Tuesday, August 18, 2009

A Pleasant Day Overall

Above is our 'Hot Biscuits' amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) with resurrection lily (Lycoris squamigera) poking out. Here's another case of overplanting an annual that just happens to blend beautifully when these bulbs emerge in August. The foliage of Lycoris emerged with spring bulbs and went dormant. These flowers above have no leaves now, just naked stems emerging from the soil. Great weather today with highs in the upper 70s and a slight breeze. We had lots of visitors today and kept busy with myriad garden tasks. The gardens are looking great. To the left is a segment of our "ornamental edibles" wall planting with lots of visual interest and potential in the kitchen. This border will be utilized this Friday as part of a horticultural therapy symposium that will have "hands on" sensory stations around the gardens. This collection will be used for taste. Speaking of taste, our heirloom runner and pole beans are starting to really produce. To the right is 'Dow Purple Podded' and while some are just hitting stride, most varieties are reaching the top of our towers and producing plenty of beans. These will be utilized as part of our September 12 GardenFest at Rotary Gardens (sponsored, organized and run by our Rock Prairie Master Gardeners for the fourth year in a row!). We had Kay, Heidi and Barb here for weeding duty and they worked in the reception garden, sunken garden and wishing well garden. We're deadheading many annuals as we go to help perpetuate a new flush of flower power thru September. Mary worked in her garden and Dr. Gredler kept busy mowing and moving soil around to create a new berm. We saw Vern, Dr. Yahr and Maury today as well. Little Jerry mowed and worked on pruning and debris cleanup after he finished. Janice worked on some weeding, planting and clean-up, peppered with hand mowing. Larry also mowed and worked on watering duties. I was able to spray Round-Up in our worst weedy areas and wanted to catch it before it rains over the next couple of days. Nice shot below of one of my favorite tropicals. Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyeranus) is great in part shade, whether in a bed or container. What wonderful foliage. The bottom shot was taken at City Hall in Madison and includes papyrus, purple fountain grass, some other grasses and the trailing aluminum plant (Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls'). What a beautiful composition, not reliant on blooms. Kudos.




No comments:

Post a Comment