Today was a cold start again and the bees took some time to warm up and get moving. The one above is on the 'Mesa Yellow' blanket flower (Gaillardia x grandiflora) just waiting to warm up and continue collecting pollen. I sure hope frost is weeks away but the cooling trend looks to continue well in to next week too. It was another gorgeous day with a mixture of sun and clouds but also the perfect gardening temperature of 68 degrees F! We had a productive day outside but also had a reminder of the looming Holiday Lights Show preparations with a delivery this morning of 25,000 LED twinkle lights to be added to the show this year. We had a nice turnout of volunteers and were able to accomplish many tasks throughout the day. Below are some additional photos from today.
'Sky Rocket' variegated fountain grass (Pennisetum x advena) looking nice in the reception garden - annual
the red wall theme has shrugged off the cold evenings (so far!)
Rozanne geranium (Geranium hybrida 'Gerwat') - perennial
'Moonshine' lungwort (Pulmonaria sp.) - perennial
We did have a solid corps of volunteers help out today. Eva (above) and Kathy (below) continued weeding and purging unsightly annuals from the reception and sunken gardens respectively. Kay focused her efforts on tidying up the pink themed areas around the terrace garden behind the Parker Education Center. The ladies did a great job. Dr. Gredler was in for mowing and our afternoon crew of Gena, Myrt and Mary did an excellent job planting 40+ new daylilies (Hemerocallis) in the Potter Daylily Collection. Bob K. did some preliminary work for a project in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden and we saw Dr. Yahr, Dick P. and many others today as well.
This time of year provides countless tasks and our grounds staff dove right in early this morning. Cindy worked on hauling mums to the Parker Education Center (still for sale at $7 each, bulbs for sale inside too!). She also worked on mum planting in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden along with some additional clean-up. Cheryl continued tidying in the gazebo garden and English cottage garden. She also had some major watering duties in and around our holding yard. Big John and Terry picked up some donations today and worked together on many projects such as hauling in more lights for testing, preparing a greenhouse for winter storage of tropicals, etc. The guys also ran irrigation, set up strategic sprinklers and checked all the containers for watering needs. I had a brief presentation and continue to work on post plant sale duties and pre Holiday Lights Show tasks. Below are additional photos from this morning out in the gardens.
Endless Summer hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailmer') - woody shrub (can be blue with more acidification of the soil...)
Korean feather reed grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha) - perennial
morning star sedge (Carex grayi) - perennial
'Brass Lantern' foamy bells (xHeucherella) - perennial
'The Giant' Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale) - perennial
the always photogenic arched bridge this morning
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