Today ended up being quite hot in the mid 90 degrees F but thankfully it was a "dry heat" and not too sticky. The morning was quite bearable and we had a nice t
urnout of volunteers in the morning that were trying to "beat the heat." The top picture is of the 'Royal Blue Ensign' dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus tricolor) in the reception garden. I'm sure I feature a close-up of this bloom every year as we would not be without it at RBG and it's hard not to stop and take a photo of that showy blossom. Directly above is our sunken garden getting irrigated this morning. We had a solid day of watering and the entire staff was involved with keeping the gardens, containers and yard wet thru yet another day of hot and dry weather. To the right is a showy leaf of the 'Blue Ivory' plantain lily (Hosta) which is one of over 400 that we feature as a National Display Garden for the American Hosta Society. To the left is the yellow fumitory (Corydalis lutea) in full bloom throughout the shade garden. This pe
rennial has a long bloom window (April until frost) and continues to be a large component of interest in many of our shadier garden spaces.Marv and Terry started the day with our traditional routine of running irrigation, setting up sprinklers and accomplishing plenty of watering. The guys also worked on some more shearing in the formal gardens and took the time to go shopping for more hoses and other necessitites that will be put in to immediate use. Big John set up sprinklers, watered, fertilized, edged and helped out were needed today. Pat also did plenty of watering and fertilizing today. Janice helped wat
er as well in many different locations throughout the morning. Marianne and Jenny worked most of the day together and started with some major weeding and moved on to planting in front of the main building. Both ladies then collectively moved on to major hand watering of garden areas, containers and the yard. I was no help outside today although I did lay out plants in two areas prior to heading out for a presentation for the Blackhawk Golden Kiwanis Club. I then spent the afternoon in air-conditioned comfort going thru a foot high stack of "to do" items (bills, etc.). To the lower right is the butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) which is one of the few plants in our prairie restoration that isn't brown and wilting! That orange is quite fetching. Directly below is the 'Queen Lime' zinnia (Zinnia elegans) which is a nice double form that will reach 3-4' tall in the full sun garden. I do like chartreuse flowers and this one is no exception. The second photo down shows a small portion of the vertical wall planter over at the Horticulture Center. Look at all those goodies popping out! I see Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris), hot peppers (Capsicum), basil (Ocimum) and many other plants doing well and filling in nicely.
er as well in many different locations throughout the morning. Marianne and Jenny worked most of the day together and started with some major weeding and moved on to planting in front of the main building. Both ladies then collectively moved on to major hand watering of garden areas, containers and the yard. I was no help outside today although I did lay out plants in two areas prior to heading out for a presentation for the Blackhawk Golden Kiwanis Club. I then spent the afternoon in air-conditioned comfort going thru a foot high stack of "to do" items (bills, etc.). To the lower right is the butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) which is one of the few plants in our prairie restoration that isn't brown and wilting! That orange is quite fetching. Directly below is the 'Queen Lime' zinnia (Zinnia elegans) which is a nice double form that will reach 3-4' tall in the full sun garden. I do like chartreuse flowers and this one is no exception. The second photo down shows a small portion of the vertical wall planter over at the Horticulture Center. Look at all those goodies popping out! I see Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris), hot peppers (Capsicum), basil (Ocimum) and many other plants doing well and filling in nicely. 
Our first volunteer in this morning was Kay who was followed shortly by Shirley. Both ladies spent some time weeding in the reception garden which is starting to feature its 
own purslane (Portulaca oleracea) collection. Shirley can be seen to the lower left next to one of our "flying saucer" planters. Kay later shifted to the continuation of weeding near the gazebo garde and Shirley planted in the entrance garden with Marianne and Jenny. Dr. Gredler was in for some minor mowing and major clover control out in our turf areas. Bill O. came in to prune some boxwoods (Buxus 'Green Velvet') in the rose garden. To the right is one of our silver "flying saucer" planters in the entrance garden. These have certainly added to our watering requirem
ents but they should continue to look neater as their contents fill out and spill out!Gena, Mary and Myrt were in for some planting near the gazebo garden this morning. The ladies made quick work of the 800 or so plants I set out there and moved on to some more weeding in the sunken garden. Sharon came in to help do some watering in the afternoon and Gwen was around this morning hand watering the extensive v
egetable collections at the Horticulture Center. We had a meeting of our Home Garden Tour Committee (Jean, Bill O., Barb, Cora and Janet attending today) and are finalizing details for this popular event on July 21st this year (10 am - 4 pm, rain or shine). Tickets ($10 in advance) are already available for this event at K&W Greenery, Patty's Plants (Milton, WI) and RBG. We also saw Maury, Gary, Dr. Yahr, Mary W., Dale, Bev and many others. Dale S. ("Mr. Moss") came today with a friend (Dave) and the guys continued some improvements on all the new moss features that Dale has previously constructed over the last couple of months. His creations look good despite all the heat and the moss seems to be growing fairly well. To the right is the 'Orange King' coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides). Directly below is the 'Rhythm & Blues' petunia (Petunia) and at the bottom, some of our drooping "dead" sedges (Carex flagellifera 'Toffee Twist') in our orange planters. More of the same tomorrow including plenty of artificially applied precipitation. 
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