Post-Storm Progress

Ironic that I lamented about no rain yesterday and it came pounding down last night with heavy winds. At my house, the rain was blowing sideways and the winds were quite severe. On my way in to work I saw many downed trees and blocked off streets. Kelli had called last night to say she saw a downed tree in our parking lot (directly above) late last night. I knew it was one of the ornamental pears (Pyrus calleryana 'Autumn Blaze') which are notorious for being "soft-wooded" and having weak branching. We found more pear damage around the gardens and a medium size elm tree came down ('Danada Charm'). There were cottonwood (Populus deltoides) branches of all sizes all over the gardens. It could always have been worse (and has been in the past). We've been picking up branches all day and Dick H. made three runs to the dump. The line to get in to the dump was quite long due to all the area clean-up so he'll finish hauling our debris tomorrow. To the right is the vivid golden foliage of the Sunjoy Gold Pillar upright golden barberry (Berberis thunbergii 'Maria') that really catches the eye. I've not noticed fruits on this variety so hope it's not one that the birds like to disperse. Barberry is becoming a real problem in woodlands in the Midwest and out East. Speaking of gold, the image to the left is our golden Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold') wall planting that looks better each year. I remember putting in those little plugs over seven years ago and they continue to mature and soften that wall (down near the fern & moss garden). To the right is the maroon/blue foliage of a neat stonecrop (Sedum telephium) called 'Xenox'. This perennial will have pink flowers in August thru September and the foliage will darken as the summer progresses.

We had a smaller but sturdy crew today. Big John and Larry started removing the downed pear immediately as we had a big event at the Parker Education Center and wanted to get that obstacle out of there. John also planted, spread lots of pre-emergent herbicide and significantly helped with debris clean-up throughout the day. Larry (and John) also went out to pick up our cocoa bean hulls for mulching the rose garden and Larry spent time in the pond to free up the debris that was accumulating near our "water movers." Jenny spent another day out in the yard and helped further label and consolidate our collections. I think she's actually checked over everything and with collections being grouped, I should be able to keep hauling plants out in an orderly fashion. Janice planted her vertical wall with summer herbs and veggies, spent time planting and helped facilitate some of our volunteer planters today. I thought it would be a "lost day" to just clean-up but we planted quite a bit and hopefully can continue that trend tomorrow and Saturday. Directly below are Dr. Yahr (left) and Dr. Gredler on debris patrol. Directly above is the showy Mediterranean bells (Nectaroscordum siculum ssp. Bulgaricum) blooming in the reception garden. This fall planted bulb is closely related to ornamental onions (Allium) and always impresses me when it blooms in early June (30" tall or so). Our Grumpies and Grumpettes were here this morning. Del and Dennis went on debris patrol as did Dr. Yahr, Dr. Gredler and Dick H. Little Jerry helped clean-up and did some nice pruning in the arboretum. Bill O. came in later to smooth over path washouts and collect additional debris. The carpenters (Dave, Jim, Vern and Bob) started work on the next set of obelisks. We sold so many obelisks at the fall plant sale that we now have a shortage to address. Maury was in for a bit and ran some errands both yesterday and today for the acquisition of supplies. Marilyn (to the left) and Suzy (her knees can be seen to the lower right) were in this morning and started planting right away. They planted well over 1,000 annuals this morning and did a nice job weeding as they went along. They planted near the shade garden and along the lower larch wall planting (reds and maroons). After lunch, we had Gena, Mary and Myrt as our planting trio and they tackled the center planter of the reception garden and headed down in the sunken garden where I had more plants spaced here and there. We'll finish up those plantings tomorrow. It was a very productive day of planting and garden clean-up. We did see plenty of visitors including groups of children exploring the gardens. To the upper right is a nice, dwarf perennial salvia (Salvia nemerosa 'Marcus') that tops out around 14" and isn't shy on "flower power" this time of year. When these blooms wane in a couple weeks, we'll cut these down to 6" and expect another nice flush of blooms. Never be shy about serious "deadheading" of perennial salvias! We're trying to plant the remainder of our larger gardens and the "wedding gardens" (rose circle, sunken garden and gazebo garden) so they're ready for the summer weddings and I would say we're about 54.6% done with planting our annuals. We'll also get oodles of freebies soon that we'll use as fillers. Below are the neat blooms of the showy pink 'Funny Face' rose (Rosa) and the Oso Easy Cherry Pie (Rosa 'Meiboulka') that really catches the eye. More planting and clean-up on tap for tomorrow!