Preparations Continue In Earnest

Although overcast today, the temperatures were mild and we all received plenty of fresh air. Above is a nice shot of the woodland walk today; looking thru Korean feather reed grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha) to the Autumn glow of the black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa). Overhanging this vignette is a red oak (Quercus rubra) with deep maroon color right now. I took my camera around as I strung over 1500' of extension cords (not a record). I kept taking pictures and found so many interesting plants that haven't succumbed to the winter warnings and repeated frosts. I was lucky to take a fuzzy picture of a fox (below) trotting thru the gardens today with no interest in us as he/she seemed to have a destination in mind!

Little Jerry worked on cutting back shrubs like elderberry, spirea, etc. today and brought back many loads of debris. Marianne hauled out a good portion of our milk jug luminaries for the light show and later worked on testing and repairing lights. We use over 2,000 half gallon milk jugs to line the paths for the lights show. C7 bulbs will illuminate these and it is an art form figuring out the best way to lay these out and get power out there. Marv and Terry spent most of the day hauling soil/compost to fill in the new shoreline bed in the wishing well garden. This is timely as we still have bulbs to plant along this border after Marv rototills it up next week. We'll finish our bulb planting by the end of next week (hopefully). It's not too late by the way! As long as you can dig a hole, get those bulbs in the ground and look around for some great discounts on spring-blooming bulbs. Dr. Gredler was here to mow and collect/shred leaves. Jumbo Jim brought three RECAPPERS down and they did a great job collecting leaves and perennial debris from the Japanese garden (nice shot to the right of that garden today). Kay spent a productive four hours in the color rooms collecting debris and cutting back perennials. She brought back some pretty impressive loads.


To the above left is a shot of the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) in bloom today. Saffron has been used as a seasoning/herb for over 3,000 years although it takes about 75,000 of these blooms to create 1 lb. of saffron (worth about $1,000). That means our three saffron crocuses can produce about 4 cents of saffron each year (fundraiser?). Again, this is a marginal bulb for us but to see blooms around Halloween is pretty neat. Foilage also becomes so important this time of year (aside from fall color). Note the sedge (Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance') below that will have foliage interest well in to winter. Always plant "clumping" sedges and be wary of those that spread quickly. 'Ice Dance' is a slow spreader and will create a manageable colony.