Above is the start of a pumpkin (
Cucurbita sp.). I think all squash blossoms are beautiful but very flee
ting. They are edible by the way and the one above is a volunteer in my front yard and is taking up more square footage as I type. We've been not only enjoying seeing (and eating) the cucumbers over at the Horticulture Center but the gourds are starting to form now too. The support structures were just perfect for both types of plants but the combination of heat, sunlight and plenty of recent rain has made these plants explode in to action overnight. We had some scattered showers today but not much substa
nce to them. We actually kept up with some irrigation to make sure some of our areas don't dry out and thereby become increasingly more difficult to keep wet. The shot to the left is of the aluminum plant (
Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls') cascading over one of our shorter red, PVC pillars out in the entrance garden. This is the look we wanted with the entire pillar eventually becoming silver. The taller "pillar planters" have a ways to go but hopefully will get there by the end of August. Our annual beds are really peaking as seen to the right. We're continually weeding these spaces and are deadheading as needed to extend color thru the rest of the summer in to early fall. Below is another shot taken today in front of the building. I think the maroon/red theme has been wildly successful and we've had lots of positive comments regarding the appearance. Marianne does a dynamite job of keeping our "front door garden" looking nice and tidy all the time and this image is a true testament to the value of ornamental ANNUAL grasses (purple fountain grass, 'Fireworks' fountain grass and purple elephant grass).
Marv worked on rototilling, edging, running irrigation, etc. today and was very productive (as usual). Big John worked on digging out some plants, watering, fertilizing and weeding today. He and Marv were in charge this morning as Marianne, Jenny, Terry and I all went down to Beloit, WI to visit our irises in storage (see below). They look great and are nice and healthy. We paired up and inventoried all the varieties (name and quantity) so Jenny can then make the appropriate labels for the iris sale coming up on August 28th. Our inventory only took an hour or so and Jenny and Marianne compiled our overall list once we returned. Terry shifted to pruning, watering and weeding while Marianne also did a lot of weeding as well as working on a new cut flower display. I worked on odds and ends and really need to finalize pictures for our iris sale and will continue to get ready for impending tasks like getting our laser engraver functional and preparing for the fall plant sale.
Volunteers were again a big help out in the gardens today. We saw Donna D. out weeding the entrance garden
and Jumbo Jim and Mary W. brought in three RECAPPERS to help out in the gardens. They did a nice job weeding and were extremely helpful with all of their tasks. Dr. Gredler was here to mow, work on obelisks and tidy up some edging projects. We also saw Dr. Yahr and Bill was here doing some nice clean-up work throughout the gardens. With Kay
and Shirley on vacation, our weeds are again feeling more confident and are peaking out. Woe upon them when our weeders return! We are looking in to implementing more aggressive volunteer recruitment to really help maintain the gardens beyond the spring planting window. It would be nice to to have an additional dozen sets of hands out in the gardens daily but we haven't reached that level yet but hopefully soon! The shot to the left is the lemon bergamot (
Monarda citriodora) that looks great in full sun with those lavender/pink flower whorls (fragrant foliage too). To the right is one of our culvert planters in front of the education center and the hope is that visitors not only enjoy this unorthodox approach but see it for an artistic element as well. Directly below is another shot of our annual beds just east of the Vistor's Center and the bottom photo was taken along our shoreline just west of the alpine garden. This edge will be developed with stabilizing rocks, plantings and other features. Unfortunately, recent rains have flooded the pond and our installers will at least get a feel for what "high water" might constitute. The water to the right (in that bottommost picture) between the silt fence rows was where they were going to install the rocks.
Above is the start of a pumpkin (Cucurbita sp.). I think all squash blossoms are beautiful but very flee
ting. They are edible by the way and the one above is a volunteer in my front yard and is taking up more square footage as I type. We've been not only enjoying seeing (and eating) the cucumbers over at the Horticulture Center but the gourds are starting to form now too. The support structures were just perfect for both types of plants but the combination of heat, sunlight and plenty of recent rain has made these plants explode in to action overnight. We had some scattered showers today but not much substa
nce to them. We actually kept up with some irrigation to make sure some of our areas don't dry out and thereby become increasingly more difficult to keep wet. The shot to the left is of the aluminum plant (Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls') cascading over one of our shorter red, PVC pillars out in the entrance garden. This is the look we wanted with the entire pillar eventually becoming silver. The taller "pillar planters" have a ways to go but hopefully will get there by the end of August. Our annual beds are really peaking as seen to the right. We're continually weeding these spaces and are deadheading as needed to extend color thru the rest of the summer in to early fall. Below is another shot taken today in front of the building. I think the maroon/red theme has been wildly successful and we've had lots of positive comments regarding the appearance. Marianne does a dynamite job of keeping our "front door garden" looking nice and tidy all the time and this image is a true testament to the value of ornamental ANNUAL grasses (purple fountain grass, 'Fireworks' fountain grass and purple elephant grass). 
and Jumbo Jim and Mary W. brought in three RECAPPERS to help out in the gardens. They did a nice job weeding and were extremely helpful with all of their tasks. Dr. Gredler was here to mow, work on obelisks and tidy up some edging projects. We also saw Dr. Yahr and Bill was here doing some nice clean-up work throughout the gardens. With Kay
and Shirley on vacation, our weeds are again feeling more confident and are peaking out. Woe upon them when our weeders return! We are looking in to implementing more aggressive volunteer recruitment to really help maintain the gardens beyond the spring planting window. It would be nice to to have an additional dozen sets of hands out in the gardens daily but we haven't reached that level yet but hopefully soon! The shot to the left is the lemon bergamot (Monarda citriodora) that looks great in full sun with those lavender/pink flower whorls (fragrant foliage too). To the right is one of our culvert planters in front of the education center and the hope is that visitors not only enjoy this unorthodox approach but see it for an artistic element as well. Directly below is another shot of our annual beds just east of the Vistor's Center and the bottom photo was taken along our shoreline just west of the alpine garden. This edge will be developed with stabilizing rocks, plantings and other features. Unfortunately, recent rains have flooded the pond and our installers will at least get a feel for what "high water" might constitute. The water to the right (in that bottommost picture) between the silt fence rows was where they were going to install the rocks.
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