More Weeding, Planting & Fun!

Nice shot above of the 'Misty Lace' hybrid goatsbeard (Aruncus hybrida). This compact hybrid (30" tall) is a nice substitute for some of the taller varieties and is currently my favorite goatsbeard. It's looking great throughout the gardens. We had another very productive day despite looming clouds and a smattering of rain in the late afternoon. We are dividing our time 50/50 with weeding/bed preparations and planting which is usually the approach for June of any year. Our first wave of 232 million cottonwood (Populus deltoides) seedlings have begun germinating so we'll be scraping those out of most of our beds over the coming weeks. What a challenge to content with and I haven't visited too many other gardens with such a problem from so many cottonwoods (just the ladies spread the seed far and wide). We had a strong showing of volunteers today and saw another 3,000 annuals go in the ground. Below are some plant shots from today.

'Dale's Strain' coral bells (Heuchera americana)

'Red Alert' cape fuchsia (Phygelius hybrida) in the red border

Our volunteers were a huge asset today. Ron K. (above) can be seen staking some lilies (Lilium) in the woodland walk garden where he also did quite a bit of garden clean-up too. Directly below is Kay who started tidying up her garden space in the shade garden and moved on to planting our red theme along the raised wall border near the pond. Kay was later joined by Eva, Kathy, Cookie and Resa, all of whom had been out doing prior weeding and came ready to plant. We like to mix up the tasks so they don't get too monotonous. See some of the planting action in the second photo below. Steve and Vicki worked on removing weeds and spent bulb foliage in our peony bed along Palmer Drive. The third photo down shows Stan working on pruning/layering another Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) near the observation pier (note the new fountain in the background). The fourth photo down shows Don and Pearl (shamelessly promoting Craig H.S.) who came in all day to plant their assigned garden area with a chartreuse/pink theme that should look dynamite. Our education coordinator (Kris K.) and the new intern (Megan) can be seen in the next photo. They were out deciding where to install educational signs around the gardens. Urban came in for some pruning this afternoon. The sixth photo down shows Dr.Yahr (left) and Dr. Gredler at the Horticulture Center. Dr. Yahr was in for a meeting (also included Maury, Christine R., Christy M., Big John, Denise, Mary, Iza, Larry H. and me). Dr. Gredler and Bill O. accomplished their mowing tasks too. We also saw Chuck S., Jean S., Karen M. and many others today.

It was a productive day for he grounds staff too. Above is Big John looking somber as he rototilled this bed and many others today. He worked on some other projects as well. Larry push mowed, worked on water features and watered all the containers. Pat also push mowed, cleared bulb foliage and tidied up some trees in and around the arboretum. Cheryl did a nice job weeding and tidying up two primary areas and helped with some watering later. Cindy continued tidying efforts in the rose garden, watered the Cosmos Collection and watered most of the yard as well. Janice had some work in the fern/moss garden, did the cutting display, worked in the Thomas Jefferson Collection and had some other projects as well. I had some meetings but was able to place plants in three areas. Depending on the weather tomorrow, I may have two more groups coming in to plant so I'll be ready to roll. More plant photos from today can be seen below.