Busy For A Slow Day!

The iris collection is really starting to bloom well. Sue S. has passed along oodles of great shots thus far and while they all wont bloom this year (planted last summer), we expect a great showing next spring when the American Iris Society convention attendees visit the gardens. Above is 'Morningstar Blues' (Iris germanica) and I'll try to post others in the future. It's no wonder why irises are so treasured when you see the exquisite blooms and spectrum of colors. The variety 'Man's Best Friend' (Iris germanica) can be seen below. Look at the details!
Today was a well-attended Grumpy day with Gary and Bill spreading cocoa bean mulch around the rose garden, John and Charlie replacing soil in the sunken garden, Del, Rollie and Dick H. working on dismantling plant sale tables and the carpenters (Jim, Vern and Bob A.) working on bench repair. Bob T. was out air edging and Dr. Gredler was out mowing most of the morning. Elder Sorenson and Elder Black helped today with allium removal around the gardens as well. Marianne came in as a volunteer to help organize labels prior to our big planting Saturday. Janice planted our tomato and pepper collection with the help of Deb and later worked with H.S. kids planting beans and weeding thru the vegetable beds. We had a "weeding quartet" in the reception garden of Kay, Marilyn, Char and Suzanne. They did a great job and I think Kay will tackle the rest tomorrow. Shirley weeded and planted the color rooms garden while Larry, Jerry and I did our odds and ends. Nice shot of Allium 'Purple Sensation' below with our orange obelisks. As these alliums loose their color (in 7-10 days from now), we cut them at ground level and remove all foliage and stem. Watch out for the sap as it can stain! Our intent with a space like this is to plant it with seasonals within a couple days of removing the alliums (the bulbs are all still there though, safe and sound, 6" down). Those alliums in the shot are over 5 years old and still looking good. The bottom picture (from today) is of the blooms of our yellowhorn (Xanthoceras sorbifolium) at the east end of our shade garden. I love the blooms on this plant and our specimen has done well here. See www.mobot.org/GARDENINGHELP/PLANTFINDER/Plant.asp?code=R900 for more information regarding this woody plant.