Thursday, May 16, 2013

Muscle Power


Today was another nice, sunny day that ended up quite warm by the afternoon.  Of course the recent heat has really pushed along plants to catch up after the cool spring!  Unfortunately, the weeds are doing the same thing.  We had a super duper day of volunteerism out in the gardens including students from Oakhill Christian School seen above and in the two photos below.  Kath (second from left, front row) is one of the instructors at the school and she has brought the kids twice per year for almost five years.  This group has historically been hard working and today was no exception as they finished mulching the entire Potter Daylily Collection and the Palmer Drive berm.  The students are done with school tomorrow so were high strung and energetic!  We appreciate their efforts and both Jenny and Janice were a big help with keeping the group on track.



We had plenty of more volunteers out in the gardens as it was a Grumpy day and we saw the return of four "Grumpettes."  Directly below are Dr. Gredler and Del on their riding mowers dealing with our large turf areas.  With the threat of rain tomorrow, we'll cut everything early to avoid a sloppy mess or a less than ideal condition for mowing.  Other Grumpies included Gene (third photo down), who along with Ron W. and Bob C., did a nice job sweeping and tidying up the paths.  Pat did a nice job with some edging work along our outer fence and near the koi pond patio.  Vern, Dave, Jim and Ron Y. worked on carpentry projects which included finishing another large obelisk for the gardens and initiating some repairs on the steps leading down to our zig-zag bridge.  Dick P. and Jim D. went out to pick up our 'Dancing Waters' fountain and Dick H. was in for a couple of dump runs.  Our Grumpettes (Suzy, Mary R., Linda and Winifred) returned to tidy up the entrance garden and sunken garden.  Three photos down are Mary (left) and Suzy in the front entrance garden removing some unwanted plants that have re-emerged from last year including the notorious blue lyme grass (Elymus arenarius) and mugwort (Artemisia).  The fifth photo down shows Mary R. who is a bit camera shy apparently!  We also saw Maury, Hal R. (gardening), Dr. Yahr, Deb G., Cindy B. and her garden, Karen M. (gardening in the Japanese garden) and many others.






The grounds crew had a busy day.  John helped get mulch out for the Oakhill Christian students and did lots of rototilling and hung our hanging baskets.  Cheryl finished her digging project in the gazebo garden.  Janice helped with the students and also put away and organized most of the remaining plant sale signs and other items.  Jenny also helped with the students and spent some time sorting through and matching labels to another plant delivery that Larry picked up this morning.  It was a productive day with everyone doing a wide range of tasks.  It's difficult to walk even a dozen paces before noting a new flower blooming, colorful foliage emerging or other garden features of merit. Below are just a few that I photographed today with identification underneath the image.

woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata 'Plum Perfect')
wild hyacinth or quamash (Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube')
double Japanese kerria (Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora')
old-fashioned bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis)

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