The Obelisks Go Up!

Like clockwork, the obelisks (vining structures) are going up. Marv and Terry have put up most already and will finish this upcoming week. Regardless of the fact that there wont be anything growing on these for 6 weeks or so, we do like having them up for interest and also to give the public an idea of our color schemes (is the blue obvious enough?). I ran across a picture of one of these in a garden catalog years ago and asked our "Grumpy" volunteer carpenters to make three. Since then, they've made them in many heights and we've painted them different colors when warranted. They are a nice focal point in the garden and help add a nice vertical "exclamation point" out in the gardens. The trick is to adequately anchor these structures to withstand the wind and the rampant climbers that may engulf some of these. Some obelisks are left out with no vines. We've sold these at our plant sales from time to time and have them available during our spring compost sale which started this past Saturday.

Apparently it was a busy weekend at the garden's. No surprise considering that it's been over 6 months since we had a sunny Saturday and Sunday over 60 degrees! Great weekend to clean up the yard and visit the gardens. We're still tidying up but will be planting in a couple of weeks. Lots of plans this year. It is a nice time to look out in the garden and see where conifers might be warranted. With leaves just thinking about emerging on the deciduous shrubs and trees, it's nice to appreciate the value of an evergreen and perhaps identify some locations to include these garden stalwarts. I like golden conifers like this golden white pine (Pinus strobus 'Winter Gold') that add great color in late winter and early spring before fading to green. Some conifers maintain their golden coloration thru the year. Regardless, understand that green and blue aren't the only colors for these essentail "bones of the garden."