Major Influx Of Volunteers Today

Today was another beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the low 80 degrees F. We were pleasantly surprised to have such a strong volunteer turnout which included three brand new volunteers and another four our five that don't typically come during the week. Needless to say, we had a very productive day out in the gardens and the yard continues to empty of plants. The top photo is of one of our trial annuals. This is an annual verbena (Verbena hybrida 'Aztec Violet Wink') which should reach 10" or so in height and cover some nice real estate. This variety is also known for superior disease resistance. Directly above is the 'Rhythm & Blues' petunia (Petunia) that we've used extensively this year in containers and our blue-themed reception garden. To the right is one of our resident robins that takes advantage of the area above one of our security lights. This robin is in a spot that sees plenty of traffic but she didn't seem to mind having her picture taken! To the left is the 'Pink Octopus' bell flower (Campanula sp.) which looks quite striking with those dangling flowers. I'll offer a warning though that this variety has reseeded and created quite a colony.

Our planting crew out in the arboretum today included our Thursday veterans of Mary R., Marilyn, Suzy, Karen and Glenna. We then had the addition of Art, Cheryl, Karla, Donna, Terri and some newbies (Nicole, Zoe, Ann Marie). The gang did a great job putting in over 2,000 annuals this morning in the gazebo garden and near the shade garden. I barely kept a step ahead and was impressed with the "fruits of their labor"! Bev W. planted a nice variety of annuals in her garden section (sunken garden) and she was later helped by Ron W. after he finished working with some other Grumpies. Hal and Doris were in to tidy their area, add a couple plants and help water the yard. Karen M. was in to work in the Japanese garden and Stan came in to do the same later in the day. Grumpies included Del and Pat hauling and spreading shredded bark. Bob C., Ron B. and Ron Y. hauled compost thru most of the morning after taking down some tents with Ron. Dr. Gredler was in to mow and we also saw Maury (running errands), Dr. Yahr, Rose and many others. The three shots below showcase some of the planting work that was occuring this morning To the right is the 'Sundial Scarlet' moss rose (Portulaca) which is just one of the many selections looking nice in our 2012 Moss Rose Collection. The grounds staff was involved with helping coordinate volunteers, planting and plenty of watering. Larry ran irrigation most of the day, repaired an irrigation head and rotated sprinklers around the gardens. He also worked on some other tasks and helped John set-up our raised planter gardens. Big John did a lot of watering today which included watering all the containers, moving sprinklers around and addressing some very dry areas. John also worked on removing old mulch from a bed that we'll soon be planting in the North point garden. Janice did a great job keeping all of our planting volunteers going this morning. Activities go well beyond supervision and include collecting all the empty flats and containers and most importantly, making sure all the new plants are watered well after planting. Janice also did some spot watering, planted in the sunken garden and helped with some timely signage. Jenny did a great job matching up more labels with our "soon to be planted" selections including the varieties that we'll plant in the Smelly Garden this Saturday at the Volunteer Planting Work Day (8 am - 12 noon, plant freebies and donuts for helpers!). To the right is another one of our trial verbenas (Verbena hybrida). This is the variety 'Lascar Big Eye Red Rose' and its beauty and impact speaks for itself. To the left is the 'Lucky Flame Improved' lantana (Lantana camara) which shows a nice range of color gradations on the florets. I like lantanas for their durabilty in hot, dry situations. I worked on hauling more plants out in the gardens and barely kept ahead of our motivated planting team. I'm also pulling together plants for planting tomorrow and Saturday. As we were a bit thin on help at the end of the day, I watered as well. Tonight I give a "walk and talk" through the garden with the topic of Perennials (6:30 pm - 7:30 pm). To the right and directly below are the members of the Wisconsin Hosta Society that visited the gardens last night and had a neat leaf show/competition that was interesting to observe. These folks are darn serious about hostas and this organization has been very supportive of the gardens (financially as well). At the bottom is the "popcorn plant" (Cassia didymobotrya) which will be planted this Saturday in the Smelly Garden. The flowers on this tropical plant smell like burnt popcorn. This plant also has blue/green foliage and an impressive summer size over 7' tall!