What gives!? We sure could use some rain. With lawns turning brown around town and temperatures in the 90 degrees F, it sure seems like August out there! Needles
s to say, we spent a lot of time watering out in the gardens today and had all of our hoses in use throughout the day. The top photo shows the start of purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) around the gardens which we normally don't see blooming until July. I don't mind the early color though. Directly above are the engaging and colorful blooms of spiderwort (Tradescantia sp.). I'm not sure which variety this is and while I like the blooms of this perennial, I'm not a fan of how readily it reseeds around the gardens. There are some nice selections and varieties out there though. As our spiderworts wane in later summer, we frequently cut them to the ground to get some fresh new growth and occasionally, some new blooms. To the right is another of o
ur trial lobelias (Lobelia hybrida 'Hot Springs Lavender Pink') filling out nicely. Lobelias prefer the cooler portion of the spring and early summer but many varieties are now being developed for better heat tolerance and extended bloom power. To the left is the showy bloom of the Double Pink Knock Out rose (Rosa 'Radtkopink').We had some great volunteer help today. Dr. Gredler was in for his Friday mowing rounds and always does a nice job keeping up with the majority of our roughly 6 acres of turf. Kay came in and started the mornin
g with some weeding and warmed up to some major perennial planting in her portion of the shade garden. She installed about 50 new perennials in her garden section and these should fill in very nicely. Bill O. came in to mow the arboretum and he also (thankfully) took on the task of watering all of the plants still in the yard. Judy L. arrived in the afternoon with her granddaughter (Kathryn?) and we put the two ladies in the shade for some planting of impatiens. We also saw Dr. Yahr, Big John, Dick H. and many others. To the right are the blooms of the 'Sundial Cream' moss rose (Portulaca). I like the subtle color of this variety and can't stress enough how colorful our 2012 Moss Rose Collection has become. The best time to view the collection is in the morning as you'll catch the blooms in full "openness"! Directly below are the showy (and long-lasting) blooms of masterwort (Astrantia major) which I feel is an unfortunately underutilized perennial. The next shot down shows the colorful leaf of the 'Haight Ashbury' annual hibiscus (Hibiscus acetosella). Each leaf is different with some speckled pink, streaked pink, totally pink, etc. This annual gets about 3' tall and is quite showy for the foliage. We use it every year at RBG. 
Directly above is the east slope of the entrance garden which is our our largest annual bed. This was planted last Saturday as part of the Volunteer Planting Work Day
. We have another work day tomorrow too (8 am - 12 noon) and are looking to plant the Smelly Garden. This garden theme is the second year of this collection in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. Next year, Kris K. has a different theme in mind... We also have some other areas that we may shift to for additional planting and always have some back-up areas for weeding. To the right is the interesting fruiting structure of the morningstar sedge (Carex grayi) which is also called the bur sedge. Reaching up to 3' tall, this sedge can tolerate quite a bit of sun (or shade) but does like the moisture.T
he grounds staff had a full day and the heat became brutal right after lunch. Marv ran irrigation zones starting early in the morning, watered trees and moved sprinklers around all day. This took up most of his time but he finished preparing our beds in the Smelly Garden for planting as well. Janice also did significant watering and weeding today. She spent quite a bit of time watering the old-fashioned way with hose and watering wand. Despite about 60% of the gardens having automated irrigation, the other 40% is showing severe signs of thirst. Marianne also had her share of watering and weeding as well as he
r cutting display. Jenny watered, worked on labels and hauled plants (with Marianne and Janice) for the planting day tomorrow. Everyone looked a bit haggard at the end of the day but they all did well. We're barely keeping up with the watering and a good dose of rain would really be nice. I can't help but imagine he other tasks we could be accomplishing if we weren't all watering! To the right is a shot in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. Note the flower stalks of the lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina). Directly below is a view from below of the speckled lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia 'Variegata'). At the bottom is the start of the summer blooms for the 'Blue Velvet' St. John's wort shrub. This selection also has nice, blue foliage and superior drought tolerance.
he grounds staff had a full day and the heat became brutal right after lunch. Marv ran irrigation zones starting early in the morning, watered trees and moved sprinklers around all day. This took up most of his time but he finished preparing our beds in the Smelly Garden for planting as well. Janice also did significant watering and weeding today. She spent quite a bit of time watering the old-fashioned way with hose and watering wand. Despite about 60% of the gardens having automated irrigation, the other 40% is showing severe signs of thirst. Marianne also had her share of watering and weeding as well as he
r cutting display. Jenny watered, worked on labels and hauled plants (with Marianne and Janice) for the planting day tomorrow. Everyone looked a bit haggard at the end of the day but they all did well. We're barely keeping up with the watering and a good dose of rain would really be nice. I can't help but imagine he other tasks we could be accomplishing if we weren't all watering! To the right is a shot in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. Note the flower stalks of the lamb's ears (Stachys byzantina). Directly below is a view from below of the speckled lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia 'Variegata'). At the bottom is the start of the summer blooms for the 'Blue Velvet' St. John's wort shrub. This selection also has nice, blue foliage and superior drought tolerance. 
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