Back To Business

As evidenced in the two photos above, it was a busy day around the gardens despite the rough weather on Sunday evening and the mild shower we had this morning. While it was a bit damp outside, the rain over the weekend amounted to less than 1" and I would have liked to have seen more (at a slower, soaking pace). Strong winds brought down some branches from our cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) and our 'Valley Forge' American elm (Ulmus americana) at the Horticulture Center. This elm variety was selected by the U.S. National Arboretum for significant Dutch elm disease resistance. Unfortunately, a good sized branch came off but we'll see how she recovers. Nice shot to the right of one of our Japanese garden lanterns surrounded by the blue flower clusters of bugleweed (Ajuga sp.). To the left is an emerging bloom of the 'Spring Grove' magnolia (Magnolia hybrida).

We had a great Grumpy turnout today. The top picture shows Dennis and Ron, both relatively new Grumpies, as they were lifting our clumps of yellow tulips from the front of the building. This is the 10th year in a row that we've gone thru this process as we will replant a new color of tulips this fall that will correspond with our color theme for next year. Ron B. and Ron W. also helped with digging and were shortly joined by Urban and Pat. The second picture shows Maury, Joe and Pat painting the last of our obelisks to go back out in the gardens. The truth is that they were already painted that lavender color but I changed my mind to red to go with a late-night inspired color scheme that will be along our raised bed in the larch area. Del and Bob C. worked on regraveling some paths while Bob A., Vern, Dave and Jim continued on some carpentry projects. Rollie, Dick P., Dick H. and Tom C. installed a power line in buried conduit out to the North Point arbor structure. Big John was in to pressure wash a gate for Rose and Urban to paint later. Little Jerry was also in to mow and do some pruning. Gary came in to do some more labels and we also saw Mary, Kelli, Polly, Kris, Rose, Geesje, Deb and many others. To the right are some ornamental onions (Allium 'Purple Sensation') with the Tiger Eyes sumac (Rhus typhina 'Bailtiger'). The ornamental onions (Allium) are really starting to peak as the tulips fade and perennials begin to get more attention. Our Grumpettes included Mary, Winifred and Bev W. who all did a nice job weeding out in the gardens. Directly below are the beautiful and scented blooms of the 'Little Boy Blue' lilac (Syringa vulgaris) and further below is the neat foliage of the tricolor beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Roseo-Marginata') looking sharp today.
We also had some great staff contributions today with everyone being able to do some serious garden work. Marianne did quite a bit of weeding, tidying, her cutting display, etc. Janice worked on weeding and planting up some containers for display plants. Marv and Terry planted a maple tree and cleaned up the largest of our branches that had fallen overnight. The guys also worked on edging the English cottage garden and the parallel beds near the arboretum that will be planted shortly with our ornamental edibles and compact vegetable display. Larry ran some errands for me and did his weekly weedwhipping around the gardens. The recent rains have further delayed work on both the North Point garden and in the Japanese garden. To the left is a close-up of the yellow columbine (Aquilegia canadensis 'Corbett') that is blooming so nicely with most of our columbines throughout the gardens. To the right is a shot of the Gold Bullion pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia 'Bachone') which is a pure gold variety selected and introduced by Kris Bachtell of the Morton Arboretum. I have one on the side of my house and enjoy how it can illuminate an area. Note the nice layering of branches and note the solid gold foliage below. This tree will ultimately get 20-25' tall with a similar width. Position this variety in filtered light so the leaves don't get burn. The bottom photo is a close-up of a leaf of 'Venus' coral bells (Heuchera).