Some of our 2017 Garden Art Projects are coming back to the gardens and a sneak peak can be seen above and below of these neat fish.  Based on the three (of thirty) that have come back already, we’re very excited about this display as you can imagine.  A wide range of artists of all backgrounds and abilities are involved with this annual project.  All of the fish will be put out in the gardens prior to Mother’s Day and are ultimately auctioned off (public welcome!) on September 8th.  This program has been so much fun over the years and including local art out in the gardens is certainly a great addition to the gardens proper and coincides with our mission.

Our grounds staff included Cindy, Larry H., Larry O. and myself today.  Cindy did some early weeding and a whole lot of composting in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden which will again feature a Hummingbird Haven theme.  Larry H. continues his epic mulching project in the Scottish garden which coincides with spring clean up efforts in that same space as he progresses.  Larry O. continues to pack away the last of our Holiday Light Show (HLS) elements and is helping with the logistics of getting ready for the Spring Plant Sale in May.  He also hauled out the two large, Adirondack chairs (see the pink one below!).

emerging bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) – perennial

more crocuses (Crocus sp.) continue to bloom

the marsh marigolds (Caltha palustris) don’t mind the rising water line along the shore! – perennial

We had a super volunteer turnout on this sunny, albeit chilly, day.  It was also super breezy but that hopefully will dry up some of the recent puddles.  Above are Ron R. (left) and Bob K. removing woodchips in an area that was then composted.  The guys did a great job.  Liz and Kathy P. (directly below) tidied up the Giant Aquarium which included removing weeds and the top layer of sand!  This was an intense job but the ladies did an excellent job of tackling it in a timely fashion.  Bob C. and Lloyd (second photo down) did a nice job cleaning up debris west of our main parking lot and the guys also mulched all the trees out in that area.  Kay (further below) was in to continue composting in her area which is not small.  She’s doing a great job of spreading a nice layer around emerging plants.  Kristin was in to tidy in the Japanese garden while Urban did more pruning.  Dick H. made many trips to the dump while Maury ran some errands.  Marv B., Jim, Vern and Steve J. all worked on carpentry projects which included building obelisks for the Spring Plant Sale.  Gary worked more on the laser engraver and some data entry for signs.  Dr. Gredler did some painting while Alan started assembling our plant sale tables with some help later from Bob K.  Ron P. was in to continue repairing lights from the Holiday Light Show (HLS) and we also saw Polly, Becky, Maryam, Bev D. and many others.  It was a very productive day!

Liz (left) and Kathy P.

Bob C. (left) and Lloyd

“Kay the Composting Queen”

seed pods of the Northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) – woody tree

star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) flower buds are just starting to open

‘Blue Sunrise’ perennial geranium (Geranium hybrida) – perennial

donkeytail spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) just getting ready to bloom – perennial

snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) are still going strong

peonies (Paeonia sp.) are emerging quickly too!

White Perfume^TM  fragrant viburnum (Viburnum farreri ‘KLMW’) just opening up – woody shrub (sweet!!!)

‘Pink Giant’ glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii)

one more move and this giant pink Adirondack chair will be in place!

always a nice spot in the North Point garden to enjoy the view

mama goose hissed at me during this photo as she crouched over her egg(s)

We had another grey day with plenty of rain and drizzle.  Our pond level is quite high and I’m hoping it doesn’t come up too much more as we’re seeing the start of flooding on our lowest paths in the Japanese and alpine gardens.  April showers are certainly welcome however, and plenty of plants continue to show more signs of life.  Our daffodils (Narcissus) will likely be peaking next week with hyacinths (Hyacinthus) and early tulips (Tulipa) not far behind.  We’re using animal repellents on many of our emerging bulbs as the early nibbling from deer and rabbits is painfully evident.

Larry H., Larry O., Bobby K. and I were on staff today.  Larry H. continued his tidying and mulching the Scottish garden which is going along well.  Mulching around emerging plants can be challenging.  Larry is a “rain or shine” guy and kept working in the rain.  Larry O. is working on lots of inventorying and shifting at the Horticulture Center and out in the yard as we prepare for our incoming deliveries and the popular Spring Plant Sale on Mother’s Day weekend (see our website).  We’ll have lots of veggies, herbs, perennials, shrubs and much more at this sale.  The RBG Members pre-sale is on Thursday, May 11th (4:30 pm – 7:30 pm) this year.  Many of the plant lists are already on our website.  Bobby K. had some projects including some electrical modifications at the Horticulture Center and out in the gardens.

variegated foliage of the emerging ‘Fire of Love’ tulip (Tulipa)

white glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa luciliae ‘Alba’)

emerging peony (Paeonia) shoots with glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa sardensis)

Our volunteers continue to return to action in early April.  Above is Steve E., a brand new volunteer at RBG, who has already proven himself with some solid mulching and composting over the last two weeks.  Janice and I gave an orientation yesterday to Connie, another “newbie” that we’ll enjoy having involved out in the gardens.  I recently had a great “walk around” in the fern & moss garden and Japanese garden with Kristin, Jim and Stan (seen below, left to right) where we were coming up with some plans for this year.  All three of these volunteers have a great eye for detail and do wonderful things out in the gardens, particularly the Japanese garden.

Today we had some volunteer help as well.  Alan M. finished painting our two giant Adirondack chairs (bright pink and orange) this morning while Ron P. continued repairing lights from the Holiday Light Show (HLS).  Ron’s work on the HLS is almost year round and his dedication keeps our lights in order and ready to go.  Kathy P. had some brief outdoor work before it rained and moved on to some inside work during the drizzle.  Peg was in to work on plant records.  We also saw Mark S., Dick H. and some others.

Alan M. and Ruth Ann P. were “painting partners” on Tuesday this week!

‘Mellow Yellow’ hellebore (Helleborus sp.) – perennial

furry undersides of emerging Canadian or wild ginger (Asarum canadense) – perennial

dark foliage of emerging ‘Britt Marie Crawford’ ligularia (Ligularia dentata) – perennial

pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) keep emerging and I love this fuzzy stage! – perennial

white crocuses (Crocus sp.)

the moss island in the fern & moss garden is looking vivid

Those going to the Horticulture Center will note that the adjacent home is vacated and while it’s future isn’t certain, the Janesville Fire Department has been using it for some ladder and access training.  The folks that used to live here were friendly and helped keep an eye on the “comings and goings” at the Horticulture Center during off hours.

Today was dark and drizzling for the most part.  What a perfect day to share some early spring color by featuring these striped squill (Puschkinia libanotica)  images.  I could have taken these photos today as the striped squill out in the gardens are at peak right now.  Also called Lebanon squill, this small, fall-planted bulb is a hardy, early blooming option in our gardens.  Native to the Caucasus region, this bulb (planted 3″ deep) will bloom in early April for us and go dormant by mid June.  These bulbs don’t like “winter wet” conditions so drainage is a consideration.  This bulb is also both deer and rodent resistant.  Named after the Russian botanist, Count Apollo Mussin-Puschkin, this bulb naturalizes well and should be planted at 9-16 bulbs per square foot for solid coverage.  They are also nice in “bulb lawns” as seen above in that by being planted under turf, they’ll emerge, bloom and finish before your first mowing!

We didn’t have an overly busy day outside due to the rain today but Big John, Cindy and Janice all had some duties between rain drops.  Volunteers included Maury running errands and Alan, Mandy and Ruth Ann painting.  Our painting season was very successful but is coming to an end shortly as most of these painted objects need to get back out in the gardens very shortly.  Steve came in to do some composting and Peg worked on plant records.  We also saw Mark S., Connie (new volunteer) and many others.  It was a quietly productive day!

Despite spring starting two weeks ago on the calendar, the first Monday of April is truly our full scale “spring” back in to gardening with all the grounds staff back to their regular schedules and many volunteers returning.  The gardens are still awakening with more color every day and recent rains (more to come later in the week) will get everything moving along including our areas of turf.  Above are some recently delivered piles including shredded bark to the left and compost to the right.  These piles will disappear quickly as we continue to frantically spread these out in the gardens in advance of more plants emerging and certainly in areas that we have to address quickly prior to planting.  These piles became quite a bit smaller as today progressed as a result of an excellent volunteer turnout.  Our grounds crew of Larry O., Big John, Larry H. and Cindy all had a full day of tidying, mulching and other myriad projects.  I was able to get out in the gardens a bit and continue to prepare for our upcoming Spring Plant Sale and other events.  Note some of the seasonal color in the photos below…

flowers of red maple (Acer rubrum)

reticulated irises (Iris reticulata) are looking nice right now

daffodils (Narcissus) are really starting up now

pasque flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) starting to open up in the alpine garden

some crocuses (Crocus sp.) that have avoided “consumption by rabbit”

‘Northern Gold’ forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia) is at peak bloom

Even though Alan (above) was sitting down on the job today, the rest of the volunteers kept in motion both out in the gardens and at the Horticulture Center.  It was a VERY busy Monday with volunteers here from start to finish today.  Ron R. and Bob K. worked on path repairs and some tidying while Bob C. and Steve E. (new volunteer) did some serious composting.  Dennis J. was a mulching machine near the formal gardens.  Kathy P. (below) did a nice job tidying in the woodland glen area and Kay was a “composting whirlwind” in her section of the shade garden.  Stan, Kristin, Jim H. and three RECAPPERS all did a great job working in the Japanese garden today.  Urban was in for some pruning later in the day as well.  Marv B., Bobby K., Steve J., Jim and Vern all had carpentry jobs today and continue to progress with the creation of new obelisks and other projects.  Dick H. ran many loads to the dump and both Alan and Dr. Gredler did some significant painting.  Maury ran errands and did some work in our greenhouses while Bill O. was in to help Larry O. later in the morning.  Gary did some work on labels and we also saw Maury, Mark S., Terry N. and many others today.

Kathy P.

Ron R.

Bob K.

early spring bulbs are really coming up nicely now!

‘Golden Glory’ corneliancherry dogwood (Cornus mas) starting to bloom

crocuses (Crocus sp.) looking great

new watering wands (above) will go in to service shortly

our 12′ tall and 24″ diameter culvert pipe planters are ready for our “Gothic Theme”!

our Adirondack chairs have a fresh coat of paint and are ready to go out in the gardens

our bagged compost sale started this past Saturday ($6 per bag, 10% off for RBG members) and continues every Saturday through April and May (check out our website for more details)

neat detail along wall in sunken garden

Last night (Tuesday) we had 76 attendees at our lecture  on “Introduction to Pruning Shrubs and Trees” by Mike Maddox, statewide Master Gardener coordinator for UW-Extension and ISA Certified Arborist.  Mike did a great job and the crowd had plenty of questions.  Mike must have brought more of spring with his glorious arrival (he is literally a “ray of sunshine”) as the gardens are starting to really show some color (see below).  I gave Mike a good ribbing (and vice versa) as we were co-workers here at RBG for about 8  years.  Our next educational opportunity is “Organic Gardening Techniques for Growing Herbs and Vegetables” by Patty Bailey of Oak Village Garden Center (April 5th, 6:30 pm, $5 members, $3 non-members, no registration required).  We also have Tim Gruner from Anderson Japanese Gardens (Rockford, IL) coming on April 26th (same time and fees as previously mentioned).  Tim will discuss “Japanese Garden Design”.  We start selling bagged compost (1.5 cubic feet, 45 lbs) this Saturday from 8 am until 12 noon at the Horticulture Center.  Bags are $6 each although RBG members get 10% off.  Our Spring Plant Sale is just over the horizon as well (Mother’s Day weekend…check out our website!).

We had a very strong volunteer turnout today.  Dennis continued with some serious mulching in the main parking lot islands and borders.  Vicky and Steve were in a bit later to mulch in areas around the North point garden.  They also brought back plenty of debris.  Marv B. tidied up his moss areas which look awesome (see below).  Kristin and Stan worked their “tidying kung fu” in the Japanese garden and do a spectacular job.  Urban was for some pruning along the east end of the arboretum.  Alan and Sandi did some significant painting today and we brought more “target objects” inside for painting in the near future.  Ron P. was in to work on repairing lights and Maury ran some errands for us.  Bill O. was a huge help inside and we also saw Mark S., Polly, Bill O. (#2) and many others today.  The “double Larrys” were on task today for grounds and had a wide range of projects.  Larry H. continued to tidy up our roses, remove deer netting and collected leaves and debris.  Larry O. continues to manage the Horticulture Center and helped with two large deliveries today among other tasks.  I had a great tour of the gardens this morning (note photos below!) and continue to finish ordering and preparing for full speed ahead next week!

marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) is starting to bloom – perennial

the moss is nice and vivid right now!

nice framed view of this mossy area in the Japanese garden

crocus (Crocus sp.) in the sunken garden

striped squill (Puschkinia libanotica)

glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa sardensis)

emerging ‘Gold Heart’ bleeding heart (Lamprocapnos spectabilis) – perennial

emerging Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) – perennial

‘Josef Lemper’ hellebore (Helleborus niger) – above (perennial)

‘Black Diamond’ hellebore (Helleborus sp.) – above (perennial)

‘Grape Galaxy’ hellebore (Helleborus sp.) – above (perennial)

hellebore (Helleborus sp.) in bloom – above (perennial)

Siberian squill (Scilla siberica)

the daffodils (Narcissus) are just getting started! (above and below)

interesting detail in the Scottish garden (above)

close-up of the Parker Pen archway

interesting wall detail in the reception garden (above) – obscured by plants in the summer!

contorted filbert (Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’) in the Scottish garden