We had quite a bit of rain overnight and aside from a couple of hours of sunlight this afternoon, it was fairly gloomy.  I wanted to share some photos I took this past Sunday at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago, Illinois.  This is a fabulous conservatory and the gardens around the conservatory are worth the visit later in the season as well.

We had a very productive day with many volunteers on hand working an a wide range of tasks.  Kathy P., Eva and Liz worked on garden clean-up after planting the remainder of our caladiums.  Bob K. worked on mulching and collecting debris.  Alan painted our Adirondack chairs while Vern, Marv, Steve J. and Jim continued with their carpentry projects.  Maury and Dick H. picked up the remainder of our bananas from K&W Greenery and both had other tasks as well.  Dr. Gredler aerated some lawns while Marcia L. and Mirjam composted in their assigned garden – the English cottage garden.  In the afternoon, Dr. Gredler and his son Phil painted in the Giant Aquarium.  Jason brought down five RECAPPERS and they helped install our three giant culvert pipe planters.  Peg continued work on our plant records.  We also saw Gary, Rollie and many others today.  We also had a meeting to work on the layout of the Giant Aquarium which included Barb C., Marleen, Julie, Becky and myself.

Our grounds staff kept busy as well.  Cindy worked on pricing many of the options in our Pansy Sale which starts (in tandem with our Compost Sale) this Saturday at the Horticulture Center from 8 am until 12 noon.  Cindy also did a whole lot of mulching and tidying.  Larry H. had a wide range of projects with plenty of mulching and composting as well.  Larry O. continued to finish some tasks associated with our water system and bounced between some other projects.  I had some meetings and continue to complete spring orders and details for looming events.

Guzmania ‘Sir Albert’

orchid (Cymbidium sp.) – above and below

fragrant stocks (Matthiola incana) with Japanese maple (Acer palmatum)

‘Gypsy Queen’ garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis)

pocketbook flower (Calceolaria herbeohybrida) – above and below

‘Magic Mix’ monkey flower (Mimulus sp.) – annual

Twisty Baby™ black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Lace Lady’) – woody tree (fragrant!)

‘Ukigumo’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) – woody tree

freesia (Freesia ‘Priscilla’)

Philodendron xanadu ‘Golden’

Persian buttercup (Ranunculus sp.)

‘Elegance Claret’ geranium (Pelargonium)

I picked up the remainder of our pansies (Viola x wittrockiana) today so we’re ready to go for our Pansy Sale which starts this Saturday, April 15th in tandem with our Compost Sale.  Held at the Horticulture Center from 8 am until 12 noon, a wide range of pansy colors will be offered in three formats.  There are flats (48 plants in 12 four packs) for $24 per flat although you can mix and match four packs for $2 each (any quantity).  We have small pansy planters for $7 each and pansy baskets (see above) for $12 each.  My trip today brought back all the flats which collectively encompass 7,440 plants waiting for a good home!  This quantity doesn’t include all the colorful baskets and planters!

There was some very light frost on the ground this morning and while it was chilly most of the day with a slight breeze, it turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day!  We had an amazing day of progress out in the gardens with lots of volunteers coming in (see further below) and our irrigation contractors were on site all day to get our water system and irrigation system going.  There were some minor repairs but we’re ready to rock and roll.  The grounds staff included Larry O., Larry H., Bobby K. and me.  Larry H. worked on various projects and accomplished a whole lot of composting.  Larry O. helped out the irrigation guys and had some projects of his own.  Bobby K. did a great job building a holding rack for our luminary crates from the Holiday Light Show (HLS).   After my pansy run, I bounced between some projects but continue to try and keep ahead of upcoming events like the Spring Plant Sale on Mother’s Day weekend (see our website!).  It was a bustling and productive day and we saw some kids out in the gardens enjoying the day with our education volunteers.

Dale S. (left) and Dayle H. did a nice job primping, tidying, planting and perking up our moss spaces that Marv B. has masterfully maintained over many years.  Dale S. helped rebuild our larger moss garden years ago and helped install this one at the same time.  It was nice to have the “Double Dale” twins today working out in the gardens

Kay (above) did a great job finishing the composting on her vast portion of the shade garden.  It looks great and will certainly help the plants in that area.  Kay was one of MANY volunteers we saw today.  It was an unending procession of excellent volunteers throughout the day.  Kathy P. and Eva did some excellent tidying around the gardens as they “be-bopped” around to avoid getting hit by the irrigation system as it was tested.  Dr. Gredler and Alan M. were in for painting projects and Ron P. continued his repair of HLS lights.  Bill O. was a mechanic for the day and worked on repairing lots of vehicles and was later joined by Dave K.  Gena, Myrt, Patty, Nancy and Sue M. (new volunteer) came in to tidy up the gazebo garden and did a great job.  Stan and Kristen were in to work in the Japanese garden and Jim H. had four RECAPPERS with him to tackle a wide range of projects.  We also saw Bev D., Jason, Mary D. and many others.

Eva (left) and Kathy P.

Patty (left) and Myrt

Gena (left) and Sue M. (great teamwork ladies!)

Nancy

the water is quite high but this view is still spectacular

above are chunks of a cottonwood (Populus deltoides) that was just removed along the Japanese garden shoreline where it was leaning more and more each year over the water

The photo above and all of those below were taken last night at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI).  I gave a talk on annuals in the evening but arrived early enough to enjoy a good hour out in the gardens for some photography with perfect lighting.  Spring has certainly sprung at Olbrich as well.  The bulb meadows (one directly below) are looking great with still much more to come up and bloom!  All the blue seen above and directly below is Siberian squill (Scilla siberica).

white forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum) – fragrant!

cool “bird’s nest” like arrangement in this container (one of two like this)

pollinator hotel

prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis) just burned back prior to the start of active growth

hellebores (Helleborus sp.) galore!

a solid groundcover of glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa sp.)

‘Powder Puff’ magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri) – woody tree

garden hyacinth (Hyacinthus)

hellebore (Helleborus sp.) – perennial

Sorry for the short blog (or maybe some of you readers are thankful for that!?) but today was a long one.  I had a presentation up at Olbrich Botanical Garden (Madison, WI) this evening (Annuals) and had a full day of tasks including picking up a good portion of our bananas (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’) from K&W Greenery here in Janesville with Big John.  John and I had to cut them back a bit to fit the on the truck and in the trailer and we have one more pick up tomorrow.  I also ran for pansies for our Pansy Sale (offered during the compost sale on Saturdays, 8 am – 12 noon at the Horticulture Center) and came back with a nice assortment.  While I did take other photos at work today (and many at Olbrich tonight!), I’ll share those later.

We had a very productive day with Big John, Larry H., Cindy and Bob K. working on a wide range of gardening projects and other tasks at the Horticulture Center.  Kathy P. and Eva helped Cindy pot up caladiums (Caladium) during the drizzle this morning and the ladies later went out for some garden clean up.  Alan M. was in to paint Adirondack chairs while Maury ran some errands.  Steve E. was in for some major mulching in the woodland walk garden and Terri N. came in to compost her new assigned garden area near the gazebo garden.  We also has our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee Meeting (Larry H., Big John, Gary, Maury, Iza, Becky and Hal) and saw Jenny E., John J., Steve L., Bill O. and I’m sure many others that I missed while I was running errands.  It was another great day.

It was amazing to see how much growth has occurred out in the gardens since last Friday.  With a warm weekend and some rain, plants are really exploding out in the gardens with lots of bulbs at peak and many of our earliest woody plants in bloom.  The earliest of perennials are also showing some flowers as well.  With a relatively warm week on tap, the “spring progession” should be substantial.  It’s a great time of year to view the garden which also has the benefit of not featuring too many of the lurking weeds that will also emerge quickly over the coming weeks.  We continue to spread lots of compost and mulch throughout the gardens in advance of the heaviest of growth which should occur in the coming month or so.  Daffodils (Narcissus) like the variety ‘Jetfire’ seen above are at peak throughout the gardens and are certainly a favorite of visitors.  We had a VERY busy day at the gardens despite some early rain and a thunderstorm later in the afternoon.

The entire grounds staff was there today with Big John, Cindy, Janice, Bobby K., Larry H. and Larry O. all in action.  The gang was working on a wide range of time sensitive projects to include composting, mulching, installing containers, filling containers with custom soil mix, special event preparation, etc.  I was out in the gardens for a bit but administrative duties continue to keep piling up.  We wish the best to Pam G., our education coordinator, who had her last day today.  Thankfully her organizational skills and dedication to detail should allow us to continue to uphold the importance of education at the gardens until a replacement is recruited.  With education being our primary mission, continuation of our programming momentum will be a priority I’m sure.

‘Leonard Messel’ magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri) – woody tree

‘Banana Boat’ Japanese sedge (Carex siderosticha) emerging – perennial

‘Centennial Blush’ star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) – woody tree

our first tulips (Tulipa) are blooming! – unknown variety above

‘Barton’s Pink’ pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) – perennial

early flowers of plantain-leaf sedge (Carex plantaginea) – perennial

‘Dutchman’s Breeches’ (Dicentra cucullaria) are just starting to bloom – perennial

bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is just starting to bloom too! – perennial

Kristen (above) was one of dozens of volunteers we saw today working on a wide range of tasks.  As the hour is getting long, I wont get in to specifics of the myriad tasks but our excellent volunteers out in the gardens and working at the Horticulture Center included Kristen, Jim H., four RECAPPERS, Steve E., Kay, Terri, Bob C., Bob K., Dennis J., Dick H., Ron R., Alan M., Marsha M., Marv B., Bill O., Vern, Jim, Steve J., Maury, Gary, Kathy P., Eva, Barb, Dr. Gredler and many more.  We also saw Urban, Rose, Rollie, Maryam, Pam, Mark S. and others.  It was a super day!

Kathy P. (left) and Eva

Bob C. (left) and Bob K.

Alan M. (left) and Ron R. putting together Spring Plant Sale tables

the octopus (painted by Lucy M.) and swordfish will be out in the Giant Aquarium soon helping share the book Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae

It was a busy day at the gardens and the sunshine and cool temperatures made for a good day to get things done.  Nice shot above of the branching texture and interesting bark of the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis).  While it was chilly this morning, the sun warmed the gardens up quickly and we had a lot of activity out in the gardens.  Larry H., Cindy and Janice all had myriad projects out in the gardens throughout the day and we had an excellent volunteer turnout.  I was able to spread some crabgrass control out in some select turf areas and we’re not far away from doing some weeding and considering our first mowing.

glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa sardensis)

the first tulips (Tulipa) of the season (above and a nibbled one below!)

I was busy with some different projects today so didn’t get as many photos of volunteers as I normally do on a day like this. Above are Magda and Marleen (driving).  I took this photo right before I rolled off the hood as the ladies wont slow down for me.  The ladies did a nice job tidying up their garden area and Kay was in to continue composting her area as well.  She put down a lot of of compost this week!  Dennis (below) did some significant mulching while Kathy P. tidied along the west road along the west side of the Parker Education Center.  Peg was in to work on plant records and Maury ran errands.  Jim was in with four RECAPPERS and they did a great job in the Japanese garden with path improvements and some re-setting of rocks.  Chuck did some recycling and we also saw Mark S., Bill O., Hal R. and many others today.

“Behind the Scenes” of Holiday Light Show (HLS) storage – note 150 arches (20′) stored with lights still on that create a domed storage area for a whole lot of additional lights (above and below) – that colored tape indicates groupings of certain colors on those arches (made of plastic conduit) so they are ready to go out in a short six months from now!

our 18″ diameter culvert pipes are painted and ready to go for our “Gothic theme” this year (lots of maroons, reds, “near black” and silver

aside from our excellent bagged compost (blended), we’ll be offering this Purple Cow Tomato Gro soil amendment which is perfect for the bed or container! ($7 for a 12 qt. bag)