Heading Up North

I wasn't at work very long this morning but spent some brief time organizing the grounds staff and taking care of some tasks.  We had a full crew of Big John, Terry, Cindy, Pat (half day) and Janice (half day) and I'm sure the volunteers were a big help as usual. Tomorrow morning I'm speaking for the Wood County Master Gardeners on the topic of Spring Bulbs as part of a half-day garden seminar.  The venue is in Marshfield (UW-Marshfield / Wood County campus) so I took some time heading up North with some destinations in mind.  My first stop was Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) for a late season exploration of the gardens.  The one photo directly above and the twelve photos below show just some of the highlights of my enjoyable visit.  I really caught some late season color and took many images as I meandered through the garden.  I think this was my best October visit and had a nice chat with Sam P. and saw Christian and Philip (all OBG staff) in passing.  Regardless, I was glad I stopped for a stretch.  See further below for my next destination.

My next stop was the Schmeeckle Reserve in Stevens Point (actually part of the UW-Stevens Point).  I went to UWSP for graduate school and always enjoyed this natural area.  I spent many hours hiking and biking through this little piece of the Northwoods.  I've gone through this reserve in the Autumn years ago with the wife and younger daughter and we had a great visit.  Today was no exception.  This 280 preserve still had plenty of fall color, neat trails, boardwalks, some pumpkins (see below!), wetlands, a small lake, at least one startled deer, etc.  The six photos below show some of my photographs in this area.  I had a good time and hiked a good mile on the trails and took advantage of the fresh air. 

I then had a 30 minute drive further north to Wausau, WI to see Robert W. Monk Gardens.  I had heard of this new garden and was glad I stopped to see the beginnings of what looks to be a wonderful, 20 acre botanic garden.  The land was donated by the late Robert W. Monk, a prominent local businessman and longtime resident of Wausau, WI.  His dream was to create a public garden for the Wausau community.  One of the "tag lines" for the garden is "Central Wisconsin's first Public Botanical Garden."  Below are just some of the photos from the garden and see www.rwmonkgardens.org for more information about this garden that looks to have a bright future.

I couldn't visit Marshfield, WI and not see the "World's Largest Round Barn" which was pretty impressive (and round).  This barn has a 150' diameter and a 70' height at peak.  Built in 1916, this structure is part of the property that hosts the Central Wisconsin State Fair.  See www.centralwisconsinstatefair.com/news.htm for information on this enormous edifice.

The Chain Gang

The photo of the formal gardens above was taken from the roof of the Rath Center this morning where I was up running extension cords for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS).  We had another great day of gardening and HLS set-up out in the gardens.  As we've come to expect this week, it was a frigid start that ended up being not-so-bad by mid-morning.  It was nice to see more garden areas cleared of annuals and other debris and we continue to see HLS progress each day.  The HLS this year includes many new lights, new displays and a new route through the Japanese garden that will actually lengthen the walk by close to 50%.  Needless to say, we're being very aggressive and proactive with set-up but can't neglect our fall clean-up duties out in the gardens.  Our last outdoor wedding is actually this Saturday!  Below are some additional shots from today.

'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) in the foreground with birches (Betula sp.) turning golden in the background

fruits of the ornamental blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis) - perennial

'Variegatus' Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis) - perennial

'Blonde Ambition' blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) - perennial

Many of our volunteers braved the cold weather this morning to tackle the "Pollinator's Paradise" collection in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden.  Above are Marilyn (red) and Eva (blue) who started the process this morning.  They were later joined by Steve and Vicki (both in red) below as well as Suzy.  This group did a great job removing annuals and cutting back perennials (which comprise about 1/3 of that collection).  They almost finished this space and did a great job tidying up.  The second shot down shows Lloyd and Gene (driving) as they continued removing the Giant Garden.  Check out the third photo down for one of their many loads.  The guys actually helped out in four different areas and brought back plenty of debris.  The fourth photo down shows Dr. Gredler stockpiling more shredded leaves for use in other areas of the gardens (later relocated by Bill O.).  Dick P. and Dick H. installed some new bricks out in the gardens and later went with Rollie M. up to Madison to pick up some additional memorial bricks.  Gary produced more labels for new plants and cleaned up the laser engraver.  The fifth photo down shows the debris left from drilling holes in PVC pipes for new HLS displays.  Maury (green) helped Dave (left), Jim and Vern and the guys were also able to also accomplish some painting.  Pat M. was in to work on displays, luminaries and converting our 20' obelisk back to the "Tower of Power".  He was in both this morning and afternoon.  Ron P. helped with more lights testing.  Bill O. came in to collect leaves and we also saw Deb G., Jean S. and many others today.

The grounds crew consisted of Larry, Janice and me.  A lot of our work in the morning involved coordinating the volunteers but we have the system down well to keep everybody actively engaged while minimizing idle time.  Janice helped organize HLS materials inside, decorated obelisks, put lights out on shrubs and started cutting back perennials and removing annuals in the English cottage garden.  Larry put up more arches and continues to work on his "Olsen Pavilion" HLS display in the reception garden.  I spent the morning slinging cords, had a meeting and am getting ready for various projects next week.  I'm here briefly tomorrow and am then headed up Nort' der to Marshfield where I'll be speaking to the Wood County Master Gardeners on Saturday (Spring Bulbs).  Below are more photos from today.

'Golden Hornet' crabapple (Malus sp.) - woody tree

beginning fall color on the Fall Fiesta sugar maple (Acer saccharum 'BAILsta') - woody tree

'Foxy' foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) can take a couple frosty hits

'Ozawa' ornamental onion (Allium thunbergii) just starting to bloom - perennial

'The Fairy' rose (Rosa) hanging in there

our first snow/sleet yesterday afternoon (which quickly melted)

Another Fine Autumn Day

While it was another cold morning like the previous two, it ended up being a nice sunny day until late in the afternoon.  John reported our first snow flake this afternoon but we didn't have to find the shovels yet. We were all in "layers" and prepared to get right outside for gardening and Holiday Lights Show (HLS) related tasks.  Above is a nice shot in the Japanese garden today. The bright fall color in the center is from the 'Aconitifolium' fullmoon maple (Acer japonicum) which I've featured in previous blogs.  We had a strong volunteer presence today and the grounds staff accomplished a wide range of tasks. We saw many school groups going through the gardens with our education docents for the extremely successful and well-received "Pumpkin Program" which also includes an education tour and close look at the prairie (which looks great right now).  All in all...another productive day. Below are some additional shots from today.

fall color of Golden Shadows pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia 'W. Stackman') - woody tree

interesting color transition on the 'Autumn Moon' fullmoon maple (Acer shiraswanum) - small tree

cone formation on the Japanese hemlock (Tsuga diversifolia) - woody conifer

inflorescences (flower/seed heads) of maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis, unknown variety)

The grounds staff had a busy day.  Pat can be seen above taking down our 20' tall obelisk (with some help) from the Giant Garden.  He's preparing and modifying this piece to be part of the HLS (in a new location).  Pat also worked on many other HLS tasks like preparing luminaries, developing some re-purposed displays, etc.  Cheryl was our gardener today as she continued removal efforts in the sunken garden and shade garden.  She did a nice job keeping everything tidy and brought back her share of loads.  Terry and John set-up the reindeer and sleigh display (seen below) in the sunken garden.  They also set-up more obelisks and put lights on more shrubs as well.  These guys are spending 98% of their time on the HLS over the next four weeks.  I spent a half day slinging cords (another 2,000 feet!) and continue to keep up with never-ending desk work.  Janice was in to work with the Chestnut House volunteers this afternoon.

We had a great volunteer crew here today for plant removals.  Above are Nancy (left) and Myrt, who along with Steve and Vicki (below), did a great job clearing the ornamental edible berms very thoroughly.  Kay was in to help as well and this quintet cleared over six berms in a couple hours and brought back a huge load of debris.  Eva was at the gardens all morning and continued her "purge" of the orange-themed entrance garden.  She also brought back many loads of debris for our compost pile.  The second photo down shows Dr. Gredler dumping a load of shredded leaves on a flower bed.  His catcher fills up quickly but we like using the shredded leaves directly in the garden or added to our large compost pile.  Maury ran more errands for us which we appreciate and the Chestnut House volunteers did a great job purging all the frosted veggies from around the Horticulture Center beds.  We also saw Chuck S. and many others today.  Further below are some additional shots from today.

'Early Amethyst' purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) - woody shrub

'Miyazaki' toadlily (Tricyrtis hirta) is still hanging in there but not for long - perennial

a view up the trunk of the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)

fall color of the Shantung maple (Acer truncatum) from beneath the tree

target garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) eradication now (and in early April) as it is still green and offensive!