Above is our entrance garden "slope composition" that is our largest annual bed and certainly represents our maroon and red theme quite well. I think the upright culvert planters look great and the large elephant grasses (
Pennisetum purpureum 'Prince') will continue to become bigger centerpieces in those culverts with each passing week. Our weeding crew of Mary, her granddaughter Shayla, Suzy, Margaret, Glenna and Marilyn (also seen below) did a nice job weeding and deadheading this large area. Donna D. takes care of this big space for the most part but appreciates some additional help when the weeds gain a foothold. The weather was perfect today and everyone enjoyed being outside.
We had a small crew today with both Larry and Little Jerry off and just Janice and me here for most of the day. Janice di
d a nice job getting our volunteers going out in the gardens and worked on lots of watering early so we wouldn't run out of time later in the day. I kept irrigation zones running and worked on projects related to our looming iris sale. Aside from the "Grumpettes" mentioned above, we had a small turnout of Grumpies that did a nice job out in the gardens. Roger helped the carpenters (Vern, Dave, Bob A. and Jim) with assembling obelisks while Charlie and Dick H. worked on regraveling pathways. Bob T. worked on air edging and continues to do a very nice job defining our beds and creating a sharp look. Dr. Gredler came in this af
ternoon to run loads of debris to the dump and worked on some of his turf areas. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Bill F., Bill O., Jim J., Neil, Lisa I. and both Mary and Kathy (who helped weed in the late morning). Last night Kristine and Mary did a nice job weeding and we continue to make progress around the garden
s. To the left are some of our pergola planters with a simple arrangement. The centerpieces are 'Fireworks' fountain grass (
Pennisetum 'Fireworks') with the neat trailing aluminum plant (
Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls') that really adds a nice "spilling over" touch to these containers. To the right is a close-up of this tough, annual trailer and groundcover. It will be interesting to see how far the aluminum plant cascades to the ground. We keep fertilizing it in the hopes that it will eventually touch the ground. Below are our resurrection lilies (
Lycoris squamigera) blooming in full force (normally a mid-August bloomer). They really are quite exquisite when you get close and usually blend well with surrounding plants as they gain height on leafless flower stalks (the foliage comes up in spring, photosynthesizes, then goes dormant). Further down is my favorite dark-leaved canna. This is 'Australia' and is the darkest foliaged canna and has nice deep red flowers. This clump looks pretty good but others have been decimated by Japanese beetles that like to nibble on both foliage and flowers.
Jim Stute from UW-Extension came to the gardens and sowed a cover crop display for us. After lifting the irises in mid-July from the
thirteen long beds near the arboretum, Marv tilled them up and prepared them for "something else". Our intent is to display thirteen different cover crops (green manure) and will install interpretive signs for each type in the next two weeks. We look at this display as both functional and educational. Jim brought down his seeding machine and it will be neat to have this display and utilize what would otherwise be a space devoid of color, interest and educational content. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out
and we appreciate Jim's involvement. To the left is a popular grain amaranth (
Amaranthus cruentus 'Hot Biscuits') that we have repeated throughout our annual beds near the main building. This variety was a Fleuroselect award winner and really has some nice impact (4-5' tall) with those amber flower clusters. I like amaranths in general and the "grain-types" are still popular for a high protein grain that is processed for use in breads, cereal, etc. To the right and further below is the white garden phlox (
Phlox paniculata 'David') that was the Perennial Plant of the Year in 2002 (selected by the Perennial Plant Association,
www.perennialplant.org/) for its superior flower color and disease resistance. I like 'David' and it offers a wonderful mass of white in the mid-summer garden. White in the garden should be evident year-round, whether with flowers and/or foliage. The gourds are coming! At the bottom is one of our first bushel gourds. We'll see how big it gets.
Above is our entrance garden "slope composition" that is our largest annual bed and certainly represents our maroon and red theme quite well. I think the upright culvert planters look great and the large elephant grasses (Pennisetum purpureum 'Prince') will continue to become bigger centerpieces in those culverts with each passing week. Our weeding crew of Mary, her granddaughter Shayla, Suzy, Margaret, Glenna and Marilyn (also seen below) did a nice job weeding and deadheading this large area. Donna D. takes care of this big space for the most part but appreciates some additional help when the weeds gain a foothold. The weather was perfect today and everyone enjoyed being outside.
d a nice job getting our volunteers going out in the gardens and worked on lots of watering early so we wouldn't run out of time later in the day. I kept irrigation zones running and worked on projects related to our looming iris sale. Aside from the "Grumpettes" mentioned above, we had a small turnout of Grumpies that did a nice job out in the gardens. Roger helped the carpenters (Vern, Dave, Bob A. and Jim) with assembling obelisks while Charlie and Dick H. worked on regraveling pathways. Bob T. worked on air edging and continues to do a very nice job defining our beds and creating a sharp look. Dr. Gredler came in this af
ternoon to run loads of debris to the dump and worked on some of his turf areas. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Bill F., Bill O., Jim J., Neil, Lisa I. and both Mary and Kathy (who helped weed in the late morning). Last night Kristine and Mary did a nice job weeding and we continue to make progress around the garden
thirteen long beds near the arboretum, Marv tilled them up and prepared them for "something else". Our intent is to display thirteen different cover crops (green manure) and will install interpretive signs for each type in the next two weeks. We look at this display as both functional and educational. Jim brought down his seeding machine and it will be neat to have this display and utilize what would otherwise be a space devoid of color, interest and educational content. I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out 
and we appreciate Jim's involvement. To the left is a popular grain amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus 'Hot Biscuits') that we have repeated throughout our annual beds near the main building. This variety was a Fleuroselect award winner and really has some nice impact (4-5' tall) with those amber flower clusters. I like amaranths in general and the "grain-types" are still popular for a high protein grain that is processed for use in breads, cereal, etc. To the right and further below is the white garden phlox (Phlox paniculata 'David') that was the Perennial Plant of the Year in 2002 (selected by the Perennial Plant Association, www.perennialplant.org/) for its superior flower color and disease resistance. I like 'David' and it offers a wonderful mass of white in the mid-summer garden. White in the garden should be evident year-round, whether with flowers and/or foliage. The gourds are coming! At the bottom is one of our first bushel gourds. We'll see how big it gets.
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