100,000 Yet To Go…

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I spent a good portion of the day in the yard; seen here in these first four photos.  We had some rain overnight and thankfully it was enough to keep everything damp on a day that ended up being pleasantly warm and about 80 degrees F.  The four shots are different groupings of plants to yet go in to the gardens and there are still some others yet to arrive.  This time of year involves lots of staging, preparation, matching labels, etc. for our 150,000 annuals.  We’ve already planted some good sized areas but have many yet to go here in June.  With bulb foliage fading, cottonwoods (Populus deltoides) dropping cotton (seeds) and the weeds going bonkers, we still have to have an aggressive planting schedule as we still have over 4 acres of open space to plant.

We had a nice turnout of volunteers mentioned below.  Our grounds staff kept busy as well.  Trevor and Nolan worked on removing ornamental onion (Allium) stems and foliage and spent the rest of the day cleaning up debris in the big pond that had accumulated down by the gazebo.  The guys do an excellent job.  Larry H. focused on path improvements along the primary path and did a nice job touching up a huge length of this main path by the arboretum.  Janice planted in the Heirloom Garden, refreshed the cutting display and worked with the Chestnut House volunteers.  Big John and Terry put up more elements in the Giant Aquarium, dug up a shrub, watered containers and really bounced between a lot of odd jobs.  I made a run to pick up plants and then spent the day in the yard sifting and sorting in preparation for our big Volunteer Work Day this Saturday, June 4th (8 am – 12 noon).

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I was so busy with organizing the yard today that I was remiss in photographing our wonderful volunteers.  I did catch Marv (above) who happened to drive by after tidying up his two moss areas.  Kathy, Eva, Kay, Nancy, Gena, Myrt and Patty were all involved in weeding and tidying in various areas.  Kristin and Stan had some work in the Japanese garden.  Jim and three RECAPPERS came later in the day for some projects as well.  Alan spent the day weeding in the sunken garden (much appreciated). Maury ran errands for us and Dave was in later to repair a rototiller.  Larry watered the yard and we had a full crew of volunteers from the Chestnut House.  We also saw Tina and many others today.

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the Giant Aquarium (above and below) is coming together nicely

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‘Amazone’ Jerusalem sage (Phlomis tuberosa) – perennial

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arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) – woody shrub

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‘Hakuro Nishiki’ dappled willow (Salix integra) – woody shrub

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‘Strawberry Blonde’ French marigold (Tagetes patula) – annual

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Decadence® ‘Dutch Chocolate’ false indigo (Baptisia hybrida) – perennial

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Decadence® ‘Lemon Meringue’ false indigo (Baptisia hybrida) – perennial

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climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris) starting to bloom – woody vine