It’s been a whirlwind week, particularly the last day or so.  The two photos above and three below were shared by Maryam P. (thanks!) and show some of the action last night during our Wednesday evening planting.  We had a nice turnout and planted four garden beds including many of the plants in the gazebo garden.  Above is Tina planting begonias and we also had help from Big John, Alan, Dave F., Grace, Alicia, Terri, Becky, Maryam and Sue.  Hope I didn’t forget anyone!

We then jumped right back in to planting today with our Thursday volunteers and a great group of 7th grade volunteers from St. Paul’s Lutheran School brought by teacher Jim K.  The team (along with four other adults) did a great job planting in the reception garden.  Kathy P. and Eva did more bulb foliage clearing, tidying and some planting.  Shirley H. and Marilyn H. (birthday girl) did a great job planting a whole lot of New Guinea impatiens (Impatiens hawkeri).  Bob C. tidied paths while Bob K. continued lifting tulip clumps from the front of the Parker Education Center.  Barb was in to work in the Giant Aquarium while Dr. Gredler did his mowing rounds along with Rollie.  Steve, Jim, Vern, Ron Y. and Dave all had carpentry projects.  Dick H. ran to the dump and had some different projects.  Greg and Cheryl did a nice job tidying in the Japanese garden.  We also saw many others today.

Alan M. and his favorite gloves (above)

Trevor (left) and Nolan teamed up to move 4,000 lbs. of banana plants (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’) this morning

Shirley (left) and Marilyn (birthday girl)

the St. Paul’s Lutheran School volunteers (along with their adults) did a great job planting this morning!

just a few of the plants the students planted this morning (above)

sea kale (Crambe maritima) – perennial

Scotch rose (Rosa spinosissima) – woody shrub

variegated moor grass (Molinia caerulea ‘Variegata’) – perennial

Dr. Gredler (above) putting a nice mowing pattern in to the sunken garden lawn

the Garden Art Project fish are already a huge it…I love the detail on this one! (see two photos below too!)

we have eight (8) of these new garden signs out in the gardens

variegated sweet iris (Iris pallida ‘Albo-Marginata’) – perennial

Decadence^® ‘Cherries Jubilee’ false indigo hybrid (Baptisia hybrida) – perennial

golden Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Aurea Jakobsen’) – woody tree

Chardonnay Pearls® golden deutzia (Deutzia gracilis ‘Duncan’) – woody shrub

ornamental onions (Allium sp.) are just past peak right now but still offering color – perennial

crisp blue flowers of bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) – perennial

Short blog today due to my falling asleep at the keyboard.  This is a result of a long day which included help from students (above and below) from the TAGOS Academy here in Janesville.  The students did a great job planting our coleus collection.  Later in the evening, we had our first planting episode from 6 pm – 8 pm with help from Tina, Big John, Sue, Grace, Terri, Alan, Dave, Alicia, Becky and Maryam.  At the gardens today, our grounds staff included Larry O., Bobby K., Trevor and myself.  Our volunteers included Kathy, Dennis, Gena, Myrt, Patti, Maury, Kristin and Barb.  Janice also had here excellent volunteers from the Chestnut House.  It was a super day!

We had a productive morning and early afternoon although the threat of rain became a reality around 1 pm with some significant precipitation.  Nice shot of ‘New Moon’ globeflower (Trollius x cultorum) above before the rain.  I was able to place lots of plants out in the garden but unfortunately we cancelled our third planting work day this afternoon due to weather.  We had to cancel the Work Day this past Saturday, the Noon Rotary planting day yesterday and again, the work day today with volunteers from Johnson Bank.  We’ll catch up but the soggy soil isn’t helping much!

Our grounds staff of Janice, Big John, Cindy, Trevor and myself were augmented significantly with excellent volunteer help from Kathy P., Eva, Jenny D., Dr. Gredler, Tina, Barb, Bill, Maury and some others.  There was lots of weeding, mowing and general tidying today with the grounds staff all having very specific duties related to spring progress at the gardens.  We had a great day despite yet more rain from Mother Nature.  Tonight is a lecture on Turf as part of our monthly lecture series.

‘Ivory Queen’ ornamental onion (Allium karataviense) – perennial

rooftop iris (Iris tectorum) – perennial

‘Baumannii’ horsechestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum) – woody tree

‘Purple Fountain’ European beech (Fagus sylvatica) – woody tree

Dream Catcher™ beauty bush (Kolkwitzia amabilis ‘Maradco’) – woody shrub

neat and tidy entrance to the south end of the Japanese garden (nice job Kristin!)

‘Akikaze Nishiki’ variegated Shantung maple (Acer truncatum) – woody tree

‘Rick’s White Tip’ Colorado spruce (Picea pungens) – woody tree

Today was very productive despite some light drizzle we had later in the day.  The forecast looks damp for the next couple of days but we did finally see some sunshine today as well.  Neat photo above of the eye of the same Garden Art Project fish seen below.  This is one of 28 beautiful art pieces out in the gardens that will look even more exciting once plants are installed around them!  We had a great turnout of volunteers today although our Rotary Work Day this afternoon was thwarted by the rain but we’ll catch up shortly.

The grounds crew had a busy day out in the gardens.  Cindy organized, hauled and dropped off our Coleus Collection for planting and then worked on tidying, weeding and matching labels to newly arrived plants.  Big John rototilled, went on a plant pick-up run, mowed and installed three of our culvert pipe planters.  Larry O. also push mowed and worked on flagging irrigation heads for our aeration program, hauled materials, sorted plants and had other duties as well.  Bobby K. helped re-mount one of the garden art projects, installed the “squirrel gate” in the English cottage garden and prepared to install our signs for the Story Walk program which promotes the story Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae.  Trevor continued lifting tulips, mowed and worked on some other projects as well.  I’m shifting in to full gear for getting plants placed out in the gardens for installation! We had a super day!

cutleaf Japanese emperor oak (Quercus dentata “Pinnatifida’) – woody tree

‘Starlite’  Prairieblues™ false indigo (Baptisia x bicolor) – perennial

‘Carolina Moolight’ false indigo (Baptisia hybrida) – perennial

‘Taylor’s Sunburst’ lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) – woody tree

lots of ‘Mt. Everest’ ornamental onions (Allium) are peaking right now!

variegated weigela (Weigela florida ‘Variegata’) – woody shrub

Volunteers had a great day out in the gardens.  Above are Alan (foreground), Bob K. and Lloyd all lifting tulips (Tulipa) out front with Trevor.  We replant tulips every year in this space so this removal will also help clear the area for planting very soon!  Ron R. and Bob C. worked on tidying and mulching the tree rings in the arboretum. Dr. Gredler and Rollie worked on mowing while Maury ran errands. Becky did a great job re-lettering one of our quote benches.  Dennis and Garrett continue their excellent progress on rebuilding the north path retaining wall.  Ron P. continued repairing lights for the Holiday Light Show (HLS) while Dave, Vern, Jim, Steve and Ron Y. had plenty of carpentry projects.  Dick H. ran to the dump and had some other projects while Bill O. came in to tweak some of the mowers.  Kristin and Stan were out tidying the Japanese garden.  Barb C. worked in the Giant Aquarium and we had Eva, Kathy and Shirley weeding in the reception garden. Kay was in to tidy up here area and we also saw Mark S., Jim H., two RECAPPERS and many others.

Shirley (above)

Kathy (above)

Eva (above)

Bob C. (left) and Ron R. mulching in the arboretum

Garrett (left) and Dennis

Kay (above)

dark and glossy foliage of ‘Tortuosa Purpurea’ European beech (Fagus sylvatica) – woody tree

yellow fumitory (Corydalis lutea) – perennial

‘Excelsior’ Spanish bluebells (Hyacinthoides hispanica) – perennial

‘Popcorn’ doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum) – woody shrub

ornamental onion (Allium giganteum) – perennial

‘Chartreuse Wiggles’ plantain lily (Hosta) – perennial

‘Running Tapestry’ foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) – perennial

planting of our Coleus Collection (60 varieties!) was delayed today due to rain….we’ll hopefully get at it tomorrow!

this purple obelisk sure “pops” visually with adjacent ‘Purple Sensation’ ornamental onions (Allium) and golden kerria (Kerria japonica) in the back

maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) – perennial

‘Nugget’ ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) – woody shrub

Today was pretty miserable from start to finish in terms of the weather.  It was cold and rainy most of the day with a chilly breeze.  We were able to get out in the gardens for a little bit but varying degrees of rain thwarted our efforts.  Members of the Janesville Area Herb Society came in for some weeding but will postpone planting until next week.  Bill O. got his mowing in before the rain really settled in for the day.  Kathy, Eva and Kristin were all out in the gardens for more tidying and both Kathy and Eva also shifted to some indoor work at the Horticulture Center.  Maury ran some errands for us as well.  The grounds staff of Janice, Trevor, Cindy, Bobby K. and myself all had various duties and we adjusted along with the weather.

I took all of these photos at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) this past Tuesday.  I’ve always enjoyed their spring container compositions.  These containers all use plants that “strut their stuff” in May and June and don’t mind cooler days and colder nights.  All of these containers will later have more heat tolerant selections rotated in for the summer months.  On a dreary day, enjoy the color and perhaps check these containers out when you are next in Madison, WI.