My 1001st Blog - Spring Plant Sale!

Hard to believe that I've now posted over 1,000 blogs! I went back and looked at some of my earlier postings and was amused by the small amount of photos and text. I was so primative back then! My wife, much to her chagrin, was the one who got me started on this and thought it would be a fun way for me to periodically communicate "garden happenings." I try to avoid "the scowl" at home by blogging at work (if time allows). As always though, the original intent and purpose for this blog are to promote RBG to our volunteers, members as well as past and future visitors. I remember earlier school days when I would have to come up with a 500-1000 word report and am now realizing that I do that, on average, 4.8 times per week with this blog! I did take the day off from my digital camera and all the past shots included in this blog are meant to promote our Annual Spring Plant Sale (May 12th & 13th, 9 am - 4 pm, Horticulture Center). RBG Members are invited to a pre-sale on Friday, May 11th (9 am - 4 pm) where they'll get "first dibs" and 10% off (for the duration of the entire sale). The shot above shows just some of our vegetable selections last year. To the right is 'Dark Opal' basil (Ocimum basilicum) that is just one of our "herbal offerings" this year as is the 'Moss-Curled' parsley (Petroselinum crispum) to the left.

Janice was in most of the day finalizing the information sheets on our tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplants, basil and a smattering of other neat things like tomatillos (to the right), okra, etc. Janice selected some neat varieties of tomatoes that have been bred for more nutrional value. Some have higher lycopene, beta carotene, vitamin C, etc. In theory that sounds neat but one of our primary hopes for our customers is that they enjoy growing produce at home and share the fun! All of these information sheets will be on our website (www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org) very shortly. Look for those "extra nutritious" varieties. What has yet to be determined are the remainder of the herbs and the perennial selection. Regardless, SAVE THE DATE! and tell your friends and neighbors about this important RBG fundraiser. To the left is the 'Micro Tom' tomato (Lycopersicon) which is softball sized and perfect for the windowbox.

Luis was in to work on more label production and data entry for the woody plant signs out in the gardens. I think he's working on the color rooms garden right now. Nancy N. spent the morning working on more reference library organization and is doing a nice job. Dick W. and Del were in to work on the reindeer cutouts and Dr. Gredler thankfully has not burned out (yet) on repainting obelisks. He's now on a dark blue to red conversion which will require a couple coats! Nancy and Tom F. were in to continue organizing our flat file storage and are really getting everything organized nicely. We'll have to just avoid messing it up again. Larry and Bill were out pruning in the arboretum and shade garden most of the day. We also saw Kris K., Dave G., Mary W., Dick H., Marianne, Gary, Maury and others today. To the right is the 'Ophelia' eggplant (Solanum melongena) which, while not one of the plant sale varieties this year, is a good performer out in the gardens. We have 10 varieties of eggplants for the plant sale including very compact varieties and those with black, white and a nice lavender/white coloration. These ornamental edibles will be perfect for the garden or container. At the bottom is the 'Marbles' hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) which is one of the many ornamental varieties we'll be offering although we have the full culinary range of hot peppers too including the "Ghost" pepper ('Bhut Jolokia'). 'Bhut Jolokia' was once considered the hottest in the world (Guiness Book of World Records). It's scary to now hear that there is now one (from England) that is 40% hotter than 'Bhut Jolokia' and is called the 'Grantham Infinity' pepper! WOW!