We had an impressive showing of volunteers this morning despite the snow showers.  We missed some accumulation yesterday but will probably end up with an inch or so throughout the day.  The East coast is sure going to get it bad!  Our mobile retrieval crew of Larry H., Larry O. and Peg L. went out to get more lights and cords and inside, Pat, Del, Dr. Gredler, Larry, Marv and others helped process lights and cords as well.  Del also helped tidy up the Horticulture Center and Dr. Gredler helped prepare handouts for one of my presentations.  It was nice to see Kay this morning as she came in to also help prepare handouts for the looming Garden Expo (www.wigardenexpo.com).  Organized by Wisconsin Public Television, this fun and educational event continues to get better every year and we’ll likely see over 20,000 people pass our booth over the three days of the event in February.  Check out the website for information on vendors, educational opportunities, etc.  We are selling advance tickets at RBG if anyone is interested.  Ron Y., Dave, Jim, Vern, Dick H. and Bob K. continued on some carpentry projects and we also saw Dave K., Gary, Kathy P., Dr. Yahr, Rollie, Bev D., Bill O. (#1), Bill O. (#2) and many others today.   Janice continued work on her research as well and I continue to chip away at duties, tasks as well as our spring ordering.
This blog is dedicated to the lovely Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) which we should see in about three months or so (hopefully!).  We have this hardy, native perennial scattered throughout our woodland walk garden and I always enjoy seeing the transition from the lacy foliage emerging in early April, to blooms starting in late April and ultimately the mature blooms as seen above.  You can see how these plants get their name and they look best naturalized in a partly shaded woodland situation with rich, moist, humus laden soils.  This graceful, early spring bloomer features the unique blooms on leafless stalks and while the double-spurred flowers are certainly small, they are definitely showy.  Avoid dry soils when planting this perennial and look forward to the exciting spring contribution that this plant provides before going dormant and disappearing by early July.

 

 

 

 early foliage
 early foliage
 early foliage
blooms just emerging (progress seen below…)

 

 

 

 

 

It was nice to get back in the office today although I certainly enjoyed the previous two days at the 2015 Garden Center Symposium / Midwest Perennial Conference in Waukesha, WI.  I hope my presentations were well-received and my shameless promotion of the gardens should hopefully inspire some future visitors and supporters!  I spent the day catching up on seed orders, presentation preparations and general desk work as winter is certainly not a slow time around here.  We had some great volunteer help today as well.  Pat M. was in to process more lights from the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) for storage and both Urban and Dr. Gredler continued to wrap up and store more of our thousands of drop cords.  Vern was in for some carpentry work and made some timely supply runs.  Dr. Yahr stopped by for a nice visit and we also saw Shirley C., Mary W., Kathy P., Chuck S., Dave T., Dorothy T. and some others.

I’ll never tire of promoting the ornamental calico plant (Alternanthera sp.) as they are excellent for adding foliage appeal to the full sun or part sun garden, border or container.  Alternanthera is a seasonal for us and is not winter hardy.  There are some very neat ones out there like ‘Red Carpet’ seen above.  The flowers of Alternanthera (sometimes called Joseph’s coat or creeping copperleaf) are unexciting but the variability in foliage coloration is well represented in this blog.  There are different species and hybrids and it’s important to consider the form and height of calico plant species/varieties as some are tight clumpers and others have irregular or trailing habits that might be more appropriate in compositions or containers.  Do more research on those of interest but realize they are another colorful tool in your design toolbox!

Alternanthera ‘Little Ruby’ (above and below)

 

 Alternanthera ‘Purple Knight’
 Alternanthera ‘Brazilian Red Hots’
Alternanthera ‘Brazilian Red Hots’
Alternanthera ‘Brazilian Red Hots’
 Alternanthera ‘Brazilian Red Hots’
 Alternanthera ‘Red Threads’ (above and below with caladiums)

 

Alternanthera ‘Burgundy Threadleaf’
 Alternanthera reinickii (with light frost)
Alternanthera reinickii
Alternanthera ‘True Yellow’
 Alternanthera ‘Sommelier Chardonnay’
 Alternanthera ‘Gold Thread’ (above and below in full sun)

 

 Alternanthera ‘Sommelier Pinot Gris’
 Alternanthera ‘Raspberry Rum’ (sideways photo, sorry!)
 Alternanthera ‘Mai Tai’
Alternanthera ‘Crème de Menthe’
 Alternanthera ‘Party Time’ (above and below)

 

“GO” get some Alternantheras!
Today was overcast with some light snow/drizzle although we still had a nice turnout of volunteers.  I’m presenting both tomorrow and Thursday at the 2015 Garden Center Symposium/Midwest Perennial Conference near Milwaukee and look forward to networking as well as the presentations.  Janice was in to continue work on her Spring Plant Sale vegetable research.  Mark down Mother’s Day weekend (May 9th and 10th) for the sale although RBG Members can come to the pre-sale on Friday, May 8th and receive their 10% discount throughout the entire weekend.  Pat M. and Bill O. were inside processing lights and cords respectively.  We have a steady supply of Holiday Lights Show (HLS) elements coming back to the building and today, both Peg L. and Larry H. were out continuing to collect more lights and cords from various locations.  With snow possible later this week, we’ll try to collect what we can before the snow covers everything up.  Dr. Gredler came in to work on wrapping up cords as well. I caught up on various office duties and continue to juggle various tasks.  I’ll start ordering seeds in earnest this Friday and throughout next week.
All but one of the photos in this blog are of the ‘Sun King’ Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata) which caught my eye about four years ago when it was introduced.  This hardy perennial can get 4′-6′ tall with a 3′ width in time.  Our specimens have been gaining size slowly but their impact was immediate.  Located in a partly shaded location in our gazebo garden (with ample water), we were rewarded immediately with bright gold, spring foliage coloration, chartreuse-gold summer color and this year, we saw some blooms.  The blooms, seen below, are “satellite-like” flower clusters that ultimately form berries. The second photo down is from the regular green-leaf Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata) which also gets quite large!  Of course, the fruiting would be identical to ‘Sun King’.  This perennial has a “bright” future in our shade gardens!  The photo above shows a clump of five of these perennials at the Morton Arboretum (Lisle, IL).

 

fruiting on Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata) – green leaf form
spring foliage
 spring foliage
spring foliage
 summer foliage
summer foliage

Today was sunny and more mild than in previous weeks!  We had a nice weekend too with highs near 40 degrees F. The temperature today ended up in the upper 30 degrees F and we had some nice activity outside with bringing in more lights and cords from the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). It was a busy Grumpy day with both inside and outside work going on all morning.  The outdoor crew included Alan, Peg and Larry.  Dr. Gredler, Marv and Pat were inside processing lights and cords.  Dave, Jim, Vern and Bob K. worked on some carpentry tasks with some help from Dick H.   Gary S. worked on a new sign and Bill O. was in later to help out with various duties.  We had a meeting/tour of the Japanese garden with Marv B., Jumbo Jim, Stan, Kristin and Karen.  We had lots of good ideas in this space primarily cared for by Karen, Jim and Stan with Marv’s focus on the areas of moss.  Janice was in for a good portion of the morning and early afternoon working on research for our Spring Plant Sale veggies.  We also saw Rollie, Bob C., John J. and many others today.  I had some meetings, a radio interview and continue to bounce between various projects with seed ordering fast becoming my biggest priority.

With our hot summers, I continue to rely on annual verbenas (Verbena sp.) to provide lasting color along the front of the full sun border or container edge.  They are great in mass plantings or as individual “blips” of low color (most are under 10″ in height).  There are so many wonderful varieties out there like Empress ‘Purple Charm’ seen above.  Many of the newer selections are offered vegetatively (as plants) although there are some great varieties out there that can be purchased as seed.  Preferring full sun and decent soils, verbenas are drought tolerant once established but we provide adequate pampering (to include fertilization every three weeks) which keeps them looking fresh.  We’re not adverse to cutting them back as needed to encourage fresh growth.  There are some neat varieties seen below…which is just the tip of the proverbial “iceberg”!

 Empress ‘Strawberry Charm’
 EnduraScape ‘Blue’
EnduraScape ‘Hot Pink’
 EnduraScape ‘Blue’ and ‘Hot Pink’ (mix seen at Ball Seed Trials)
 Lanai ‘Upright Lime Green’
 Pops ‘Pink + Eye’
 ‘Royal Cherryburst’
 ‘Wicked Cool Blue’
EnduraScape ‘Red’
 Enduro ‘White Blush’
 Superbena ‘Royale Iced Cherry’
Superbena ‘Royale Chambray’
 Aztec ‘Light Pink’
‘Empress Flair Peach’
Lanai ‘Lavender Star’
 Lanai ‘Purple Star’
Lanai ‘Upright Purple Mosaic’

Some of you loyal blog readers will remember Ed Lyon (well-represented in this blog) from his time as Executive Director at Rotary Botanical Gardens for four years.  I’ve known Ed since 1999 when he was a graduate student at UW-Madison (horticulture) and have watched him become a force in the world of plants as well as a dear friend.  His contributions at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, the Chicago Botanic Garden and RBG are significant and lasting.  For RBG, he helped expose our garden to a national audience and continues to be such a strong advocate for us as well.  His extensive plant knowledge is augmented by his experiences with working with staff and volunteers as well as budgeting, grants, graphic design, writing, etc.  He is extremely talented in many ways.  His most recent successful endeavor as Director of Allen Centennial Gardens on the UW-Madison campus has come to an end as Ed will be the next Executive Director at Reiman Gardens which is located on the Iowa State University campus in Ames, IA.  This beautiful garden will benefit from Ed’s experience, insights and leadership.  Below is a photo of Ed (and Jane) from a farewell/appreciation party last night.  We all wish Ed the best and know he’ll be back to visit (and vice versa).  Ed and I have been able to spend a lot of time together including being roommates at many conferences (Philadelphia, Vancouver, Denver, etc.).  Included in this blog are just a few of the many images of Ed (most of which include his camera which is always close at hand!).  Best of luck to Ed and his selfish career advancement goals!  :)