Planting Slows While Weeding Increases!

It was a sunny, muggy day after an evening of light showers. Looks like we might have more rain tonight and while it's been fairly damp this past month, I can't complain as it's nice to see the hoses collect some dust! Above is the 'Rubenza' cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) which is one of the 70 or so varieties in our 2014 Cosmos Collection. Some of the varieties are already over 6' tall and most are blooming quite nicely. As is usual on Mondays, we had a great turnout of volunteers and focused on a wide range of projects throughout the gardens. The grounds staff also had full plates and it was a very productive day with quite a few visitors in attendance as well. Below are some additional shots from today.

'Solar Flare' foamy bells (xHeucherella) - perennial

tassel flower (Emilia coccinea) in the Thomas Jefferson Collection - annual

Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) - perennial

Above are Mirjam (left) and Marcia in the English cottage garden. The ladies are doing a superb job of tending this beautiful garden as assigned garden volunteers and have added their own personal touch as well. Don and Pearl C. were here today to tidy up their assigned garden as well. We had a great weeding crew of Kathy, Shirley and Pat R. as well. The ladies worked with Jenny and focused on the entrance garden and Jungle Garden. There is no shortage of weeds out in the gardens for sure! Grumpies included Gene and Bob C. (seen below, with Bob's face thankfully obscured...). The guys did a great job mulching the East border and were joined by Ron R. and Lloyd (second photo down, Ron to the left) who also worked on a significant mulching project. In the background is Dr. Gredler doing his mower rounds. Vern, Jim and Bob K. continued to work on Japanese garden fence repairs and both Pat M. and Ron P. were out collecting debris and tidying in various areas (Japanese garden and West slope). Gary was in for new label production. Del did a nice job tidying up the Horticulture Center and Maureen was around to water all the Horticulture Center vegetables. Maury ran errands for us (third photo down with the goofy smile) and after running to the dump, Dick H. did a nice job repairing a mower deck with his skilled welding approach (fourth photo down). Stan came in later to tidy up in the Japanese garden. Ron B. worked on shifting plants in the yard and we also saw Ron W., Chris D., Dr. Yahr, Urban, Chuck S., Janice and many others.

Big John and Terry had some significant, collective projects like gravel path repair and shrub shearing. The guys also had some other odd jobs and container watering later in the day. Cindy spent her day in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden and the Pollinator's Paradise theme in that space. This garden has a another twist in that it is also our All-America Selections (AAS) Display Garden which is entered in to the AAS Landscape Design Contest (we're going for a three-peat victory!). Cindy weeded, planted, tidied and fertilized in that colorful garden space. Larry worked on some mowing, running irrigation and helping repair the mower deck. Jenny did a nice job weeding in multiple areas and stayed most of the day after lunch as a volunteer! I was able to place more plants for installation tomorrow and am preparing for our annual Home Garden Tour this weekend (July 12th, 9 am - 3 pm, rain or shine). Tickets for this event ($10 in advance, $12 day of, children 12 and under are free) are currently on sale at RBG and K&W Greenery. See our website for more details on this fun event. This should be a wonderful experience (and fundraiser!) featuring eight wonderful home gardens in the Janesville area with five of the gardens clustered in the Columbus Circle neighborhood. Below are some additional shots from this morning.