A Sun Tribute

Yeah we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun. John Lennon. My blog title is actually not referring to a tribute to our actual sun; giver of all life, but our appreciation of the sun in other forms. Above is one of our 36 garden art projects that will be featured out in the gardens this year. My 13 year old daughter created this over the weekend and I thought it looked pretty neat. I told her that the 4,567 stars that she dabbed on there didn't seem adequate (insert teenage eye roll here). It will be interesting to see how other artists interpret these 48" diameter, plywood suns (primed and ready to go). In the past, this project has featured daisies, butterflies and oak leaves. I was told yesterday that 25 of the 36 suns have been spoken for so if you're interested, check out more details on this project at www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org and come pick one up! These suns are placed throughout the gardens from Mother's Day until early September and are then auctioned off as a fundraiser on September 15th. I've also included many of our "sun-shaped" or composite flowers below that are just "a drop in the bucket" for available blooms with radiating petals coming from a central cone or center. Both annuals and perennials are featured.

I'm only at the garden for a half day as I have to travel to Freeport, IL this afternoon prior to a talk tomorrow morning at the Joys of Gardening Symposium sponsored by the University of Illinois Extension. I've done this event before (held at Highland Community College) and it's always been a fun crowd with many attendees ready to be enticed to travel up nort' der to see our garden! We've realized that Northern Illinois in general is a market for attracting future visitors, members and donors! I'll speak on Best of the Best: New & Exciting Annuals and Ornamental Edibles & Compact Vegetables. These happen to be two of my favorite topics! As I finish this blog before the lunch hour, both Pat and Dr. Gredler came in to do some more obelisk painting with Pat starting on the TOP HALF of our 20' tall obelisk! Vern came in for more bench staining and may have to change hands as his "southpaw" is starting to ache! Urban came in to help paint obelisks and Dick H. stopped by as well. Stan K. and I talked about some plans to develop a brochure for the RBG Japanese garden which would be well-received I'm sure. All the flowers below have identification under the image.