Another Nice Day

Today was another beautiful day out in the gardens. The photo above is taken in the English cottage garden looking North through the length of the formal gardens. There was a very light fog this morning and while it was chilly, the day warmed up nicely with a mix of sun and clouds. Tomorrow is the second to last of our free admission days (one on October 25th too) and we're trying to keep everything looking nice for the inevitable influx of visitors. The free day in August was essentially rained out and we envision a good crowd tomorrow. There is still plenty to see and both grounds staff and volunteers had a very productive day out in the gardens. Further below are additional images from this morning.

the windows have "settled in" nicely along the edges of the Jungle Garden

this patch of 'Red Head' fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides) continues to catch my eye - perennial

the pink theme in the terrace garden continues to look vivid with beefsteak plant (Iresine herbstii) in the foreground and 'Fireworks' fountain grass (Pennisetum x advena) in the background (both annuals)

the bark of paperbark maple (Acer griseum) is lovely year-round

Our volunteers continue to be instrumental daily with a wide range of tasks accomplished. Above are Eva (left) and Kathy before they jumped in to clearing out "tired looking" annuals in two locations and tidying up as needed. Gena, Myrt, Mary and Nancy all came in for tidying duties in the entrance garden, color rooms garden and the demonstration garden. These ladies do a nice job and are a very reliable team. Below are Shirley and Joe. Shirley helps out in the gardens but she and husband Joe have also been taking home lights for the Holiday Lights Show for testing and repair. They came in for some additional "troubleshooting training" by Pat M. who is our "resident expert." They've been a huge help and have checked over 40 crates of lights so far! Dr. Gredler was in for his mowing duties and Nancy N. was in to help out too. Janice worked with the Chestnut House volunteers for garden clean-up in multiple areas. We also saw Dick P., Del (painting) and many others today.

The grounds staff kept busy today and enjoyed the nice weather. Pat (half day) worked on hauling some materials, shearing shrubs and did a nice job going through a large donation of lights and displays that we'll incorporate in to the Holiday Lights Show. Cindy (half day) did a nice job hauling and watering mums and continued to plant and augment in and around the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. Big John converted many containers today to a fall display, watered containers and continued digging and potting up various elephant ears (Colocasia sp.) for storage this winter. The cold nights are starting to take their toll and we'll be moving quickly to save what we can over the coming weeks. Cheryl helped water containers later and spent the bulk of her time today in the gazebo garden for tidying and the removal of spent annuals. I bounced between various projects and continue to prepare for the Holiday Lights Show which is closer than most people think despite the calendar still being in September! Below are some additional images from today.