Of course we didn't have any snow today as is was quite pleasant outside with temperatures in the mid 70 degrees F. The top photo shows our "flurries" of cottonwood (P
opulus deltoides) seeds that are floating down around the gardens. This process always gives us a real "shiver" as we know the implications of these seeds germinating all over the gardens. This will create our weeding round #2 but we're pretty used to it by now. The photo directly above is the white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus) starting to bloom with those wispy white blossoms. To the right are the beautiful dangling bells of the Spanish bluebell (Hyacinthoides hispanica). I like this blue a lot although you can get this fall-planted bulb in pink and white as well.T
oday was our RBG Members Only Presale at our Spring Plant Sale. Our members were able to get first crack at our offerings with a 10% discount on all purchases. This is one of the many benefits to RBG membership, not the least of which is free admittance to the gardens! The sale was steady and we had a great contingent of volunteers helping out in the yard and at the register. There are too many volunteers to list but we certainly appreciate their assistance. Marianne did a great job keeping the check out process ru
nning smoothly despite some major problems with our registers (later solved by Gary and Rita, thanks!). Janice kept all the yard help organized and we had plenty of customer assistance available.
oday was our RBG Members Only Presale at our Spring Plant Sale. Our members were able to get first crack at our offerings with a 10% discount on all purchases. This is one of the many benefits to RBG membership, not the least of which is free admittance to the gardens! The sale was steady and we had a great contingent of volunteers helping out in the yard and at the register. There are too many volunteers to list but we certainly appreciate their assistance. Marianne did a great job keeping the check out process ru
nning smoothly despite some major problems with our registers (later solved by Gary and Rita, thanks!). Janice kept all the yard help organized and we had plenty of customer assistance available. To the left is Kay who was out weeding on the east end of the shade garden along the periphery of her assigned garden. She did a great job as usual. Ron was back in the woodland walk garden continuing his extensive weeding efforts. He has one of the largest of the assigned gardens and is keeping up with it nicely. Dr. Gredler came in for his standard Friday mowing rounds. To the right is the maroon-leaf contorted filbert (Corylus avellana 'Red Majestic') which I think is pretty neat. This variety is only about three years old so our two specimens were quite small when planted but are now filling out. The maroon coloration is the best in spring and gets more greenish/maroon in summer. Regardless, I like this one and will be trying to find one for my home garden very shortly. Directly below are the showy blooms of the fragrant woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata 'Plum Perfect') in the woodland walk garden. Look at the hints of blue on the flower petals.
Marv, Terry, Big John and Pat kept busy out in the gardens. John pushmowed right away and spent his day painting the arched bridge (two photos up). John also h
elped with some other projects including the moss island renovation (directly above) that Dale S. ("Mr. Moss") continued throughout the day. Marv and Terry (seen above with Dale) spent a good portion of the morning with Dale and moved rocks, hauled rocks, brought in topsoil and really lent some muscle to these improvements. Dale brought another three loads (on plywood) of moss for this pr
oject (see to the right) and he impressed everyone with his knowledge (and stamina!). The improvements to the moss island are significant and Dale will continue to return to finish the island but also has some additional plans in the Japanese garden for mosses of all sorts. To the left is a horsetail (Equisetum sp.) stem near the fern & moss garden. We have a large patch of this interesting plant and while we don't know the specific species, we know it predates the establishment of the gardens. We have many visitors call it "bamboo" but it is a plant from the dinosaur
days and reproduces by spores. It also is a "healthy spreader" and can establish quite readily, particularly in wet soils. To the right is another of our unknown columbines (Aquilegia) that I noticed for its pastel coloration. I've realized that I'm taking lots of columbine pictures this spring and I think it's because they are really filling in around the gardens after years of incorporating them in multiple locations. Directly below is the 'Electrocution' hosta (Hosta) that has wavy leaves and some nice colorations. At the bottom is the variegated weigela (Weigela florida 'Variegata') that has a nice combination of showy pink blossoms and a clean variegation that looks good until fall. We have many varieties of weigela and this variety has always done well for us. Tomorrow and Sunday continue the sale and we hope to see lots of plants walking out the door.
Marv, Terry, Big John and Pat kept busy out in the gardens. John pushmowed right away and spent his day painting the arched bridge (two photos up). John also h
elped with some other projects including the moss island renovation (directly above) that Dale S. ("Mr. Moss") continued throughout the day. Marv and Terry (seen above with Dale) spent a good portion of the morning with Dale and moved rocks, hauled rocks, brought in topsoil and really lent some muscle to these improvements. Dale brought another three loads (on plywood) of moss for this pr
oject (see to the right) and he impressed everyone with his knowledge (and stamina!). The improvements to the moss island are significant and Dale will continue to return to finish the island but also has some additional plans in the Japanese garden for mosses of all sorts. To the left is a horsetail (Equisetum sp.) stem near the fern & moss garden. We have a large patch of this interesting plant and while we don't know the specific species, we know it predates the establishment of the gardens. We have many visitors call it "bamboo" but it is a plant from the dinosaur
days and reproduces by spores. It also is a "healthy spreader" and can establish quite readily, particularly in wet soils. To the right is another of our unknown columbines (Aquilegia) that I noticed for its pastel coloration. I've realized that I'm taking lots of columbine pictures this spring and I think it's because they are really filling in around the gardens after years of incorporating them in multiple locations. Directly below is the 'Electrocution' hosta (Hosta) that has wavy leaves and some nice colorations. At the bottom is the variegated weigela (Weigela florida 'Variegata') that has a nice combination of showy pink blossoms and a clean variegation that looks good until fall. We have many varieties of weigela and this variety has always done well for us. Tomorrow and Sunday continue the sale and we hope to see lots of plants walking out the door.
No comments:
Post a Comment