The Garden Fills As Our Yard Empties

Today was busy from start to finish. First of all, a special thanks to my daughter, Luciana (age 10) for making the title "header" for my blog. It is amazing what these kids can do and she actually has some blogs of her own. When I was her age, we had a TRS-80 and the Commodore 64 was a hot item too! We had a wonderful day of volunteer contributions out in the gardens. Above is a group from the Mercy Health System that came in this afternoon to volunteer. These 12 volunteers planted 3,000 annuals, cleared weeds and prepared beds for planting. They were a fun group and we appreciate their time. Nice shot to the left of the foxttail lily (Eremurus sp.) getting ready to bloom. The flower stalk caught my eye and I'll post the open flower stalk image in a week or so.

The Grumpies did an amazing amount of work today with Ron W., Del, Ron B. and Bob C. spreading cocoa bean hull mulch around our rose beds and the guys later moved on to other tasks including composting and mulching. Gary, Pat, Charlie and some of the other guys worked on some woodchipping then composted our large front slope bed that we'll plant in a week or two. It was a great system with Big John loading them up as they came back for more. Rollie worked on replacing damaged bricks while Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued to work on the new archway entrance in to the wishing well garden. The irises have peaked and still look amazing. There were many visitors out in the gardens including some tours. Marilyn, Mary and Glenna did an awesome job clearing out weeds and bulb foliage from an area that we will plant soon. Bill was here to do some clean-up this afternoon and we had Maggie planting and two volunteers planting with Janice. Mary and Roy were here to do more planting as well and put in a 1,000 annuals between the two of them. Hal and Doris started planting their space too. Cora and Janet planted some containers and Laura B. was a big help planting in various locations. I barely kept up with the various planters but it was a productive day to say the least. Nice shot to the right of the blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens 'Sapphire') in the Scottish garden. This is one of my favorites for a mid-size grasses. With all this heat, the peonies are going fast (nice shot below). I met Roger Anderson (from Fort Atkinson, WI) today touring the garden and he is an internationally known peony breeder and donated dozens of special peonies to the gardens over 18 years ago.Larry went on two plant runs today (taking Big John with on the first trip). He moved on to mowing and watering later in the day and helped me with the afternoon volunteers. Janice helped with volunteers this morning and spread more pre-emergent weed control around the gardens. She also planted with volunteers and planted veggies at the hort center. Jenny was a huge help in the yard today and matched more labels and organized plants. This is an enormous help as I collect plants and haul them out for planting. We also saw Maury, Dr. Gredler, Rose, Dr. Yahr and many others over here today. One of our most asked about recent plantings can be seen below. This is the bloody dock (Rumex sanguineus var. sanguineus) that is actually a Z4 perennial and has edible leaves. I've had one in my front yard for a decade and love the prominent veination. Don't let it flower as it will create many babies. Use it for the cool foliage.