Today I'm sharing installment # 1 of a review of the 2011 gardens at Oak Lawn Cheese Factory. Larry
Such an odd year in the gardens... drifts of snow that lasted well into April, ten feet high in many parts of the gardens. In the first photo above, looking east from the gardens, I am reminded of the hibernation that overtakes me in the dark months here in Wisconsin farm country. This season was also out of character in terms of summer heat and tremendous humidity, not to mention the limited rainfall we've experienced. And now in mid-September, we are 85 degrees and very dry, with a low of 34 degrees forecast by Thursday. What's a gardener to do?! Obviously there isn't a lot one can do with the exception of watering things in well throughout the fall... particularly anything newly installed, of questionable hardiness, and of course, the conifers.
Today I'd like to take a look back at the season that was, with highlights of the 2011 gardens here at Oak Lawn. It was a busy year with lots of garden guests... I'm estimating that about 1200-1500 folks visited our gardens and it was wonderful making many new friends and getting to see past gardening acquaintances once again!
The winter months are spent imagining changes in the gardens and in anticipation of spring. The need for bloom is filled with a number of flowering plants, most especially orchids... winter is also always a time of creating blooms of my own in the form of Tiffany glass lamp shades... many can be seen by clicking on the header shade photo at the top of this page.
Among the earliest blooms here in the gardens, are Daphne mezereum, Hamamelis, and minor bulbs such as croci, eranthus, chionadoxa, and the like.
It isn't long before the six week season of daffodils begins, along with the hellebores and the occasional late snow fall... this year on April 20th!
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| Red Lady |
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| Red Lady after the snow melted |
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| Helleborus x hybridus `Winter Dreams Picotee’ |
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| Ivory Prince |
Hellebores are a fairly recent addition to my gardens that are only just now starting to develop some maturity. I look forward to moving the little seedlings into all sorts of nooks and crannies as they start to get some size... there will come a time when hellebores will become an important 'season' of these gardens. My newest additions are from the 'Winter Jewels' collection and I've ordered many more for next season. I'm uncertain as to the name of the cultivar pictured below... possibly 'Pink Lady'. I also have a number of plants from the Winter Dreams collection... Winter Dreams Picotee being a favorite.
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| 'Winter Dreams Elegance White' |
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| Salome |
It wasn't long before the barren farm land that surrounds Oak Lawn Cheese Factory was freshly plowed and planted...
About this time, the early magnolias came into season, including the stellatas, and loebneri's...
This is always the busiest time of year as one type of planting overlaps with the next. By now the tulips are going strong as witnessed in the previous photos and following... the tulips of choice are the Darwin Hybrids as they perennialize so well for us, many of my plantings are as much as 20 years old.
About this time, the early magnolias came into season, including the stellatas, and loebneri's...
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| Simple Pleasures |
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| Stellata and Spring Snow |
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| Wada's Memory |
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| White Rose |
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| Royal Star |
With seamless precision the mid season and late season magnolias enter their times of glory, soon to be courted by flowering trees of all kinds, including the flowering crab apples. Throughout this show of spring color, newer cultivars of magnolias demonstrate their ability to bloom for a month to six weeks. It is an amazing time in the life of a gardener.
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| Galaxy and Butterflies |
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| soulangiana cultivar |
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| Brozonnii |
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| Alexandrina |
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| Butterflies |
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| Elizabeth |
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| Pinkie flanked by Bettys |
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| Elizabeth |
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| Daybreak |
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| The flowering crabs join in... |
It's difficult to pick out a few of the flowering trees as favorites, blooming so profusely in May... here are a few of the malus cultivars...
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| Spring Glory #1 |
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| Spring Snow #'s 1 and 2 |
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| Spring Glory #2 |
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| Vanguard |
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| Spring Glory #1, Sargentii, and Flame |
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| Louisa |
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| Sargentii |
Meanwhile, at ground level, a whole other world of bloom has set forth... primroses and epimediums, hostas unfurling their new foliage... here then are a few examples...
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| Lathyrus vernus pink form |
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| emerging hostas |
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| Lathyrus vernus purple form |
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Iris cristata |
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| Gentiana acaulis |
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Primula sieboldiana |
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| Primula japonica |
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| Frttillaria meleagris |
A recent addition to the gardens are the Japanese maples... Following are a few examples that have been doing quite well... I wouldn't have considered planting this type of acer even 7 or 8 years ago, but with more zone 5 like weather and the establishment of micro-climates, a whole new genre of gardening is opening up.
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| Tobiosho |
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| Seiryu |
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| Osakazuki |
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| Bloodgood |
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| Sherwood Flame |
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| White Lights azalea |
Parting Shots from the Spring Gardens, 2011...
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