Today was extremely busy at work and I’m not sure I even had time to take a photo.  This week is busy with our Rhythm & Blooms musical event Tuesday night, our Community Appreciation Day and Wellness Garden dedication on Wednesday and our lecture on Monarchs on Thursday night (6:30 pm).  This Saturday is also our Home Garden Tour!  A busy week ahead!  I did, however, include a whole bunch of photos I took yesterday (Sunday) at Olbrich Botanical Gardens (OBG) in Madison, WI.  My older daughter and I enjoyed a visit to one of my favorite gardens so I thought I’d share some color from that wonderful visit.  Today at RBG we had a very heavy, humid and relatively hot day but lots was accomplished.  Our grounds staff included Cindy, Janice, Big John, Larry H., Terry, Shania, Ibhar and myself.  With some nice rain on Friday night in to Saturday morning this weekend, the gardens are still nicely damp although we continue to augment watering as needed.  The staff had myriad tasks and our volunteer crew of Eva, Steve, Robert, Bob K., Ron R., Ron Y., Dave T., Vern, Steve, Jim, Dr. Gredler, Rollie, Maury, Dick H., Barb C., Nancy M., two RECAPPERS and many more kept busy throughout this oppressive day!

one of many great gravel gardens at OBG (above)

huge agave (I believe) in this neat planter (‘Golden Sunshine’ willow in the back…)

Thai Pavilion garden above and two below

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

golden raintree (Koelreuteria paniculata) – woody tree

‘Blue Shadow’ witchalder (Fothergilla x intermedia) – woody shrub

‘Green Ball’ sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) – annual

cool container

‘Arabella’ clematis (Clematis sp.) – perennial vine

‘Strawberry Candy’ daylily (Hemerocallis) – perennial

‘Zowie! Yellow Flame’ zinnia (Zinnia elegans) – annual

‘Wellington Bronze’ raspwort (Haloragis erecta) – annual

‘Golden Shadow’ golden paper mulberry (Broussonetia papyrifera) – tender tropical

cool extended use of a failing crabapple (Malus sp.)!

herb garden (above and below)

neat information cart in the herb garden – cool!

buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) – woody shrub

‘Joey’ pink mulla-mulla (Ptilotus exaltatus) – annual

showy and large cabbage palms (Cordyline sp.) – tropicals

purple prairie clover (Dalea purpurea) – perennial

If I had typed this blog earlier in the day, I would have lamented about the lack of rainfall we’ve had over the last 10 days or so but rain this evening (as I type) and the strong chance of more showers this weekend, has alleviated some of my concerns.  We did water all day today but that is typical as we can’t count on the rain and have learned some hard lessons in the past.  The photos in this blog are from both yesterday and today.  I’ve been blogging less this year due to some strain on my available time both at work and home but hope to continue to offer some reliable information and photos on what is happening at RBG.  Needless to say, our volunteers both yesterday and today were instrumental in keeping up with watering, weeding, mowing, etc. and our grounds staff (including our rookies of Shania, Alex and Ibhar) are all doing wonderful things as well.  Next week is a busy one with the dedication ceremony for our Wellness Garden on Wednesday, July 18th at 10:30 am (everyone is invited!) and our Home Garden Tour is next Saturday, July 21st (see our website for details).

ColorBlaze® Apple Brandy® coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

neat double Adirondack chair near gazebo overlooking the water

‘Kiwi Fern’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

Sombrero^® Flamenco Orange hybrid coneflower (Echinacea hybrida ‘Balsomenco’) – perennial

Japanese aster (Kalimeris incisa) – perennial

‘Firecracker’ variegated fuchsia (Fuchsia triphylla) – annual

variegated peuce masterwort (Peucedanum ostruthium ‘Daphnis’) – perennial

colorful petioles (stems) of Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) – annual

‘Silver Heart’ false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla) – perennial

Primo® ‘Wild Rose’ coral bells (Heuchera) – perennial

 Apricot Drift® rose (Rosa hybrida ‘Meimirrote’) – woody shrub

‘Blue Cross’ cross gentian (Gentiana cruciata) – perennial

monarch-of-the-veld (Venidium fastuosum) in our Plants of the World Collection – annual

‘Purple Majesty’ ornamental millet (Pennisetum glaucum) – annual

Josef (above) pruning a pine today…

‘Red Satin’ tickseed (Coreopsis hybrida) – perennial

‘White Double Delight’ coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – perennial

‘Lacinato’ kale (Brassica oleracea) – annual

‘Purpurkerze’ (PURPLE CANDLES) false spirea (Astilbe chinensis) – perennial

After a mildly cool morning, the day warmed up and this week is seeing consistent high temperatures near 90 degrees F.  Nice shot above of ‘Dark Opal’ basil (Ocimum basilicum).  As has been the case this week, watering became a priority and I had irrigation going most of the morning until the garden saw a sizable influx of folks attending the Story & Stroll program.  It’s always nice to see the kids out in the gardens!  The garden staff of Larry H., Shania, Ibhar and Alex all had watering duties as well as some other odds and ends.  Our volunteers of Kim, Kathy P., Eva, Stan, Kristin, Bill O., Greg P., Cheryl P., Maury, Sharon L., Gena, Mary, Myrt, Patti and many others accomplished a lot of weeding, tidying and planting.  Be sure to scroll to the bottom as I share an experience from last night!

rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) – perennial

corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) – annual

fragrant heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens ‘Alba’) – annual (smells like vanilla!)

‘Illustris’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) – tropical

‘Dipt in Wine’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

‘Dark Star’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellariodes) – annual

peek-a-boo plant (Spilanthes oleracea) – annual

woolly sage (Salvia argentea) – biennial

‘Cosmic Orange’ sulphur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) – annual

‘Queeny Lime Orange’ zinnia (Zinnia elegans) – annual

nice shot above of our cedar obelisks (4′, 5′ and 6′) which are for sale for $75, $100 and $125 respectively

Above is David Whaley in his Janesville back yard last night. David and I met in person (after connecting on Facebook) for the first time yesterday as he gave me a tour of his impressive lily (Lilium) collection.  What is not only amazing about David’s passion for lilies is the fact that he’s only been “dabbling” with lilies for 2 years!  He is doing his own breeding and selection work and just came back from the North American Lily Society 71st Annual Show and Symposium (Des Moines , IA) with a Best of Show award and a whole bunch of other ribbons in different categories.  I’ve been inspired to plant more lilies at both home and RBG and look forward to seeing what David does with his lily addiction well in to the future!

Today warmed up quickly and became another quick scorcher.  We focused a lot on watering today as we’ve not had adequate rainfall in about a week or so.  Nice shot above of ‘Banana Boat’ Japanese sedge (Carex siderosticha) looking good in the shade garden.  Our grounds staff of Shania, Alex, Big John, Larry H. and I all had a wide range of tasks, much of which included watering.  Our volunteer crew had a very productive day.  We had Kathy P., Eva, Leslie, Firefighter Cathy, Marleen, Bill O., Josef, Mary Kay, Maury, Derrick, Lloyd, Kay and many others.  Tasks included weeding, planting, mowing, tidying, etc.  I was able to get through most of the gardens and while I’m worried about the lack of rain, our plants and collections are looking pretty good.  Our Garden Development & Maintenance Committee also met and included Hal, Iza, Maury, Bobby K., Dick P., Big John, Larry H., Becky and myself.

‘Bottle Rocket’ ligularia (Ligularia hybrida) – perennial

colorful trial coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) at the Horticulture Center – perennial

‘Fish’ variegated hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) – annual

‘Red Lightning’ coral bells (Heuchera) – perennial

wild bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) – perennial (in our prairie restoration)

fruiting structure of umbrella-tree magnolia (Magnolia tripetala) – woody tree

foliage detail on Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) – annual

Limon Blush™ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides ‘UF06-21-35’) – annual, with bloody dock (Rumex sanguineus ssp. sanguineus) – perennial

‘Sunny Delight’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) – perennial

‘Gold Rush’ variegated weigela (Weigela florida) – woody shrub

Rockin’® Playin’ the Blues® hybrid salvia (Salvia longispicata x farinacea ”Balsalmispim’) – annual

Meteor Shower® South American verbena (Verbena bonariensis ‘INVEBPUTOW’) – annual

The A-Z Pollinator Garden theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden is filling in nicely!

Quick Fire® panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bulk’) – woody shrub

‘Leilani’ hybrid coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) with Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) – perennial and annual respectively

‘China Town’ plume celosia (Celosia plumosa) – annual

Marleen and Firefighter Cathy (above) after planting 100s of zinnias!

Kay (above) after her gardening kung fu

Queen Anne’s lace (Ammi majus) – annual

It was a sunny and mild day (76 degrees F!) with a nice breeze.  It was also a very busy day at the gardens with oodles of visitors, tours and 40 kids coming to the gardens from the Harrison Elementary Summer School program for some volunteer work and a tour.  The kids were energetic and a great help.  We planted a couple thousand zinnias in a garden space and along with help from Janice P. and Barb C., we think they had a great experience.  We gave all the kids a sensitive plant to take home and nurture as part of their visit (see top photo).  Directly above is Janice P. with a neat prop that is included in our very well received Plants of the World (POTW) Collection created by Janice and Patrea W. (with maintenance help from Mike P., Kevin C. and Tom K.).  We had a great day with lots of watering as we missed some rain yesterday that would have been most welcome.  Ibhar, Alex, Shania, Janice, Cindy and I all had a wide range of tasks.  Our excellent volunteers included Robert, Eva, Kathy P., Connie, Kay, Kristin, Flannery, Steve, Peg and likely some others that I missed throughout the day.  We also saw Ann, Ken, Dave and Art giving tours.  We continue to put finishing touches on our planting and the weeding control efforts will continue to be our primary focus in the coming weeks.

rich colors in the center urn under the formal garden pergola (above)

‘The Fairy’ rose (Rosa sp.) – woody shrub

nice patch of ‘Astra Blue’ balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) in the alpine garden – perennial

‘Bronze Pink’ copperleaf (Acalypha wilkesiana) – annual

TIDBITS™ ‘Tammy’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

Mainstreet Dutch Mill Drive™ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

raised beds are filling in nicely – more about this garden very soon!

‘Rocket Man’ hybrid coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) – perennial

our Harrison Elementary volunteers (and chaperones!) did a great job today (above and two below)

great work by new volunteer Robert sorting our plastics (above and below)!

‘Cupcakes White’ cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) – annual

Plants of the World (POTW) Collection featuring plants from 13 different countries!