Business As Usual

Above is a nice shot of a new African daisy (Osteospermum) called 'Serenity Lemonade'. We've had difficulty getting these to bloom well thru a hot summer but this cool summer has allowed them to look good although they need lots of deadheading to keep them blooming well. I sure love this color though. We have this variety at the gardens although this picture was taken up at the West Madison Agricultural Station. Below is a neat little rain garden (same site) that was developed to catch rainfall off the roof of their facility. Great idea and easily done (note the gutter at the corner of the building that feeds in to this garden).

The plant sale continues today thru Sunday (possible clearance days beyond that) and while lightly attended, did bring in some nice sales. We hope to have increased traffic and a super weekend if the weather is nice. Today, though, was business as usual with Marv and Terry working on all sorts of projects, including watering and Marianne and I hanging out by the plant sale. Marianne was able to work out in the gardens for a bit but kept close to the plant sale as needed. Larry kept irrigation moving along and checked water features as usual. Dr. Gredler mowed and worked on some turf repair while the Grumpies went right down my list of things to do. John and Dick P. hauled some wagons back that were lent to us for the plant sale. Ed, Ron and Bill cleaned up the east parking lot and helped with mulching after break. Maury ran lots of errands. Del and Gene watered then moved on to help others while Rollie, Dick H. and others worked on composting our veggie collection (essentially the open areas vacated by our tomatoes). Mary helped with weeding and Kay was here to help Dr. Yahr do more planting. It was a busy crew augmented by plant sale volunteers and a very productive day with perfect weather. The image below is of 'Fireworks' globe amaranth (Gomphrena) that is new this year. It has a distinctive shape as opposed to other gomphrenas that are tightly rounded. Note the "sprays" coming off the flowers. I didn't think this was too interesting until I saw it en masse (next picture down). Next year, our annual collection will include lots of gomphrenas, including this one. However, my favorite continues to be 'Strawberry Fields' at the bottom!