Plant Sale Prepared & Ready

We had another big turnout of volunteers this morning with a strong representation both in the plant sale and out in the gardens. It was a long day but we were able to get the plant sale ready for the RBG Friends Members Only Sale tomorrow (9 am - 4 pm). Directly above are Del (left) and Eugene, two of our Grumpies that assisted with plant sale preparations. Here the guys are setting up our temporary parking lot (on the adjacent driving range) that we'll hopefully see nice and full over the next three days. The sale is open for the public both this Saturday and Sunday, September 8th and 9th from 9 am until 4 pm daily. I think the quality and variety of the plants this year is quite impressive. We had a mum delivery today and also saw the arrival of many pansies (Viola sp.) and flowering kale (Brassica). Other Grumpies included Bob C. who helped with watering and Bob T. who continued his epic air edging project out in the gardens. Bob A., Jim and Vern continued work on the new shed after helping in the plant sale with constructing a new table. We also saw Dick P., Maury, Dick H. (many dump runs with garden debris) and many others today.

To the left are Ellen (front) and Joy who were two of many volunteers out in the plant sale helping with tagging and organization under the guidance of Marianne and Jenny. This was day two in a row for both of these dedicated volunteers. We also had Tracy B., Shirley, Kay, Mary D., Gary, Cindy, Charlotte, Bev and some others helping as needed. We made quick work of the tagging but helpers also shifted to organize the layout of the sale.

To the right is Donna, one of our WWW (Women Weed Warriors) and she did a nice job along with Mary R., Suzy, Sue and Karla. The ladies helped tidy the entrance garden and the various gardens and beds near the gazebo. This crew of volunteers has been very effective and they collectively do a great job and work well together. We also saw Lilian F., Ed G., Deb G., Pat, Ken L., Marilyn B., Dr. Yahr and countless others. Dr. Gredler was also in for a round of mowing. I'm sure I missed some of our arrivals and departures but there was lots of "coming and going" all day long. Directly below are Shirley (left) and Charlotte. The next photo down shows just some of our exciting shrub offerings for the sale.While the plant sale has certainly absorbed lots of our time over the past week or so, we're not neglecting the gardens. This weekend is free admission and we hope many will take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the gardens which still have plenty of color. I'm always amazed when people ask if the gardens still look good in September. Of course they do! While we are pulling out some spent annuals and tidying up here and there(like Suzy and Mary to the left), most of our displays and collections still look quite nice and should extend color until mid-October. Our entrance garden theme of white/silver/powder blue turned out nicely and continues to get rave reviews. To the right is Kay checking out our Blue Satin Rose-of-Sharon (woody hibiscus) shrubs (Hibiscus syriacus 'Marina') in the plant sale today.

Marianne and Jenny were in the plant sale all day keeping volunteers on track, organizing plants and watering. Janice was in the plant sale as well but orchestrated our WWW volunteers this morning. She also had a tour and a meeting as well. Janice did a nice job making signs for the plant sale too. Big John bounced between many different projects out in the gardens and was extremely helpful today. This included weeding, container watering, path work and additional duties at the plant sale. Larry repaired an irrigation line, helped out various Grumpies and spent the rest of the day with the string trimmer around the gardens. I don't think I even made it in to the gardens today which is rare. I spent time making information signs for our plant sale shrubs and bounced between various duties as they arose. To the right are our $5 perennial, dwarf asters (Aster novi-belgii 'Magic') which are always hot sellers. Below are just some of the hundreds of cherry tomatoes that Charlotte picked for Janice from our vegetable collection at the Horticulture Center. My favorites thus far are 'Sweet Million', 'Sungold' and definitely 'Snow White'. Janice (primarily) has already faciliated the donation of lots of RBG produce to area food banks.