Blue Skies

"If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, Rejoice, for your soul is alive." Eleanora Duse.

We had mostly clear, blue skies today although there is a chance for rain late tonight and in to tomorrow. We hope the precipitation holds off for our Smelly Garden evening event (8 pm - 10 pm) and then it can become a soaking rain after that's over. The top image is a close-up of a small, hybrid ornamental onion (Allium hybrida) called 'Pink Pepper'. The number of blooms was impressive and this was a new one that we planted last year. The image directly above was taken this morning with the early sun shining thru these dark, ornamental millets (Pennisetum glaucum 'Purple Majesty') in our Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Display. I don't think I'll get tired of planting this annual grass and I like all the varieties that are out there right now. The birds, particularly finches, are working the seedheads on these grasses as I type. To the right is one of the neat hyssops (Agastache cana 'Purple Pygmy') blooming in our Smelly Garden. The foliage is quite scented and while the blooms are not, they sure attract the hummingbirds. Most hyssops are marginally hardy here and we've had many overwinter as perennials when we've had ample winter snow cover. To the left is one of our "most asked about" plants in the garden. This annual is actually an old-fashioned cottage garden annual called summer poinsettia or fountain plant (Amaranthus tricolor). Many know this as Joseph's Coat as well. I've featured other varieties of this amaranth in previous blogs. This variety is in our Ornamental Edible & Compact Vegetable Collection although it is certainly not compact at 3-4' tall! However, this amaranth (as with all amaranths) has edible foliage that has long been used fresh and in stir fry dishes (tastes like spinach). The light caught the colorful leaves perfectly this morning and it's the newest growth that has the best coloration. Unfortunately, the color is lost when cooking but is is a nice ornamental. I should mention that this plant looks good in to August but usually not much later than that.

We had some great volunteers here today. Kay did a nice job weeding in both the reception and sunken gardens. She is good at not only addressing weeds but deadheading, thinning and general "garden primping". Little Jerry came in for most of the morning and worked on pruning/shaping evergreens in the Japanese garden. This is the job he did for many years as an employee and it's nice to see his quality work continue as a volunteer. Alfredo was in to help John with some of his tasks (second picture down from this text) and we've appreciated his help over the past couple of months on work days and other days that he has off. He's a strong worker and we gave him some excercise today. Bill O. was in to mow the arboretum and he then shifted to emptying garbage cans and recycling. He also did a nice job tidying up the wedding sites for tomorrow. To the above right is the Western sunflower (Helianthus occidentalis) in the terrace garden border. This perennial sunflower is one of the shortest native sunflowers at only 48" tall. The many blooms are roughly 3" in diameter. Also called fewleaf sunflower for the fact that it has very few leaves along the flowering stems, this Western U.S. native is drought tolerant and will bloom well in to fall. We'll be keeping an eye on it as it can spread to form larger colonies. Speaking of the terrace, the shot below was taken today as I was in the vicinity helping get set-up for the Smelly Garden activity tonight. The blue/yellow theme looks great in this area as well! Fridays are always our busiest days and today was not exception. Big John (above with Alfredo) did a nice job cleaning up, leveling and ultimately composting the newly defined area behind the Japanese garden waterfall. John also worked on a graveling project, ran irrigation, hand watered and accomplished some other duties. Janice push mowed, watered, weeded and started putting in more of our new signs in the gazebo garden. Marv and Terry ran irrigation and set-up their sophisticated sprinkler network to catch some of the dry areas. The guys also prepared an area for regraveling, watered all the containers and worked on some other projects. Marianne weeded (with a focus near the Smelly Garden), watered, tidied and put together another nice cutting display. I worked on setting up some luminaries and lighting for the event tonight and continue to finalize plant sale details so we're ready to go in a few short weeks. To the above right is one of our scented plants in the Smelly Garden. This is the 'Skeleton Rose' scented geranium (Pelargonium radans) which also goes by the name of 'Dr. Livingston'. The finely cut and ornamental foliage has a strong, lemon-rose fragrance when rubbed. I think the leaf architecture is cool. We have over 15 "flavors" of scented geraniums in the Smelly Garden. To the left is Little Jerry pruning a juniper just outside the primary Japanese garden entrance.

I have to say the the gardens are looking the best they ever have and we're still hovering at peak color although the cooler nights will have an effect on our annuals and we're seeing the start of leaf drop from the cottonwoods (Populus deltoides). To the right are the colorful blooms of an award-winning stonecrop (Sedum telephium 'Red Cauli') which I've been smitten with for years because of the nice blooms but also blue foliage. This tough perennial for full sun is top notch. A special thanks to all the wonderful staff and volunteers that continue to make RBG not only a top notch destination but an organization that pursues the mission of horticultural education and appreciation diligently. Below is the 'Prince' elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) in the formal annual beds looking good. When we yank this out (annual) in October after frost, it will be significantly taller! At the bottom are those blue skies above the showy and popular North Point garden.