More Signs of Spring

It was a cool, sunny day out in the gardens with more evidence of color here and there.  The hellebores (Helleborus sp.) are opening up nicely as seen with the variety 'Mellow Yellow' above and some selections below.  Spring bulbs continue to emerge although there is also evidence of significant deer and rabbit damage on particularly our tulips (Tulipa).  We transition to admission based entry this Friday, April 1st so we are getting everything tidied up for our spring visitors.  While we still have a few larger cords and elements from the Holiday Light Show (HLS) to collect, we are mostly done with that event until later this upcoming summer when we begin testing lights again and starting the set-up all over....Next week looks chilly but that's not unusual for April.

 'Royal Heritage Strain' helleborus (Helleborus) - above and below

We had a huge crew of volunteers at the gardens today.  Terry (above) worked with Marv on hauling back benches for Gene to sand and re-stain.  Terry worked on trimming back roses as we assess our losses which were surprising after such a mild winter.  We have a new rose donation coming in this spring which will infill this garden in a very colorful way.  Kay helped process handouts and plant sale labels in the office while Jenny continued preparing and organizing labels for our incoming annuals.  Gary worked on labels for our future Heirloom Garden.  Lloyd, Bob C. and Kevin C. worked on mulching the main parking lot islands.  Alan M. worked on tidying the sunken garden while Kathy and Eva (seen below, Eva to the right) bounced between a couple different areas for tidying.  Vern and Ron Y. worked on carpentry projects while Dr. Gredler accomplished more painting.  Maury and Dick H. hauled back our Santa houses (see below) and had some other projects as well.  Jim H. worked on more clean-up in the Japanese garden. We also saw Rollie, Mary W., Maryam, Terri N., Kris K., Roman, Chuck S. and many others today.  Larry H. worked on multiple gardening projects while Janice focused on the Spring Plant Sale.

 Santa's workshop and the elf house have been loaded for storage

 we're using more of the signs above to let people know what's going on

 'Carsten's Wintergold' mugo pine (Pinus mugo)

 reticulated irises (Iris reticulata)

 'Goldheart' bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis) is emerging nicely

Today I was checking on our orders for the plantings in our Hummingbird Haven theme this year and am excited about the wide range of plants that will be featured.  I included two of them here as I think they'll also be quite showy for our visitors too.  Above is 'Red Neck Girl' forsythia sage (Salvia madrensis) which will get well over 5' tall!  Below is lion's tail (Leonotus leonurus) which is a beautiful orange summer bloomer.  Both of these will be annuals for us and we also have another 50-60 selections for that garden featuring trumpet shaped blooms for our area hummingbirds to enjoy.

lion's tail (Leonotus leonurus) - annual