Drudgery In The Rain

The image above was from two days ago before the gloom (but needed rain) descended. The forsythia are in bloom (early) and the specimen above is one of our dwarf varieties ('Happy Centennial'). Forsythias are very noticeable around town this time of year. It has been overcast and misting most of the day but the gang was able to get outside between raindrops. We had our annual spring orientation for the grounds staff and everyone was there (Larry, Marv, Marianne, Terry, Janice, Jerry, Jenny, John and me). We like to review what's coming up and had a nice lunch later on. Janice had to run to a conference in Milwaukee but we'll see her tomorrow. It was nice to see Rollie and Maury back after their Florida respites. We all felt horrible that it was so cold for them down south. :) The lungworts (Pulmonaria sp.) are starting to bloom and their ornamental foliage is emerging nicely (see below). I love lungworts for many reasons including their mature look out in the garden as they fully foliate (see further down). I select them for leaf size and degree of "silvering". Their flowers are neat but all too fleeting. Larry and John cleaned debris off the gazebo garden roof and planted an Accolade elm (Ulmus hybrida 'Morton') out in the arboretum. Marianne worked on her cutting display, irises and labels inside. Jenny worked on more labels and we're in good shape to match pre-made labels with incoming plants over the next couple of months. When our laser engraver becomes active, we'll start on our woody plants first. Little Jerry was here briefly for our meeting and was out in the gardens showing Jumbo Jim and the RECAPPERS some work out in the gardens. Marv and Terry set out more obelisks and worked on leveling a brick path that had buckled up due to root growth from an adjacent elm tree (see photo below). They did a nice job and helped avert future tripping accidents in that space. We shifted inside for a good portion of the afternoon and worked on our inside projects. It was nice to get the tropical bulbs potted up yesterday and it looks promising for more outside work later in the week. I went out and put out flags for more obelisk placement on Friday and took some pictures of more emerging plants. To the left is the white grape hyacinth (Muscari botryoides 'Album') in the entrance garden and to the right is a very interesting perennial for part shade called mukdenia (Aceriphyllum rossii 'Karasuba'). This Asian woodland plant is known for its maple shaped leaves with hints of crimson (particularly in fall). I've never noticed it blooming until today and figure I was lucky to catch the blooms early. As primarily a foliage plant, this zone 4 perennial is top notch. There are some other varieties out there too. We've received 20 of our 27 daisies for the "Petal Thru The Garden" art project. Below is a neat one brought in yesterday by one of our RECAPPERS. He is very talented and these shots are the front and back of that daisy respectively.