After checking out the results of last night's freeze this morning, I thought to myself... it's time to get back to cutting glass! (I really didn't care to be in the gardens as the many browned magnolia blossoms were a real downer and anything that can be, is covered in burlap and sheets for the next several days as the nights remain very cold {in the mid 20's next week}).
It wasn't long and my wife called from work and said she'd really like to see a good tulip display. In the past we had seen amazing tulip displays at the Rotary Gardens in Janesville, Wisconsin which is 100 miles south of us. I gave the gardens a call and was informed that the tulips were beautiful but we'd better come soon as next week's cold would take a huge toll on the plantings.
Well, when we got there we saw perhaps a couple hundred or so white tulips in displays near the garden entrance, but all the others were past and dug out with a very few exceptions. The trip was well worth our time however as the redbuds were at peak bloom. Rotary Gardens has a wonderful and highly rated Japanese Garden and I thought I'd share a few photos this evening, mostly in that general area.
There are a number of other gardens at Rotary Gardens, but it is early and we arrived basically between bloom seasons... there were a number of carefully pruned flowering crab apples in bloom...
After leaving Rotary Gardens, we spent some time and money plant shopping, had dinner and then decided to visit the redbuds in Columbus, Wisconsin. It was just before dusk when we arrived, and a difficult time to get good photos but I'll share a few.
A very long time ago, settlers brought redbud seeds to Columbus, Wisconsin where redbuds are not native. The town now has a redbud festival and is well known for 100 year old specimens of the trees. The Columbus strain is among the hardiest of redbuds. If you are at all interested in redbuds, the article at the web address below is very interesting. I have always been told that one should start with a very young plant if success is to be likely. Johnson Nursery here in Wisconsin shares quite different advice and suggests starting with a more mature plant. The problem appears to have to do with young vigorous redbuds not being wise enough to go dormant early enough in the fall. As a result, there is often frequent dieback after a cold winter. Now that I think of it, this has been my experience in establishing the redbud that I now own which was started as a whip. Check out this address for the article I'm referring to... it's very educational regarding redbuds, and a hoot as well! Take care, Larry
http://www.johnsonsnursery.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=32274&mname=Article
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