Productivity In The Drizzle

Today was chilly, windy and there was a consistent drizzle most of the day.  That didn't stop us from getting outside for some gardening and continued Holiday Lights Show (HLS) progress. We all bundled up though for sure!  Nice shot above featuring the golden fall color of the Japanese kerria (Kerria japonica) in the Japanese garden.  Note the green stems which are also neat in winter.  The temperature hovered around 40 degrees F all day but we still had a great turnout of volunteers for a wide range of tasks.  The grounds staff kept working away at HLS tasks and some minor gardening.  This time of year, the grounds staff will shift almost entirely to HLS set-up to keep on track with our goal to have everything up and ready within the next two weeks.  Below are some additional shots from this morning.

Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica) - perennial

fall color on Citrus Swizzle forsythia (Forsythia viridissima 'MckCitrine') - woody shrub

fall color on another burning bush (Euonymus alatus 'Compactus') - woody shrub

golden fall color on another larch (Larix sp.) in the Japanese garden - deciduous conifer

There was a wide assortment of talented volunteers at the gardens today doing projects both inside and outside.  Above is Gary putting lights on some of our giant candy canes.  Directly below is Ron P. who worked with Pat M. on more lights repairs and preparations.  Those two guys were our primary repair folks for the HLS although Patrea, Joe and Shirley C. helped significantly as well.  The carpenters (Dave, Jim, Ron Y. and Bob K.) had more carpentry projects and painting to accomplish - all related to the looming HLS.  Vern stopped by later in the day and will be back in action soon.  The second photo down shows Alan, who along with Ken, did a nice job raking in multiple areas.  Gary B. (third photo down) was a trooper and tackled putting lights on our arches which is not a quick process.  Bonnie, Eva and Peg (see photos further down) did a great job collecting more debris in multiple areas and Peg earned overtime by staying for most of the afternoon too.  Maury ran errands for us and joined Dick P. and Dick H. for hauling and storing our terrace furniture for the winter.  The guys also put our big fountains away for the winter.  Bill O. collected lots of leaves later in the day and Urban was in for continued pruning this afternoon.  We also saw Rollie and many others today.

Bonnie

Eva

Peg above - Bonnie and Eva below

The grounds staff had a very productive day.  Larry put out the remainder of our arches, did some pruning and bounced between a wide range of projects including helping many others as well.  Big John was back and forth and did an awesome job getting out more displays, lights and other elements of the HLS.  It's nice to see the yard empty of HLS displays and our lights supply dwindle as this HLS gets closer to completion.  Janice helped direct the volunteers this morning, put lights on obelisks, had a meeting and kept busy with a wide range of tasks.  I was "cord boy" again although my day was also interspersed with meetings, returned photo calls, etc.  Below are some of the coral bells (Heuchera) still looking good out in the gardens.  Don't cut them back until spring!  Enjoy their color well past Thanksgiving!

 'Tiramisu' coral bells (Heuchera) - perennial

 'Delta Dawn' coral bells (Heuchera) - perennial

'Milan' coral bells (Heuchera) - perennial