A Cloudy Thursday

We thought today would be a "rain out" which would have been ok as a good old-fashioned soaking would be appreciated.  We did have sporadic rain but were still able to get out in the gardens for most of the day.  We had a nice volunteer turnout and were productive both inside the Horticulture Center and out in the gardens.  We continue to see more color in the gardens and the forsythias (Forsythia sp.) are peaking like the one seen above ('Northern Gold').  The hyacinths (Hyacinthus) are also in full bloom (see directly below) and offering their spring fragrance around the gardens.  Years ago we planted over 10,000 hyacinths representing 60 varieties and some of those "remnant plantings" continue to delight.  The third photo down shows Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) in full bloom in our woodland walk garden.

We had a small but productive grounds staff today.  Janice caught up on many indoor tasks including some impressive coordination for the looming Spring Plant Sale and Tree Sale involving recruiting and organizing volunteers, labeling and other needs.  These combined sales will be over the Mother's Day weekend (see our website for more details and tell family, friends, neighbors and even people you don't like).  Janice also worked on potting up more trial plants and juggled plenty of projects today.  Larry unloaded more bagged compost  (see third photo down) early this morning so we're stocked for our Bagged Compost Sale (every Saturday at the Horticulture Center from 8 am until 12 noon).  Larry also helped haul off debris from some tree pruning efforts and worked on other projects as well.  Big John dug out some dead/dying shrubs, worked on preparations for tomorrow and had a busy day with multiple projects.  I continue to prepare for our spring events and am coordinating efforts with all of our growers for staging our deliveries.  We have only so much space and have perfected the "dance" of coordinating our spring sale with daily plant arrivals for the grounds as well.

garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus)

Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)

We didn't have much traditional gardening occurring out in the gardens but the Grumpies jumped right in to many projects.  Ron P. and Ron R. headed out to bring in pruning debris from some recent elm (Ulmus sp.) pruning near the Japanese garden while Ron W. and Bob C. started assembling plant sale tables (see Ron directly below).  Bob C. later shifted out in to the gardens and did some composting near the gazebo garden.  Del was in to help out around the Horticulture Center and Dick H. ran many loads of debris to the dump.  Dr. Gredler came in for more aeration/mowing between rain drops.  Our carpenters, Dave, Vern and Jim, continued working on our new giant obelisk (second photo down) as well as many other projects too.  Our painters included Terri (third photo down), Gary B., Bob K., and Pat M. (fourth photo down) who is currently our Head of Safety.  Maury ran errands for us and Gary was in to work on labels for our 2014 Garden Art Project which includes 25 beautiful Adirondack chairs that have been "artistically rendered" and will be displayed out in the gardens soon (and auctioned off in early September).  An additional chair will be featured at the Parker Education Center too!  Pat C. came in for afternoon label creation and we also saw Jason and many others today as well.  See further down for some colorful plant shots from yesterday and today.

the ground level flower of Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense)

one of many pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) in bloom

marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris) just started blooming

above is a spear of Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum) emerging

more early tulips (Tulipa) showing off

Genesis of The English Cottage Garden

 

It was another busy day with plenty of volunteers helping out at the gardens.  My "historical tribute" today is for our English cottage garden which was developed in 1990 as the upgrades for the Rath Environmental Center (directly below) were being finished.  This building was originally the Wilcox Sand & Gravel Company Office Building and had various uses between that function and dramatic re-purposing for RBG.  Originally slated for demolition, Dr. Yahr (founder of RBG) championed saving the building and using it as our first visitor's center.  This building housed our first gift shop, restrooms, office space, meeting room and ultimately a small solarium.  The English cottage garden would be developed right behind the building as the first garden to be viewed after exiting the structure and it was the first of three gardens creating the "formal garden expanse" (also including the Italian formal garden and French formal garden).  More on this garden later...

 

Our volunteers were numerous throughout the day.  Kay and Patrea teamed up for garden clean-up and weeding this morning as did Eva and Kathy.  All four ladies did a wonderful job.  Dr. Gredler was out aerating various garden areas this morning which is a standard activity in April (and early October).  Joe M. and Pat R. did a great job painting some of our last obelisks today and Pat C. was in for label "first aid" and inventory.  Janice worked with the Chestnut House Volunteers on repotting many of our newly arrived trial plants this afternoon. Mary, Gena and Myrt did a nice job composting a portion of the shade garden and we also saw Hal R., Bill O., Maury, Dick P., John J., Steve L. and many others today.  Jumbo Jim was also at the gardens with two RECAPPERS and they did a nice job on various tasks.

 

The grounds staff accomplished a wide range of tasks throughout the day.  Pat mowed, secured obelisks and did some clean-up along the east parking lot area with Cindy.  Cindy also tidied multiple areas throughout the gardens.  Jenny went on a weeding and tidying binge and did some label inventorying as well.  Cheryl was involved with tidying up the Japanese garden and other areas.  She also did some composting near the gazebo.  Terry and Big John rototilled, edged, flagged irrigation and bounced between myriad other duties.  I had a presentation this morning for the Optimist Club which went well and juggled a wide range of outdoor and indoor tasks while accommodating lots of volunteers and visitors.

 

 

One of the first developments for the English cottage garden was the installation of brick walls to surround this intimate space.  As a walled garden with an intended center portion of lawn and peripheral plantings, the intent of this garden was to expose newly arrived visitors to a variety of annuals, perennials and vegetables in mixed plantings for color and texture.  Containers would be a big part of the garden as would a wall fountain.  There is a story with all the brick (for the walls) you're seeing below and I think I'm accurate in relaying....Dr. Yahr saw a building being destroyed in Chicago that had the exact same brick (called Chicago Commons) as the Rath Environmental Center and arranged to have the brick preserved and hauled back to Janesville for immediate re-use for the English cottage garden walls.  We had the help of many volunteers for the construction of this garden as well as assistance from the Wisconsin Conservation Corps (WCC) and volunteer craftsmen from the Jobs Bank Program that General Motors was providing at the time.  The garden developed quickly and later added a copper cheese vat planter, dolphin wall fountain, more containers and additional modifications.  Enjoy the shots below and note the change in pathways from a more linear arrangement to the circular pathway. 

 

early brick wall construction

Harold Todd (deceased) leading the masonry projects

the start to a structure (perpendicular to the Rath Center) that would ultimately house our tools and equipment for the first 10 years of the gardens before the Horticulture Center was built

same as above

note the indentation in the center that would become the brick-faced, arched alcove seen below

 

note the lady fountain in the center in this later image (that structure was removed to accommodate the 2001 expansion and creation of the Parker Education Center)

more early wall work

same as above

the original gravel path layout

the gardens filling in nicely

same as above

more recent images (above and below) with circular pathway

A Volunteer Infusion

Today had no shortage of color out in the gardens and it gets better daily.  I was at ground level for the shot of this 'Mellow Yellow' hellebore above.  Our hellebores in general are looking great and some of the earliest woody plants are blooming including the vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis 'Sandra') seen directly below and the red maple (Acer rubrum) in the second photo down.  My blog title today is "spot on" as we had a wonderful turnout of volunteers and it was a great day to garden.  While the morning was a bit chilly, it warmed up nicely and was a beautiful day.  We continue to see more visitors out in the gardens and with more bulbs emerging and/or blooming daily, our spring peak should still be in early May and around the Mother's Day Weekend (which also features our Spring Plant Sale and Tree Sale!).

'Sandra' vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis)

red maple (Acer rubrum)

At one point this morning, we had twelve volunteers in action which is quite a few for a Tuesday morning.  Above are Kathy (left) and Eva who have become a great team. The ladies continued to tidy up the reception garden and were very thorough in their approach!  Kay was in for some major weeding in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden and is engaged in a battle with some of our earliest weeds in that space (trust me when I say that Kay will be victorious!).  Maury came in to run some errands and Bev D. helped with some office work.  Dr. Gredler was out in the gardens for aeration and reseeding efforts for the gazebo garden lawn. We also saw Marsha M., Tom H., Kathy H. and many others.  The photos below capture the remaining volunteers in action.

Ron K. "taking a knee" in the woodland walk garden

Mary and Roy W. on their way to compost the shade garden

Mary D. and Cheryl headed out for general weeding and tidying in the entrance garden and Japanese garden

Resa (left) and Cookie headed to their assigned garden (The North Point Garden) for composting

Mirjam (left) and Marcia tidying and composting in the English cottage garden

Urban M. pruning near the sunken garden

 

The grounds staff, as usual, had a busy day. Above is the white wind anemone (Anemone blanda 'Alba').  Cheryl started tidying the entrance garden and was later joined by Mary D. (see photo above).  The ladies then shifted to the Japanese garden for similar efforts.  Cindy did a nice job getting some "spring clean-up closure" in the Scottish garden and arboretum border bed.  I think this has been the most comprehensive clean-up we've had and is a result of hard work (staff and volunteers) and a cool start to the spring.  Big John installed/secured obelisks, staged compost, hauled/spread compost, mowed and did many other odds and ends.  Janice worked on the compost sale, Spring Plant Sale, cutting display, greenhouse work and preparations for repotting a couple hundred trial plants that arrived today!  Larry worked on some irrigation issues, helped load compost, took down the last of our Holiday Lights Show lights from the visitors center and kept busy with myriad tasks.  Pat was inside most of the morning with painting and obelisk preparations.  He was able to get outside for some pruning duties though!  I helped coordinate early volunteer efforts out in the gardens but continue to be involved with special events preparations with the convergence of our Spring Plant Sale and Tree Sale.  See our website for more details and enjoy other pictures from the gardens this morning (see below).

 

pink hyacinths (Hyacinthus) to go with our pink container

'Royal Star' magnolia (Magnolia stellata)

wind anemone (Anemone blanda 'Blue Shades')

'Pink Frost' hellebore (Helleborus hybridus)

"Nature and the garden bring out the best in our characters" on our quote bench.  Well, big clumps of daffodils (Narcissus) help too!

Full Speed Ahead

 

 

The threat of rain materialized right around the lunch hour although we had some great progress out in the gardens before the skies really darkened.  The afternoon drizzle was welcome.  The Easter weekend was quite sunny and warm and the gardens responded with more bursts of color like the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) seen above and the early 'Stresa' tulip (Tulipa) seen below.  Our daffodils (Narcissus) are really filling out nicely (see second photo down) and can be seen throughout the gardens approaching peak.  I had my camera with me all day and was able to capture many of these early bloomers and much of our volunteer efforts as well (seen further down).

 

The grounds staff had a busy day today.  Cindy worked on tidying multiple garden areas and moved inside when the rain arrived to plant up dahlias and accomplish some office tasks.  Larry helped with many projects including the repair of our automated gate and hauling various materials around.  Big John and Terry placed and filled more containers, secured obelisks and had some errands to run as well.  I spent a good portion of the morning outside planning some of our spring planting and collections layouts.  I'm also finalizing details for our Spring Plant Sale and Spring Tree Sale, both of which will be held over Mother's Day weekend (see our website for the details regarding both of these vital fundraisers for RBG!).

 

 

 

 

Above are Eva (left) and Shirley who started cleaning the leaves out of our streams and water features. We're hoping to have all of our water features cleaned up and flowing by the Mother's Day weekend.  We had some great painting help from Pat (surprised look below!), Gene, Gary B. and Pat M.  Ron Y., Dave and Jim worked on various projects including some work on the Adirondack chairs that are part of the Garden Art Project celebrating our 25th Anniversary.  Ron R. and Ron W. did some work on our chairs and tables out on the terrace and later helped with other clean-up efforts.  The second photo down shows Bob C. (foreground) and Lloyd removing bricks from a path in front of the Parker Education Center.  This path and two others will be redone with concrete in the coming week or so.  The guys did a nice job and got some help from others as well.  Dick H. took many loads of debris to the dump and Larry H. and Kevin C. (third photo down) worked on composting the remainder of the sunken garden.  Rollie was in to help and Maury ran more errands for us.  Dr. Gredler (fourth photo down) was out mowing and enjoying the fresh air after four months of painting in the Horticulture Center.  Bob K. helped with some electrical issues and we had many more visitors as well including Jason and Bill O.  Some other flower photos from today can be seen further below.

 

glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii 'Alba')

 hellebore (Helleborus sp.)

'Stairway to Heaven' Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans)

hepatica (Hepatica americana)

'Golden Lotus' hellebore (Helleborus)