Don’t miss the opportunity to attend the Bonsai: Its Art & Philosophy seminar and demonstration on May 17th from 6 pm until 8 pm at the Parker Education Center.  Dr. Charles Mortensen, a very respected expert on bonsai, will facilitate the presentation, discussion and demonstration.  This opportunity is limited to only 20 participants and registration is required by May 15th.  The fee is $5 for non-members and $3 for RBG members.  This is a fun topic.  I photographed all of these bonsai during the course of my travels.

We had a rainy day today but plenty of volunteer assistance inside the Horticulture Center.  We worked on potting up some summer bulbs (cannas and dahlias) as well as working on some preparations for the Spring Plant Sale (only about 2 weeks away!).  Grounds staff today included Larry O., Larry H., Bobby K. and myself.  Our volunteers included Kathy P., Eva, Barb S., Alan M., Ron P., Bill O., Vicki, Steve, Chuck, Jenny E., Deb G. (with granddaughter), Becky and some others.  It was another great day and we had plenty of “rainy day action”!

With welcome rain looming later in the week, we took advantage of another warm and mild April day.  The tulips (Tulipa) in front of the Parker Education Center continue to look excellent like the variety ‘Lightning Sun’ above.  These 100 varieties continue to be almost two weeks early so come soon to check them out as most will be done before Mother’s Day!  It seems like I’m photographing almost daily out front to capture all of these beautiful varieties.  We saw lots of guests today throughout the gardens which continue to look spectacular.

The grounds staff always has a busy day!  Cindy planted pansies, weeded and tidied in multiple locations.  Larry H. did some composting, spread peat moss and had some other tasks.  Big John pressure washed some target objects to tidy them up for spring, planted, filled more containers with our custom soil mix and installed some new benches.  Janice worked in the Heirloom Garden, did the cutting display and continues to work on some ongoing projects.  I focused on some timely desk work and the promotion for some looming educational events and our Spring Plant Sale.

‘Golden Parade’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Boston’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Hocus Pocus’ tulip (Tulipa) – one of the tallest at 36″ tall!

‘Apricot Foxx’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Burning Heart’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Salmon Impression’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Sunset Miami’ tulip (Tulipa)

Nice shot above of twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) in our woodland walk garden. I was remiss in my “volunteer photography” today but we did have some excellent help out in the gardens.  Kathy P. and Eva, both veterans, were joined by Cathy and Connie (both rookies).  This productive foursome weeded in two large areas and had no shortage of weeds to target as they are emerging quickly.  Cheryl D. did her usual excellent job of tidying in the Japanese garden and Steve E. continued his mulching in the woodland walk garden.  Peg was in to work on repairing and replacing plant labels and Maury ran errands for us.  We also saw Maryam, Mark S. and many others today.

‘Caramel’ coral bells (Heuchera) – perennial

‘All Gold’ golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) – perennial

lots of pasque flowers (Pulstatilla vulgaris) in the alpine garden – perennials

checkered fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) – perennial

Golden Shadows® pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia ‘Wstackman’) – woody tree

‘Fen’s Ruby’ spurge (Euphorbia cyparissias) – perennial

‘Butterflies’ magnolia (Magnolia hybrida) – woody tree

Valentine® bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Hordival’) – perennial

golden hops vine (Humulus lupulus ‘Nugget’) – perennial vine

grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) amongst golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Goldilocks’)

the Japanese garden this morning (above)

a nice view from the Azumaya towards the pond

both entrances in to the Japanese garden (above and below) look excellent right now!

The color out in the gardens today is nothing short of amazing.  Our tulips (Tulipa) are really blooming strongly right now throughout the gardens and our assortment of 100 varieties in the entrance garden is showing some great color.  We are about 10 days ahead of whatever “normal” timing is nowadays!  At the top is ‘Fire of Love’ which has variegated leaves and directly above is ‘Miranda’.  Further below are some more “peony flowering” tulips which are a personal favorite.  The Earth Day festivities on Saturday combined with strong visitation on a beautiful Sunday likely saw 2,500 people enjoying the gardens on this gorgeous past weekend.  It was nice to see so many children enjoying the great outdoors and the gardens in general!

It was another very productive Monday with a strong volunteer turnout and significant contributions from our excellent grounds staff.  Cindy worked on tidying, weeding, watering, mulching and other tasks in multiple areas.  Larry H. continued with his composting projects as we’re trying to get to the bottom (literally) of a massive pile we’ll continue to spread.  He certainly has a knack for it!   Larry O. worked on removing two trees, watered and had a lot of other “odds and ends”.  Big John worked on a variety of projects including placing two large containers, filling containers with his custom soil mix, etc.  I was able to get out in the gardens to mark locations for new signs and take notes.  The busy season is upon us!

‘Brownie’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Palmyra’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Dream Touch’ tulip (Tulipa)

‘Sunningdale Variegated’ masterwort (Astrantia major) – perennial

‘Golden Eclipse’ variegated Japanese tree lilac (Syringa reticulata) – woody tree

We had a great crop of volunteers today like Bob (above) who is seen here digging up some unsavory shrubbery from the main parking lot.  Bob helped take down a tent first and was later joined by Alan M. for this project.  Ron R. also worked on the tent take down and shifted to hauling debris from two trees cut down by Larry O. and Dick H.  Bob C. tidied up paths while Kathy, Eva and Debbie weeded in three areas (plenty of early weeding action out there!).  Dave, Jim, Vern, Steve J. and Marv B. all had indoor carpentry projects to address.  Marv also helped Big John set some large containers in the sunken garden.  Dr. Gredler and Rollie were out mowing and Maury (with his child bride Kay) picked up our Garden Art Project (fish) for future installation out in the gardens.  Ron P. continues to repair lights for the Holiday Light Show (HLS) and makes significant progress every time he comes to the gardens.  Gary S. continues to work on some new labels.  Dennis J. resumed working on re-stacking / re-building our North path wall (see below).  Stan and Kristen were in later for tidying in the Japanese garden and we also saw Becky, Maryam, El, Gary A., Bill O., Terry N., Jackie R. and many more folks.

Marv, Big John and Terry (left to right)

Jim D. (above)

Dennis J. (above)

‘Elizabeth’ magnolia (Magnolia hybrida) – woody tree

redbud (Cercis canadensis) in bloom (above and below)

‘Venus’ coral bells (Heuchera) – perennial

barrenwort (Epimedium x rubrum) – perennial

‘Bloody Mary’ Rodger’s flower (Rodgersia pinnata) – perennial

‘Little Leo’ leopard’s bane (Doronicum orientale) – perennial

emerging ‘Burgundy Lace’ Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) – perennial

Winter Jewels® ‘Painted Doubles’ hellebore (Helleborus) – perennial

serviceberry (Amelanchier sp.) – woody tree

The Earth Day celebration at Rotary Botanical Gardens today was a huge success.  I wasn’t there the entire day but I saw a full parking lot (and much beyond!), lots of families and the gardens had lots of visitors meandering through.  Special thanks to our volunteers (like Flannery and Dylan seen above) and all the participating organizations and businesses that helped make this day a success.  The RBG staff did a great job keeping everything organized.  While the Parker Education Center and gardens were filled with guests, the Compost & Pansy Sale (8 am – 12 noon, continues every Saturday!) was busy over at the Horticulture Center.

Fergus!

‘Valerie Finnis’ grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum)

serviceberry (Amelanchier lamarckii) – woody tree

‘Albert Heijn’ tulip (Tulipa)

Tulipa tarda

yellow anemone (Anemone ranunculoides) – perennial

If you haven’t visited Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, IL, you are missing a wonderful experience.  This garden should be visited repeatedly and throughout their open season.  Ranked consistently as the #1 Japanese garden in the Northern hemisphere, this garden will transport you to Japan and while beautiful year-round, this garden has intense spring and fall coloration (both exhibited in these blog photos).  Not far away from this garden is the Nichols Conservatory and surrounding gardens all located in Sinnissippi Park.  Rockford also features the Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden which is always worth a visit.  Make a long day of enjoying all three of these destinations!

Tim Gruner, Curator and Head of Horticulture at Anderson Japanese Gardens, will be doing a presentation at Rotary Botanical Gardens on Wednesday, April 26th at 6:30 pm.  The topic is Japanese Garden Design although the actual title of Tim’s presentation is Patterns in Nature that Inspire Japanese Gardens and the Connections Between Garden and Architecture.  This presentation will discuss much of the inspiration, theory and practice behind developing and maintaining a Japanese style garden.  Tim is a highly sought after consultant, presenter and expert on Japanese gardens and their development, care and maintenance.  Tim has presented at the gardens before and this promises to be an exciting and engaging opportunity for all attendees.  No pre-registration is required and the fee is $3 for RBG Members and $5 for non-members.

Independent from this opportunity (but also highly encouraged) is a guided tour at Anderson Japanese Gardens on Wednesday, May 3rd at 6 pm.  Spring color should be peaking at this point in time so this is a “must see” opportunity.  Pre-registration (maximum of 40 participants) is required and is only $11.50 (no discounts). Travel to the garden is on your own and the tour will begin promptly at 6 pm.  Contact RBG for more information on either of these opportunities.  Check out our website for more information and perhaps look in to the Asian Brush Painting Class on May 10th!