Perfect Weather Today

The weather was absolutely beautiful today.  While it was cooler than average (75 degrees F), it was perfect weather in which to garden.  When I wear my sweatshirt in the morning in mid-June, I know it's cooler than usual! The 'Mystic Illusion' dahlia (Dahlia hybrida) above seemed to agree with the sunshine though and is looking nice above "near black" foliage.  We had a solid day of gardening work and kept busy with a wide range of tasks.  Much of our work involved watering, planting, tidying and getting ready for a busy weekend of weddings and our Volunteer Work Day tomorrow.  I was able to promote the gardens on two different radio shows today and always appreciate the opportunity to "gently prod" visitors to make the trip!  Below are some other photos from today.

'Marquee Box Office Bronze' coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides)

'Whirlwind' plantain lily (Hosta)

We had a VIP visit today.  Above is Brent Horvath, owner of Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, Inc. (Hebron, IL).  Brent is quite a nurseryman and has introduced many plants in to horticulture with his fine eye for detail.  He's "eyeballing" some plants at RBG too!  He's a great guy although we had to kick him out after he picked plant material from the garden.  The evidence can be seen in that photo.... Our volunteers were busy today.  Below are Kay, Kathy and Eva (left to right).  The ladies did a great job planting and shifted nicely to weeding in the reception garden for the later part of the morning.  Karen was out in the Japanese garden today and Marcia L. and Mirjam were planting in the English cottage garden this afternoon.  Kelley and Sue finished weeding and cutting back bulb foliage in the shade garden and installed many more plants as well. Dr. Gredler and Bill O. did their mowing rounds and Dick H. (second photo down) repaired our ailing tractor in short order.  Maury ran some errands for us and we also saw Dr. Yahr and many others today.

lesson learned...dont' EVER tell these ladies that the three of them wont fit on one cart....

nice gazebo garden set-up for the afternoon wedding

'Tidal Wave' weeping katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)

'Lemon Cream' variegated Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum)

'Looking Glass' false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla)

The grounds staff kept busy with lots of watering duties as we don't just this task so much on the rain from Wednesday but how can we minimize watering needs over the weekend when we have less staff available?  Terry set up multiple sprinklers, tidied for weddings (one in the gazebo garden this afternoon) and push mowed.  Cheryl planted, weeded and watered while Cindy worked on tidying and lots of watering.  Janice did the cutting display, weeded, helped set-up for the Volunteer Planting Word Day tomorrow (8 am - 12 noon, meet at the Horticulture Center this time), etc.  I hauled plants out for installation tomorrow and am trying to keep up with the usual June tasks.  Above is our recently repaired and repainted "squirrel gate".  The carpenters did a nice job and Pat re-painted the gate and added a demonic touch to the squirrel below...