Pollinator's Paradise = Success!

The first six photos in this blog were taken by Ken Tapp in the "Pollinator's Paradise" theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. He has spent many patient hours in that garden and captured a wide range of exciting activity in this garden space. Thanks to Ken and all the other photographers (Marsha, Santos, Tina, etc.) for sharing their images from the gardens. Despite a cooler summer, that garden has filled in well and has a wide range of pollinators on a daily basis. I would consider these photos some evidence of the success of this garden space but we also hope these might inspire others to include more pollinator-friendly plantings in their gardens. We had a great day after .2" of rain overnight (could have used more) and our staff and volunteers did a superb job as usual.

It was nice to at least get some rain which did save us some watering time today. Our volunteers came in to help out and as usual, there was no shortage of tasks. Above are Mary and Roy who bounced around different areas to focus on weeding. They also targeted the Japanese garden which benefitted from their very "thorough attention." Below is Vicky who did a great job weeding on the east end of the gardens, in and around the gazebo garden. Kathy was in for weeding in the entrance garden and Dick H. came in to repair some vehicles. Dr. Gredler stopped by briefly as did Dr. Yahr. Kelley F. came in with Tom and his girlfriend to talk about volunteerism. The second photo down shows Urban working on the removal of two junipers that have just become too overgrown in their current location by the east gate. We also had some later meetings (Board Meeting and Home Garden Tour Committee) and several pop-ins as well.

The grounds staff had a busy day outside and despite the rain, we still had some watering to accomplish as we know it will be hot and sunny later in the week. Pat (half day) worked on smoothing out a recently mulched area, weeding and push mowing. Big John mulched, watered, ran irrigation, touched up edging and push mowed as well. John also stirred up a ground hornets nest while mowing and took a couple stings for the team. Glad he's alright for sure! Cindy spent time tidying up multiple areas as she worked towards the "Pollinator's Paradise" garden for more primping. Cheryl worked in multiple area with a focus on general weeding and tidying. She also dis some watering later in the day. Janice helped water, did the cutting display, weeded, fertilized and accomplished general gardening in multiple locations. I'm finalizing plant sale orders and had preparations for meetings later in the day. Below are more photos from the garden this morning.