Another Tropical Heat Wave

What a beautiful shot of a mallow (Lavatera trimestris) that is a Fleuroselect (Europe), award-winning annual. This variety, 'Twins Hot Pink' tops out around 24" and is a strong summer bloomer (related to hibiscus). The flowers are almost 3" across. Unfortunately the foliage and stems are "uber-tasty" to bunnies and woodchucks. You're looking at the best of the bunch.

The weather was hot and sticky today. Our tropicals loved it but we all wilted a bit. There was some serious watering going on today. Marv is the maestro of moving sprinklers around and I believe every grounds person did some sort of supplemental watering. There is a chance of rain tonite and I'm requesting a slow soaking with 2" of precipitation. Not likely though....

Alliant Energy had a big regional meeting today at our visitor's center and the Alliant employees then split in to smaller volunteer groups in the afternoon to help around the community. I had seventeen volunteers that helped spread woodchips in some hard to reach areas. It was the old-fashioned chain gang as we fell in to a great system/routine of passing buckets of mulch around. We must have spread 30 cubic yards of chips in 2 hours. It was hot work but I think we all appreciated the team effort and I certainly appreciated the volunteer commitment from Alliant. They have done some other nice things for us in the past. Note the All-American Selections garden peaking in the above photo. Lots of color and some neat award-winning varieties.

The gardens are really looking good if you'll accept a biased opinion. We still have weeds, flooding problems and other issues but I'm proud of the grounds staff and myriad volunteers that have really made this year a success. Comments from visitors seem quite favorable and we're looking forward to the remainder of summer and the transition in to fall. I was surprised today when our first bearded irises arrived for our iris collection. This is the beginning of the deluge of 450+ varieties that will arrive in the next four weeks or so. We'll have to plant them promptly and label the accurately. Should be fun though!