With the sale continuing thru the week I was concerned on Monday with the traffic flow at the plant sale but today was by far the busiest week day. It was nice to see more plants leave the yard and we still hope to have another great three days. Nice shot above of the meadow saffron (also confusingly called
Autumn crocus...see previous blogs about that) blooming up thru some annual Mexican feather grass (
Stipa tenuissima 'Pony Tails'). Lots of questions and comments about this bulb out in the gardens and many want to buy it at the plant sale (not offered). The colchicum bulbs should be ordered earlier and planted dormant in August where they will then
immediately sprout in September and follow up next April with foliage. Some garden centers will carry the bulb and keep it refridgerated to lengthen its "shelf life". We tried it one year at our plant sale and it was a nightmare as it was sprouting with floppy blooms out of the unplanted bulbs and didn't look real appealing at the time. There are many mail order sources for colchicums as well. Nice shot to the left of the Quickfire panicled hydrangea (
Hydrangea paniculata 'Bulk') that is known for blooming very early (white flowers) which then means we have an earlier "pink stage" that is quite engaging right now. We have six varieties of panicled hydrangeas (
Hydrangea paniculata) in our plant sale, some noticeably different than others because of flower features. They like full sun and are very thirsty! To the right is our most asked about tropical right now. I've shown it in previous blogs and first fell in love with it last year at Boerner Botanical Gardens (Hales Corners, WI). This is the 'Coffee Cups' elephant ear (
Colocasia esculenta) and we have some topping 7' tall right now. The leaves are really neat and the stems at ground level are jet black. I've already reordered this one and five or six other cool ones for next year. In close proximity is the increasingly interesting and showy ebony plant (
Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum 'Black Varnish') seen below. These are almost 4' tall and the leaves would rank up there as the darkest I've seen on a tropical. We're not worried about blooms although I've seen this plant blooming in the Philadelphia area with deep magenta flowers.
Marianne did double duty today with managing the plant sale and sneaking out to do some tidying up out in the gardens. I think she was happy to take off the orange construction vest (used to identify plant sale helpers) and get some fresh air. We have an important tour tomorrow from the Upper Midwest Regional Master Gardeners Conference coming to the gardens and were out watering and tidying up as time and the number of hands available allowed. Marv and Terry set up sprinklers, pulled up our old donation tubes (no small feat) and started working on our Scottish alpine garden that needs a fresh look. Larry mowed and kept the irrigation going all day. Big John mowed, watered and continued to shear the Chinese juniper (
Juniperus chinensis 'Fairview') hedges around the reception garden. We had plenty of volunteer help in the plant sale and Kay was out tidying up the beds for our tour tomorrow. Debbie helped weed and water as well later in the day. Our annual beds are still hanging in there (see below) despite very cool mornings.
With the sale continuing thru the week I was concerned on Monday with the traffic flow at the plant sale but today was by far the busiest week day. It was nice to see more plants leave the yard and we still hope to have another great three days. Nice shot above of the meadow saffron (also confusingly called 
Autumn crocus...see previous blogs about that) blooming up thru some annual Mexican feather grass (Stipa tenuissima 'Pony Tails'). Lots of questions and comments about this bulb out in the gardens and many want to buy it at the plant sale (not offered). The colchicum bulbs should be ordered earlier and planted dormant in August where they will then
immediately sprout in September and follow up next April with foliage. Some garden centers will carry the bulb and keep it refridgerated to lengthen its "shelf life". We tried it one year at our plant sale and it was a nightmare as it was sprouting with floppy blooms out of the unplanted bulbs and didn't look real appealing at the time. There are many mail order sources for colchicums as well. Nice shot to the left of the Quickfire panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata 'Bulk') that is known for blooming very early (white flowers) which then means we have an earlier "pink stage" that is quite engaging right now. We have six varieties of panicled hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata) in our plant sale, some noticeably different than others because of flower features. They like full sun and are very thirsty! To the right is our most asked about tropical right now. I've shown it in previous blogs and first fell in love with it last year at Boerner Botanical Gardens (Hales Corners, WI). This is the 'Coffee Cups' elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) and we have some topping 7' tall right now. The leaves are really neat and the stems at ground level are jet black. I've already reordered this one and five or six other cool ones for next year. In close proximity is the increasingly interesting and showy ebony plant (Pseuderanthemum atropurpureum 'Black Varnish') seen below. These are almost 4' tall and the leaves would rank up there as the darkest I've seen on a tropical. We're not worried about blooms although I've seen this plant blooming in the Philadelphia area with deep magenta flowers. 
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