The Weather Can Always Be Worse...

Nice shot of the fall color of the Amur maple (Acer ginnala) in our Japanese garden. Very few deciduous trees and shrubs in the gardens match this vivid red which seems to be quite consistent from year to year. We are seeing seedlings coming up here and there from this tree and it has the potential to be weedy or invasive in warmer climates. We have a dozen or so specimens of this tree including some specific varieties and it has been quite durable for us but "comes in to its own" this time of year! Below is a specimen pruned low to arch over the raked gravel "sea" in the Japanese garden as well.


The day started rainy and we were fully prepared for inside work all day. However, the drizzle let up and while we've had overcast skies, everyone got outside and it has been an "awesomely" productive day. Marv and Terry hauled back our largest containers for storage and helped with some event preparation. Both Janice and Marianne helped with lights for the Halloween Walk, organized bulbs, yanked plants, tidied and also had time to plant the last of our perennials (almost). Dr. Gredler was here to mow and Little Jerry worked on planting shrubs in the Japanese garden and pruning. Kay removed annuals in the sunken garden and Jumbo Jim brought down four RECAPPERS to help tidy up the Japanese garden. We also saw Maggie, Maury, Dr. Yahr and Jenny came in to work on making close to 800 new labels for our donated daylilies.

We hope the rain doesn't affect the Halloween Walk (see our Jack O' Lanterns below) and we'll finish the last of our preparations tomorrow. Nice shot (above right) taken today of the azure monkshood (Aconitum carmichaelii 'Baker's Variety'). This perennial has taken five frosts now and hasn't blinked an eye. You can see how it gets the name monkshood! The bottom image of our arched bridge was taken today and that new coat of paint really made a difference. Hard to believe this bridge was 1/2 under water last spring.