Today was another perfect day with plenty of warmth and sunshine. We're a little concerned with the threat of frost tonight but will take our chances as we can do little to protect so much tender growth that is out in the gardens. We had a load of tropical plants come in today and will certainly keep them safe indoors until warmer weather arrives. The image to the left was taken in our fern & moss garden which is very similar in style to the Japanese garden here. Lots of spring color and the Japanese maples (
Acer palmatum) are starting to really leaf out well. We had another productive day with Kay weeding the shade garden and iris beds with Marianne. Marianne also worked on other weeding,the cutting display and helped Lisa inventory the daylily collection. Mel and June composted in the sunken garden and Magda and Sara cleaned up their garden space in advance of some composting. Rose was out touching up paint here and there and we also saw Dave T., Maury, Mary D., Laura, Robin, Art and many others. There were lots of visitors out there today too including many little ones that were part of a "story time" program. Marv did a great job rototilling about 4,000 square feet of bed space and smoothed it out nicely (see below). The plan is to see what weeds germinate out here first and deal with them before we plant in late May.
Terry and John worked together most of the morning and did a nice job filling the culvert planters with potting soil and amendments. We realized early on that the
"lip" of the culvert would be sharp and may affect plants coming over the edge. Marv came up with using a foam tube (pipe insulation) that was painted the same color, blends in perfectly and is a soft point for weeping/creeping/dangling plants. See Terry to the right filling up the containers. We're not done with the ladder work yet as we'll have to plant these and there are still three smaller culver planters that will be installed in front of the visitors center after the tulips are done blooming.
It's now officially impossible to photograph everything in bloom as I think we are currently at peak. There is lots of color out there and my only regret is that the bloom windows for the bulbs are extremely narrow this year due to the heat. To the left is the checkered fritillary (
Fritillaria meleagris) that always strikes me with its interesting patterns and toughness. This shot is taken from ground level as this bulb is only 12" tall or so (needs perfect drainage). The image below is from late last week when the masons were renovating the walls around our 'Dialogue' sculpture. They did a nice job and we should have everything cleaned up by early next week. We're considering benches and/or large containers in this space although it's use has changed from the primary entrance years ago to a patio space to start tours and provide occasional access and egress for visitors. Other pictures below include our first iris in the collection blooming ('Reddy Set') down in the wishing well garden, some jonquils (
Narcissus) and a nice shot of the seating area in the Children's garden.
Today was another perfect day with plenty of warmth and sunshine. We're a little concerned with the threat of frost tonight but will take our chances as we can do little to protect so much tender growth that is out in the gardens. We had a load of tropical plants come in today and will certainly keep them safe indoors until warmer weather arrives. The image to the left was taken in our fern & moss garden which is very similar in style to the Japanese garden here. Lots of spring color and the Japanese maples (Acer palmatum) are starting to really leaf out well. We had another productive day with Kay weeding the shade garden and iris beds with Marianne. Marianne also worked on other weeding,the cutting display and helped Lisa inventory the daylily collection. Mel and June composted in the sunken garden and Magda and Sara cleaned up their garden space in advance of some composting. Rose was out touching up paint here and there and we also saw Dave T., Maury, Mary D., Laura, Robin, Art and many others. There were lots of visitors out there today too including many little ones that were part of a "story time" program. Marv did a great job rototilling about 4,000 square feet of bed space and smoothed it out nicely (see below). The plan is to see what weeds germinate out here first and deal with them before we plant in late May. 
"lip" of the culvert would be sharp and may affect plants coming over the edge. Marv came up with using a foam tube (pipe insulation) that was painted the same color, blends in perfectly and is a soft point for weeping/creeping/dangling plants. See Terry to the right filling up the containers. We're not done with the ladder work yet as we'll have to plant these and there are still three smaller culver planters that will be installed in front of the visitors center after the tulips are done blooming. 
It's now officially impossible to photograph everything in bloom as I think we are currently at peak. There is lots of color out there and my only regret is that the bloom windows for the bulbs are extremely narrow this year due to the heat. To the left is the checkered fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) that always strikes me with its interesting patterns and toughness. This shot is taken from ground level as this bulb is only 12" tall or so (needs perfect drainage). The image below is from late last week when the masons were renovating the walls around our 'Dialogue' sculpture. They did a nice job and we should have everything cleaned up by early next week. We're considering benches and/or large containers in this space although it's use has changed from the primary entrance years ago to a patio space to start tours and provide occasional access and egress for visitors. Other pictures below include our first iris in the collection blooming ('Reddy Set') down in the wishing well garden, some jonquils (Narcissus) and a nice shot of the seating area in the Children's garden.
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