Volunteers Abound Today

It was one of our most productive Wednesdays ever for volunteer contributions and efforts throughout the gardens and at the Horticulture Center. Our Chestnut House volunteers and assistants seen from a different perspective both above and below epitomize the team effort that we foster around here and this gang specifically did a great job tidying up our elevated containers and planted another wave of seeds in the beds at the Horticulture Center. It was perfect weather today with a sunny sky and temperatures around 78 degrees F. While I wouldn't mind a little more heat for our summer annuals and tropicals, we'll take the cards that we've been dealt by Mother Nature! The reliable rain has been so beneficial for the gardens and our limited time as we redirect our focus towards finishing planting and some serious weed control efforts. Further below are some additional photos from the gardens this morning.

'Cha-Ching Cherry' petunia (Petunia) - annual

'Royal Ensign Blue' dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus tricolor) - annual

'Summer Jewel Red' scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea) - annual

'Tiger Eye Spider' daylily (Hemerocallis) - perennial

Kay (above) was one of many volunteers out in the gardens today and this would be a rare time that she didn't have weeds in her stranglehold! She did a superior job tidying up her section of the shade garden and it looks dynamite. Pat R. helped Cindy weed in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden and the ladies opened up space for our last wave of planting in that space on Friday. Below is our talented quartet of Mary, Nancy, Myrt and Gena. The ladies installed over 500 more annuals along this sunken garden border and spent the remainder of their time weeding in that space. We have more plants to install down here and will likely do it yet this week. Jan R. was in to tidy up the Scottish garden and Dr. Gredler came in for mowing duties. The second photo down shows Marcia (left) and Mirjam in the English cottage garden where they continue to make this space Spectacular with a capital S. The third photo down shows Patrea (foreground) and Kathy in the reception garden for fruitful weeding after finishing the entrance garden. They did a great job. The fourth photo down shows Betty in the back tackling weeds in her assigned garden space. The Chestnut House volunteers (seen above) did a great job as well and Janice was in to help coordinate their efforts. Victoria can be seen in the fifth photo down maintaining her planter. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Glenn D., Mary Kay T., Sue S., Janet M., Cora O. and many others.

We had a productive grounds staff which wasn't surprising at all. Cindy (half day) focused her efforts in the Pollinator's Paradise theme of the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. She's taken some ownership in that space and it shows. Pat (half day) worked on clearing more bulb foliage and accomplished plenty of weeding as well. Jenny (half day) did some early planting to finish a bed and moved on to weeding efforts in three other areas. Cheryl finished weeding in the terrace garden and moved to the red wall planting along with some yard watering in the afternoon. Big John and Terry had a multitude of collective and individual projects including path repair, boxwood (Buxus) shearing, watering, fertilization, etc. The gang did a great job and allowed me to put efforts in to getting final details together for our looming Home Garden Tour (HGT) this Saturday, July 12th. Get your tickets soon and see our website for more details.

'Zahara Raspberry' zinnia (Zinnia marylandica) - annual

Above and below is the Saguna 'Radiant Blue' petunia (Petunia) which is one of four entries in the American Garden Award (AGA) collection this year. See www.americangardenaward.com/ for more information on this collection which involves voting on your favorite flower. I'll feature all four selections again over the coming weeks but come see them in person! There are more plant photos from this morning further below!