Hittin' The Ground Runnin'

It was a crazy day today; but in a good way! Nice shot of a double kerria (Kerria japonica) above although it is a new variety that also has those streaked leaves. Kerria is a durable shrub with green stems, spring flowers and a tolerance for sun or shade. We use groupings in various areas and it gets plenty of attention this time of year. It does form a colony with time but I feel it still has merit in our landscapes. Not far from this shrub, near the fishing pier, Mary and Roy planted a couple hundred tropicals throughout their portion of the shade garden. We have many "assigned gardeners" (volunteers) that take care of their own piece of "real estate" and Mary and Roy have always done a superior job and are tackling their planting in a couple phases. Janice and Larry planted some containers and Bev planted perennials in the sunken garden after she cleared her section. Nice shot to the right of our miniature conifer collection in the alpine garden.

We're heading in to our prime planting season and are stockpiling our plants for installation as time, weather and "available hands" allow. Larry picked up another load of plants and we'll continue to make our runs over the coming weeks. Marianne worked on weeding, tidying, watering and refreshed her cutting display as well. Marv and Terry continued to work in the entrance garden and have placed some rocks to hold a slope where they removed overgrown/failing cotoneasters. It is also looking good. We ran some irrigation today as we're a bit shy of moisture in May thus far and want to keep things moving along. Unfortunately the weeds are getting the same water! I recently showed an image of 'Blue Danube' wild hyacinth (Camassia leichtlinii 'Blue Danube') and have included a different species (Camassia cusickii) to the left. Note the starry, sky-blue blossoms on a 24" tall plant. This fall planted bulb also appreciates dampness and is wonderful in part shade as well.

The Grumpies did a great job today with Ron, Gary and Charlie tackling composting and moving a sign. Urban, Dick H., Rollie and Del "lifted" many of our tulips from the front of the building as we will replant new tulips (different variety and color) in those same areas. Terry, Ernie and a new Grumpy (John) replaced some horrible soil with better draining material while Dick P., Maury, Bob A. and Vern all worked on their own respective projects. We had Shirley, Mary and Bev in the sunken garden doing some major weeding and will soon strike that balance of weeding and planting. We sometimes plant an area immediately after weeding (which makes sense of course!). Nice shot below from today of the white-flowering redbud (Cercis canadensis 'Royal White') that seems to be peaking a bit later than the pink-flowering form. Regardless, we love the showy flowers before the heart-shaped leaves emerge. Weather is turning sour so we'll see what Tues. looks like. We are also planning for our extended plant sale!