Last night, Janice (above and to the left) did a wonderful presentation on
"Heirlooms, Hybrids and History". There were 36 people in attendance and everyone enjoyed Janice's images and th
e information provided. I also appreciate that Janice wasn't shy about promoting our spring plant sale (May 14 & 15, see our website!) as many of her featured vegetables will be offered at the sale. Janice's talk was the second in a series of six programs offered by the Rock Prairie Master Gardener Associ
ation (RPMGA). The next program in this series will be on Thursday evening, May 5th, from 7 pm - 8 pm. This program, entitled
"The New Landscape and Garden" will be given by Kathleen Miller and will discuss a wide range of landscape issues including soil and site preparation, new plant care, disease and insects and how to avoid potential landscape "nightmares." Mark down the June 2nd talk (7 pm - 8 pm) entitled
"Genetically Modified Organisms" by Joanne Ekena as well. The aim of Joanne's seminar is to discuss conventional plant breeding but then to address the facts behind genetic engineering and how it is accomplished. Today is damp and "drizzly" although the bulk of this batch of rain has already passed thru the area. It was nice that Dr. Gredler finished his plug aeration (see to the above right) of our lawns yesterday in time for the rains to come and
break up some of those plugs. I met with a potential contractor this morning regarding some native shoreline plantings that we're interested in installing and this will be the start of our shoreline improvement process that will continue thru the year. Being situated on bodies of water (old sand and gravel pits) lends charm to the garden but the reality is that this garden/water edge is unsightly in many area or too "sterile" in appearance with rocks and boulders. Our early efforts with shoreline work focused on function (erosion control) and not so much with aesthetics. We hope t
o start modifying that and make our shorelines another nice feature with education potential as well. Nice shot to the left of snowdrops (
Galanthus sp.) in the hosta hollow garden. To the right are the double snowdrops (
Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno') which are hard to enjoy unless you peer up in to the bloom (see below). Beautiful! Marv and Terry continue to prepare their soil mix for our containers and still have a few containers to haul out in the gardens. They're also preparing to start the installation of our obelisks and have a plan for the huge blue "pyramids" that we'll secure in the entrance garden on Monday. John was here today and continued potting our caladiums and did some mulching out in the garden. Janice continued her "clean up kung fu" out in the gardens as well. Dr. Gredler and Dick H. also came in for various tasks (more vehicle repair). We also saw the return of Rollie today. With my early departure today (heading to Titletown, USA), I'm not sure who else showed up this afternoon but we'll continue our spring efforts next week as this warm and wet weekend will make a "faux May" feeling for many plants and really get things sproutin'. Further below is trillium (
Trillium sp.) getting ready to bloom (unsure of the exact species) and Siberian squill (
Scilla siberica) in full bloom all over the place (it likes to procreate!).
Last night, Janice (above and to the left) did a wonderful presentation on "Heirlooms, Hybrids and History". There were 36 people in attendance and everyone enjoyed Janice's images and th
e information provided. I also appreciate that Janice wasn't shy about promoting our spring plant sale (May 14 & 15, see our website!) as many of her featured vegetables will be offered at the sale. Janice's talk was the second in a series of six programs offered by the Rock Prairie Master Gardener Associ
ation (RPMGA). The next program in this series will be on Thursday evening, May 5th, from 7 pm - 8 pm. This program, entitled "The New Landscape and Garden" will be given by Kathleen Miller and will discuss a wide range of landscape issues including soil and site preparation, new plant care, disease and insects and how to avoid potential landscape "nightmares." Mark down the June 2nd talk (7 pm - 8 pm) entitled "Genetically Modified Organisms" by Joanne Ekena as well. The aim of Joanne's seminar is to discuss conventional plant breeding but then to address the facts behind genetic engineering and how it is accomplished. Today is damp and "drizzly" although the bulk of this batch of rain has already passed thru the area. It was nice that Dr. Gredler finished his plug aeration (see to the above right) of our lawns yesterday in time for the rains to come and 
break up some of those plugs. I met with a potential contractor this morning regarding some native shoreline plantings that we're interested in installing and this will be the start of our shoreline improvement process that will continue thru the year. Being situated on bodies of water (old sand and gravel pits) lends charm to the garden but the reality is that this garden/water edge is unsightly in many area or too "sterile" in appearance with rocks and boulders. Our early efforts with shoreline work focused on function (erosion control) and not so much with aesthetics. We hope t
o start modifying that and make our shorelines another nice feature with education potential as well. Nice shot to the left of snowdrops (Galanthus sp.) in the hosta hollow garden. To the right are the double snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis 'Flore Pleno') which are hard to enjoy unless you peer up in to the bloom (see below). Beautiful! Marv and Terry continue to prepare their soil mix for our containers and still have a few containers to haul out in the gardens. They're also preparing to start the installation of our obelisks and have a plan for the huge blue "pyramids" that we'll secure in the entrance garden on Monday. John was here today and continued potting our caladiums and did some mulching out in the garden. Janice continued her "clean up kung fu" out in the gardens as well. Dr. Gredler and Dick H. also came in for various tasks (more vehicle repair). We also saw the return of Rollie today. With my early departure today (heading to Titletown, USA), I'm not sure who else showed up this afternoon but we'll continue our spring efforts next week as this warm and wet weekend will make a "faux May" feeling for many plants and really get things sproutin'. Further below is trillium (Trillium sp.) getting ready to bloom (unsure of the exact species) and Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) in full bloom all over the place (it likes to procreate!). 
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