An April "Scorcher"

It was a hot day for April with temperatures reaching close to 83 degrees F. It was warm out there although it looks like the remainder of the week will be more characteristic of April. There are plenty signs of spring out in the gardens like the 'Leonard Messel' magnolia (Magnolia x loebneri) seen above near the sunken garden. Below is a nice reflection of our arched bridge this morning. We had a super duper day of volunteerism out in the gardens and our grounds staff did an excellent job as well. I feel we're at full speed right now and wont look back until July for a quick breath after everything is tidied, mulched, composted, planted, primped, primed and ready to rock and roll.

'Royal Star' magnolia (Magnolia stellata) - woody tree

Above are some of our tour guides (current and future) from our Saturday training

With 800 baby plant plugs and 2,000+ caladiums needing to be planted quickly, I had Kathy and Eva (above, Eva in red) start on plugs while Cindy was nearby planting the first of our caladiums for the big Caladium Collection. Kathy and Eva later went out to clean up leaves from our streams. Marv B. (below) always does a nice job primping the moss areas which he has tended for many years (and previously with his lovely wife Marianne). Ron R., Lloyd and Bob C. spread a lot of mulch today in the woodland walk and beyond. Alan and Rollie (second photo down), along with Dick H. and Vern, started putting together our tables for the plant sale which is no small task. Gene did more sanding and staining while Dr. Gredler mowed and painted. Bill O. had some tasks and Gary worked on more labels. Pat C. was out inventorying and repairing labels. Our daylily division team included three excellent RECAPPER ladies, Bob D., Bev D., Mary W., Ruth, Joan, Corky, Mary and Deb. Maury had plenty of errands and we saw many others as well.

Our grounds staff kept very busy. Cindy processed a whole bunch of incoming plants and started the flow of plants to our hoop houses. She also planted a lot of caladiums. She was then out in the gardens working her kung fu. Larry H. had some tidying, watering and moved on to significant mulching. John and Terry worked with our garden art projects (hummingbirds), composted, rototilled and had many other projects. Work started on our aquarium project today and we're excited to see the daily progress. I had myriad tasks and continue to prepare for a spring that is already here.