Wonderful Wednesday

It was another gorgeous day out in the gardens. It was one of our five scheduled FREE days and we saw an excellent crowd of visitors enjoying the gardens. The views (like that above in the gazebo garden) continue to look gorgeous and our seasonal collections are filling in nicely with all of the recent heat. I can look back to my seed ordering in January and realize the culmination of selecting, ordering, picking up, planting and encouraging so many of our plants has reached the peak time for visitors to enjoy the summer color! The weather was not unbearably warm (84 degrees F in the afternoon) and we still have nice cool mornings. Our grounds staff was very productive today as were our many volunteers. All the photos in this blog were taken today.

Plectranthus argentatus peaking out of 'Lacinato' kale (Brassica oleracea) - both annuals

'Golden Torch' cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) - perennial

'Sunshine Daydream' double sunflower (Helianthus x multiflorus) - perennial

'Gnash Rambler' coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) - annual

'Arizona Sun' blanket flower (Gaillardia aristata) - perennial

Our volunteer crew was excellent today. Kathy (above) and Eva (below) worked in about three different areas and focused on some serious weeding. While the first wave of weeds was decimated over the last couple of months, we continue to comb through every garden area and do our best to hold the weed population in check. These ladies are excellent at what they do! Kay was in for a good portion of the day as well for weeding, tidying and a significant planting project just outside the English cottage garden. She worked along a narrow border that has needed help for years and it looks fabulous. The second photo down shows Marleen (left) and Magda working in their assigned garden space. These ladies are excellent gardeners although they get a bit chatty at times....beautiful smiles though! Pat C. came in for label repair and inventory. She is quite organized which is a huge help in regards to our plant records and labels! The third photo down shows the Chestnut House volunteers working with Janice at the Horticulture Center for yard projects and tending their raised planters. The fourth photo down shows our afternoon crew of (left to right) Patti, Gena, Mary and Myrt. The ladies also weeded with a heavy focus on the woodland glen, Palmer Drive peony bed and elsewhere. Dr. Gredler came in for some afternoon mowing and we also saw Joe M. (watering), Marsha M. (photography) and many others!

The grounds staff kept busy today and made lots of positive comments about the number of visitors out in the gardens - always great news! Cheryl did some tidying in the rose garden crescents to start the day and transitioned to more weeding and tidying in and around the Japanese garden. Cindy did some planting but spent the bulk of her time keeping the Smelly Garden theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden looking excellent. Nolan worked on weed whipping and fertilizing while Trevor worked on fertilizing and gravel path upgrades. Terry and Big John pruned a lot more boxwoods (Buxus) and moved on to watering projects and other duties. I was able to place plants for installation, collect some debris, install plant signs and catch up on desk work. Another excellent day during peak garden season!