Monday, July 19, 2010

No Shortage Of Color

I enjoyed a stroll thru the gardens this morning and there was no shortage of color around every bend. After an initial sunny start, the gardens have been cloudy the rest of the day and we hope there will be some rain later this evening. The shot above is of one of the Fleuroselect (http://www.fleuroselect.com/) award winners that we are featuring out in the gardens this year. Winning the Fleuroselect novelty award, this tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria) is called 'Roulette' and has nice gold stripes on mahogany flower petals. At 30" tall, this wispy annual can offer color thru the entire summer. The back lighting and combination with the 'Blue Vein' petunias made for a nice shot for sure.

The weather was a bit cooler today and we had a great turnout of volunteers and grounds staff. With Terry gone this week, Marv was off on his own accomplishing lots of sprinkler placement, hand watering, mulching, rototilling and rock work. I give him large areas to irrigate and he has a nice system for rotating sprinklers around to really give everything a good soaking. Marianne worked on weeding, watering, her cutting display and other activities. I'm relying on Marianne for more work prior to the iris sale and both she and Marv will be involved with the Home Garden Tour & Luncheon this Saturday while I'm gone. Larry ran irrigation all day and started another round of string trimming. Little Jerry was here briefly but will be back tomorrow to help mow and work in the Japanese garden. I'm getting prepared for being gone this week (Wed. thru Sat.) to the National Youth and Garden Symposium (www.ahs.org/youth_gardening/national_youth_garden_symposium.htm) hosted by the American Horticultural Society(AHS) out in Pasadena, CA. I hate flying and the time change will be a challenge but I'm looking forward to the experience. To the left is the silvery cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) and summer poinsettia (Amaranthus tricolor 'Early Splendor'). Both of these are along our "ornamental edible" wall planting and truly show the impact of foliage (and function). To the right is another Fleuroselect promoted annual. This is the marigold (Tagetes sp.) called 'Solan'. I love the center "tuft" as this marigold looks very unique and is quite floriferous. Marigolds are quite common in our gardens but there are very special varieties that should be considered for their unique appearance and contribution in the garden. Below is 'Golden Gate' marigold (Tagetes patula) that was an All-America Selection in 1989. What a beautiful blossom.
Mary and Winifred worked on weeding some of the annual beds in the arboretum this morning and did a nice job catching some of these thugs before they could set more seed for future years of enjoyment. Karen was here tidying up the Japanese Garden and has been doing this for over 15 years. What a great volunteer. Urban, Dick K., Charlie, Bill, Gary, Del and Bob C. worked on regraveling many of our older paths (replacing gravel) while Ron and Bob T. worked on more air edging around the gardens. Our beds are looking nice and tidy and overall, the gardens are quite striking right now (despite the lack of a beneficial soaking). Bob A. and Vern worked on obelisks while Dick P., Rollie, Big John and Dick H. started on more fence work. There is some preliminary work to accomplish but they'll sink their teeth in to the new fence installation early next week. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Dr. Gredler, Dave, Luis, Mary W. and many others as well. Below is a neat new yellow blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora 'Mesa Yellow') from Pan American seed that is the first F1 hybrid, compact blanket flower that is also a short-lived, zone 5 perennial. Blooming the first year from seed and reaching 20" in height, this plant has won both an All-America Selections and Fleuroselect award in 2010. Looks good to me with many more blossoms on the way. Although we are using this in a seasonal area, we'll dig it up later and move it elsewhere to extend its contribution for future years. In August we'll have plenty of activity occuring with getting our new laser engraver up and running. Our salesperson is coming down for a day to do some of the installation and help train some of our staff and volunteers. The intent with the engraver is to start working on our trees and shrubs first over this fall and winter, then target perennial labels in 2011. The transition will take some time but the end result will be a cleaner, more professional look out in the gardens. Labeling has so many challenges but is vital for any museum (of living plants), primarily for education. This engraver also has other potential uses that may include generating revenue. Nice shot to the left of the rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) blooms turning white and looking very picturesque in the wishing well garden. To the right is a portion of our terrace bed planting that carries over the rich red and maroon theme from the front of the building. Note the use of colorful obelisks and 4" diameter PVC pipe planters painted red and sunk in to the ground. The vertical repetition of these pillars is effective and each has a tuft of one annual, drooping sedge (Carex flagellifera 'Toffee Twist'). Anyone who has had to water these would agree that it is a real "bear cat" to keep them damp as they shed water so quickly. The sacrifices we make for effect. Below is a nice shot of Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch'), another All-American Selections winner that can top out at well over 72" tall. For a shorter (48") version, try 'Fiesta Del Sol' or 'Yellow Torch' for a golden yellow option of what you see below. The bottom photo is a single, 12" wide bloom from the 'Kopper King' hybrid hibiscus (Hibiscus) that has maroonish foliage and is only 4-5' tall. This hibiscus regenerates from ground level each year and likes moisture.

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