Progress Between Rain Drops

Today was mostly overcast with occasional drizzle and some brief but heavy downpours. The rain continues to be welcome but made for a slow start at the Spring Plant Sale Clearance (15% off everything!) today. The clearance sale will extend through Tuesday and Wednesday this week (9 am - 4 pm daily). We still have a nice assortment of vegetables, herbs, perennials, shrubs and mushroom compost available for purchase. Peg, Tina, Joy, Mary and Nancy did a nice job running the sale with set up help from Janice. Sales picked up later in the day as the sun periodically made an appearance. We had a nice turnout of volunteers today for work both outside and in the Horticulture Center. Above are some plants that John and Terry dropped off for planting in the woodland walk garden (that's Kathy to the right!). John and Terry did a wide range of tasks including hauling plants, rock work, etc. Larry had work to do on equipment and water features. Cindy gardened when it wasn't raining and also planted up more trail samples and seeds inside. She watered the greenhouses later in the day. I helped place plants for installation We had a very productive day. Below are some additional plant photos from this morning.

wild hyacinth (Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube')

'Color Dream' coral bells (Heuchera)

golden wafer ash (Ptelea trifoliata 'Aurea')

'Spilt Milk' bushclover (Lespedeza thunbergii)

'Orange Crest' globe flower (Trollius hybrida)

Our volunteers included Maury (above) sorting paint and many others. Dr. Gredler (right side of that photo) did some painting and Pat M. (left side of that photo and directly below) worked on some tasks out in the gardens. Bob C. and Ron R. worked on composting while Bob K., Jim D., Vern and Ron Y. continued working on carpentry projects and processing the Garden Art Projects. Dick P. and Dick H. worked on cutting and bending more aluminum stakes for the labels that Gary S. was producing in the office. We also saw Rollie, Jan R., Rose Marie L., Chuck S., Mary D. and many others. We saw quite a few other volunteers today stopping by or shopping in the sale. It was a busy day despite some inclement weather earlier in the day. Further below are some additional images from the gardens.