The Heat Intensifies

It was another warm and sunny day with our high temperature climbing in to the mid 80 degrees F range. "Bring it on!" I say as the gardens are responding well with plenty in bloom like the gayfeather (Liatris sp.) above. This weather is more characteristic for late July and while I've enjoyed all the cooler days this summer, the heat should really prompt some color out in the gardens. Every day I find something new blooming or reaching peak color and it's not hard to snap photos at all! Our always productive grounds staff was joined by a slew of excellent volunteers today. All the photos in this blog were taken today.

fragrant peacock orchid (Acidenthera murielae) - annual

common madia (Madia elegans) - annual (fragrant!)

'Summer Beauty' ornamental onion (Allium angulosum) - perennial

'Mystic Enchantment' dark-leaved dahlia (Dahlia hybrida) - annual

'Hot Lava' coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) - perennial

My Thursday blogs since May have described how well-attended our volunteer mornings are this time of the week and today was no exception. There was a wide range of activities accomplished like painting by Gary (above) and obelisk construction by Bobby K. and Dick H. directly below (Dick to the right). In lieu of the activity synopsis that I usually give, I'd like to recognize the contributions of Gary B., Bobby K., Dick H., Ron Y., Stan, Eva, Kathy, Bonnie, Mary R., Suzie, Ron P., Ed, Larry, Ron R., Dr. Gredler, Dr. Yahr, Rollie, Vicky, Mary W., Roy W., Hal R., Doris R., Bill O., Shirley H., Mary Ann G. and many others! It was a great day for volunteerism at the gardens and note the captions seen further below under the photos....

The grounds staff had a great day despite the increasing heat over the course of the afternoon. Janice helped coordinate volunteers, fertilized, worked in the Thomas Jefferson Collection and bounced between some other odd jobs. Big John pruned more boxwoods (Buxus), moved around a lot of sprinklers, pruned and had some other tasks. Larry ran irrigation, watered containers and had some other duties. Nolan (half day) worked with Trevor on some pond cleaning duties and path work. Nolan also did some string trimming and Trevor continued with path improvements throughout the afternoon. I had some meetings and have no shortage of stationary projects at my desk unfortunately. Overall, it was an excellent day though!