Sorry about the late blog from last night (see previous blog). I tried to post it and then Blogger went down and I thought I lost everything. My summary of yesterday is that we had lots
of great help getting the plants tagged, sorted and positioned for the sale. Janice and Marianne did a wonderful job as usual coordinating the efforts of all of our volunteers and I think this sale looks the best yet with a wide range of offerings. Above is a shot of the plant sale just getting started this morning. Note all the orange vests from our dedicated volunteers. We had great help throughout the day which included volunteers from the Janesville Area Herb Society and Rock Prairie Master Gardeners. It was rainy right before the plant sale but then overcast for most of the day until the rains returned around 2 pm. To the right is Mary (in orange) keeping Joanne (another volunteer) dry during her shopping experience. That's the type of service we offer at the sale! It was rainy thru the rest of the afternoon although customers did trickle in all the way until the end. It was very busy early in the morning and the overall customer turnout was quite strong. This was our RBG Friends Members Only pre-sale and we actually had 17? people sign up to be Members today so they could immediately hit the sale. That's great! We'll also be selling memberships for the remainder of the sale as there is a continued 10% discount. RBG Friends Members also can attend a pre-sale day (September 9th) for our fall plant sale (September 10th and 11th). That 10% discount applies for every day of any of our plant sales. Below is one of the shooting stars (
Dodocatheon) in the alpine garden. I love this flower color and form.
Marv and Terry helped get some things ready for the plant sale today and hauled over the art boards for the Art & Wine event at the gardens tonight (6 pm - 9 pm).
I hope that event went well although I'm sure it was held inside with the damp weather. Terry did some mowing and Marv started some planting in the North Point garden (see picture near the bottom). The guys also planted a bur oak (
Quercus macrocarpa) and a go
lden Norway maple (
Acer platanoides 'Princeton Gold'). Big John ran out for gas, helped set up the plant sale, mowed and helped tidy up here and there. Marianne and Janice were involved with the sale all day. Marianne's forte' is the checkout area (cash registers, etc.) while Janice was out in the yard helping customers with questions. Both ladies work well with volunteers too and we had another great batch of helpers today too. I wish I could name all the volunteers that were around today but that would number well over 30 (thanks to all!). To the right is another shot of all the tulips in front of the P
arker Education Center. The cool temperatures this weekend should preserve this color well in to next week. To the left is 'Yellow Bird' magnolia (
Magnolia hybrida) peaking with huge flowers in the color rooms garden. The yellow magnolias are taking over for the early bloomers. Despite the cold rain during the plant sale, I was happy to see some rain as we were just about ready to start running irrigation again out in the gardens. We've had some recent near misses for precipitation and this rain should really green everything up and encourage the next crop of weeds. To the right is a shot from yesterday in the Japanese garden which is really hitting stride with spring color (redbuds, rhododendrons, crabapples, etc.). Below are the blooms of the double kerria (
Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora') which are always quite fetching (1.5" in diameter). This durable shrub can tolerate variable soils, lighting and general abuse. The green stems in winter are also quite showy although this woody has a slightly unkempt (informal) look. Further below is some neat foliage with 'Remember Me' hosta and Japanese painted fern (
Athyrium niponicum var.
pictum) looking "colorfully textural". At the bottom is Marv working his planting kung fu with some roses (North Point) and at the very bottom is a shot I took today thru the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden which has plenty of color.
of great help getting the plants tagged, sorted and positioned for the sale. Janice and Marianne did a wonderful job as usual coordinating the efforts of all of our volunteers and I think this sale looks the best yet with a wide range of offerings. Above is a shot of the plant sale just getting started this morning. Note all the orange vests from our dedicated volunteers. We had great help throughout the day which included volunteers from the Janesville Area Herb Society and Rock Prairie Master Gardeners. It was rainy right before the plant sale but then overcast for most of the day until the rains returned around 2 pm. To the right is Mary (in orange) keeping Joanne (another volunteer) dry during her shopping experience. That's the type of service we offer at the sale! It was rainy thru the rest of the afternoon although customers did trickle in all the way until the end. It was very busy early in the morning and the overall customer turnout was quite strong. This was our RBG Friends Members Only pre-sale and we actually had 17? people sign up to be Members today so they could immediately hit the sale. That's great! We'll also be selling memberships for the remainder of the sale as there is a continued 10% discount. RBG Friends Members also can attend a pre-sale day (September 9th) for our fall plant sale (September 10th and 11th). That 10% discount applies for every day of any of our plant sales. Below is one of the shooting stars (Dodocatheon) in the alpine garden. I love this flower color and form.
I hope that event went well although I'm sure it was held inside with the damp weather. Terry did some mowing and Marv started some planting in the North Point garden (see picture near the bottom). The guys also planted a bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) and a go
lden Norway maple (Acer platanoides 'Princeton Gold'). Big John ran out for gas, helped set up the plant sale, mowed and helped tidy up here and there. Marianne and Janice were involved with the sale all day. Marianne's forte' is the checkout area (cash registers, etc.) while Janice was out in the yard helping customers with questions. Both ladies work well with volunteers too and we had another great batch of helpers today too. I wish I could name all the volunteers that were around today but that would number well over 30 (thanks to all!). To the right is another shot of all the tulips in front of the P
arker Education Center. The cool temperatures this weekend should preserve this color well in to next week. To the left is 'Yellow Bird' magnolia (Magnolia hybrida) peaking with huge flowers in the color rooms garden. The yellow magnolias are taking over for the early bloomers. Despite the cold rain during the plant sale, I was happy to see some rain as we were just about ready to start running irrigation again out in the gardens. We've had some recent near misses for precipitation and this rain should really green everything up and encourage the next crop of weeds. To the right is a shot from yesterday in the Japanese garden which is really hitting stride with spring color (redbuds, rhododendrons, crabapples, etc.). Below are the blooms of the double kerria (Kerria japonica 'Pleniflora') which are always quite fetching (1.5" in diameter). This durable shrub can tolerate variable soils, lighting and general abuse. The green stems in winter are also quite showy although this woody has a slightly unkempt (informal) look. Further below is some neat foliage with 'Remember Me' hosta and Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum) looking "colorfully textural". At the bottom is Marv working his planting kung fu with some roses (North Point) and at the very bottom is a shot I took today thru the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden which has plenty of color.
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