Focused Eradication Efforts

That notorious purlsane (Portulaca oleracea) has sprouted overnight (as seen above). We are hoping to keep on top of this weed with our pre-emergents or quick manual removal as this nefarious weed is capable of blooming and dropping seed in a short three weeks. I've mentioned in previous blogs how nutritious it is but we wont let that merit stand in the way of our "focused eradication efforts". We had about 3/10" of rain last night which I hoped would have been more substantial. It was enough to wet things down and we didn't have to water much at all today. That brief respite from watering is nice as it frees us up for all sorts of other duties. Nice shot to the left and right of that foxtail lily (Eremurus sp.) blooming here at the gardens. I saw lots of foxtail lilies up at Olbrich on Monday and hope to include more around RBG in the future.

The entire grounds crew was here today. Little Jerry worked on pruning and shaping a pine tree and some ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) hedges. Larry spent most of the day draining the sunken garden pool and cleaned it up nicely. He planted towards the end of the day. Big John worked on composting, digging up invasive plants, cutting bulb foliage and planting. Marianne helped plant the rest of the globe amaranths (Gomphrena sp.) with Jenny and Bill and moved on to tidying the entrance garden. After planting globe amaranths, Jenny moved to tidying up iris beds and sorting flats at the Horticulture Center. Marv and Terry prepared more planters, planted containers, removed dead trees, planted trees and shrubs and cut back bulb foliage. I was able to lay out plants for tomorrow (see below) as I have two big groups of people coming to plant in both the morning and afternoon.We also had some great help from volunteers today. Dr. Gredler mowed and worked on some different projects while Dr. Yahr planted down in the wishing well garden. Mel and June cleared their portion of the sunken garden of weeds and bulb foliage and will be back to plant next week. Jumbo Jim was here and helped John plant three large phormiums (see below) out front. The guys insisted I take a picture of their "tropical Gator". Bill was also here to help plant globe amaranths with the ladies and did a nice job cleaning up various areas. We also saw Julie, Ruth, Maury, Ron W. and Dave today. It was our "free day" out in the gardens (the first Wednesday of every month) and were happy to see many visitors enjoying the gardens (see to the left). There was a very popular "Story & Stroll" out in the gardens and we saw many smaller children. I let many of them smell the scented geraniums I was laying out for planting and they so enjoyed the experience. Below is a nice shot of the arched bridge and at the bottom, the nice foliage of the variegated Norway maple (Acer platanoides 'Drummondii').