Cool & Colorful

The yellow magnolias like 'Elizabeth' (Magnolia hybrida) seen above are starting to bloom now and their "duration of interest" will be extended with the recently cooler weather.  Some evening temperatures will get close to 40 degrees F which at least isn't freezing!  The gardens continue to explode with color and I can't believe how many more tulips (Tulipa) are blooming in front of the Parker Education Center.  The early and mid-season selections are in full swing although the late season varieties have yet to show color.  Mother's Day should be very nice out in front!  Dandelions (Taraxum officinale) are blooming now too as is garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) so we're on the prowl.  The grounds staff and volunteers had a very productive day on this chilly, overcast April 26th.

Kathy and Eva helped Cindy plant caladiums (for our Caladium Collection!) this morning while it was still chilly out.  The ladies later went to the sunken garden for some weeding and tidying.  Kay was in to continue her tidying efforts on the far West side of the property where bindweed runs rampant and unchecked.  She continues to do battle and always does a nice job.  Dick H. was in to work on cutting down some small evergreens and later had help from Bill O. with that task. The guys also worked on one of the vehicles. Dr. Gredler was in for mowing and Maury had many errands today.  We also saw Sandy C., Maryam P., Karen B., Marleen and many others today.  I believe Karen was in the Japanese garden today raking (maybe with Janice).  Shawn was also on site getting water features prepped and ready for the season.

Cindy did some potting this morning and continues to do a nice job organizing the greenhouses.  She moved on to watering, refreshing the cutting display and composting.  Larry composted a large amount of space in two areas and helped with some watering duties.  Big John finished getting the sunken pool in order and functional.  He moved on to filling more containers, rototilling, watering, etc.  The entire gang helped unload our first delivery for the Spring Plant Sale (see www.rotarybotanicalgardens.org for more information!) which included lots of tomato and pepper plants.

'Yellow Fever' magnolia (Magnolia hybrida)

 clump of checkered fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) looking good

 redbuds (Cercis canadensis) are starting to bloom

 'Little Leo' leopard's bane (Doronicum orientale) - perennial

 'Hanky Panky' plantain lily (Hosta) - perennial

 'Burgundy Lace' Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) - perennial

 'Candy Apple Delight' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Bright Parrot' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Rem's Favorite' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Aladdin' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Queensland' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Chansonette' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Vanilla Cream' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Brown Sugar' tulip (Tulipa)

'Beauty of Spring' tulip (Tulipa)

 'Rubra' crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis)

 Shawn W. was on site to clean up the koi pond which will be up and running soon (after all this fish poop is removed!)

 'Bandit' barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum var. higoense) - perennial

 'Pearl Frost' variegated Japanese orixa (Orixa japonica) - woody shrub

This Friday and Saturday (8 am - 4 pm), the Golden Kiwanis Tree Sale will be occurring at the Horticulture Center and will feature 2-3 year old transplants (Colorado blue spruce, Eastern arborvitae, white pine, red maple and red oak) for $2 each.  For 50+ trees, there is a 10% discount!  During that same time (and same location), we'll be selling bagged compost (see above) for $6 per bag (1.5 cu. ft., 45 lbs), daylily (Hemerocallis) divisions from the gardens (see below) for $5 each or $4 each for 5 or more and pansies (second photo down).  The pansies are $12 per basket, $7 per large pot or $2 per 4-pack ($24 per flat).  RBG Membership discounts apply to everything but the trees.

600 daylily divisions representing 80+ varieties

pansies galore!

 above are the blue plastic panels that will be used for the Giant Aquarium garden soon...

Spring Settles In With More Heat

We had a bit of rain this morning but otherwise it was mostly sunny and quite warm.  Plants continue to emerge and bloom (including weeds!) and we see more color each day.  The framework of the "Giant Aquarium" (seen above) is complete but there are some other phases left until this structure is ready to be filled with water (just kidding).  More to follow on this special garden space as news is available!  We had another excellent turnout of volunteers today and the grounds staff was busy all day.  This time of year, even before our big planting push, we have no shortage of gardening chores and activities out in the gardens.

Our volunteers included Eva, Kathy, Alan, Marv B., Lloyd, Ron P., Ron Y., Dave, Vern, Maury, Gary, Dick H., Dr. Gredler and many others.  Bev, Bob, Deb, Joan and Corky, along with three RECAPPERS, focused on dividing the remainder of our daylilies (Hemerocallis) and moved on to some other projects. These daylilies will be for sale ($5 each or $4 each for 5+) as part of our Friday and Saturday sale (8 am - 4 pm) which also includes the Golden Kiwanis Tree Sale, compost sale and pansy sale.  We also saw Janice, Hal, Marilyn H., Rollie and lots of others today as well.

The grounds staff all had excellent exercise today.  Cindy watered, helped pot up caladiums and re-organized one of our greenhouses for maximum efficiency and use of space.  She shifted to garden tidying and significant composting in the future Hummingbird Haven (Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden).  Larry H. watered, composted and spread a lot more mulch out in the gardens.  Big John and Terry drained, cleaned and filled the sunken garden pool for the start of the season and moved on to filling more containers and lots of other projects.  I'm getting ready for our sales coming up and orchestrating our deliveries for the Spring Plant Sale as well (see our website!).  More color from the gardens (today) can be seen below...

 'Grefsheim' white spirea (Spiraea x cinerea) - woody shrub

 merrybells (Uvularia grandiflora) - perennial

 'Gravetye Giant' summer snowflake (Leucojum aestivum) - perennial

 variegated foliage of 'Shockwave' garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) - perennial

 Koreanspice viburnum (Viburnum carlesii) - woody shrub

 patch of pasque flowers (Pulsatilla vulgaris) - perennial

 checkered fritillary (Fritillaria meleagris) - perennial

 sea kale (Crambe maritima) emerging - perennial

 golden bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis 'Goldheart') - perennial

The Earth Day festivities at the garden this past Saturday went very well!  I stopped by in the late morning and the main parking lot was entirely full which didn't surprise me.  The food carts above were seeing some action and I hear that the bird shows also did well for attendance. The photos below were taken at the event.  Kudos to RBG Staff (Maryam and Polly) for their major role in getting this event going as well as our wonderful education volunteers, organized by Bev F.  Volunteers made this event happen and we were pleased to see so many families out in the gardens on a beautiful day.

 Maryam P and Wes E.

 Dennis and friend from the Ice Age Trail Alliance

 the booths were even busy during the bird shows and there were lots of folks enjoying the gardens

 Dawn (left) and Victoria as welcoming Greeters at our Earth Day event

the tulips (Tulipa) out front are blooming nicely with the heat

Princely Plants - In Memory of the Man

Based on an idea from my pal Mike Maddox to do an "all purple" blog in memory of Prince, I have done just that.  Incidentally, these are all plants I also viewed last week at the California Spring Trials (CAST).  I was able to see Prince in concert twice and he was spectacular.  The wife is a HUGE fan as well and will long be in mourning.  Regardless, I like to think he'd appreciate this collection of wonderful flowers.  RIP.

Today was overcast and cool but that didn't slow down our garden clean-up efforts on the day before our big Earth Day activities.  Tomorrow we'll have vendors, booths, food, educational offerings and some live raptor shows too.  See our website for details!  Tidying up the garden was vital.  Kathy, Eva and Kay were out there weeding and fine tuning various areas and always do a nice job.  Bill O. came in to mow and we also saw Vern, Dawn and many others.  Tomorrow morning (8 am - 12 noon) is also our Compost/Pansy Sale at the Horticulture Center.

Cindy did a lot of tidying out in the gardens and with so many visitors coming for Earth Day celebrations tomorrow, the timing couldn't be better.  John and Terry also accomplished a lot out in the gardens including mowing, collecting debris, blower rounds and getting our newly stained benches back in their locations.  Janice also tidied, prepared a display for the event tomorrow, refreshed the cutting display and prepared for our sale tomorrow which she gets going in the morning.  I took a dent out of my desk pile and continue to prepare for the convergence of events, deliveries and many other inputs that will create our "Perfect Storm" in early May!

'Primavera Violet' cineraria (Pericallis hybrida)

 'Passion Rose' African daisy (Osteospermum ecklonis)

 'SuperCal Blue' million bells (Calibrachoa)

 'Antique Blue' African daisy (Osteospermum ecklonis)

 'Tiara Mickey Blue Lavender' verbena (Verbena hybrida)

 'Amistad' friendship sage (Salvia hybrida)

'Roaring Raspberry' petunia (Petunia)

'Hot Dark Lavender' lobelia (Lobelia erinus)

'Tuscany Violet w/ Eye' verbena (Verbena hybrida)

'Axcent Deep Purple' rock cress (Aubrieta hybrida)

'Javelin Forte Purple' Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas)

'Sanguna Lavender Vein' petunia (Petunia)

'Colibri Purple Lace' million bells (Calibrachoa)

'Purple Haze' fan flower (Scaevola aemula)

'Littletunia Violet' petunia (Petunia)

'Samira Deep Blue' verbena (Verbena hybrida)

'Sparklers' petunia (Petunia)

'Hot Purple' lobelia (Lobelia erinus)

'Glow Fluor Rose' petunia (Petunia)

'Grape Punch Improved' million bells (Calibrachoa)