Warm & Muggy (Day 3)

It was another warm and muggy day although I don't think it go over 70 degrees F. It looks like we missed the chance of more rain and may not see it until next week. We had some overnight drizzle but I don't believe it amounted to much. As usual, it was a busy Friday out in the gardens. I was able to get out and apply some herbicide in some of the "weedy jungle" areas and while we do prefer manual removal for our weeds, we simply don't have enough hands to keep up with 20 acres. I'm the only one who applies herbicides and feel comfortable using this method as needed. I had my camera in my pocket all day so was able to catch some stunning plants today like top photo of the perennial flax (Linum perenne) in the herb garden and directly above is the white columbine meadow rue (Thalictrum aquilegifolium 'Alba') in the sunken garden. To the left is another columbine (Aquilegia sp., unknown variety) in the woodland walk garden and I do appreciate breeding efforts that make the flowers face upwards for full viewing effect! To the right is dame's rocket (Hesperis matronalis) which is frequently mistaken for a native woodland phlox or garden phlox. This reseeding perennial, while native to Eurasia, has been in North America since the 1600s. This extremely fragrant plant seeds itself with abandon (not as bad as garlic mustard though...) and can be seen along many woodland edges, roadsides, etc. We remove it when we see it but do smell the sweet flowers before we discard it! To the left is one of my favorite grasses for a "mid height blue look". This is the blue oat grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens 'Blue Sapphire') that is really a nice, textural clumper for full sun.

Marv and Terry worked together on many projects today. The guys first transplanted a small, upright spruce (Picea abies 'Cupressina') that needed to be relocated because of some fence re-routing that will occur shortly. The guys also watered in all of our new trees and spent a good portion of the day continuing to clear and level the parking lot islands. I'm looking forward to the end result with our improvments in those islands and continue to be surprised by how many plants we need to remove or relocate before we can proceed. Janice worked on plant sale preparations, weeding and other tasks. She has organized the layout of the plant sale as we'll need to be ready for the rapid influx of plants arriving as early as next Monday. Pat came in to continue his painting efforts on the porch overlooking the English cottage garden. We also saw Big John and Little Jerry today. Marianne came in to set up her cutting display and set-up the compost sale details for tomorrow (thanks Marianne!). To the right is the colorful spring foliage of the tricolor European beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Roseo-Marginata'). I love the pink highlights on the leaves which look pretty good until very late in the season when they fade or show some minor scorching. We positioned our specimen in afternoon shade to maximize the duration of the most vivid foliage. To the left is the white bloom cluster of my Twisty Baby contorted black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia 'Lace Lady') at home. The flowers are so fragrant! You'll see black locust trees everywhere blooming over the next two weeks or so. Try to get a whiff of the blossoms! This variety is known for an interesting, contorted form and the two we have at the gardens (English cottage garden and Japanese garden) look nice too.

We also were fortunate to have Kay here weeding primarily in what we call the "Gredler berm". This large bed is near the gazebo and has always been a problem area for weeds. Kay did a nice job in there and will finish it up with her next visit. Lynn S. was in to tend the English cottage garden and we saw Mary H. and her daughter maintaining their space by the shade garden. Chris G. was in to tidy up the herb garden and you can see her in the lower left of the bottommost photo. She's supervising the Nature's Touch guys with their flagstone path project and I'm sure kept an eye on the proceedings. To the right is the early growth (pre-blooms) of the variegated feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Overdam') in Magda's garden space. I like the look of this variety although there are many others as well. Directly below are the showy pink flowers of the 'Haaga' rhododendron (Rhododendron hybrida). This variety is bone hardy and I'll say that this specimen is having its "breakout year" as I've never seen it look better!