Another Day in Paradise

We had another super day at the gardens with more deliveries arriving for our Fall Plant Sale which starts next week (check out our website!).  We had more mums arrive and another delivery of excellent perennials which included lots of ornamental grasses.  Nice shot above featuring the fruits of white baneberry (Actaea pachypoda) photographed today.  The gardens still look exceptional although we keep seeing signs of early fall with some leaf colors changing and the 56 degree F start to the day felt like early October and not August!  It finally warmed up to about 70 degrees F as a high temperature.  We continue to primp the gardens but recent efforts also include not only the extensive preparations for the fall plant sale but the start of our Holiday Light Show (HLS) set-up.

Our grounds staff of Larry O., Larry H., Cindy and I all had a busy day.  Our summer helper, Trevor, finished up yesterday so our skeleton crew will be more “skeletonized” in the coming weeks.  We kept up with watering, unloading plants, tidying and Larry H. spent another full day putting up lights for the HLS in the Japanese garden.  While I didn’t get any photos of our volunteers today, we had another great turnout which included Kathy, Eva, Vera, Kay, Ron R., Ron Y., Lloyd, Bob K., Alan, Derrick, Vern, Jim, Steve, Dick H., Maury, Jenny, Gary, Dr. Gredler, Rollie and many more.  We also saw Maryam, Chris D., Becky, Kelli C. and others.  It was a super day!

fruiting cluster of Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) – perennial

‘Raiche Form’ wood aster (Aster divaricatus) – perennial

‘Evening Fragrance’ angel’s trumpet (Datura meteloides) – annual

Quick Fire® panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata ‘Bulk’) – woody plant

chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguineus) – annual (light but decadently chocolate scent!)

‘Fireworks’ fountain grass (Pennisetum x advena) – annual

goldenrods (Solidago sp.) are starting to bloom a bit early this year! – perennial

Royal Hawaiian® ‘Black Coral’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) – tropical

‘Coffee Cups’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) – tropical

‘Dracula’ cocskcomb (Celosia cristata) – annual

‘Ping Pong Lavender’ globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) – annual

‘Robustissima’ grape-leaf anemone (Anemone tomentosa) – perennial

cool shot in sunken garden – note the 5′ tall ‘Garland Orange’ marigolds (Tagetes erecta) to the lower right! – annual

‘Tie Dye’ Helen’s flower (Helenium autumnale) – perennial

‘Crego Mix’ Chinese aster (Callistephus chinensis) in the Heirloom Garden – annual

annual beds like the one seen above are still looking pretty good despite cooler than average temperatures in August