Today was quite windy with variable sun and clouds. I sure hope we get the rain that is headed our way. We ran irrigation and watered most of the day just in case... Nice shot above of one of my favorite, durable shrubs. The variegated fiveleaf aralia (
Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegatus') is durable in both sun and shade. It has showy variegation and an open form unless pruned. We have specimens in dry shade and while they are not growing very quickly, they look healthy and offer that bright "illumination" in a dark location. This shrub gets 5-6' for us but I took a shot of one at the Scott Arboretum (see below) that was close to 10' tall!
Today was another nice productive day with the fence guys (Dick P., Dick H., John and Jerry) all working to finish the last run on the east side of the gardens. They did a great job and with the exception of a couple short s
egment "add ons", the guys are done and the fence looks awesome. Larry and Janice came in for a half day to help water and tidy up the gardens. Little Jerry helped this morning and Dr. Gredler was here to mow, move soil, haul loads to the dump, spread woodchips, etc. It's hard to keep up with this guy (and he's 83!). Kay was here to weed and tidy around the visitors center and other areas "in need". If we had a dozen "Kays", we'd have no weeds out there. Bill was out cleaning up paths and he's another volunteer we'd like to clone. I can't say enough about the substantial role that the volunteers play here at the gardens. I met with Kathy at Jenka Blossoms to figure out our hanging baskets for next year and we set up an order for many of our tropicals (we already know the color theme for 2010). Nice shot to the left of dune grass (
Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue')
near our terrace garden. I love the blue coloration of this perennial, ornamental grass although it's showing the same tendency of other Panicums (switchgrasses) by dropping seed and colonizing a bit. Oh well, this is a winner and we will use it in larger containers on occasion. Speaking of containers, to the right is our copper cheese vat with lime obelisk, caladiums and golden creeping Jenny (
Lysimachia nummularia 'Goldilocks') creeping over the edges. This little patio is in quite a bit of shade, hence our "brightening approach".
Today was quite windy with variable sun and clouds. I sure hope we get the rain that is headed our way. We ran irrigation and watered most of the day just in case... Nice shot above of one of my favorite, durable shrubs. The variegated fiveleaf aralia (Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegatus') is durable in both sun and shade. It has showy variegation and an open form unless pruned. We have specimens in dry shade and while they are not growing very quickly, they look healthy and offer that bright "illumination" in a dark location. This shrub gets 5-6' for us but I took a shot of one at the Scott Arboretum (see below) that was close to 10' tall!
egment "add ons", the guys are done and the fence looks awesome. Larry and Janice came in for a half day to help water and tidy up the gardens. Little Jerry helped this morning and Dr. Gredler was here to mow, move soil, haul loads to the dump, spread woodchips, etc. It's hard to keep up with this guy (and he's 83!). Kay was here to weed and tidy around the visitors center and other areas "in need". If we had a dozen "Kays", we'd have no weeds out there. Bill was out cleaning up paths and he's another volunteer we'd like to clone. I can't say enough about the substantial role that the volunteers play here at the gardens. I met with Kathy at Jenka Blossoms to figure out our hanging baskets for next year and we set up an order for many of our tropicals (we already know the color theme for 2010). Nice shot to the left of dune grass (Panicum amarum 'Dewey Blue')
near our terrace garden. I love the blue coloration of this perennial, ornamental grass although it's showing the same tendency of other Panicums (switchgrasses) by dropping seed and colonizing a bit. Oh well, this is a winner and we will use it in larger containers on occasion. Speaking of containers, to the right is our copper cheese vat with lime obelisk, caladiums and golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Goldilocks') creeping over the edges. This little patio is in quite a bit of shade, hence our "brightening approach".
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