A Wide Range of Activity

It was another perfect fall day and at least a bit warmer than the cool and damp weekend we just experienced. There is still plenty of color out there like the 'Purple Dome' aster (Aster novae-angliae) seen above. Despite some very light frost observed at the gardens by John yesterday, we don't see too many plants "tinged" with frost damage. However, it looks like another frost will arrive at the end of the week so we continue to process and remove tropicals in select areas. There are still lots of leaves descending on the gardens and we had a focus on leaf collection and late season weeding by our dedicated crew of Monday volunteers. Work on the Holiday Lights Show (HLS) continues both inside and outside. Below are some additional photos from today.

'Mesa Yellow' blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora)

'Tardiva' panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) - woody shrub

'Dark Beauty' toadlily (Tricyrtis formosana) still going strong - perennial

'Saratoga' ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) with interesting foliage - woody tree

Leaf collection was the order of business for many of our Grumpies like Ron R. seen above. Lloyd (below) also helped collect leaves along with Gary B. and Alan M. The guys started in the Japanese garden and fern & moss garden but continued to collect leaves in many areas. Bob K., Ron Y. and Jim continued on carpentry projects while Maury ran multiple errands for us including picking up pumpkins for the youth education program. Bob K. also ran some other errands for us related to electrical work he's accomplishing. Shirley (second photo down) was briefly incarcerated and tasked with weeding along with Kathy and Eva (next photo down). The ladies were all weeding behind the Palmer Drive fence and looked like the chain gang. The fourth photo down (left to right) shows Ron P., Patrea and Pat M. working on lights repair and testing. They continue to make great progress. Dr. Gredler came in for mowing and we also saw Dr. Yahr, Rollie, Shirley C., Joe, Betty, Ed, Chris from L.P. Tree Service and many others. Tom F. was in all day to help remove tropicals from the Jungle Garden theme.

The grounds crew had a busy day today. Cindy focused on garden tidying in the entrance garden, along the red wall planting and a heavy focus in the "Pollinator's Paradise" theme of the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. With colder temperatures looming, we are removing more annuals in advance of a heavy frost. Big John and Terry had some minor container checks and watering but spent the bulk of their day on setting up more HLS elements. These guys will be the most involved with HLS set-up over the coming weeks. Larry push mowed, weed whipped and helped with myriad other projects. Janice and Cheryl stopped by for a meeting we had regarding the Holiday Lights Show. I was able to tour the gardens and continue with a wide range of preparations for upcoming events - primarily the HLS. Below are additional images from today.