Monday, April 27, 2009

Sporadic Rainfall

More windflowers (Anemone blanda) blooming throughout the overcast gardens today. We had a smattering of rain today to follow our 3.5 inches over the weekend. It looks pretty ominous right now but everyone has been able to get outside today. It's truly amazing how quickly the garden "wakes up" with some heat and moisture. I took the shot to the left of the native North American merrybells or bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora) that looks great in the early shade garden. Here seen in our gazebo garden, this 18-24" plant has drooping, golden yellow blossoms that last for 10-14 days in late April in to early May. There are five native species but they all look alike to me. To the lower right is an image of twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla) with its interesting leaves and the buds of its very briefly blooming white flowers. Named after Thomas Jefferson and a herbaceous member of the barberry family, this plant has a long history in our country and is a great woodland perennial. See http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=JEDI for the native range of this plant.

Nice Grumpy morning with the guys working on mulching a tough-to-reach area with shredded bark and others working on air edging. This edging, done with a flat spade, is a nice shallow way to separate turf from beds. The guys do a nice job each year as we freshen up these edges, collect debris and really lend a "clean line" and separation of vigorous turf from beds. Bob T. and Bill did most of that work while Dick H., Ron and Dick K. did lots of mulching. Marv air edged and is preparing an area for a future memorial bench. Terry is off this week but both Marianne and Janice kept busy attacking weeds and continuing to primp and prep various garden spaces. Larry has been working on cleaning up our lawn mowers and other equipment. We had a good batch of carpentry Grumpies today and Dr. Gredler was out mowing turf as well. Mary and Shirley weeded for a bit until it started really raining. Bill O. is feeling a bit better and is out tidying up and tackling some early thistles. I'm glad it wasn't a total "wash out" today. (note the play on words...). There is certainly no shortage of color out in the gardens as our earliest perennials come in to full bloom. See rock cress or wall cress below (Arabis caucasica) in a nice spot where it will spill over and between boulders. See http://web1.msue.msu.edu/imp/modzz/00000134.html for more information regarding this hardy perennial.






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