If the picture of Dr. Gredler above is not a clear indication of the heat today, rest assured it was brutal. It wasn't
even cool in the morning and was sticky very quickly. Mary and Mary did a nice job clearing bulb foliage and weeding this morning but did a two hour shift as it quickly became quite overwhelming. We had a great Grumpy turnout although I think some of the guys left early as it was tough to head ba
ck outside after our air-conditioned break. Gary and Pat worked on shredded bark mulching while the majority of the guys (Ron W., Ron B., Bob C., Charlie and Roger) helped take down plant sale tables and shuffled plants around the yard before moving to other tasks. Del was a huge help watering. Big John worked on composting while Dick H. and Dick P. lifted some allium bulbs for me from an area that we would like to plant earlier in spring (and not have to wait for the late alliums to finish...). Rollie watered and worked on his bricks while Urban and Maury pruned a willow and moved on to other tasks. Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued work on our new table (for the fancy laser engraver) and continued on an arch down in the wishing well garden. Rose was here to paint and we also had Dr. Yahr, Ken, Dave and many others over here today as well. Nice shot to the left of the very fragrant, variegated mockorange (
Philadelphus coronarius 'E.A. Bowles') and to the right, the beautiful flax (
Linum perenne) in the herb garden. Flax isn't very long-lived but will reseed. We keep planting it each year as it is quite eye-catching and is a nice shade of blue. I was able to apply herbicide in the woodland walk which has become a weed patch overnight and is now coated in a fine haze of cottonwood "fluff" (see columbines below and note the ground layer looks like snow!). The next picture shows our irises starting to peak but it is interesting how the heat has "washed out" the alliums since Saturday and they will have no color very shortly. Oh well, there are still a couple weeks more of beautiful irises to enjoy regardless.
The "free week" here at the gardens May 15-22) seemed very well attended and really coincided nicely with plenty of
interest out in the gardens as well as most of the plant sale. We hope some visitors will be inspired to purchase a membership and support the gardens in this manner. When going to admission-based entry, we wanted to make sure though, that there were days w
ithout charge that would allow everyone equal access to the gardens. We'll continue to develop the gardens with our mission of providing horticultural education and appreciation for everyone in mind. Our fun collections of globe amaranth (
Gomphrena), ornamental edibles, All-America Selections, Fleuroselect, Ball Seed Trials, PanAmerican Seed Trials, Takii Seeds will all be planted over the coming weeks and we anticipate a very colorful summer. To the left are the bloom clusters of the ninebark (
Physocarpus opulifolius 'Lady In Red') that look so nice because of both wonderful flowers and deep foliage. To the right is another false indigo (
Baptisia hybrida 'Purple Smoke') that continues to be one of my favorites. Other interesting items in the garden can be seen below with a robin's egg and at the bottom, the blooms of winecups (
Callirhoe involucrata) which have very vivid coloration on a rambling plant that has plenty of flower power (and is one of the most asked about perennials out in the garden).
If the picture of Dr. Gredler above is not a clear indication of the heat today, rest assured it was brutal. It wasn't 
even cool in the morning and was sticky very quickly. Mary and Mary did a nice job clearing bulb foliage and weeding this morning but did a two hour shift as it quickly became quite overwhelming. We had a great Grumpy turnout although I think some of the guys left early as it was tough to head ba
ck outside after our air-conditioned break. Gary and Pat worked on shredded bark mulching while the majority of the guys (Ron W., Ron B., Bob C., Charlie and Roger) helped take down plant sale tables and shuffled plants around the yard before moving to other tasks. Del was a huge help watering. Big John worked on composting while Dick H. and Dick P. lifted some allium bulbs for me from an area that we would like to plant earlier in spring (and not have to wait for the late alliums to finish...). Rollie watered and worked on his bricks while Urban and Maury pruned a willow and moved on to other tasks. Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued work on our new table (for the fancy laser engraver) and continued on an arch down in the wishing well garden. Rose was here to paint and we also had Dr. Yahr, Ken, Dave and many others over here today as well. Nice shot to the left of the very fragrant, variegated mockorange (Philadelphus coronarius 'E.A. Bowles') and to the right, the beautiful flax (Linum perenne) in the herb garden. Flax isn't very long-lived but will reseed. We keep planting it each year as it is quite eye-catching and is a nice shade of blue. I was able to apply herbicide in the woodland walk which has become a weed patch overnight and is now coated in a fine haze of cottonwood "fluff" (see columbines below and note the ground layer looks like snow!). The next picture shows our irises starting to peak but it is interesting how the heat has "washed out" the alliums since Saturday and they will have no color very shortly. Oh well, there are still a couple weeks more of beautiful irises to enjoy regardless. 
interest out in the gardens as well as most of the plant sale. We hope some visitors will be inspired to purchase a membership and support the gardens in this manner. When going to admission-based entry, we wanted to make sure though, that there were days w
ithout charge that would allow everyone equal access to the gardens. We'll continue to develop the gardens with our mission of providing horticultural education and appreciation for everyone in mind. Our fun collections of globe amaranth (Gomphrena), ornamental edibles, All-America Selections, Fleuroselect, Ball Seed Trials, PanAmerican Seed Trials, Takii Seeds will all be planted over the coming weeks and we anticipate a very colorful summer. To the left are the bloom clusters of the ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius 'Lady In Red') that look so nice because of both wonderful flowers and deep foliage. To the right is another false indigo (Baptisia hybrida 'Purple Smoke') that continues to be one of my favorites. Other interesting items in the garden can be seen below with a robin's egg and at the bottom, the blooms of winecups (Callirhoe involucrata) which have very vivid coloration on a rambling plant that has plenty of flower power (and is one of the most asked about perennials out in the garden).
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