Catherine the Great once said, "A gr
eat wind is blowing, and that either gives you imagination or a headache." I think today we had a little bit of both.
We actually had a very successful planting day with lots of staff and volunteer involvement. However, the consistent winds made watering a necessity despite the recent precipitation. It seems like we've had five straight days of winds which do create some clean-up and watering issues but the breeze also affects my ability to get out in the gardens with some timely herbicide spray. The top photo shows the Star of Persia ornamental onion (Allium christophii) peaking out in the gardens. I love this metallic lavender bloom sphere (umbel) and would count this amongst my favorites of the fall-planted ornamental onions. This species, when dry, holds form nicely in an arrangement (or even out in the gardens) and can even be spray painted....We had some serious planting going on in the reception garden tod
ay. This was the garden space that we had hoped to plant this past Saturday as part of the Volunteer Workday but we had to cancel due to rain. However, we do have Volunteer Workdays scheduled over the next three Saturdays (8 am until noon). Jenny and Kay sunk their teeth right in to planting that garden early this morning and were joined by some moms and their children (upper right) that were a big help as well. I believe there were five moms and each had one child. Dr. Yahr and Mary W. also helped. Bev and her granddaughter Moira (left) were also instrumental in the planting and later, both Big 
John and Pat helped with the planting too. Janice and Miriam started planting our moss rose (Portulaca sp.) collection this morning and were later joined by Marianne. This collection, in our demonstration area (near the arboretum), will feature over 50 varieties of moss roses (Portulaca sp.). Janice also had her afternoon volunteer crew in to plant some hot peppers (Capsicum sp.) Don (directly below) and Pearl C. planted a good portion of their garden area today and will return tomorrow morning to finish up. They did a nice job as usual and it was tough to keep ahead of them. We also saw Mary H. and her daughter maintaining their space as well. Grumpies included Del and Ron B. mulching and composting, Gary working on making new plant labels, Ron Y. working on various projects and Ron W. painting the gazebo. Dick P. and Dick H. worked on a couple projects as well and Rollie and Maury went on a road trip to pick up one of our memorial brick orders. Jim and Dave worked on some carpentry repairs and we later saw Vern as well. Stan worked in the Japanese garden as did Karen. We also saw Kelli, Jumbo Jim, and many others. To the right are the tall bloom spires of the fall-planted foxtail lily (Eremurus sp. 'White Beauty'). I find the foxtail lilies always engaging although we haven't had many perennialize very well. They are tricky to establish. The second photo down shows Dr. Yahr and Jenny planting this morning.
ay. This was the garden space that we had hoped to plant this past Saturday as part of the Volunteer Workday but we had to cancel due to rain. However, we do have Volunteer Workdays scheduled over the next three Saturdays (8 am until noon). Jenny and Kay sunk their teeth right in to planting that garden early this morning and were joined by some moms and their children (upper right) that were a big help as well. I believe there were five moms and each had one child. Dr. Yahr and Mary W. also helped. Bev and her granddaughter Moira (left) were also instrumental in the planting and later, both Big 
John and Pat helped with the planting too. Janice and Miriam started planting our moss rose (Portulaca sp.) collection this morning and were later joined by Marianne. This collection, in our demonstration area (near the arboretum), will feature over 50 varieties of moss roses (Portulaca sp.). Janice also had her afternoon volunteer crew in to plant some hot peppers (Capsicum sp.) Don (directly below) and Pearl C. planted a good portion of their garden area today and will return tomorrow morning to finish up. They did a nice job as usual and it was tough to keep ahead of them. We also saw Mary H. and her daughter maintaining their space as well. Grumpies included Del and Ron B. mulching and composting, Gary working on making new plant labels, Ron Y. working on various projects and Ron W. painting the gazebo. Dick P. and Dick H. worked on a couple projects as well and Rollie and Maury went on a road trip to pick up one of our memorial brick orders. Jim and Dave worked on some carpentry repairs and we later saw Vern as well. Stan worked in the Japanese garden as did Karen. We also saw Kelli, Jumbo Jim, and many others. To the right are the tall bloom spires of the fall-planted foxtail lily (Eremurus sp. 'White Beauty'). I find the foxtail lilies always engaging although we haven't had many perennialize very well. They are tricky to establish. The second photo down shows Dr. Yahr and Jenny planting this morning.
Above is Marv, who along with Terry, did a nice job rototilling, smoothing and preparing three large beds for our planting attention very shortly. The guys also prepared m
ore custom potting soil, pruned, watered and worked on myriad tasks. Marianne did a nice job weeding in the main entrance garden and put together another nice cutting display. She later helped with the moss rose (Portulaca) planting project with Janice. Janice bounced between the moss rose planting project and other duties at the Horticulture Center. Big John hauled some plants then went on our first of two plant runs (I went on the second trip). John, after his return, th
en moved on to composting and planting. Pat pushmowed, composted and helped get the reception garden planted. Larry worked on pushmowing, cleaning up the pump/fountain in the sunken garden, a donation pick up and some other tasks. To the right are the showy pink trumpets of a new dark-leaved beardtongue (Penstemon digitalis 'Pocahontas') which is an introduction from Intrinsic Perennial Gardens which was our perennial supplier for the Spring Plant Sale. Lynn planted a couple of these in the English cottage gar
den and they look great. This variety has distinctive pink flowers while other dark-leaf varieties like 'Husker's Red' and 'Dark Towers' are a whitish pink (still good varieties though!). To the left is a portion of the moss rose (Portulaca) collection that should be completely planted by tomorrow. To the right is the perennial sea kale (Crambe maritima) which has edible leaves and flowers. Here in our Scottish garden, the many specimens also offer a nice powder blue contribution. At the bottom are the showy chartreuse flowers of the commonly planted lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) which is a tough perennial for a wide range of conditions. At the bottom is the tumbleweed ornamental onion (Allium schubertii) which is somewhere around the size between a volleyball and basketball. Although marginally hardy for us, we plant these in October in "hot spots" that get lots of radiant heat. 
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