Of all the obelisk colors we've featured out in the gardens, I haven't tried "robin's egg blue" yet and think I might next year...Mama robin wasn't happy about my picture ab
ove but I departed quickly enough. The day was overcast, windy and quite a bit cooler than yesterday but we were still able to accomplish lots of work both inside and outside. Work has continued on both our North
Point garden project and the Japanese waterfall/stream project although previous rains have certainly been a factor in slowing things down for the contractors. Nice shot to the right of another hellebore (Heleborus orientalis 'Royal Heritage Strain') which also includes this neat shade of apple green. To the left is another shot of the windflower (Anemone blanda 'Blue Shades') that is really peaking right now. Come see 5,000 of these at peak right now in front of our Parker Education Center.I spent most of the day catching up on desk work. I put a lot of work in my "rainy day" pile over the past couple of days and despite the early lack of rain, I needed to deal with time sensitive details for our butterfly art project
, Home Garden tour and the spring plant sale which starts next Friday. I was able to get out in the gardens briefly and took some nice pictures as the lighting was perfect. The gardens are really quite colorful and those that visit us this weekend for Mother's Day will not be disappointed. I'm still hoping to see more tulips pop open but they'll likely peak in another week or so. We had a smaller grounds staff today with Big John, Larry, Janice and Jenny. John worked on mulching, composting, rototilling and some other tasks. Larry did some weedwhipping, unloaded and unpackaged four new containers (each 450 lbs!) and had been leveling the area behind our storage yard for imminent plant arrivals next Monday. Janice composted the fern garden, had some meetings and worked with her volunteer group this afternoon. Jenny did some watering, potted up another 50 elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) and spent some time weeding as well. To the right is the 'Purple Prince' barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum) in the gazebo garden. The flowers actually dangle downwards so this is a staged shot to enjoy the architecture of those blooms. Below are just some of the tens of thousands of grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) blooming out in the gardens. This batch has thrived for over 10 years on the slope leading down to the sunken garden from the larch area.
Mary J. was back in action and did a nice job weeding the beds for our future compact vegetable / ornamental edible display. She later shifted to the
gazebo garden. Shirley was in to tidy up the English cottage garden and we saw Glenna (with her son Dan) who promised to be back next week volunteering out in the gardens. Mary H. came in to do some work too. Dr. Gredle
r was in to work on leveling an area with new soil that will be seeded shortly. We had a good group of Grumpies but it was a bit lighter than Monday. Five of our Grumpies play golf together on Thursdays, thereby missing our scheduled Grumpy work day. Needless to say, we're really laying in the guilt trips regarding their poor priority considerations. Bob and Del did quite a bit of composting while Bob T. continued his air edging project. Dave, Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued working on benches and are creating a custom planter for the Dinner Dance (July 16th) that is going to by dyamite. The guys have contributed so
mething cool the past couple of years and they have all sold fairly well. To the right is one of our tulips (Tulipa) that have started blooming although most have yet to peak. To the left is a neat spurge (Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire') which has just the right proportions right now of yellow and maroon. To the right is another of the many daffodils (Naricissus) looking good out in the gardens. Tom C. did some electrical work for us and we also saw Maury, Dr. Yahr, Mary W. Mary K. and many others. The FedEx and UPS guys are like part of the family this time of year as they show up daily with packages of plants and other supplies. Directly below is a close-up of a bloom of the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) which is such a clear shade of white. Speaking of white, at the bottom is a single bloom of the white bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'). 
, Home Garden tour and the spring plant sale which starts next Friday. I was able to get out in the gardens briefly and took some nice pictures as the lighting was perfect. The gardens are really quite colorful and those that visit us this weekend for Mother's Day will not be disappointed. I'm still hoping to see more tulips pop open but they'll likely peak in another week or so. We had a smaller grounds staff today with Big John, Larry, Janice and Jenny. John worked on mulching, composting, rototilling and some other tasks. Larry did some weedwhipping, unloaded and unpackaged four new containers (each 450 lbs!) and had been leveling the area behind our storage yard for imminent plant arrivals next Monday. Janice composted the fern garden, had some meetings and worked with her volunteer group this afternoon. Jenny did some watering, potted up another 50 elephant ears (Colocasia esculenta) and spent some time weeding as well. To the right is the 'Purple Prince' barrenwort (Epimedium grandiflorum) in the gazebo garden. The flowers actually dangle downwards so this is a staged shot to enjoy the architecture of those blooms. Below are just some of the tens of thousands of grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum) blooming out in the gardens. This batch has thrived for over 10 years on the slope leading down to the sunken garden from the larch area.Mary J. was back in action and did a nice job weeding the beds for our future compact vegetable / ornamental edible display. She later shifted to the
gazebo garden. Shirley was in to tidy up the English cottage garden and we saw Glenna (with her son Dan) who promised to be back next week volunteering out in the gardens. Mary H. came in to do some work too. Dr. Gredle
r was in to work on leveling an area with new soil that will be seeded shortly. We had a good group of Grumpies but it was a bit lighter than Monday. Five of our Grumpies play golf together on Thursdays, thereby missing our scheduled Grumpy work day. Needless to say, we're really laying in the guilt trips regarding their poor priority considerations. Bob and Del did quite a bit of composting while Bob T. continued his air edging project. Dave, Vern, Bob A. and Jim continued working on benches and are creating a custom planter for the Dinner Dance (July 16th) that is going to by dyamite. The guys have contributed so
mething cool the past couple of years and they have all sold fairly well. To the right is one of our tulips (Tulipa) that have started blooming although most have yet to peak. To the left is a neat spurge (Euphorbia polychroma 'Bonfire') which has just the right proportions right now of yellow and maroon. To the right is another of the many daffodils (Naricissus) looking good out in the gardens. Tom C. did some electrical work for us and we also saw Maury, Dr. Yahr, Mary W. Mary K. and many others. The FedEx and UPS guys are like part of the family this time of year as they show up daily with packages of plants and other supplies. Directly below is a close-up of a bloom of the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) which is such a clear shade of white. Speaking of white, at the bottom is a single bloom of the white bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba'). 
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