The picture above of the Parker Education Center was taken yesterday as today had very little blue in the sky. We had
gray clouds overhead all day with a 40% chance of showers. We did get a light sprinkle in the afternoon but continu
ed our watering efforts to help augment Mother Nature's unpredictable schedule. We had very few volunteers today but the grounds staff did a nice job out in the gardens as Fridays usually include lots of watering and getting the gardens tidy for outdoor weddings. I spent most of the day sorting thru our iris photos with the intent of selecting a good shot of each of those varieties that we'll be offering at our August 28th sale. We had talented volunteer photographers take over 4,000 pictures these past two springs and I'm sifting and sorting as time allows. A picture such as those seen here ('Crackling Caldera' to the left and 'Night Mood' to the right) will be attached to each bin so customers know exactly what they'll be getting. It's tough to pick the "best" picture of each variety as there are so many qualified candidates! Both of these photos were from Tina B. Below is another shot of our formal annual sections. Note the large papyrus (
Cyperus papyrus 'King Tut') surrounding the central obelisks. We have this plant around the gardens and always accomodate for its height (72"+) and its thirsty nature. Beneath that shot is one of our Fleuroselect award-winning (2005) petunias ('Dolcissima Flambe') which while subtle in coloration, is not short in impact.
Terry hit the ground running today with pushmowing as we thought it might rain at any point in the day. Bill O. was her
e to mow the arboretum and did a very nice job. Terry then moved on to fertilizing and watering for the remainder of the day. Janice did her pushmowing and planted some "filler annuals" in the gazebo garden. We have the last remnants of some donated seasonals that we use to fill in spaces where plants have died, been nibbled or are just plain gone for some reason or another. Marv did a nice job removing ov
ergrown perennials from an area and composted the space for later planting next week. He ran irrigation all day and was the maestro at moving around sprinklers. Marianne tidied up some container displays, watered, weeded and did her cutting display as well. No one ran out of work today. We saw Mary H. out weeding her area and Dr. Gredler was here too (mowing, etc.). We also saw Maury, Big John, Bill and Dave T. today. To the left is our copper cheese vat planter with a hodge podge of annuals around a center obelisk. To the right is a close-up of a very interesting plant called ribbon bush (
Homalocladium platycladum) that is part of that container planting as well. The jointed stems are quite interesting and textural. This plant is also called centipede plant and my favorite name, tapeworm plant. Native to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, this plant is quite shade tolerant and the blooms are small and incidental. I had never grown ribbon bush so put it in some interesting test locations where it looks funky. We have it in three hanging baskets where it has grown 24" or so and is irregularly floppy and not as sightly as it is in beds or containers. Regardless, it is certainly a conversation piece. Not long ago I showed a close-up of Mexican sunflower (
Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch') with bright, deep orange blooms on a tall, 72"+ plant. Below is a bloom close-up of 'Yellow Torch'. Shouldn't be long before the butterflies find this beauty. In our gourd collection this morning, I noticed the most exquisite blooms on the 'Polo' gourd (
Trichosanthes anguina). See below. This is a snake-type gourd that is edible (quite nutritious) when young but can be used for crafts later when it toughens up. There have been many traditional herbal uses for this plant and it is a common vegetable in east Africa and tropical Asia. Cool blooms.
The picture above of the Parker Education Center was taken yesterday as today had very little blue in the sky. We had
gray clouds overhead all day with a 40% chance of showers. We did get a light sprinkle in the afternoon but continu
ed our watering efforts to help augment Mother Nature's unpredictable schedule. We had very few volunteers today but the grounds staff did a nice job out in the gardens as Fridays usually include lots of watering and getting the gardens tidy for outdoor weddings. I spent most of the day sorting thru our iris photos with the intent of selecting a good shot of each of those varieties that we'll be offering at our August 28th sale. We had talented volunteer photographers take over 4,000 pictures these past two springs and I'm sifting and sorting as time allows. A picture such as those seen here ('Crackling Caldera' to the left and 'Night Mood' to the right) will be attached to each bin so customers know exactly what they'll be getting. It's tough to pick the "best" picture of each variety as there are so many qualified candidates! Both of these photos were from Tina B. Below is another shot of our formal annual sections. Note the large papyrus (Cyperus papyrus 'King Tut') surrounding the central obelisks. We have this plant around the gardens and always accomodate for its height (72"+) and its thirsty nature. Beneath that shot is one of our Fleuroselect award-winning (2005) petunias ('Dolcissima Flambe') which while subtle in coloration, is not short in impact. 
e to mow the arboretum and did a very nice job. Terry then moved on to fertilizing and watering for the remainder of the day. Janice did her pushmowing and planted some "filler annuals" in the gazebo garden. We have the last remnants of some donated seasonals that we use to fill in spaces where plants have died, been nibbled or are just plain gone for some reason or another. Marv did a nice job removing ov
ergrown perennials from an area and composted the space for later planting next week. He ran irrigation all day and was the maestro at moving around sprinklers. Marianne tidied up some container displays, watered, weeded and did her cutting display as well. No one ran out of work today. We saw Mary H. out weeding her area and Dr. Gredler was here too (mowing, etc.). We also saw Maury, Big John, Bill and Dave T. today. To the left is our copper cheese vat planter with a hodge podge of annuals around a center obelisk. To the right is a close-up of a very interesting plant called ribbon bush (Homalocladium platycladum) that is part of that container planting as well. The jointed stems are quite interesting and textural. This plant is also called centipede plant and my favorite name, tapeworm plant. Native to New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, this plant is quite shade tolerant and the blooms are small and incidental. I had never grown ribbon bush so put it in some interesting test locations where it looks funky. We have it in three hanging baskets where it has grown 24" or so and is irregularly floppy and not as sightly as it is in beds or containers. Regardless, it is certainly a conversation piece. Not long ago I showed a close-up of Mexican sunflower (Tithonia rotundifolia 'Torch') with bright, deep orange blooms on a tall, 72"+ plant. Below is a bloom close-up of 'Yellow Torch'. Shouldn't be long before the butterflies find this beauty. In our gourd collection this morning, I noticed the most exquisite blooms on the 'Polo' gourd (Trichosanthes anguina). See below. This is a snake-type gourd that is edible (quite nutritious) when young but can be used for crafts later when it toughens up. There have been many traditional herbal uses for this plant and it is a common vegetable in east Africa and tropical Asia. Cool blooms.
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