Decidedly Pleasant

Today was absolutely beautiful with a combination of sun and clouds, a cool breeze and temperatures right around 75 degrees F.  While it was more reminiscent of later September, we didn’t complain and to have another day without rain is welcome so the gardens will actually dry out a bit.  Nice shot above of ‘Cinnamon Sunrise’ daylily (Hemerocallis) in the Potter Daylily Collection near the arboretum which is currently at peak!  We had another great day out in the gardens and saw a lot of visitors including a wedding party (on a Monday!) having photographs taken!

The grounds staff had a very busy day but thankfully it didn’t include a lot of watering.  Cindy continued to tidy the entrance garden which is a bit sloppy after all of the recent rains and she did water our holding yard as needed. She later shifted to the Hummingbird Haven theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden which is looking exceptional right now.  Big John worked on lots of pruning and shearing projects, container watering and many other odds and ends.  Larry H. continued some path tidying and was doing a whole lot of mulching in the woodland glen garden.  Larry O. worked on various pruning projects as well as some tasks around the Horticulture Center.  Trevor tidied the Giant Aquarium and shifted to clearing some of our drains that have become plugged up with all the recent rains and associated sediment.  The English cottage garden has become a real damp location recently due to some challenges.  I was able to tour the gardens and had a series of meetings today.

bloody dock (Rumex sanguineus ssp. sanguineus) – perennial

part of our dark color theme seen above (with culvert pipe planter)

‘Green Jewel’ coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – perennial

alpine gentian (Gentiana septemfida var. lagodechiana) – perennial

‘Summer Beauty’ ornamental onion (Allium sp.) – perennial

one section (of two) of the pergola (above) in the French formal garden

the North point garden above is looking great

the dark theme is extended in to the terrace garden (seen above)

the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden (above)

Marv (above) was one of many volunteers helping out today.  Marv was lovingly tending to his moss garden areas this morning.  Kathy and Eva worked on weeding in multiple areas while Dr. Gredler, Rollie and Bill O. took care of mowing duties.  Derrick and Bob K. tidied paths and did some weeding.  Dennis and Garrett (see below) continued work on the boulder retaining wall on the North path and are making great progress.  Dick H. ran to the dump and helped with some other projects. Dave, Vern, Ron Y., Steve and Jim D. had a wide range of carpentry projects to complete.  Maury ran errands and both Stan and Kristin were in to tidy up the Japanese garden.  Mary W. helped weed in the daylily collection and we were later joined by both Kay and Terri, both of whom continued tidying up their areas.  Ron P. worked on repairing more lights for the Holiday Light Show (HLS) and we saw many others today as well.

Dennis (left) and Garrett

Kay (above)

ROYAL HAWAIIAN® ‘Black Coral’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) – tropical

‘Silver Falls’ Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) – perennial

‘Fatal Attraction’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – perennial

the ‘Dancing Waters’ fountain (above) had a bit of a rainbow this morning

cool container (above) seen at K&W Greenery (Janesville) this morning

our carpenters built this custom, double Adirondack chair that will soon go out in the gardens (beautiful!)!

I was in Madison Sunday afternoon and wandered over to Monona Terrace to see the William T. Evjue Rooftop Gardens.  Wow!  Really neat with many summer perennials at peak.  The view of the Capitol, Madison sky line and the lake is excellent here and there were many folks enjoying the setting and gardens as well!  I would say these gardens are two stories above street level and likely four stories above the water line of the lake.