Clik here to view.
Seasonals for Fragrance
It was another cold day but we had a great turnout of volunteers at the Horticulture Center. Larry H. went out in the gardens to bring in more lights and Pat M. continued to process lights for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Vertical Planters
It was another cold day although the blue sky and sunshine made it feel warmer than the -9 degrees F we had this morning (wind chill). At the time of typing this blog (morning), I haven't seen any...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hurray For Hyssops!
As I finish ordering seeds and plants for the 2015 Spring season, one of my focus areas is the Smelly Garden theme which will be featured in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. This garden...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Weeping Conifers Should Make You Smile
We had about 4" of fluffy snow float down this morning followed by some freezing rain. I had a presentation in Blue Mounds, WI tonight that had been rescheduled due to potentially bad road conditions....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Epic Two Days
In the past 48 hours, I've travelled about 2,000 miles (mostly by air of course!) but saw some neat things. On Wednesday morning, I headed to O'Hare airport to fly out to Connecticut as I was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sea Kale - Beautiful & Yummy
Above is the beautiful (and delicious) sea kale (Crambe maritima) but more on that later... It was a beautiful and sunny day over 50 degrees F which is nice warm up compared to recent weeks. Of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Containers
Today was another warm and sunny one with temperatures in the upper 50 degrees F! Needless to say, the snow is melting quickly which creates that annual sloppiness. We had some great volunteer help...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Annual Vinca (Catharanthus roseus)
It felt like early May today with temperatures near 60 degrees F and ample sunshine. The birds were chirping happily and the snow has been melting steadily. We had some excellent volunteer help...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Under-Appreciated Mukdenia
Today was another balmy day with temperatures near 60 degrees F and ample sunshine. It's interesting how much warmer 60 degrees F feels in March versus October! I saw many people on the Ice Age Trail...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Three-Flower Maple (Acer triflorum)
Today was a bit more cloudy as compared to the sunny days we had all week but the temperature was still nice and reached around 60 degrees F today. It was a quiet day at the Horticulture Center which...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sweet Kate Offers a Sweet Look
This was the day I should have had my camera back in action for shots of so many volunteers here at the gardens on this warm day. I know there are bulbs blooming out there as well and need to capture...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fragrant Abelia
While it was another sunny day outside, the temperatures today are more "March-ish" with highs only in the 40 degrees F which will be 25 degrees F colder than yesterday. Oh well. That's spring for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima)
Today was another sunny and cool day with lots of action at the Horticulture Center and out in the gardens. Pat M. went out for more serious pruning which involved some significant "ladder work"....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Has Sprung
I finally was able to explore the garden today and saw signs of Spring everywhere! I also saw a lot of deer tracks, deer poop, broken signs and the other traditional signals that winter is receding....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Yucca For Form & Color
I always been a fan of yuccas and am most familiar with Yucca filamentosa which has a long history in our gardens. While the green form has that nice rigid structure, called the "Southwest Look", I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Symposium Success
Above is Kris K. (RBG Education Coordinator) with Peter Hatch, one of our speakers at the annual Rotary Botanical Gardens Spring Symposium today. Peter was Director of Gardens and Grounds at Thomas...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Winter Aconite - First Color of Spring
Winter reminded us today that it can still show up and did so with 5" of snow over night and in to the late morning. The roads were a mess and this certainly thwarted garden work outside. However, it...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Smaller Scale Aesculus
The snow continues to melt today and hopefully will be gone by the end of the week with warming temperatures and possible scattered rain throughout the week. Not much happened out in the gardens today...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hiatus on Spring
It was another chilly day with suspended disbelief that Spring is actually here. The birds are still chirping but the snow is still here for now! Above are some of our repurposed containers providing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Olbrich Awakens Too
All the photos in this blog were taken at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (Madison, WI) last evening before a presentation that I gave on the importance of foliage in the shade garden. Their garden is...
View Article