Major Multi-Tasking

This morning started out frosty with the use of an ice scraper on my vehicle windows. The turf at the Horticulture Center (above) looked picturesque though! In summary, it was a crazy day with plenty of activity. The nice, sunny weather helped keep everyone's spirits up as there was plenty of multi-tasking for staff and volunteers alike. Tomorrow looks damp but that's April for you. Becky Nickel's talk on Perennial Division went very well last night and we had 67 attendees enjoy her presentation and demonstration. See Becky to the right. I assisted Becky at times and we made a bit of a mess with the demo but attendee reviews were very positive and there were lots of very good questions. Our next lecture on Perennial Favorites by Dr. Frank Greer (May 25th, 6 pm - 8 pm) should be equally well-received and timely. Frank's knowledge of plants makes me look like an amateur. All of our attendees were invited to take home two freebies each of some recent divisions from the gardens.

We had great Grumpy morning (see Bob A. to the left staining one of the eight new cedar benches) that only had a minor disruption when a semi-load of compost arrived and we had to shuffle cars out of the way so the truck could make its "swing" and subsequent unloading. The truck driver, Paul, is top notch and has backed in to places few would try. Paul has delivered compost to the gardens for over 12 years now. Del and Roger worked on spreading shredded bark in the Scottish garden and we've now spread about half of our huge pile (with plenty more areas to target). Pat worked on adding sand to some of the beds in the alpine garden while Ron, Ron and Bob C. did a nice job sweeping up the remainder of our paths and patios that still have some winter debris, sand (spread on icy paths), etc. This is an annual task and they did a very nice job in time for the influx of visitors. Dick H. and Dick P. worked on some various projects and Tom C. is back to size up some of our electrical needs. Maury was bouncing around as well. Gary had the laser engraver humming along this morning and has entered another 100 or so perennials. Bob T. and Joe continued air edging and worked on edging along some of our brick paths where the grass has overgrown the edges. Nice shot of some moss to the right sending up seta (stalks) that will have capsules ready to release spores. I love moss in the spring and our fern & moss garden is looking quite striking with all the recent rains. Bob A., Vern, Dave and Jim continued work on the benches and did a project over at the other building. They are coming up with a nice project that will be donated to the Dinner Dance (July 16th) auction. Each year the guys make something (bench, etc.) and it always fetches a nice donation. To the left is the umbrella plant (Syneilesis palmata) poking out of the gazebo garden border and looks like a collection of poised umbrellas waiting to be opened (for a day like tomorrow...!). Once the leaves unfurl, this perennial looks quite tropical with lots of foliage texture and interest despite the green leaves and moderately interesting flowers.

Larry and Big John started the day by hauling back all the tools, materials and plants that were left over at the other building from last night's seminar. Larry went on to work on the sunken garden water fountain and pool. This is the time of year where he preps our water features and gets them up and running (before Mother's Day). Big John did quite a bit of mulching with shredded bark and also helped set-up for our Earth Day activities that run Fri. and Sat. (9 am - 3 pm). Jenny was in to help straighten garden signs and she continued her monumental clean-up in the woodland walk garden. Janice worked on some seed starting this morning (see to the right). She started moonflower (Ipomoea alba) seeds as well as two kinds of four o'clocks (Mirabilis jalapa). One of the varieties, called 'Limelight', is my favorite as it has brilliant chartreuse foliage (most are just green-leaved) and bright pink flowers. Janice worked out in the gardens and also worked with her volunteer group this afternoon. Unfortunately, some of them were caught sitting down on the job as seen directly below! They did a nice job with weed removal in the Horticulture Center beds and some composting duties. We saw Marv briefly as he stopped by to show off his impatiens (started from seed) that are ready to bloom. He has impressive "green thumbs" and tries all sorts of neat plants at home too. His "better half", Marianne, came in to finish the spreadsheets for the tree sale that runs tomorrow and Saturday (8 am - 2 pm) at the Horticulture Center. Marianne has really done a superb job of figuring out how we're going to track the sales of trees, compost, worm tea, etc. and keep everything running smoothly. Janice will help her and both ladies will be involved over the next two days. We also saw Deb G., Mary W., Carrie, and many, many others. It was crazy. Our vistors, aside from Paul and his 18 wheeler, also included Jerry with a delivery of plants from Bluebird Nursery (NE) that Larry forked right off (see two pictures down). They'll have to sit inside thru the weekend as they are fresh out of a 80 degree F greenhouse. The Golden "K" Blackhawk Kiwanis club was out in full force today getting trees processed for the big tree sale this weekend. Gordon (Golden K) and a helper headed up north 120 miles (one way) to pick up 10,000 trees. They came back with a large trailer-load of evergreens including Norway spruce (Picea abies), Black Hills spruce (Picea glauca 'Densata'), blue Colorado spruce (Picea pungens glauca) and Eastern arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis). We're selling them for $1.75 each plus tax with a 10% discount for quantities of 50 or more. Maury had set up a nice system for processing the trees as they came in and a group of 15 or so Golden K members was on hand to bundle the trees in groups of 5, 10, 15, etc... We have pre-orders for about 2,000 trees and hope to have a good showing of customers looking for some high quality, affordable trees. These are 2-3 year old transplants (12"-18"hight) and the price is right. This is a joint fundraiser and we hope the combination of our Earth Day activities, the tree sale and the gardens looking colorful will be the "trifecta" to bring people here. This has been a record blog! Fingers...getting...tired... Must rest for the next two days.