We had another solid day of volunteer efforts out in the gardens and in the Horticulture Center. Unfortunately Larry was sick and the cold & flu season hasn't left the RBG staff unscathed, myself included. I continued seed ordering today amongst other activities. Above is the 'Denver Daisy' gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hybrida) which has performed very well for us at RBG as an annual (18"+). Introduced to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Denver, CO, this showy plant also won the 2010 American Garden Award competition. When I ordered this variety, I envisioned it going in our "Pollinator's Paradise" which is the new theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden this year developed by Kris K., RBG Education Coordinator. The butterflies are going to love this one! I had some meetings and also went on Tim Bremel's show on WCLO this morning with Dave Flieg from TravelScope. We collectively promoted the upcoming England trip in May (see the itinerary at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org).
We had a nice crew of volunteers head out in the gardens this morning to continue bringing in various elements of the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). Terry, Dick W., Pat, Larry H. and the new Grumpy, Jim D. did a nice job hauling items back including trees (see Terry three photos up). Bill O. came in to help process in the late morning and early afternoon. The Horticulture Center was also hopping with Janice (two photos up) inventorying seeds, researching plant sale varieties, etc. and Gary (directly above) ordering new labeling materials for improved and expanded signage this year. In the carpentry area, Jim D. (seen below sniffing glue), Dave, Vern and Bob A. continued work on the garden art projects (suns) and the new blue obelisks (seen behind Jim below). Dick H. (second photo down) worked on various projects including helping put primer on the new suns. It looks like he's preparing an extra large pizza! Maury ran many errands and along with Dick H., picked up our latest order of strap aluminum (1,150 ft) that will be later cut up in to various lengths (and bent) for our plant labels and other signs.
Yesterday we received some of our trialing seeds from Ball Seed. Many came in little pill containers and it looks like we're running a pharmacy! Most of the seeds (seen below) are pelletized and I'm excited to try so many new varieties out in the gardens. Janice and I were talking about our plant sale varieties this year and how popular the hot peppers (Capsicum) are in the sale. This will be the second year that we offer the "ghost pepper" or 'Bhut Jolokia' which was the hottest in the world at 1,000,000 Scoville heat units (SHU). The new hottest pepper in the world is the 'Trinidad Scorpion' which tops out at 1,500,000+ (SHU). We did find some of this rare seed and while we wont offer it for sale, we're going to try a couple for fun. Deb G., RBG volunteer, sent a neat YouTube video regarding this pepper that was collectively informative, entertaining and disconcerting! I normally don't pass along links but do check this out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53BQqfDpAB8&feature=player_detailpage
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