Cold. Rainy. Dismal. That sums it up for today. It pretty much rained all day and the only change in weather was when it alternated between rain and sleet. We had a nice cozy day inside although both Big John and Larry went out in the gardens for a bit and lost to Mother Nature's "bite". Above is Big John potting up castor bean (
Ricinus communis) seeds. We start a couple hundred of these for use around the gardens as they add a nice tropical look. They are poisonous plants (primarily the seeds) so we place them accordingly as backdrop specimens. John planted the variety 'Carmencita Red' that has deep maroon foliage with red seed capsules and he also planted 'Zanzibariensis' which is the largest variety with green leaves that can easily reach 12'++ in one season with leaves over 30" wide. These will be put outside next week and should start to sprout in the coming weeks. Our Horticulture Center is looking cluttered with 300 potted caladiums, 400 specialty annuals, shrubs, small trees and now, 200 pots of castor beans. It's doubtful we'll take anything outside until next week when the days are more sunny and warm. John also potted up bugleweed (
Ajuga reptans) divisions and was working on an excavation project outside until it became "saturating." Below are some of Janice's herb and vegetable pots that she's preparing with variable soil "recipes." We're trying out some variable mixes with different amounts of compost and worm castings added. We'll evaluate the results of our mixes by planting identical veggies/herbs in these specifially prepared containers. Further below are some of the worm castings that we're selling in 2.5 lb. bags ($5 plus tax). This looks to be a good amendment and we've already spread 1000 lbs. out in the gardens.
Larry ran out for some supplies today as did Big John. Larry also worked on some of our new tree signs and did some work around the gardens. He also moved our remaining pallets of bagged co
mpost to make room for an incoming delivery of 20 pallets (900 bags) arriving tomorrow morning. Our compost sales have been going very well and we're bulking up both for the tree sale this Friday and Saturday (8 am - 2 pm daily) and our upcoming spring plant sale. Larry also picked up some donated fish that we released in our lower pool in the fern/mo
ss garden. Janice worked on Earth Day preparations, plant sale tasks and updated our memorial tree inventory which is a annual task. Jenny (see to the left) was in to work on her annual label preparations and helped organize and water the free DNR trees that were donated for Earth Day (see to the right). We'll be giving these out to kids while supplies last but have a nice batch of sugar maple (
Acer saccharum), Northern red oak (
Quercus rubra), white pine (
Pinus strobus), bur oak (
Quercus macrocarpa) and black walnut (
Juglans nigra). Mary W. was here to help out and brought more donated trees as well. She'll run this activity during the Earth Day celebration (9 am - 3 pm on both Friday and Saturday). We also saw Maury, Chuck and Pat was around painting the newly repaired art boards. I had time today to meet with Kris regarding some upcoming events (like the
Perennial Division lecture tomorrow night, see our website) and met with Sue regarding the marketing of upcoming events. Sue made a really nice poster for the Home Garden Tour (July 23) that we'll be utilizing very soon. I also presented a grounds update to our Board of Directors and we established a monthly tour that I'll provide for interested Board Members before their meeting.
Cold. Rainy. Dismal. That sums it up for today. It pretty much rained all day and the only change in weather was when it alternated between rain and sleet. We had a nice cozy day inside although both Big John and Larry went out in the gardens for a bit and lost to Mother Nature's "bite". Above is Big John potting up castor bean (Ricinus communis) seeds. We start a couple hundred of these for use around the gardens as they add a nice tropical look. They are poisonous plants (primarily the seeds) so we place them accordingly as backdrop specimens. John planted the variety 'Carmencita Red' that has deep maroon foliage with red seed capsules and he also planted 'Zanzibariensis' which is the largest variety with green leaves that can easily reach 12'++ in one season with leaves over 30" wide. These will be put outside next week and should start to sprout in the coming weeks. Our Horticulture Center is looking cluttered with 300 potted caladiums, 400 specialty annuals, shrubs, small trees and now, 200 pots of castor beans. It's doubtful we'll take anything outside until next week when the days are more sunny and warm. John also potted up bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) divisions and was working on an excavation project outside until it became "saturating." Below are some of Janice's herb and vegetable pots that she's preparing with variable soil "recipes." We're trying out some variable mixes with different amounts of compost and worm castings added. We'll evaluate the results of our mixes by planting identical veggies/herbs in these specifially prepared containers. Further below are some of the worm castings that we're selling in 2.5 lb. bags ($5 plus tax). This looks to be a good amendment and we've already spread 1000 lbs. out in the gardens.
mpost to make room for an incoming delivery of 20 pallets (900 bags) arriving tomorrow morning. Our compost sales have been going very well and we're bulking up both for the tree sale this Friday and Saturday (8 am - 2 pm daily) and our upcoming spring plant sale. Larry also picked up some donated fish that we released in our lower pool in the fern/mo
ss garden. Janice worked on Earth Day preparations, plant sale tasks and updated our memorial tree inventory which is a annual task. Jenny (see to the left) was in to work on her annual label preparations and helped organize and water the free DNR trees that were donated for Earth Day (see to the right). We'll be giving these out to kids while supplies last but have a nice batch of sugar maple (Acer saccharum), Northern red oak (Quercus rubra), white pine (Pinus strobus), bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and black walnut (Juglans nigra). Mary W. was here to help out and brought more donated trees as well. She'll run this activity during the Earth Day celebration (9 am - 3 pm on both Friday and Saturday). We also saw Maury, Chuck and Pat was around painting the newly repaired art boards. I had time today to meet with Kris regarding some upcoming events (like the Perennial Division lecture tomorrow night, see our website) and met with Sue regarding the marketing of upcoming events. Sue made a really nice poster for the Home Garden Tour (July 23) that we'll be utilizing very soon. I also presented a grounds update to our Board of Directors and we established a monthly tour that I'll provide for interested Board Members before their meeting. 
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