Penguins Sighted At The Gardens

Bev (above in formal wear) kicked off the first of our ten Story and Stroll programs this morning with a wonderful presentation on "Penguins and Their Habitat". The set-up was amazing and her knowledge (and fascination) regarding penguins was evident and appreciated by everyone. Unfortunately I couldn't stay for the entire program but I have no doubt it was well-received. We had a small audience but certainly hope this program series will pick up more momentum with future offerings. The next Story and Stroll is on April 6th and the topic is "Rabbits and the Change of Seasons" (10 am -11 am). We have such wonderful volunteers involved with our youth programs and it was nice to see Mary D. and Dale at Bev's talk as well.

Today was very productive for me although we also had a solid crew of volunteers come in primarly in the morning. I've been bouncing between my horticulture and education duties and realizing that while I can juggle multiple tasks, it feels like more is being tossed in to the mix (many balls in motion)! Busy times but lots of fun and exciting things coming up soon. I'm also organizing our seeds by respective grower and Marianne will help me finish that task tomorrow morning. I'll deliver the bulk of our seeds on Friday. We keep those that we will sow ourselves (nasturtiums, sweet peas, etc.). To the left is just one of many boxes of seeds that we need to check one more time (note the emergency tooth brush at the top of the image). My ordering list is now up to 700 varieties of seeds and 90 varieties of other annuals (ordered as plants). Once we pick up odds and ends, 2011 will have the most variety of seasonal plantings that we've ever displayed (1,000+). With this monumental task of ordering, sorting, growing, planting and maintaining comes the task of accurate and timely labeling. Thankfully Jenny has started on this project and should be right on track by the end of the month. While our policy is to have labels going out with the plants as they are planted, that doesn't always happen. To the right is one of our arborvitaes (Thuja occidentalis 'Yellow Ribbon') in front of the Horticulture Center. The deer have been nibbling and unfortunately, that strong shadow doubles my dismay visually! Ugh.

Urban and Dick W. went out for a good three hours this morning and started to cut down various ornamental grasses in the gardens. Urban may have done more pruning as well. Below is just one of many loads that came back to the Horticulture Center this morning. Some public gardens will leave grasses up to the last minute (mid-April) but I don't see the need as we don't have much visitation at this point and with looming snowfalls, today was a good day to take a dent out of that inevitable project. Jumbo Jim, Deb, Mary W. and I met about our upcoming Earth Day activities (April 22 & 23) and I also met with Sue M. regarding event promotions of all sorts for this spring. The bottom image shows the nice posters that Sue developed for our Members Only! bus tours on August 4th and October 6th. Both trips promise to be fun and membership is the way to qualify for the opportunity. This bus tour info is also on our website. Janice was in to work on labels and we also saw Mary Kay, Art, and Big John. Pat and Dr. Gredler put the last coat of yellow paint on the last of our obelisks in need of a color conversion. Tomorrow night at 7 pm is the Right Tool for the Right Job presentation from Janice and John. Don't miss it.