The Gardens & Yard Are Half Empty (or Full?)

We did a lot of planting today. It's nice to see the gardens fill up with our seasonal plantings while the holding yard supply diminishes. I'm sure we're over 50% done with our seasonal planting and we continue to chip away at it every day. After John and Terry installed 60 new roses in the French formal garden last week, that entire garden has started to peak with both old and new roses. Above is a shot of our pergola which is the centerpiece of many weddings in the rose garden. We saw many visitors today and had some compliments on the color and fragrance of the gardens seen above. Color abounds everywhere like the 'Rikugi Sakura' Siberian iris (Iris siberica) seen directly below which is located around the lower pond in the Japanese garden. The next photo down shows a foxtail lily (Eremurus sp.) blooming near the gazebo. This fall planted bulb/rhizome blooms in very late spring with these tall upright spires. They are tough to establish. There are other colors like yellow and orange that are commonly available.

It's interesting how our volunteer attendance has fluctuated over the years. In the past, Tuesday has been relatively quiet although today saw an amazing turnout of volunteers. Ron K. (above) continued tidying the woodland walk garden and planted more perennials in this colorful space. Pearl and Don (directly below) planted their assigned garden space with a nice lime theme this year. They were here most of the day and did a great job installing over 1,000 plants at the far edge of the shade garden. The next photo down featured Bev and Ron who did a nice job of planting about 500 marigolds (Tagetes patula 'Durango Gold') just inside the gardens from the main parking lot. They made quick work of that project and will continue some efforts in the sunken garden later in the week. Cookie, Resa and Kay (third photo down) spent their time weeding and planting in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden ("Pollinator's Paradise"). The ladies did a thorough job of cutting back bulb foliage and weeding before planting hundreds of annuals for the summer theme. Mary H. (fourth photo down) was in for some clean-up and Dr. Yahr did some planting for us as well. Mary and Roy (fifth photo down) did a nice job of installing more plants in our "Giant Garden" including many tropicals. Bob T. did more air edging just east of the English cottage garden. Dr. Gredler and Bill mowed and we also saw Chuck S., Mary W., Lois A. and other Janesville Area Herb Society ladies.

The grounds staff had a multitude of tasks and everyone was involved with watering to some degree or another. We hope for some nice rains tomorrow for sure! Today was our first day over 90 degrees F. Above is the shaggy hawkweed (Hieracium villosum) blooming in the alpine garden which is at peak right now. Larry pumped out and refilled the sunken garden pool which was becoming murky due to all the debris floating down. With many looming weddings, we do this water exchange a couple of times each summer. He also push mowed, watered and worked on other projects as well. Big John rototilled, push mowed, composted, watered and bounced between various projects. Cindy planted, weeded, did the cutting display and did some fertilization as well including the All-America Selections Display Garden (seen in the bottom photo). Cheryl cut and removed bulb foliage from some sizable areas. She also fertilized some select locations. Janice continued cutting bulb foliage, fertilized, watered containers, etc. I hauled and placed lots of plants out today and kept our planters busy. I'm getting ready for more planting every day this week. Below are more shots from today.