Our dark wall planting above has filled in quite nicely over the past couple of weeks. Those obelisks really punctuate this long garden that is quite similar in color
ation to our entrance garden last year. With a 60% chance of showers today and some dark clouds, I had hoped for some precipitation but we've received nothing as of yet. We ran irrigation all day but it quickly became 
challenging with lots of children here at the gardens for various events. We do try to get most of our watering done early but sometimes we have to irrigate during the day to keep up with dry areas. A nice soaking rain usually helps us out for a couple of days and the amount of time freed up from handwatering, setting up sprinklers, etc. is significant. To the right is the interesting "bladder" (or inflated basal calyx if you prefer..) of the Chinese lantern plant (Physalis alkekengi). These structures are popular in crafts and the plant is quite vigorous out in the garden. We don't have this plant here at RBG because of its "spreading nature" although I took this shot yesterday at a friends garden. To the left 
is the fragrant heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens) in the Smelly Garden. Heliotropes have a strong scent, particularly the white varieties that smell strongly of vanilla. Our Smelly Garden will be featured this Friday as part of an adult-themed event with drinks, food, music and a stroll in the Smelly Garden. See http://www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org/ for more information. To the lower right is the bright blue foliage of the blue lyme grass (Elymus arenarius 'Blue Dune') in the yellow/blue themed entrance garden. This grass is actually a vigorous perennial that I wouldn't recommend for "uncontained" garden situations as it has the tendency to spread very quickly and is quite hard to eradicate. We'll be digging these out in a few short months.
Volunteers today included Dr. Gredler mowing, Mary and Roy tidying up their portion of the shade garden, Jumbo Jim and four RECAPPERS and many others. Jim and the guys did a nice job weeding and tidying up in the Japanese garden which certainly needed some help and their focused attention. There were also many education volunteers out in the gardens helping to facilitate the programs today. Directly below is the 'Dialogue' sculpture with surrounding yellow and blue plantings. Years ago this was the primary entrance to the gardens. There is still a gate for access at certain times but the primary entrance is thru the Parker Education Center.
Despite the lack of rain (and thankfully, we never count on it), the grounds crew were all involved with watering as well as many other tasks. Nice shot of Kay to the 
right from yesterday. Marianne worked on tidying up the front entrance garden and did some significant weeding in that vicinity and out in arboretum berms. Marianne also had an early taste (probably 
bitter) of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) when she prepared some luminary strands of lights that we'll use for the Smelly Garden program this Friday night. We're still about 7-8 weeks away from starting preparations for the HLS but the summer has flown by and soon enough I'll be out with my extension cords. Big John worked on planting the new daylilies out in our collection that Lisa secured for us and he moved on to watering containers, running irrigation, installing signs and some other duties. Pat worked on tidying up around the new water feature in the Japanese garden, hand watered and also weeded our east border. Marv and Terry kept sprinklers and irrigation running and also
worked on expanding, leveling and preparing more parking space (gravel) at the horticulture center. The guys also worked on shearing boxwoods (Buxus) and some other tasks. To the left is the colorful 'Brazilian Red Hots' calico plant (Alternanthera dentata 'Brazilian Red Hots') coming up amongst golden coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Wizard Golden'). I spent most of the day working on designing our hanging baskets for next year and coming up with our pre-order for a large majority of our tropicals. This is typical timing and while it seems early, it is nice to secure availability with our growers and be ready for next spring. To the right is a sample of the final result of the scarf dying class held on July 30th by Shelley Ryan of Wisconsin Public Television's The Wisconsin Gardener. Lisa shared this picture and these are her four scarves from that workshop (the gnome wasn't included in the workshop fee...). I was out of town that weekend but it sounds like everyone had a great time and we appreciate Shelley sharing her "scarf skills". I don't know butterflies very well but Tina B. (the photographer for the image below taken at RBG) says this is a spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) on one of our zinnias. Neat coloration. The shot at the bottom was taken yesterday during the grand reopening/dedication/ribbon cutting for our Cottage Garden Gallery (gift shop). This venue features local artisans products and lots of neat stuff. Come check it out!
Despite the lack of rain (and thankfully, we never count on it), the grounds crew were all involved with watering as well as many other tasks. Nice shot of Kay to the 
right from yesterday. Marianne worked on tidying up the front entrance garden and did some significant weeding in that vicinity and out in arboretum berms. Marianne also had an early taste (probably 
bitter) of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) when she prepared some luminary strands of lights that we'll use for the Smelly Garden program this Friday night. We're still about 7-8 weeks away from starting preparations for the HLS but the summer has flown by and soon enough I'll be out with my extension cords. Big John worked on planting the new daylilies out in our collection that Lisa secured for us and he moved on to watering containers, running irrigation, installing signs and some other duties. Pat worked on tidying up around the new water feature in the Japanese garden, hand watered and also weeded our east border. Marv and Terry kept sprinklers and irrigation running and also
worked on expanding, leveling and preparing more parking space (gravel) at the horticulture center. The guys also worked on shearing boxwoods (Buxus) and some other tasks. To the left is the colorful 'Brazilian Red Hots' calico plant (Alternanthera dentata 'Brazilian Red Hots') coming up amongst golden coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Wizard Golden'). I spent most of the day working on designing our hanging baskets for next year and coming up with our pre-order for a large majority of our tropicals. This is typical timing and while it seems early, it is nice to secure availability with our growers and be ready for next spring. To the right is a sample of the final result of the scarf dying class held on July 30th by Shelley Ryan of Wisconsin Public Television's The Wisconsin Gardener. Lisa shared this picture and these are her four scarves from that workshop (the gnome wasn't included in the workshop fee...). I was out of town that weekend but it sounds like everyone had a great time and we appreciate Shelley sharing her "scarf skills". I don't know butterflies very well but Tina B. (the photographer for the image below taken at RBG) says this is a spicebush swallowtail (Papilio troilus) on one of our zinnias. Neat coloration. The shot at the bottom was taken yesterday during the grand reopening/dedication/ribbon cutting for our Cottage Garden Gallery (gift shop). This venue features local artisans products and lots of neat stuff. Come check it out!
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