Back To The Routine

Even discarded and drying out, peonies are beautiful! The shot above is a portion of the pile of cut flowers that were part of the American Peony Societies' event this past weekend. Many visitors and staff received cut peonies yesterday and our compost pile was quite colorful with the remainder. We were proud to host this national conference and thought it went very well overall. With this one "under our belt," we do hope to have similar events like this in the future. The Parker Education Center was a bit chaotic with all the activity but I think it was an enjoyable experience for everyone involved (except for the afternoon wedding in the gazebo garden on Saturday that proceeded with their event during the typhoon). Today was back to gardening basics out in the gardens. Nice shot of Roger and Charlie below. We did spend some time on helping clean-up the aftermath of the weekend at the vistors center this morning but were able to break away and continue gardening (planting, weeding, etc.). Recent rains have really soaked the gardens and it was nice to not have to water today at all. Marv and Terry worked on prepping some of our last garden beds for planting and also hauled perennials and sheared shrubberies. Little Jerry worked in the Japanese garden while Marianne was faclitating some planting, her cutting diplay and other duties. Larry worked on water features and mowing while Janice planted our horticulture center sign bed (ornamental edibles), weeded and accomplished other tasks as well. We had another nice turnout of Grumpies and the guys jumped right in to our projects (which also included taking down a tent, hauling tables, etc.). The Grumpies spread wood chip mulch, shredded bark mulch, weeded, worked on carpentry, hauled soil and did a wonderful job. Mary and Mary were here too and helped Marianne plant out front. Nice shot to the left of a perennial beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis 'Husker's Red') that has maroonish leaves and has nice white/light pink blooms. To the right is dwarf goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius) starting to bloom in our shade garden where we used it along a narrow path in a repetitive fashion. It is a nice textural element along an edge and seems to be thriving thus far. Nice shot below of a new bugleweed (Ajuga reptans 'Chocolate Truffles') that we've planted in many locations. Bugleweeds are a spreading groundcover and can become overwhelming if not "held in check" on occasion.

Our irises are starting to finish up and we were glad that the 300+ American Iris Society conference attendees that visited the gardens on Friday and Saturday were able to see some color. We had many positive comments about the gardens from this group. With the warm spring, everything has been early and the remainder of the irises will be finishing soon. Our intent is to dig most of the collection in July and sell iris divisions on August 28th as part of our annual GardenFest. I noticed some spuria iris (Iris spuria) still blooming strong today. To the left is 'Breezy Day'. I have to admit I knew nothing about these when we received them but understood they liked warmer climates and long, dry summers. Regardless, our dozen or so look pretty good still and were enjoyed this weekend by many visitors. To the right is one of my favorite perennials for foliage. 'Jack Frost' false forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla) is such a durable eye-catcher that I feel it should be in everyone's garden. We must have 50 or so out there and they all look great and those leaves draw the eye, particularly in shadier locations. Speaking of foliage that draws the eye, the 'Carnival' hedge maple (Acer campestre) in the fern & moss garden (seen below) was asked about numerous times this weekend and we'll have to get a sign out there shortly. Slow-growing but neat. We have it in part shade so the light leaf margins don't get toasted.