That's More Like It...

Today was a bit more like what a WI summer should be: hot, sunny and plenty of wind. Plants like the gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta 'Cherokee Sunset') here at the gardens have been waiting for some nice summer heat. Apparently we had a lot of visitors this weekend and were happy to hear some of their positive comments. Today was filled with lots of irrigation and hand watering to keep certain gardens, containers, etc. from drying out. We missed some rain this morning with a drizzle ending quickly but I'm still hoping for a nice rain in the next 24 hours (30% chance). Nice shot of another of our annual gloriosa daisies (Rudbeckia hirta 'Irish Spring') starting to peak. This collection has over 50 varieties of this stalwart, summer annual.
We had another solid Grumpy crew this morning with guys working on fence installation, painting, clean-up, air edging and other duties. Our new volunteer Joyce came in to put in 4 solid hours of weeding in our shade garden. She does a nice, thorough job and is definitely a "keeper". Marv and Terry leveled some benches and both had extensive annual beds to fertilize and/or water. Marianne kept busy with weeding, tidying and plenty of watering as well. We kept the irrigation going all day and hope to catch up in those drier areas tomorrow. Little Jerry helped run irrigation zones and worked on pruning a ginkgo and tidying up. With Larry gone all week, we'll have to keep up with his system of irrigation zones which in theory, should minimize any conflicts with our mowing or weeding schedule. This Wednesday is a "free admission day" that corresponds to the first Wednesday of every month. The Rock Prairie Master Gardeners have organized an event for the public to come to the gardens in the evening, have a tour, wander around, enjoy refreshments, etc. We hope this event is well-attended and enjoyed by many. Nice shot of the rudbeckia variety 'Cherry Brandy' below. This collection is quite colorful and gets better every day (see bottom image).