The grasses above (
Pennisetum 'Fireworks') are just a slight indication of the winds that whipped thru the gardens today. It was brutal but we had a busy day around the gardens and over at the Horticulture Center where we're preparing for the start of our annual fall plant sale. This Friday, September 10th, is the start of the sale and is a presale for our Friends Members only. This allows them to get first crack at our nice assortment of plants that are currently arriving daily. The sale then runs daily (9am-5pm) thru the following Saturday, September 18th. Tomorrow will be insane with three truckl oads of perennials and shrubs rolling in (hopefully not at the same time!). Nice shot below of another Ball Seed petunia called 'Rhythm & Blues' which is looking spectacular today while many of its brethren are looking quite sad. I like the crisp picotee edge and violet blue coloration. I think I've shown this variety previously but it is quite striking. I think I'll get lots of this variety next year...
We hit the ground running this morning with watering our 2,000 mums that are poised and ready for purchase ($8 each for giant-sized!). With limited staff on the holiday yesterday and whipping winds early, it became a struggle keeping
up with watering. Kay and Bev did a nice job watering most of the morning. Terry and Big John went with Dick P. and Ron W. to The Flower Factory to pick up borrowed wagons and plants for the sale. Larry kept irrigation running while Little Jerry mowed and did garden clean-up. Janice and Marv later worked on their moss project and moved on to other projects later. Marianne inventoried, organized and priced our plant sale bulbs (with timely help from Bev W. and Janice). Just about everyone did some watering and it was a crazy, hectic day. I had some meetings and just tried to keep up with juggling garden tasks, plant sale preparations and getting ready for some looming presentations. It's interesting that way back
in April, I was blogging about everything being three weeks early. Well, the colchicums (see to the left) are blooming early too. They sure are a delight to observe and the thousands we have around the gardens, although planted years ago, continue to astound and impress visitors. Called Autumn crocus, these plants are actually in the lily (Liliacea) family while true crocus are actually in the iris (Iridacea) family. Note there is no foliage with the colchicum as the glossy, 18" tall foliage came up in spring then went dormant in June. These are expensive bulbs (corms), typically purchased and planted in August, but the rewards are great. To the right is a shot of one of the white gauras (
Gaura lindheimeri) blooming like crazy in our parking lot islands. I've always been impressed with gauras, also called wandflowers, as they literally bloom for three months of the summer and always look good. Some people are wary of them as they may not be long-lived perennials or may only make it a season with a really hard winter. However, their flower power is second to none and the sunny, exposed site in our parking lot with winter salts, no watering and other abuse is as tough as it gets for a perennial. Native to LA and TX, these perennials also have merit in the container and always look good mixed with ornamental grasses. There used to be just a few varieties out there a decade ago but there are now many, many varieties with a nice range of pink flower coloration and dwarf statures too. Below is a shot today of our 'Dialogue' sculpture and surrounding annuals. Note the fence securing the perimeter. The guys did a nice job installing it.
Dave, Jim, Bob A. and Vern worked on building three new memorial benches that will go out in the gardens next spring. Gary came in to get our laser engraver and computer all hooked up as we have Robert from Olbrich coming down tomorrow to work with us on fine tuning our label making templates and processes. Jenny will join us for the training. Rollie, Bob C. and Dick H. helped organize the plant sale while Del worked on trying to collect debris out in the gardens. After watering, Kay went out weeding and collecting debris as did some other Grumpies. Dick P., Maury and Dr. Gredler were here helping out as well. We saw so many people today, including some early shoppers that tried to infiltrate the sale to no avail.... Below is a shot of the ornamental edible wall (looking sharp) and some neat shots of our wishing well garden which has filled out nicely after the irises were removed and divided two months ago...
The grasses above (Pennisetum 'Fireworks') are just a slight indication of the winds that whipped thru the gardens today. It was brutal but we had a busy day around the gardens and over at the Horticulture Center where we're preparing for the start of our annual fall plant sale. This Friday, September 10th, is the start of the sale and is a presale for our Friends Members only. This allows them to get first crack at our nice assortment of plants that are currently arriving daily. The sale then runs daily (9am-5pm) thru the following Saturday, September 18th. Tomorrow will be insane with three truckl oads of perennials and shrubs rolling in (hopefully not at the same time!). Nice shot below of another Ball Seed petunia called 'Rhythm & Blues' which is looking spectacular today while many of its brethren are looking quite sad. I like the crisp picotee edge and violet blue coloration. I think I've shown this variety previously but it is quite striking. I think I'll get lots of this variety next year...
We hit the ground running this morning with watering our 2,000 mums that are poised and ready for purchase ($8 each for giant-sized!). With limited staff on the holiday yesterday and whipping winds early, it became a struggle keeping 
up with watering. Kay and Bev did a nice job watering most of the morning. Terry and Big John went with Dick P. and Ron W. to The Flower Factory to pick up borrowed wagons and plants for the sale. Larry kept irrigation running while Little Jerry mowed and did garden clean-up. Janice and Marv later worked on their moss project and moved on to other projects later. Marianne inventoried, organized and priced our plant sale bulbs (with timely help from Bev W. and Janice). Just about everyone did some watering and it was a crazy, hectic day. I had some meetings and just tried to keep up with juggling garden tasks, plant sale preparations and getting ready for some looming presentations. It's interesting that way back
in April, I was blogging about everything being three weeks early. Well, the colchicums (see to the left) are blooming early too. They sure are a delight to observe and the thousands we have around the gardens, although planted years ago, continue to astound and impress visitors. Called Autumn crocus, these plants are actually in the lily (Liliacea) family while true crocus are actually in the iris (Iridacea) family. Note there is no foliage with the colchicum as the glossy, 18" tall foliage came up in spring then went dormant in June. These are expensive bulbs (corms), typically purchased and planted in August, but the rewards are great. To the right is a shot of one of the white gauras (Gaura lindheimeri) blooming like crazy in our parking lot islands. I've always been impressed with gauras, also called wandflowers, as they literally bloom for three months of the summer and always look good. Some people are wary of them as they may not be long-lived perennials or may only make it a season with a really hard winter. However, their flower power is second to none and the sunny, exposed site in our parking lot with winter salts, no watering and other abuse is as tough as it gets for a perennial. Native to LA and TX, these perennials also have merit in the container and always look good mixed with ornamental grasses. There used to be just a few varieties out there a decade ago but there are now many, many varieties with a nice range of pink flower coloration and dwarf statures too. Below is a shot today of our 'Dialogue' sculpture and surrounding annuals. Note the fence securing the perimeter. The guys did a nice job installing it. 
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