A Brief Dip In The Temperature

Today was very pleasant outside with highs in the upper 70 degrees F or so. Of course, it will get warmer this week with more brutal temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday. The fact that the rain missed us this past weekend will affect our tasks as we are now falling behind on watering duties. We can only run so much irrigation, sprinklers, etc. at one time and are starting to address woody plants that are showing severe wilting. We had a great day today though with plenty of volunteer assistance. Above are Roy, Cindy (orange) and Mary in the distance accomplishing some serious planting in our "hardest to plant" garden (azalea/rhododendron garden). This garden area has some severe slopes, marginal soils and many obstacles. Shirley was just off camera also planting in that same area. Directly above is the orange milkweed (Asclepias curassavica 'Silky Gold') which is in our our orange themed border planting in the larch area. This annual will get close to 4' tall and will be a significant butterfly magnet while also offering some solid flower interest. To the above right is my second load of annuals that were hauled out to our last large garden berm still awaiting plants. Our team above (sans Shirley who shifted to watering) also worked on this berm with Janice and her volunteers from the Chestnut House. To the left and lower right are just some of the many talented helpers we had this morning and at the bottom is the Chestnut House gang in front of the oak leaf garden art project that they created.

We had a nice Grumpy turnout today as well. Russ and Del hauled shredded bark all morning and did a nice job mulching many areas near the Parker Education Center. Bob C. and Urban helped water the yard and both moved on to other projects as well. Ron W., Ron B. and Lloyd (new Grumpy) did a nice job tidying up paths which could be a full time job around RBG! Rollie and Dick P. installed a large brick for a dedication today and Rollie moved on to some mulching as well. Stan was working in the Japanese garden as was Karen M. Dick H. helped with a gas run (with Rollie) and assisted where he was needed. Jim, Vern and Bob A. had some projects as well and are currently working on a secret project (to be revealed shortly!). Gary worked on some labels and has a good plan for replacing many of our bench plaques as well. Bill O. was in later to help Dr. Gredler collect some debris from the pond and Dr. Gredler had a full morning of mowing as well. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Rose, Maury, Hal, Corky, Joan, Jean and many others today. Lynn was in the English cottage garden planting and watering too. Directly below is the glowing orange bloom cluster of the 'Orange Appeal' geranium (Pelargonium x hortorum) which is also featured in our orange themed border. Now that is bright!Our 2012 Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Collection (seen above) is a huge success. It's filling in nicely and I've talked to many visitors that are really enjoying the displays and plants in this space. It's still filling in but looking better every day. While most visitors stroll thru the gardens and enjoy each space, we're really seeing everyone pause at this garden to explore with a little more attention to detail. That, to me, makes this garden extremely successful (and educational). To the right is another shot of the barley (Hordeum vulgare) which is one of eight plants that are being featured in our Grains of the World collection. This collection is also replicated at the Rock County Farm and in containers that Janice will use later for education. To the left is the showy bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) just starting to bloom. While this large shrub will colonize a space (think thicket), it sure offers some solid summer interest out in the garden.

I'm glad the grounds staff had a brief respite from the 90 degree F days (for now) and we all enjoyed the weather out in the gardens. Watering, of course, was on everyone's list and we had irrigation, sprinklers and hand watering occuring throughout the entire day. Marv and Terry shifted around many sprinklers and did the mammoth task of fertilizing all of our containers. The guys also started shearing our boxwood (Buxus 'Green Velvet') hedges in the formal gardens. Their new electric shears are pretty nice and the hedges are looking quite nice. Marianne did some major weeding in the North point garden and did a nice job tidying, weeding, planting (filler annuals) and watering the entrance garden in front of the Parker Education Center. She also did her cutting display and consolidated many of our yard plants this morning. Big John had his share of sprinklers to set-up and move around. He also hand-watered, fertilized and did some weedwhipping. Larry pumped out and cleaned up the sunken pool which has had some issues this year with debris and water quality. Larry also kept the irrigation zones running and helped with many other watering challenges. He and John also helped with shifting some benches later in the day. Pat was in to continue his painting on the main building. I hauled plants out this morning and bounced between projects. I am starting to see the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" in regards to our annual planting but we still have plenty of work over the next two weeks. To the right is the 'Flower Fiesta' daylily (Hemerocallis) looking nice in our daylily collection. This collection, organized and evaluated by our volunteer Lisa I., is a National Display Garden for the American Hemerocallis Society. Directly below is the 'Happy Hour Peppermint' moss rose (Portulaca) which is one of many varieties blooming strongly in the 2012 Moss Rose Collection (65 varieties). At the bottom are the Chestnut House Volunteers today (great job!) with their art project (leaf).

Friday Excursion

Last Friday I spent the bulk of the day in Madison for various functions and had a great visit with Cheryl who is the Department of Botany Administrator (UW-Madison) and also a RBG volunteer and Master Gardener. I've known Cheryl for many years and it was nice to spend some time with her last week. She gave me a tour of the Botany Building and I was amazed by the size of the herbarium. The greenhouses were also very interesting and were jammed packed with neat plants. The top photo shows some of their cacti collection and directly above, I caught the cotton (Gossypium) plant opening with the cotton fibers surrounding the seeds. The next stage in processing commercially would be the "ginning" process to separate the fibers. Cotton has obvious value as a fiber plant but also is a major oilseed crop and is processed as a protein source for animal feed. The greenhouses were really neat with a wide range of plants and it was nice to hear that school groups visit and tour as well. Cheryl mentioned that everything was inventoried and much of the plant material is used directly in the classroom. To the left are some of the MANY interesting pitcher plants that were in the aquatic greenhouse as were the Venus fly traps to the right. They sure look menacing but read a bit more about how (and why) they attract and utilize insect proteins in their diet. Cheryl then gave me a tour of their botany garden (along University Avenue) which by chance, was one I had only observed while driving by in the past and had never seen it up close. It was a neat smaller garden with a wide range of plant material including woody plants, perennials and annuals. The garden is roughly divided by monocots and dicots and the layout is quite aesthetic. I took many photos in this space including the shot of the ripening fruits of the Italian arum (Arum italicum) to the left. Those fruit clusters will turn a bright orange and look quite similar to the native Jack-in-the-pulpits (Arisaema triphyllum). To the lower right is one of the best looking specimens of the criss-cross fern (Athyrium filix-femina 'Victoriae') that I've ever seen. The cresting is quite evident as is the interesting pattern of the pinnae (leaflets). After my fun tour with Cheryl, I swung by the West Madison Agricultural Research Center (WMARC) for a couple minutes before I had to pick my younger daughter up from a nearby summer camp. The WMARC is one of my favorite trial gardens to visit as I always see a wide range of plantings (particularly annuals) that we haven't tried at RBG yet. I've heard rumors that UW-Madison may not be funding the display garden portion of this facility next year. That would be a true travesty and I hope that the situation can be rectified in some manner. Judy, former Director of the display gardens, gave the grounds staff and me a great tour a couple years ago and I never had fully realized the scope of what they are trialing, how they acquire their plants and their funding challenges (even at that time). Aside from annuals, there are a wide range of perennials, grasses, shrubs, native plants, vegetables and other goodies positioned around the gardens (free entry for the public, donation encouraged!). I'm not sure how many people visit this valuable display garden but my guess is that it is not on every gardener's "radar" yet (and it should be!). Directly above is one of the panicled hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) that they are trialing which is fast becoming one of my favorites. This is the variety 'Dharuma' which is known for being quite compact with very solid flower coverage throughout the summer. Olbrich Botanical Gardens has some very nice specimens as well and while ours are quite young right now, they should fill out nicely. Some perennials that caught my eye are the 'Grand Marshall' bee balm (Monarda didyma) to the above left and the 'Sienna Sunset' threadleaf tickseed (Coreopsis). WMARC also has a wide assortment of annuals including an All-America Selections collection and annuals for the shade as well. I like when they display a wide range of varieties of a specific type of annual. The past couple of years, I've seen some really nice Lobelia, Verbena and Calibrichoa (million bells) collections. To the left and right are some of the million bells (Calibrichoa) varieties that caught my eye. To the left is 'Coralberry Punch' and to the right is 'Callie Dark Blue'. Lots of neat plants and a fun day overall that included my "horticultural fix". After working seven Saturdays in a row, it was nice to have a two day weekend although the lack of rainfall is becoming a real concern.

Filling In For Mother Nature

Today was another day of heavy watering and the team fell right in to old routines with our irrigation, sprinklers, hand watering, etc. This persistent dry weather, coupled with higher than normal temperatures, is challenging our ability to keep up to be honest. We essentially have held off on any major planting this week so we could focus on watering needs around the gardens. The top photo is the wooly sage (Salvia argentea) that many visitors ask about each year. Of course, this soft-textured plant is in our silver/white/blue theme this year and is certainly a plant that everyone wants to touch. This species of salvia is hardy to zone 5 and might make it through a milder winter. We've used it primarily as a seasonal plant though and it becomes increasingly more interesting as it gains height (18") and girth. I've never seen it bloom but know that it has showy white flower clusters. Directly above is the far slope across the water from our North point garden. Beyond the slope is the Janesville Ice Arena which is receiving some significant improvements including geothermal heating and cooling utilizing water from the pond. All of these flexible pipes and tubes are part of this installation and there were workers out on jet skis getting these in place. All the tubes have now been sunk in the pond. To the right is the variegated red scabious (Knautia macedonica 'Thunder & Lightning') that I'm becoming more impressed with every time I see it. The variegated foliage is a nice backdrop for the solid (and lengthy) flower presentation. To the left is the 'Prairie Splendor' purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) which was one of the first purple coneflower varieties to bloom the first year from seed. This variety is also known to be one of the earliest to bloom and will show flowers almost 2 weeks before other varieties show color.

This morning we had Kay and Shirley out weeding in various locations (color rooms, shade garden, etc.) and the ladies did their typical great job. Jan was in to tidy up the Scottish garden and I also placed a good 50 or so perennials in the garden for her to plant. These plants included many varieties for the "Scottish Highlands" section of that garden which includes many alpine selections. Dr. Gredler was in for mowing as was Bill O. Sharon came in and was a huge help with watering out in the yard. Don and Pearl popped by this morning to weed and tidy up two garden sections and we also saw Maury, Urban, Rose and many others as well. Dick P. was in to repair our water fountain this morning too. To the right is the 'Encourage' lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina) which is a very heavily crested form. I like the texture offered by this selection (here seen in our fern & moss garden). Directly below is the dwarf goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius) in full bloom above lacy foliage (12" tall). The next photo down is a close-up of a single hollyhock (Alcea rosea) blossom which is showy from a distance and even more exquisite as you get closer.
The grounds staff did another nice job today and we continue to look forward to the resumption of rainfall and hopefully, the end to our spring/early summer planting in the coming weeks. I was at the gardens this morning to get everyone started and then headed up to Madison for various purposes including a tour of the Botany greenhouses and teaching garden with Cheryl, a RBG volunteer and Department Administrator for the Botany Department at UW-Madison. I'll share some of those photos tomorrow and of course, I left the gardens in good hands with our Friday team. To the right is a bloom of the Quickfire panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Bulk') which continues to be the earliest blooming of all the panicled hydrangeas. To the left is the early growth of the 'Field of Dreams' variegated corn (Zea mays). While we've grown some different varieties of variegated corn in the past, this one looks like it will be just as showy as the rest and can be found in our Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Collection this year. Apparently the kernels of this variety can be popped.

Marv had irrigation zones running right away this morning and ran zones throughout the gardens to continue our pattern of keeping areas moist through this dry spell. Marv also moved many sprinklers around and spent some time shearing as well. Big John, while there a half day today, did a lot of watering as well. He had sprinklers going and did quite a bit of hand watering which included most of our containers. Without a doubt, this year has the most containers to monitor for watering and we didn't anticipate such a challengingly dry June! Jenny worked on weeding, labeling duties, garden clean-up and plenty of watering. We have Jenny through the end of next week (on the clock) as so many of her talents are most important in spring. Janice also weeded, tidied up here and there and had a full list of watering duties as well. Marianne popped in to do her cutting display too. To the right is one of the relatively new (and showy) threadleaf tickseeds (Coreopsis verticillata 'Sunset Strip'). This variety (18" tall) will bloom throughout the summer and is known for these showy orange/yellow bicolor blooms. Directly below is our "desk planter" that Victoria planted earlier this week. It will be fun to see these plants fill out. The bottom photo shows the stacked pvc planters (courtesy of http://www.theurbangrow.com/) starting to really fill out as the cascading tomatoes start to hit stride. No volunteer work day tomorrow but plenty of watering for Larry and Bill!

A Cooler Day For Weeding

Today was noticeably cooler, particularly in the morning. Our rain last night never materialized and there was just the barest wetting of the pavement this morning as the clouds later passed through the area. Needless to day, the morning was quite tolerable although the afternoon did see some temperatures in the mid 80 degrees F. We had a stellar volunteer turnout this morning, particularly our ever-expanding group of "Grumpettes". We had 15 ladies come in to do a major weeding tour in multiple areas around the gardens. The top photo above shows the ladies in the annual bed along Palmer Drive. They also did the front sign planting and most of the All-America Selections beds. I'll try to remember everyone's name....Thanks to Mary R., Shae (her granddaughter), Mary D., Marilyn, Terri, Karla, Renee, Jenny, Karen, Glenna, Sue, Nicole, Zoe, Donna and a new volunteer that I can't remember...Both Janice and Jenny E. worked with this elite weeding team and they did a great job this morning. The other photos to the above right and left show this group in action this morning. To the lower right are Hal and Doris who won our "cutest couple of the day" award. A close second place goes to Mary and Roy (green t-shirt) in the shade garden planting as seen directly below.

Del, Bob C. and Ron Y. worked on hauling shredded bark mulch to multiple locations out in the gardens. The guys also worked on tidying up the sunken garden and Dick H. and Bob C. went out in the boat to "straighten" our fountain (as seen below). Over the weekend, some swimmers pulled the fountain out of position and managed to get a cinder block on top of the fountain in the attempt to plug it up. I wish I could say this is the first time the fountain has been "compromised" but it happens all the time. Pat was in for some painting/staining on the Rath Center and Jim and Bob A. worked on some miscellaneous carpentry projects. Dr. Gredler was in for mowing and treated select turf areas for clover issues. Dr. Yahr headed out to water some newly planted trees. Mary W. helped plant and water the herb garden. We also saw Shelley, Maury and many others throughout the afternoon. Kudos to our awesome volunteers.We didn't take any sort of break from watering out in the gardens today and Larry jumped right in to running irrigation throughout the gardens. We're alternating days in regards to irrigation and still hope for that ellusive soaking rain! Larry also set-up sprinklers and worked on a wide range of projects including mowing and checking over our water features. Big John also mowed and moved on to a wide range of watering duties as well. After working with the Grumpettes, both Jenny and Janice had other gardening duties and watering tasks as well. It was a full break room today and the grounds staff did a nice job helping facilitate our volunteer contributions. We do pride ourselves in always being ready to accomodate volunteer interest, particularly in the gardens. It is important to maximize the time offered by all of our volunteers. To the right is the showy variegated feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam') which also has the visual interest of being quite narrow and rigid in the landscape. There are three specimens clumped here together (Magda's berm) and that variegation is quite pronounced and different from the green-leaved variety 'Karl Foerster' (also nice). To the left is the huge, showy bloom of the Snow Queen oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia 'Flemygea') which truly has some giant flowers and a consistently nice maroon/red fall color (late). This specimen is in the shade garden and it looks like we'll have a good spring for oakleaf hydrangea blooms. Some years are rather thin in terms of the flower show.

I did a nice tour of the entire gardens this morning and was fairly pleased with our progress thus far (Happy Summer!). While we still have some planting to do next week, we're addressing our weeding "hot spots" sequentially and aggressively each day. We are also getting some very nice plant donations from local greenhouses that will become quite useful as strategic filler in the coming weeks. To the right is the showy foliage of 'Pinot Gris' coral bells (Heuchera) which was a nice shade of melon earlier in spring. I like all coral bells that have prominent veination! Directly below is one of our "grow bags" that we're trialing out in the Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Collection. Janice placed a good six or seven of these options out in the collection and we thought we'd observe the pros and cons of using these "bag systems" as containers for particularly herbs and vegetables. At the bottom is one of our eight hanging baskets on the formal garden pergola.

Cool Plants On A Hot Day

It was yet another hot and sticky day with some significant breezes and highs in the low 90 degrees F (not including the heat index). Today was a rare day in that I didn't take any photos! However, I thought I'd share some neat plant shots that I took this past Sunday at Allen Centennial Gardens (UW-Madison) and Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison). The top photo is the 'Simon Fraser' shrub rose (Rosa) at Olbrich that caught my eye for that nice shade of pink. I think I'll seek this one out for RBG. Above is one of my favorite coral bells (Heuchera 'Plum Royale') that has a nice, light silver patina and very unique leaf coloration.

The grounds staff today consisted of Marv, Marianne, Pat, Big John and Jenny. Everyone was involved with watering to some degree or another. Marv again set-up sprinklers throughout the day and in many areas. He also kept the irrigation running all day and did some significant shearing on some Diabolo ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Monlo') hedges. Marianne, Jenny and Pat also worked on various tasks like weeding, mowing (Pat) and other tidying duties. Big John and I made a plant run this morning (for donations) and John went back for load #2. The gang kept busy and I give them credit for being so tough in this weather and keeping up with watering duties. To the above right is the bear's breeches or spiny acanthus (Acanthus spinosus) in bloom at Olbrich. This perennial is very marginal and has not returned for us yet (winter hardiness issues). I love those blooms though... To the left is the 'Chuckles' floribunda rose (Rosa) which has a nice bicolor look on single blossoms. Olbrich has a wonderful rose collection that is displayed throughout mixed borders. To the right is the classic Bonica rose (Rosa 'MEIdomonac') which is a powerhouse of double, light pink blooms.

Obviously watering during the day isn't an ideal time for it to really soak in and our visitors have to adjust their routes based on our watering regime. Harsh weather like this unfortunately is quite concerning as we have so many new plantings that need sufficient moisture to establish. A nice soaking rain (2" or so) would save us three days of watering at the least and with a 50% chance of rain tonight, I'll be doing my rain dance for what it's worth! Directly below is the yellow foliage of the golden oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey'). While not as vigorous as any of the green-leaved varieties, this selection glows in part shade and has the same, typical white blossoms in early summer. The next photo down shows the Lovely Fairy polyantha rose (Rosa 'SPEvu'). The clusters of 1" blooms also have a slightly fruity fragrance. We had another nice volunteer turnout today despite the quickly rising temperatures. Kay was in to negatively affect the population of purslane (Portulaca oleracea) out in the All-America Selections garden. Dr. Gredler and Dr. Yahr were both in to help water and our morning crew of Gena, Mary, Myrt and Nancy did a nice job weeding in the Japanese garden. The Japanese garden was a nice shaded location and very much in need of some weeding attention. It's been so windy that I haven't dared apply any herbicide. Herbicide drift can cause serious damage and I minimize the chances of this occuring and will not risk spraying with even a light breeze. Barb, Cora, Janet and Jean were in for a Home Garden Tour meeting and many others were in and out all day. To the right is the native pale coneflower (Echinacea pallida) in the gravel garden at Olbrich. We have a couple nice patches of this plant in our prairie at RBG as well. To the left is the 'Prince Charles' clematis (Clematis sp.) that offers a wonderful shade of blue (particularly when backlit like this specimen which is trained up multiple trunks of a small tree).

We are in the last stages of planting annuals out in the gardens. There are only a few smaller beds left to fill and some various pockets here and there. We will typical

ly carry over "back-up" annuals, many of which are donations, all the way thru July as we like to have some stock to pull from if we have any plant losses here and there. These filler annuals become indispensable in the coming weeks despite the challenge of keeping them watered and ready to go

in this heat. We'll continue to weed tomorrow as our "tip toe window" (as I call it) is fast diminishing. This window refers to our ability to still get in beds between the plants and access weeds before it becomes impossible to navigate thru a full bed... Normally this window is in early July but again, everything continues to be well advanced this year (especially the weather!). To the right is the showy foliage of the 'Blazin' Lime' bloodleaf (Iresine hybrida). I've featured the maroon leaf (with pink veins) 'Blazin' Rose' variety and this is the sister plant. This is a great tropical for the partly shaded border or container. Directly below is the Japanese false aster (Kalimeris incisa) which will bloom thru the entire summer with these pale blue flowers. A little trimming back will expose the new waves of blooms throughout the remainder of the year. At the bottom are the flower globes (umbels) of the 'Red Wethersfield' onion (Allium cepa) in the herb garden at Olbrich. Showy flower architecture. I hope my blog tomorrow mentions overnight rains and a cool down outside!!! UGH.