Go Green & Gold!

It was a quiet but productive day over at the Horticulture Center. I finished putting together a presentation on "Perennial Partners for Stunning Shrubbery" that I'll be presenting at the Midwest Perennial Conference on February 15th. This will be a fun topic and I look forward to the presentation. However, I have seven presentations prior to that and the end of next week will be quite busy as we also get ready for the Wisconsin Public Television Garden Expo next weekend (February 11, 12, 13). See www.wigardenexpo.com/ for all the details including a nice printable version of all the educational opportunities at this popular event so you can mark your favorites. I'll be talking about "Annuals" at 11 am on Saturday and "Groundcovers" at 1 pm on Sunday. The Garden Expo is a great opportunity to combat the winter "blahs" and get a taste of spring a couple months early! The shot above was taken this morning behind our Horticulture Center. The icicles were just catching the morning light perfectly.

Of course my "Go Green & Gold" blog title is for the Green Bay Packers this Super Bowl weekend but also for the garden elements you see to the left. The mobile raised beds (yellow and green) will be utilized this year as a demonstration on "no stoop" (easier access) gardening opportunities. I'm not sure what we'll plant in them but the carpenters did a nice job building them. The "cross-like" structures will support our yellow culvert planters at the Garden Expo. You'll just have to come to our booth to see what we have in mind! There are still a limited number of tickets for the Garden Expo on sale in our gift shop.

Dr. Gredler was here most of the day with me and was a diligent worker on painting the first of three new structures. The acorn tops to the right will go on top of these once complete. We also had visits from Janice, Big John, Jim, Mary, Dave, Dorothy and Bill. Next week will be frantic but I think we'll all get through it. For those that read this blog and are within travelling distance, don't forget about the February opportunities coming up! Our volunteer soup dinner is on Feb. 17th (5pm-7pm, call Lori to RSVP) and Dave Wanninger will talk about Woody Plants on Wednesday evening, February 23rd (6pm-8pm, free for RBG members, $5 bargain for others). Stay involved or become involved! Below is a view from one of the windows in my house Wednesday morning. We have a shared driveway about 18' wide and of course we had the 4' drifts on our side! Crazy storm!