The mornings have a definite “chill” to them this week!  As we continue to rake more leaves daily, we are getting that “hint of autumn” in the air and also continue to remove spent annuals and tidy up as needed.  Nice shot directly above of ‘Blondo’ maiden grass (Miscanthus sinensis) in the main parking lot.  As I was putting up signs for our Fall Plant Sale this morning (continues Saturday from 8 am until 5 pm and Sunday from 10 am until 4 pm!), I was able to check out the gardens and while color is still abundant, we’ve passed our summer peak and will start to get more interest from ornamental grasses, late season perennials and fall color is likely not to far away.  Our grounds staff of Cindy, Larry H., Alex and Ibhar all had duties out in the gardens as Janice and I worked in the plant sale.  Grounds volunteers included Kathy P., Eva and Dennis.  Bob D. brought three RECAPPERS and the group worked on leaf raking out in the gardens and watering in the plant sale.  We also had many wonderful volunteers helping at the sale today which saw steady traffic.

neat mix in our pastel theme (above)

‘Frosted Explosion’ annual switchgrass (Panicum amarum) – annual

Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus, not sure on variety…) – woody plant

‘Tricolor’ sage (Salvia officinalis) – tender perennial (z5)

‘Sylphid’ plume celosia (Celosia plumosa) – annual

variegated giant reed (Arundo donax ‘Versicolor’) – annual

‘Flower Tower’ tall tickseed (Coreopsis tripteris) – perennial

‘Ping Pong Lavender’ globe amaranth (Amaranthus globosa) – annual

‘Flamingo Feather Pink’ wheat celosia (Celosia spicata) – annual

neat unplanned combo of bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Dulce’) with South American verbena (Verbena bonariensis)

big patch of ‘Profusion Mango’ zinnias (Zinnia hybrida) – annual

‘Raiche Form’ wood aster (Aster divaricatus) – perennial

fruits of Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) – perennial

yellow waxy bells (Kirengeshoma palmata) – perennial

colorful border at the gazebo garden (above) maintained by volunteers Dylan and Flannery

Pegasus® hybrid begonia (Begonia hybrida ‘Gryphon’) – annual

I forgot to finish my blog last night with these images all taken yesterday (Wednesday) during our Fall Plant Sale preparations.  Nice shot above of ‘Maui Sunshine’ coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) which is one of hundreds of varieties of perennials available at the sale with a wide selection for both sun and shade.  The sale also has shrubs, bulbs, mums, asters, kale, compost and much more!  We had an awesome crew yesterday of Victoria, Jordan, Dawn, Sue, Olive, Shirley H., Barb B., Don C., Steve E., Sharon, Cindy, Barb C and many others.  We priced almost everything and put up much of the signage that was then finished this morning.  Tonight we had the Members Only Pre-Sale and it was well attended. Our volunteers were excellent as always.  I’m wearing out tonight but more blog highlights of the sale will be posted soon.  The sale continues for the public tomorrow from 9 am until 6 pm.  The sale then continues Saturday from 8 am until 5 pm and Sunday from 10 am until 4 pm.

Dawn (left), Victoria and Jordan helping in the sale yesterday

Double Scoop™ Cranberry hybrid coneflower (Echinacea ‘Balscanery’)

bulbs galore!

lots of perennial, ornamental grasses (above)

those blue asters are only $5 each!

shrubs galore! (above and below)

massive mums only $10 each!

the woodchucks apparently like kale (Brassica oleracea) too! (above)

large kale (Brassica oleracea) only $6 each!

‘Thailand Giant’ elephant ear (Colocasia gigantea) with Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) – not hardy!

elm-leaved goldenrod (Solidago ulmifolia) – perennial

It was another beautiful day with plenty of sunshine.  I’m not sure how much of the sun we’ll see over the coming days as there seems to be a pretty good chance of rain over the next four days.  Interesting flower of the ‘Dreadlocks’ amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus) seen above blooming at about 7′ tall!  We had nice weather for unloading more plants that arrived for our Fall Plant Sale (see our website for details).  With the sale starting next week and a long weekend ahead, plants have been rolling in daily.  We had a large mum delivery as well as a large load of perennials (for both sun and shade) arriving on site.  Our grounds staff of Cindy, Bobby K., Ibhar, Alex and myself all had various duties and we all were involved with plant sale related activities today.  We also spent time tidying the gardens for the weekend with volunteer help from Dennis, Eva, Marleen, Kristin, Kevin, Dr. Gredler, Maury, Flannery, Mary Kay and many others.  It was a wonderfully productive day.  Some highlights of the Fall Plant Sale can be seen below so spread the word!

Uchu™ variegated ornamental hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) – annual

Henry™ Purple perennial asters for $5 each at the Fall Plant Sale!

perennials for sun (including lots of natives!) at the Fall Plant Sale!

perennials for shade at the Fall Plant Sale!

$6 kale (Brassica oleracea) in big pots at the Fall Plant Sale!

‘Carolina Reaper’ hot pepper (Capsicum chinense) – annual (HOTTEST pepper in the world!)

After missing some of the promised rain over the last two days, we had a significant overnight “soaker” of 2″ or so that dampened the gardens which were still wet from previous precipitation.  In this area though, we’ve had less rain than many locations just north and south of us where flooding issues still exist.  Nice shots above and directly below of the Wellness Garden with some vivid coloration.  The rain and cooler evening temperatures are creating some fungal problems and some annuals are rotting out here and there.  Overall though, the gardens continues to have significant late season color and is worth a visit to be sure!

We had some drizzle this morning to work around but had a productive day out in the gardens. Thankfully the rain wasn’t overly intense so our paths still looked good and we had minimal clean-up throughout the gardens.  Larry H. continues his early work on processing and putting up lights for the Holiday Light Show (HLS).  He has made great progress in the Japanese garden already! Alex and Ibhar had some inside tasks and plenty of gardening action with various tasks.  I’m focusing on our impending Fall Plant Sale (see details on our website) which starts next week.  We’ll have plants arriving daily now in order to stock this large sale and significant fundraising event.  Volunteers today included Kathy P., Dr. Gredler, Dennis, Greg and Cheryl P., Kay, Maury, Kristin, Gary, Hal and some others.

cool photo from Cindy B. of monarch caterpillar on milkweed (Aslcepias sp.) yesterday

‘Splendide’ meadow rue (Thalictrum delavayi) – perennial

Beezar!™ Funny Honey Apache beggarticks (Bidens ferulifolia) – annual

Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) – not hardy

lush and rich border in sunken garden (above)

variegated shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’) – not hardy

Tidbits™ ‘Tammy’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual (above and below)

the New Guinea impatiens display (above) is still looking great!

blooming above at 7′ tall is ‘Flower Tower’ tall tickseed (Coreopsis tripteris) – perennial

beautifully symmetrical ‘Heronswood Globe’ katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) – woody tree

Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum) – perennial (above)

fruiting structure for umbrella magnolia (Magnolia tripetala) – woody tree

the walking labyrinth was an excellent addition to the new Wellness Garden

‘New Zealand Purple’ castor bean (Ricinus communis) above and below – annual (poisonous!)

‘Profusion Mango’ zinnia (Zinnia hybrida) with ‘China Town’ plume celosia (Celosia plumosa) – annuals

‘Elephant Head’ amaranth (Amaranthus gangeticus) – annual

nice assortment of annuals (above) in the Wellness Garden

Today was a muggy one outside and the threat of rain never became serious beyond some sprinkles.  We had a busy day at the gardens with the grounds staff of Cindy, Big John, Terry, Larry H., Alex, Ibhar and myself bouncing between projects.  This time of year is truly a juggling event with plant sale preparations, gardening tasks and Holiday Light Show (HLS) set-up (started by Larry H. already!). Volunteers included Kathy P., Eva, Ron R., Alan, Dick P., Dick H., Maury, Ron Y., Dave, Steve, Jim, Vern, Dr. Gredler, Kristin, Stan and others I likely missed as half my day was spent in Madison, WI.  I had some meetings and took the time to check out Olbrich Botanical Gardens which looked great although they have suffered through heavy rains recently with some of the gardens currently flooded.  Nice shot above of flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata) in one of their many gravel gardens.  I’m glad we watered a bit today as Monday rains were passing but Tuesday looks promising!  Plants for our fall plant sale will begin arriving later this week with the sale starting later next week.

nice border with cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) and elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta)

‘Medusa’ ornamental onion (Allium sp.) – perennial

Pat Austin™ English rose ( Rosa ‘AUSmum’) – woody shrub

succulent container

one of my favorite little “nooks” at OBG

‘Little Henry’ sweet coneflower (Rudbeckia subtomentosa) – perennial

always beautiful herb garden (above and below)

cool “sculptural re-use” of a dead crabapple (Malus) in the herb garden

‘Red Foliated’ upland cottton (Gossypium hirsutum) – annual

‘Hot Lips’ turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) – perennial

big patch of Korean angelica (Angelica gigas) – biennial

‘Rio Grande’ hibiscus (Hibiscus moscheutos) – perennial

‘Little Honey’ golden oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) – woody shrub

‘Skywalker’ Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) – perennial

neat, new rock pyramid – have seen these at Northwind Perennial Farm (Burlington, WI) too!

weeping katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Pendulum’) – woody tree

lush seasonal border

‘Looking Glass’ false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla) – perennial

Crimson Fans mukdenia (Mukdenia rossii ‘Karasuba’) – perennial

cool 2×4 sculpture – I believe part of their GLEAM exhibition (go see it!)

agave centerpiece!