Progress Before the Blizzard

Above is a shot of the yews (Taxus sp.) in front of my home. They are directly beneath the gutters which were dripping all weekend. It looks like we'll get a good amount of snow over the next three days which I always view as a mixed blessing. While safe travel is important to everyone, so is spring snow melt out in the gardens and that nice snow blanket that helps in the winter. Of course, additional height with our snow out in the gardens just extends the reach of our hungry deer!

We had a nice turnout of volunteers today and will see how the rest of the week fares in terms of volunteers being able to make it to the gardens. Marv, Terry and Pat were all out in the gardens and brought back many of our displays. It is an art form getting the displays neatly arranged and stored in the garage but Larry has that down to a science. Larry helped process incoming displays as did Dick H. and Bill O. Dick W. cut some grasses and willow branches for a project with Marianne and helped the guys with their endeavors as well. Dr. Gredler was here to re-stain one of our outdoor garbage bins and Urban was in to continue his painting projects (see to the right) on the Adirondack chairs that will truly be "bright beacons of color!" Marianne was in to work on multiple projects. She initially came in to work on sifting and sorting historical photos but was re-routed when two boxes of seeds came in need of her attention. Our three biggest orders have come in and Marianne goes thru every packet and cross-references the packing slip. While we rarely find errors, it has proven valuable to double check. One of the orders was from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (www.rareseeds.com) and included many of our plant sale vegetables. The seed packets were very colorful (as seen to the right and below) and included some very neat varieties of squash. To the right is 'Black Futsu' squash that while picked deep, dark green, will age to a chestnut orange during storage. Janice really picked out some cool varieties, all of which will be displayed this summer throughout the Horticulture Center beds and will be available in seed packets at the spring plant sale (May 14 & 15). Marianne also worked on her photo project after the seed were all organized. I was able to work on presentations and programs although I didn't get to order any more seeds (tomorrow, hopefully). The four carpenters (Jim, Dave, Vern and Bob A.) started on their next project which can be seen at the bottom of this blog. I can't reveal much more information but this is one of three such structures that will be out in the gardens this year. The carpenters will not be lacking for any work this year as they currently have a back log of projects as it is. We also saw Gary, Mary W., Chuck and Laura here today. It was a very productive day both inside and out, though the impending snow will make us all "insiders". That's no problem for me as I spend my entire days behind the computer this time of year putting on "winter weight." :)