Today was breezy to say the least. Temperatures were supposed to be 47 degrees F but the windchill brought that down to 37 degrees F. It was brutal out there and kudos to all that helped out in the g
ardens, including the students from Oakhill Christian School that were here with Mrs. Brinkman. These students, many of whom I recognized, have come to volunteer out in the gardens the past couple of springs and autumns. They are hard working and really were troopers with the cold, biting wind. Don't let the t-shirts fool you, it was COLD. They did a nice job of spreading a fresh, 1" layer of 
shredded bark over the entire daylily collection and Palmer Drive berm. This is about 5,000 square feet and the students did a remarkable job and had done the same job one year ago. This space is only accessible by hand and a crew like this is so appreciated for the "hands on" approach. We got a good 2.5 hours of solid volunteer work out of this gang and special thanks to Janice and particularly Marianne for working with the students. Marv, Terry, Big John, Dr. Gredler and I ran a perpetual convoy of mulch to keep the mulch supplies (five piles) from dwindling. We hope to see the kids this fall as well. I will say it's interesting observing the difference in motivation and work ethic with these kids and those that come to us thru community service channels. Directly below are the blooms of lungwort (Pulmonaria sp. 'Victorian Brooch') that come quite early and once gone, the spotted foliage takes over. I like lungwort a lot and it is quite durable in the shade garden (and deer don't nibble on it). Below the lungwort shot are forsythia blooms at peak. This is 'Happy Centennial' forsythia (Forsythia x intermedia) that is a compact variety with consistent flowers each year. 
Nice shot to the right of the blooms of red maple (Acer rubrum) which are really quite conspicuous along with the young, red stems. Despite the chill and winds, 
there was lots of work occurring around the gardens. Marv and Terry, aside from helping stockpile shredded bark for our volunteers, did a nice job cleaning up stump debris from yesterday and added soil to these areas to smooth them out for future planting. The guys also composted and did a nice job with all their projects. Dr. Gredler also helped with some stump grinding clean-up but the winds may have prompted his early departure. Janice a
lso worked on preparing soil for herb containers while she and Marianne continued to pot up our 500 or so annual transplants for the American Garden Award program. Marianne also freshened up her cutting display and helped me with all sorts of office work this morning. We also saw Mary W., Linda S., Maury, Kelli and Dick P. Too bad today was our first day of admissions as it was doubtful anyone came to visit the gardens. Despite its common name of fragile fern (Cystopteris fragilis), this fe
rn (left) is emerging quickly in our fern & moss garden and we're seeing many fiddleheads of various species poking up and testing the temperatures before unfurling (see to the right). After planting an additional 100 fern varieties last year in that space, it will be nice to observe and photograph our new varieties. Some of these ferns were also replacements for our losses after the flood of 2008 wiped out half that garden. Nature's Touch was here cleaning some of our water features and continued work on our improved water feat
ure in the Japanese garden (see below). We marked out the lower pond that will have three levels to accomodate plants and fish. The digging has been going ok although high water in the surrounding pond has become an issue. It will be nice to have everything completed in the next month so we can tidy up and replant some of these areas. I think this new lower pond will be a nice attraction although it adds yet another water feature that we'll have to maintain. Oh well. It's looking good thus far. To the left are hostas startin
g to "spear" out of the ground. They'll grow very quickly with a return of warmth and this will be one of the samples that Becky N. will use at her Perennial Division seminar next Wednesday evening (April 20th, 6 pm - 8 pm). She'll be demonstrating the various techniques and timing for successful perennial division and will first explain the reasons for division. Becky will also be facilitating our Container Planting Workshop on May 18th (see our website) that will allow participants to comb thru our yard for goodies. That should be fun! To the right is one our bulb lawns with plenty of white Siberian squill (Scilla siberica 'Alba') that will bloom and reseed before we mow. In reality, the grass will be about 6" when we get in there; first with a weedwhip, followed immediately by a push mower. We let the bulbs photosynthesize as much as possible and have seen some nice perennialization of bulbs in these smaller lawn areas. The bottom picture shows the progress of the bluestone patio under the arbor in the North Point garden. I'm in briefly tomorrow for a meeting and next week has no shortage of tasks as we approach our Earth Day activities and Tree Sale, both of which are on April 22 and 23 (see www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org). 
Nice shot to the right of the blooms of red maple (Acer rubrum) which are really quite conspicuous along with the young, red stems. Despite the chill and winds, 
there was lots of work occurring around the gardens. Marv and Terry, aside from helping stockpile shredded bark for our volunteers, did a nice job cleaning up stump debris from yesterday and added soil to these areas to smooth them out for future planting. The guys also composted and did a nice job with all their projects. Dr. Gredler also helped with some stump grinding clean-up but the winds may have prompted his early departure. Janice a
lso worked on preparing soil for herb containers while she and Marianne continued to pot up our 500 or so annual transplants for the American Garden Award program. Marianne also freshened up her cutting display and helped me with all sorts of office work this morning. We also saw Mary W., Linda S., Maury, Kelli and Dick P. Too bad today was our first day of admissions as it was doubtful anyone came to visit the gardens. Despite its common name of fragile fern (Cystopteris fragilis), this fe
rn (left) is emerging quickly in our fern & moss garden and we're seeing many fiddleheads of various species poking up and testing the temperatures before unfurling (see to the right). After planting an additional 100 fern varieties last year in that space, it will be nice to observe and photograph our new varieties. Some of these ferns were also replacements for our losses after the flood of 2008 wiped out half that garden. Nature's Touch was here cleaning some of our water features and continued work on our improved water feat
ure in the Japanese garden (see below). We marked out the lower pond that will have three levels to accomodate plants and fish. The digging has been going ok although high water in the surrounding pond has become an issue. It will be nice to have everything completed in the next month so we can tidy up and replant some of these areas. I think this new lower pond will be a nice attraction although it adds yet another water feature that we'll have to maintain. Oh well. It's looking good thus far. To the left are hostas startin
g to "spear" out of the ground. They'll grow very quickly with a return of warmth and this will be one of the samples that Becky N. will use at her Perennial Division seminar next Wednesday evening (April 20th, 6 pm - 8 pm). She'll be demonstrating the various techniques and timing for successful perennial division and will first explain the reasons for division. Becky will also be facilitating our Container Planting Workshop on May 18th (see our website) that will allow participants to comb thru our yard for goodies. That should be fun! To the right is one our bulb lawns with plenty of white Siberian squill (Scilla siberica 'Alba') that will bloom and reseed before we mow. In reality, the grass will be about 6" when we get in there; first with a weedwhip, followed immediately by a push mower. We let the bulbs photosynthesize as much as possible and have seen some nice perennialization of bulbs in these smaller lawn areas. The bottom picture shows the progress of the bluestone patio under the arbor in the North Point garden. I'm in briefly tomorrow for a meeting and next week has no shortage of tasks as we approach our Earth Day activities and Tree Sale, both of which are on April 22 and 23 (see www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org).
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