Fun In The Sun

We had a nice sunny day although the mornings still have that cool, touch of "Autumn pending". Above is a shot of our front sign planting which still is holding strong with the maroon/red theme although most of our beds are getting a bit bedraggled after such a wet season with vigorous growth, Japanese beetle nibbling and other inputs. Mondays are always quite busy at the gardens and today was no exception. We had another great group of Grumpies with most of the guys working on graveling, leaf collection and carpentry this morning. Many of the guys later shifted to helping set-up tents for the iris sale this Saturday. Bob C., Del, Gary, Ron B., Charlie, Bob T., Pat, Bill kept busy while Dick P., Dick H., Maury and Big John worked on installing the venting system for our new laser engraver (see pictures towards the bottom). They ran in to some challenges but should have those resolved soon. Vern, Bob A. and Dave T. finished repairing our Japanese garden fence and moved on to other carpentry projects. Dr. Yahr and Dr. Gredler were here as well. Bill came in later to help mow too. To the left is the fine textured cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit) smothered with little red trumpets that are currently attracting the hummingbirds. This annual vine has worked its way up our red obelisks throughout our red/maroon theme. There is also a nice white and pink variety as well. To the right is the 'Fat Spike' amaranth (Amaranthus caudatus 'Fat Spike') with such interesting bloom clusters. Below is a nice cluster of variegated palm sedge (Carex muskingumensis 'Oehme') that I saw last Thursday at Six Flags Great America (Gurnee, IL). It was nicely contained and irrigated (essentials in the landscape). I was disappointed in their landscaping over all which looked "under attended". There were some nice containers but it has looked better in past years. Larry got the irrigation going early as things are starting to dry out and we don't want to rely on just a slight chance of rain tomorrow. Marv and Terry did a great job pruning the arborvitae (Thuja sp.) hedge that separates the formal gardens from the terrace and wishing well gardens. This is a MONUMENTAL task and the guys spent the majority of the day shearing away. Marianne and I worked on some preparations for the iris sale and Marianne then move on to weeding, cutting display and lots of watering. I helped water containers and have a greater appreciation for the task that I assign to others so often. To the left is Marv posing along the 120' long hedge. It will be nice to have the laser engraver up and running soon and once the pictured venting system is up and running, we'll start honing our templates and getting our labels produced.