters are being moved out of storage (by Terry and Larry at the top) and will be going thru their next color conversion very shortly. The two large culverts (24" diameter) directly above, which are two of five that size, were wiped down and cleaned up by Urban today and are drying overnight. These five will be converted to a glossy, brilliant white color and will be used in our primary color scheme (silver/white/light blue) this year. These culverts have already been maroon, light blue (as seen) and will have this new look in 2012. We've had lots of comments and questions from visitors regarding these planters and how we install, plant and maintain them out in the gardens. They are such a signficant vertical element that they are bound to attract attention but certainly lend a sense of "scale" in any space they are located. We use plastic garbage can inserts to hold the soil (36" depth or so) and rebar supports keep the container from sliding down in to the pipe. They are not light and their handling can become tricky. We'll also be using the 18" diameter culvert pipes in other locations (color still to be determined...). To the left is a shot provided by Ken T. of our bear sculpture with resident robin (from last spring). I've taken this same shot but not with the same clarity (I couldn't get the robin to smile). What a nice nesting location! To the right is Terry continuing work on his pallet planter. Note the circular openings that we'll use for larger veggies. This planter is on it's side right now but Terry is making two that we'll include out in the gardens this spring. Directly below is the golden foliage of the 'Saybrook Gold' juniper (Juniperus chinensis) in front of the Parker Education Center. I love gold conifers and so many of them become brighter in our winters and lend plenty of color to the otherwise barren landscape.Directly above is the "trial bowl" that Marv painted early this week. This is obviously upside down but imagine six of these bowls (27" wide and 7" deep) secured and elevated on top of 8" diameter pvc pipe. The entire bowls and supports will be metallic silver and we'll have fun plants spilling out of these. Note the drainage holes. A pot this shallow will be in need of frequent watering and attention but they should look good in our silver/white/light blue theme.

We had a nice turnout of volunteers today. To the right is Urban working on pruning a Heritage oak (Quercus macrocarpa x robur 'Clemons') near our prairie restoration. This oak is a nice cross between the native bur oak and English oak. Dick W. was also out in the gardens cutting back ornamental grasses (see his vehicle further below). We typically leave grasses until late March before cutting them back. However, we have many that don't look real good and our visitation right now is minimal. The "cool season" grasses that emerge early are not far away from popping up if we have continued warm weather. We'll take advantage of the weather and get a jump on the early spring cleaning efforts regardless. Gena and Myrt were around yesterday also working on cutting back many of the grasses as well. Larry worked on his signs this morning but was out pruning later in the day. Dave, Jim, Bob A., Vern and Del were all working around the shop on various tasks. Maury was in and ran some errands for us. Janice came in to work on our "Grains of the World" collection and we continue to make progress with spring plant sale preparations. We also saw Gary and some others today. To the left is the silhouette of a black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) near our horticulture center. Now is a good time to look at branch structure of your deciduous trees and shrubs to see where you might have issues of crossing/rubbing branches or other issues that should be dealt with immediately. It's a lot easier to observe these features now before the leaves emerge (obviously!).

I'm trying to finish orders for both grounds and our spring plant sale. We'll have a wide range of herbs available for the Spring Plant Sale (May 12-13, 9 am - 4 pm) to go along with veggies, perennials, compost and other offerings. Check out our website at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information. The available vegetable variety lists for the sale are currently on the website to be followed shortly by the herb listings. To the right are the remnants of the recent removal of a mostly dead yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea) near the arboretum. You can see how it gets it's name and look at the sawdust in the distance too. Interesting. We're going to plant another one in a different area as it is a beautiful and hardy tree. At the bottom is the remnant flower structure of a goldenrod (Solidago sp.) bloom with a touch of frost in our prairie restoration.

Nice Trip But Saw A Thug

The talk I gave last night in Sturgeon Bay went very well. My talk, for the Door County Master Gardeners, was on Color in the Garden. As usual, I went on all my typical tangents with my "stream of thought" type presentation. There was a fun crowd of about 70 or so with plenty of questions and only about 8 attendees had been to RBG in the past. I showed images of RBG (plants, gardens, volunteers) before the presentation and during the break to entice some future visitors too. Thanks to Sarah F. for inviting me up there and a big thank you to Coggin Heeringa, Executive Director of the Crossroads at Big Creek (www.crossroadsatbigcreek.com/), who provided space for the presentation. Check out their website. The nature center was really neat and I'd love to explore the grounds on a warmer day in the future. My daughter and I enjoyed the entire trip and were able to spend some time together. She has travelled, since she was 3 years old, to many of my "overnight presentations" although we'll see if that interest persists in her pre-teens (she's now 12).

Coggin mentioned that her husband has been involved with the control of common reed (Phragmites australis) in that area. The two photos I include here are from the internet and show the winter coloration (above) and summer blooms (below) of this vigorous grass. I've always noted Phragmites along roadsides and was aware of its invasive potential, particularly in wetland or damp situations. This plant is found worldwide and there is some debate as to variability of this species and when it was introduced. Research has shown that common reed (Phragmites australis subsp. americanus) may have existed prior to colonization (actually native to the Eastern U.S.) but is much less vigorous than the introduced reed which is what I observed from Door County all the way back home to Janesville. This plant can and will displace other plants and is extremely vigorous as it spreads primarily by rhizomes. There have been many uses of this plant by many cultures and I can't dispute that it looks neat waving in the breeze. However, I understand the need for control before this plant continues to gain more footing in our riparian areas. Do a bit more research on this thug, one of many, that shouldn't escape our attention.

Door County

I wont have much time to blog today as I'll be at RBG for a half day and them heading up to Sturgeon Bay in Door County, WI to do a talk this evening on Color in the Garden. I'm taking my younger daughter with and we'll stay over night with a return tomorrow. Above is a nice shot of the formal annual sections a couple years ago. I believe this image is in my talk for this evening. Look on top of the boxwood (Buxus) hedges to the left and you'll see some light patches. Those are the spider webs with morning dew exposing their location!

I drove in to a light, wet snow that shouldn't last long with the continuation of warm temperatures. The trees sure looked picturesque with the snow clinging to all the branches. Larry was here to continue working on his tree sign bases. Bill O. came in to help Larry and we also saw Maury, Janice, Nancy, Vern, Dr. Gredler and Terry was in to continue working on his vertical pallet planters. Little Jerry stopped by and we also saw Todd E. Below is our orange and blue theme in front of the Parker Education Center (back in 2008?). I had some criticism for the Chicago Bears colors but it turned out pretty nice regardless.

Perennial Plant Of The Year - 2012

The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) has announced the 'Jack Frost' false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla) as the Perennial Plant of the Year for 2012. Included here are some of my best pictures of this awesome perennial. I've long admired this perennial and have used it extensively at RBG and at home. We probably have 30 or so specimens throughout all of our shady and partly shady garden areas. Also called Siberian bugloss, brunnera and heartleaf brunnera, this perennial is hardy to zone 3 and really packs a punch with nice blue blossoms in spring (to the right) followed by the "cracked porcelain" look of frosty silver on the leaves. This perennial will get 12-15" high with a spread of 20" wide at maturity. This variety was originally found as a "sport" of the well known variety 'Langtrees' at Walters Gardens, Inc. in Zeeland, MI.

This perennial grows best in shadier areas with good moisture-retentive soils. Exposed to excessive sun and/or drought, 'Jack Frost' will exhibit leaf scorching and look less than ideal. This perennial is an excellent companion for hostas, ferns, barrenworts (Epimedium), coral bells (Heuchera) and other perennials that perfer shady, moist conditions. The silver coloring of the leaves offers some nice "illumination" in the shade garden and we've used it for that exact purpose at RBG. I've rarely seen any insect or disease issues and have noticed that the deer don't browse this plant due to the "sand papery texture" of the leaves. The silvering of the leaves gets more intense after the brief flowering period in May. I would certainly rank this as one of my favorite, low-maintenance perennials, particularly for part-shade.

With another nice, sunny day, we had plenty of volunteers come in to help out this morning. Directly above is the beginning of our vertical, "pallet planter" that Terry is working on this week. I've seen these used in the past and plants will be spilling out of all those openings. However, there are some preparations involved with getting these secured, stabilized and ready for planting. Terry will construct two of these that we'll use out in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Collection. I envision using herbs and other edibles out the gaps and we'll even plant the top. Should be fun to try it. Marv worked on our new bowl planter project and ultimately ended up with a nice silver on the pot he was working on (to the right). We'll ultimately prepare 15 of these "elevated bowl planters" and six will be painted a metallic silver for use in our silver/white theme this year. Larry worked on pouring more bases for our tree signs and Dick H. (to the left) continued cutting more aluminum stakes for Larry. Vern, Dave, Jim and Bob A. continued their work on the garbage and recycling bins. Urban was out pruning in the entrance garden and Dick W. was out doing some early spring clean-up as well. Marianne came in to work on preparing labels, seeds and some other odd jobs. Luis continued woody plant label production on the engraver. We also saw Gary, Tammy T., Kris and others today. Dr. Gredler was in for more obelisk work and started a red to powder blue transition. Look how happy he is about this project (to the right). I worked on myriad projects and still need to finish some plant orders.

See http://rotarybotanicalgardens.org/youth-family-education/leap-day-family-fun for information on some fun family activities coming up at the end of the month. The evening of February 28th will be our next volunteer soup social (5 pm). Current, past and potential volunteers can RSVP at our gift shop by calling (608) 752-3885 (extension 0). I'll talk about Gardens of Philadelphia and many of our 2012 plans out in the gardens. I've already received two submittals for our 2012 Photography Contest (see our website for details) and one of our participants, Jim T., sent along some extra shots that he said I could use as needed. Two of his excellent shots are included below. The curly branched plant is the Harry Lauder's walking stick or contorted European filbert (Corylus avellana 'Contorta'). Check out the details on this fun event.

Parker Pen Archway

I stopped in to RBG briefly this morning for a meeting of our Home Garden Tour Committee (also attended by Jean, Bill, Tim, Barb and Cora) at the Horticulture Center. This is an event that requires lots of advance preparations prior to July 21st, the actual day of the event (10 am - 4 pm). We have a good committee and details are progressing nicely. I also saw Larry, Bill and Maury this morning at the Horticulture Center.

It's been really nice to go thru many historic images over the past couple of weeks. I'm preparing a "pictorial presentation" regarding the history of RBG. A special thanks to Bill O. and Doug V. who each scanned thousands of older images, slides, etc. to help accumulate a nice historical, visual reference of the garden in digital format. We've saved these images and many others in multiple locations so they are safeguarded. In organizing these images, I've run across many great reference shots. I included many images of the druid sculpture in the reception garden in the blog from yesterday. I also accumulated lots of images of the arch leading from the reception garden down in to the sunken garden and some of those images are included here. I would say this archway belongs to both the reception garden and sunken garden. This is the archway to the original Parker Pen world headquarters here in Janesville. This piece is also on permanent loan from the Rock County Historical Society as is the aforementioned druid. The images below show a progression of activity with the assembly of the archway, orchestrated by our volunteer Harold Todd, and the development of both the reception and sunken gardens around that same time (early 1990s).

History Of A Druid

I'm off today so don't have much to report regarding happenings at RBG. I'm sure Dr. Gredler was in to paint more obelisks and perhaps other volunteers appeared as well. This blog posting is dedicated to our druid sculpture in the reception garden. She's hard to see in the image above but is positioned under that arch and was originally placed in this central location to be "on axis"with the mid-point of the archway leading in to the sunken garden. I'll blog about the history of the archway tomorrow. However, the druid is positioned on a visual line that bisects the reception garden (west to east), the sunken archway and is in line with the Parker sculpture at the far end of the sunken garden. To the right you can see her adoringly holding a small evergreen (with some snow).

The druid has a 110+ year history based on what I have been told. She used to be located on top of the original House of Mercy (nunnery) in Janesville, WI which is the precursor to the Mercy Health System which has expanded throughout Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. This statue is on permanent loan from the Rock County Historical Society and is a wonderful feature and focal point in the reception garden.

The two pictures below show what she looked like before being cleaned up and installed in the gardens in 1992. I think Dr. Yahr stumbled on her being "stored" in this field and saw her true potential. She has been the unfortunate recipient of vandalism over the years but is still looking good after being refurbished multiple times. We have many pieces of "Janesville history" throughout the gardens and I like to think that this druid, a protector of nature, keeps an eye on things around the gardens (as do our security cameras too....). Pan further below and see some of her history.Below are some of the images of the druid being unloaded and subsequently placed in her final location in the reception garden.

In the picture above, you can see the druid to the right of the image. The retaining walls had been installed and the center planter but no plants had been placed as of yet and the remainder of the asphalt paving was yet to be put down. The photo below shows an interesting point in the history of the reception garden. That archway structure was put in place opposite the Parker Pen archway and was meant for the statue to be placed directly underneath. I'll need to ask Dr. Yahr why that never came to fruition as that structure was dismantled and a simple steel arch was placed over the druid for vines. Look closely at the structure below though...The uprights are currently used to support the duck sculpture that leads in to the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's garden and the arch itself, being three pieces, was used as part of the low walls defining the Hosta Hollow Garden. This recycling was appropriate and Dr. Yahr had the vision for not only the original use but the re-use as well. In 2006, we had horrible vandalism in the gardens which resulted in $20,000+ in damage. Three teenagers, later caught and prosecuted, went on a vandalism binge that included breaking windows, benches, planters, a small bridge, a $5,000 limestone bowl planter, etc. They also knocked over the druid as seen below. A couple years later, some moron smashed a brick or other hard object on her in a couple locations. The second photo down shows the druid being put back in to place in 2006. Ironically, this vandalism was done three days before we hosted the annual meeting of the Midwest Regional Garden Writers Association and we spent some long days cleaning up before that visit. It took years to replace many of the damaged objects although the druid fared better than some other items. The vandalism did result in $42,000 in donations from the community which were used for increased security (cameras) around the gardens. What a sad commentary....Directly below is Ron Sutterlin of Sutterlin Restorations (Janesville, WI) who has generously donated his time twice to refurbish the druid. As much as we appreciate his help and talents, I hope we don't ever need his services for the druid again! We hope this druid will outlive many more generations of visitors, volunteers and supporters of the gardens and she is a true testament to the resilience and beauty of RBG!