Friday Before The Storm (Rain)

We've had the threat of rain all day although it hasn't materialized yet. I hope it passes by as we have the second night of the Halloween Walk tonite and are hoping for a large crowd. Last night was successful but being a school night, attendance wasn't as sizeable as it will be tonite and Saturday night. The image below and to the left is of one of the custom Jack O' Lanterns and part of one of the skits. Above is the fall color of the Amur maple (Acer ginnala) in our Japanese garden. This is a nice maple for fall color although in recent years, we've seen more reseeding of this species than in past years. In warmer climates, it can become quite a problem. This is a reliable maple species for superior fall color.

Fridays are always so productive. Janice and Kay continued to tackle the significant removal and cut-down of annuals and perennails (respectively) in the sunken garden. Marianne did a nice job finishing up the annual removal and tidying in front of the visitor's center. She also planted some of our last perennials for the year down in the Japanese garden. Marv bounced around between putting up holiday lights, digging grasses, rototilling and running for fuel. Dr. Gredler kept busy with mowing and turf care. Rick and Tony rototilled and continue to excavate areas that need fresh material, again as a result of earlier flooding. Everyone kept hustling and much was accomplished. The brilliant fall color seen to the right is on an ornamental pear. This is the Korean Sun pear (Pyrus fauriei 'Westwood') that has beautiful white, spring blooms, followed by nice glossy green foliage and the fall color that you see here. This is a great selection for a smaller tree in the 25-30' range. Note the nice fall color of the sassafras (Sassafras albidum) below which is a native tree to the Eastern United States. This tree will typically have lots of bright orange colors as well. This species is unique in that it may have up to three different leaf patterns; an oval, bilobed (mitten-shaped) and trilobed (see below). The crushed leaf stems smell like Fruit Loops too!