Preparations In Earnest

The weather was perfect both yesterday and today with sunny skies and highs around 70 degrees F. The grounds staff was divided on wearing jeans or shorts today....The image at the top shows just a few of our perennial, dwarf asters (Aster sp.) that will be offered at the plant sale (only $5 each!) starting this weekend (September 10th and 11th from 9 am until 5 pm). There will be a presale for RBG Friends Members however on this Friday, September 9th from 9 am until 5 pm. RBG Members will receive 10% off on all plant sale purchases that day and thru the weekend as well. Many staff and volunteers worked on more plant sale preparations today and the next two days are filled with pricing and arranging plant material as it is delivered. The image directly above is an area between the new North Point garden and the alpine garden. This space was used to stage materials over the past couple of months but will soon be developed as a "rockery" with neat rocks and boulders spaced throughout this berm. We will plant all the little "pockets" with bulbs this fall and both perennials and woody plants next spring. To the right is another nice shot of the 'Hot Biscuits' amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) which has such a neat flower color that has attracted plenty of attention over the past month or so. To the left are the trumpet-shaped blooms of the 'Perfume Lime' flowering tobacco (Nicotiana hybrida) that looks great all summer (smells good too) and this plant combines well with pinks and maroons.


Volunteer assistance was very impressive this morning. Labor Day allowed us to shift our Grumpy Day to today and we had a full house of both staff and volunteers. Shirley and Deb came in to help Marianne start pricing bulbs (see Marianne below and to the left) and get our shrub offerings labeled and priced. Urban and Rose stopped in to discuss their two current painting projects. Bob C. and Ron W. did a nice job setting up our temporary plant sale parking lot and the guys helped Marv, Terry and I haul and deliver some plants this morning. Dennis and Ron B. worked on taking down the butterfly art projects so they can be cleaned up and prepared for the auction this Sunday (1 pm - 3 pm) at the Parker Education Center. Deb was in to talk about the auction and she and Bev have done a nice job coordinating and maintaining this display. Dave, Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued their work on the Japanese garden fence which is looking quite nice. Gary and Del watered much of the plant sale and helped unload two mum deliveries that arrived today (see to the right, $7 mums!). Maury worked with Dick P. on some projects and ran out for some supplies and other items. Dr. Gredler was in later to mow as was Bill O. With the grass having so much dew this time of year, we try to tackle it after it has dried a bit to minimize the mess. We also saw Kelli, Kris, Jean and Polly today. There is a neat international travel opportunity next April (10th thru the 17th) when RBG is hosting a trip to Holland to see all sorts of neat things. This is a horticulturally-based trip and details can be found at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org. The fact that I'm going on this trip should hopefully not deter you from looking in to it further.

Marv and Terry worked on removing three dying birch (Betula sp.) trees, our plant delivery,moving rocks, shearing and some other projects. Aside from her cutting display, Marianne worked the plant sale preparations all day. Janice put out more new labels, tidied up various garden areas, helped water and kept the mum labels coming as new ones arrived. Larry worked on weed whipping and removing a crabapple (Malus sp.). Big John and Pat both worked on push mowing right away and went on to do some weeding and container watering. Pat finishes up tomorrow and we hope to see him next summer as well. He'll still come in as a Grumpy though. I worked most of the day on creating more shrub signs for the plant sale but was involved with unloading incoming plants as were all the staff. To the right is the start of fall color on the Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'). Although it's a bit early, we see hints of fall color on other trees and shrubs as well. Directly below is a huge patch of 'Blue Spruce' stonecrop (Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce') that were planted by Pat months ago in the alpine garden. This rounded area and others beyond that bridge, had blue carpet junipers (Juniperus sp.) growing as a groundcover to look like flowing water. Over the winter, some varmits nibbled the roots underground creating a mostly dead patch. We're trying this creeping sedum to create that same look of flowing water and I'm pleased with how well the sedum are growing. When they bloom chartreuse, that might look weird, but I do like the shade of blue this plant provides. At the bottom is the Dahlia 'Dahlinova Hypnotica Lavender' which is one of the seven "contestants" in our American Garden Award (www.americangardenaward.com) program that will finalize voting at the end of the month. This plant is currently the most popular but has some competition (see the website). Dahlias hit stride this time of year so this selection should have a strong finish.