A Hot Week Looms

It looks like we'll have some hot days in the 90 degrees F with plenty of sunshine this week.  I don't mind the heat and many of our tropicals which have been despising the recently cooler temperatures will love it.  Our primary goal today was watering after the hot and dry weekend.  I believe everyone was involved with watering today and there were lots of irrigation heads popping up and sprinklers being set-up and moved frequently.  We have a staff retreat tomorrow and are leaving Larry back to mind the gardens.  With daily watering more than a one person job, we're trying to soak down as much as possible to carry over until mid-week.  Above is the 'Queen Lime' zinnia (Zinnia elegans) which I always find striking.  We have this variety around the gardens and of course, it's also represented in our lime collection.  Below are some additional flower shots from this morning.

'Mr. Majestic' marigold (Tagetes patula) looking showy - annual

'Blue Star' morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) - 1949 All-America Selection - annual

This morning was actually nice and cool before the afternoon began to warm up.  We had a nice turnout of volunteers.  Above are Bob C. (supervising) and Gene skimming and replacing gravel along the woodland walk garden.  The guys also collected leaves as they went along.  Ron P. was at the other end of this path collecting leaves and heading this way.  Del (below) focused clean-up efforts in the sunken garden while Gary and Rollie hauled water to our new trees near the beach.  The guys also watered all the new trees and shrubs in the main parking lot islands.  Pat M. continued repairing some broken sprinklers and did some pre-Fall Plant Sale tasks in the yard.  Pat C. was in for more label work (inventory, data entry and production).  Vern, Dave T. and Jim continued work on our new benches.  Two photos down are Vern (left) and Dave.  Betty H. was in to maintain her garden space and Stan was in later to work in the Japanese Garden.  We also saw Karen M. in the Japanese garden doing some pruning. Cathy O.H. came in to discuss the woody plant records which she'll be helping with shortly.  She brought her mom, Betty, and both ladies are associated (daughter and wife) with the late Dr. Luis Owano, a wonderful RBG volunteer (and person!).  Luis did a comprehensive woody plant inventory and map over a recent, two-year period.  We also saw Dr. Yahr, Maury (errands), Dick P., Joe S., Mary W. and many others.  Our Horticulture Therapy Committee also met this afternoon.

trailing aluminum plant (Dichondra argentea 'Silver Falls') in PVC planter - annual

The grounds staff all had a productive day although it was quite a temperature difference in the afternoon compared to the cool start to the morning.  Above is Larry who worked on many water features and other repairs today while constantly running irrigation.  Larry also worked with our aquatic specialist on some of our recent pond improvement equipment.  Cindy did plenty of tidying, watering, the cutting display and more watering (yard too).  She spent some time tidying up the American Garden Award (AGA) bed which was looking a bit tired over the past couple of weeks.  Big John set-up sprinklers, cleared out some containers for replanting, leveled benches and replaced gravel.  He kept a lot of sprinklers going today in some tough areas.  Terry also had many sprinklers to disperse but also worked on shearing a small tree and many boxwood (Buxus) hedges along the herb garden..  John and Terry also watered most of the containers..  Janice was in later for some office work and our Horticulture Therapy Committee meeting.  I worked on various odds and ends.  Directly below are more "shots of potential interest" from today.

turtlehead (Chelone obliqua) with pollinator - perennial

'Splendide' Chinese meadowrue (Thalictrum delavayi) - perennial

'Gloriosa Double' gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) with 'Rhubarb' Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris) - both annuals

arching foliage of 'Miyazaki' toadlily (Tricyrtis hirta) which will bloom soon - perennial