Internet Challenges!

As I type, I feel like I'm on borrowed time. I've tried to post blogs both Friday and Saturday but couldn't get internet access at home, or it was so sporadic that I couldn't get much progress and couldn't log on to my blog until tonite. It's working ok for now. Nice fall color above of the native Juneberry (Amelanchier lamarckii). Some botanists feel this is a hybrid between two other native serviceberry species but others feel it is quite distinct. This is a fall color shot that my father-in-law took in his backyard where this red just pops! As you can imagine, edible fruits come in June after nice white flower clusters in early May. Birds will get to the berries before you do in most cases. Below is a nice shot of a portion of our bronze "bear sculpture" that was placed out in the garden this year. This stump of wood (bronze) has five bear cubs scrambling all over it and we finally put it outside after having it donated over 8 years ago, then sitting in storage and eventually being in the way over in our horticulture center. It looks great out in the garden though! Lots of activities coming up this week with a major shift towards preparing for the lights show. Needless to say, we had a great Friday with lots of progress both in the garden and with the lights show. We'll take advantage of the upcoming mild days as well. The bottom images is the fall color of the Shantung maple (Acer truncatum) with a blend of reds, oranges and yellows on smallish leaves. New crosses between this species of maple and the Norway maple (Acer platanoides) look to be exciting.