Another Glorious Day

Today felt a lot like mid May with a cool morning but some nice sunshine and temperatures around 70 degrees F by the afternoon. This was a perfect day for gardening work and other duties and both grounds staff and volunteers took full advantage! I was able to get out in the gardens quite a bit and had no difficulty snapping photos. It's fun to take note of the subtle beauty like that of the red maple (Acer rubrum) blossoms seen above. We actually ran irrigation today in about 1/3 of the gardens as we are quite dry this spring after an equally dry winter. We're starting to mow and despite the green grass, we have had very few "April showers" to speak of over the last couple of weeks. Our pond level is quite low as well.

With Larry on vacation, we had a lean grounds crew with Big John, Janice and myself on duty. John ran irrigation, hauled compost, filled containers, installed a climbing bean tower and bounced between many projects. Janice helped coordinate our numerous volunteers and spent significant time preparing for our Pansy Sale (starts this Saturday, April 18th, 8 am - 12 noon! at the Horticulture Center) which is held in tandem with our Compost Sale (same location and hours). Janice also watered the yard and worked on numerous projects. We had a bumper crop of volunteers today which was much appreciated. More garden color from today can be seen directly below...

grape hyacinths (Muscari sp.) both above and below

early foliage of 'Looking Glass' false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla)

ground level close-up of Canadian ginger (Asarum canadense) bloom

Dutchman's breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) looking good

pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) are starting to open up!

marsh marigold (Caltha palustris)

'Banana Boat' sedge emerging (Carex siderosticha)

I may have a tough time remembering all of the great volunteer help we had today. Above (left to right) are Sandy, Kathy, Eva and Janice. Janice started these ladies with a huge mulching project and they were later joined by Peg. The fourth photo down shows these ladies helping price our pansies for the upcoming sale. Below is Marv who did a nice job on his moss garden areas and was helped later by Dale S. ("Mr. Moss") who swung by to visit and to deliver/plant some mosses. The second photo down shows our tent erection crew which included Ron W., Ron R., Bob C., Gary B. and Alan M. The guys did an excellent job. Bob K., Vern, Dave and Jim had carpentry projects which included repairing tables for the looming plant sale. Maury got gas for us and helped with multiple projects. Dick H. ran to the dump and helped out with multiple projects as well. Rollie picked up some memorial bricks for installation soon. Pat M. worked on the giant obelisks and got one in to place and almost secured. The third photo down shows Dr. Gredler out and about mowing as needed. Pat C. was in later and stayed the entire afternoon to work on label replacements and repairs which is an inevitable spring project as many labels get knocked over, broken or simply disappear. We also saw Chuck S., Urban, Rose, Polly, Mark S. and many others today. See below for more photos from this beautiful Thursday.