It looked like midnight this morning with thunderclouds overhead. We had pounding rain for about 30 minutes and then a light drizzle for another hour or so. It was thankfully enough to give the entire gardens a little sip of water and Larry still ran some supplemental irrigation in our driest areas. The rain was welcome and didn't dampen the spirits of our tour that arrived at 8:30 am. This was the group from Rockford that is attending the Upper Midwest Master Gardener Conference. I welcomed the group and gave them some basic information. Art (seen above with his group) and Laura then split the group and took them on a nice hour-long tour thru the gardens. The rain held off and I caught the tour at the end and they loved the gardens and wished they had more time to explore. Lots of comments on our late season color and foliage impact. They liked all the maroons like that of the 'Chocolate Truffles' bugleweed (
Ajuga reptans) seen below.
I was able to walk the gardens this morning while Marianne got the plant sale up and running. Larry bounced b
etween many projects while Little Jerry sharpened tools, mowed the arboretum and collected debris. Janice was here to work out in the gardens, gave an orientation to two new volunteers (Mary and Gena) and worked with her Thursday volunteer group and Neil later in the day. Dr. Gredler was here mowing and we had a moderate Grumpy turnout with the bad w
eather. We saw Vern, Dave, Jim, Bob A., Ron W., Dick H., Dr. Yahr (back from AZ) and Del. Bill was here to prune shrubs and collect debris too. The plant sale started on the slow side with the rain so I have been able to work on my upcoming presentations and sift thru my ever-growing "to do" pile on my desk. As I walked thru the garden, I was noticing the subtle interest that later season plant features can provide. To the left are the seedheads of the summer ornamental onion (
Allium tanguticum 'Summer Beauty') that while not the nice summer pink right now, do have structural interest late in the season. To the right are the berries of the native pokeweed (
Phytolacca americana) out in the gardens. We left some large specimens as I think they are quite showy. The berries, while poisonous to us in moderate quantities, are eaten by birds and the seeds are "distributed." The berries can be used to make a red ink/dye that was used by Native Americans to paint horses and interestingly enough, used to write letters during the civil war.
Plant sale traffic has increased this afternoon and with two days left of the "official" sale after today, we hope to see more action out there. The mums, asters, bulbs and shrubs have gone fairly well although I'm surprised we haven't
sold more perennials as we have an awesome selection of some harder-to-find, affordably priced varieties. I think people, in general, are wary of later season planting and the early cool temperatures and fall color starti
ng up are making people pause regarding purchases. The soil is still warm and it is a great time of year to plant. We'll be planting perennials and woody plants over the next three weeks at least and bulbs throughout October and possibly beyond. As I walked the gardens today it is very apparent that Autumn is making an early appearance. However, many of our annual beds are still hanging in there (see to the left and right). While certain plants have called it quits, it's nice to see so many still looking good after many very cool mornings. Our tour attendees were impressed with the late color and we'll leave in our annuals until they get that hard freeze. Below is the 'Prickles' gourd and the bottom picture is another shot of the "Ornamental Edibles" wall planting that has filled out nicely along its 140' length.
It looked like midnight this morning with thunderclouds overhead. We had pounding rain for about 30 minutes and then a light drizzle for another hour or so. It was thankfully enough to give the entire gardens a little sip of water and Larry still ran some supplemental irrigation in our driest areas. The rain was welcome and didn't dampen the spirits of our tour that arrived at 8:30 am. This was the group from Rockford that is attending the Upper Midwest Master Gardener Conference. I welcomed the group and gave them some basic information. Art (seen above with his group) and Laura then split the group and took them on a nice hour-long tour thru the gardens. The rain held off and I caught the tour at the end and they loved the gardens and wished they had more time to explore. Lots of comments on our late season color and foliage impact. They liked all the maroons like that of the 'Chocolate Truffles' bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) seen below.
etween many projects while Little Jerry sharpened tools, mowed the arboretum and collected debris. Janice was here to work out in the gardens, gave an orientation to two new volunteers (Mary and Gena) and worked with her Thursday volunteer group and Neil later in the day. Dr. Gredler was here mowing and we had a moderate Grumpy turnout with the bad w
eather. We saw Vern, Dave, Jim, Bob A., Ron W., Dick H., Dr. Yahr (back from AZ) and Del. Bill was here to prune shrubs and collect debris too. The plant sale started on the slow side with the rain so I have been able to work on my upcoming presentations and sift thru my ever-growing "to do" pile on my desk. As I walked thru the garden, I was noticing the subtle interest that later season plant features can provide. To the left are the seedheads of the summer ornamental onion (Allium tanguticum 'Summer Beauty') that while not the nice summer pink right now, do have structural interest late in the season. To the right are the berries of the native pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) out in the gardens. We left some large specimens as I think they are quite showy. The berries, while poisonous to us in moderate quantities, are eaten by birds and the seeds are "distributed." The berries can be used to make a red ink/dye that was used by Native Americans to paint horses and interestingly enough, used to write letters during the civil war. 
sold more perennials as we have an awesome selection of some harder-to-find, affordably priced varieties. I think people, in general, are wary of later season planting and the early cool temperatures and fall color starti
ng up are making people pause regarding purchases. The soil is still warm and it is a great time of year to plant. We'll be planting perennials and woody plants over the next three weeks at least and bulbs throughout October and possibly beyond. As I walked the gardens today it is very apparent that Autumn is making an early appearance. However, many of our annual beds are still hanging in there (see to the left and right). While certain plants have called it quits, it's nice to see so many still looking good after many very cool mornings. Our tour attendees were impressed with the late color and we'll leave in our annuals until they get that hard freeze. Below is the 'Prickles' gourd and the bottom picture is another shot of the "Ornamental Edibles" wall planting that has filled out nicely along its 140' length. 
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