Another Super Duper Day

We had another great day out in the gardens although we had some drizzle in the morning with a burst of heavy rain later in the afternoon.  The gardens continue to see lots of visitors enjoying peak summer color.  Above is a portion of one of our many seasonal beds positioned throughout the gardens.  The grass is Vertigo® elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum ‘Tift 8’) with ‘Prairie Sun’ gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) in the foreground.   Watering hasn’t been a huge challenge recently so we’ve been able to focus on other improvement projects.  It was a skeleton crew today for grounds with Larry O., Trevor and myself.  We had a wide range of projects but also the assistance of lots of great volunteers.

‘Spring Green’ cockscomb (Celosia cristata) – annual

‘Red Head’ perennial fountain grass (Pennisetum alopecuroides)

‘Blushing Bride’ Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) – woody shrub

‘Citrus Lemon Yellow’ signet marigold (Tagetes tenuifolia) – annual

‘Tardiva’ panicled hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) – woody shrub

‘Sleepy Hollow’ daylily (Hemerocallis) – perennial

My Monet® weigela (Weigela florida ‘Verweig’) – woody shrub

Japanese painted fern (Athyirum niponicum var. pictum) – perennial

Dr. Tom seen last night (Wed.) tidying up the Heirloom Garden

Larry O. (left) and Dick H.

We had some great volunteer help today which is, of course, typical of every day at the gardens!  Above are Kathy (left) and Marilyn having way too much fun.  The ladies weeded in a couple of areas and did a great job tidying up the woodland glen garden.  Alan and Bob (below) worked on weeding our outer fence line.  Derrick (further below) continued re-setting some of the bricks in the sunken garden and Dick P. was out placing memorial bricks.  Dr. Gredler and Rollie did their mowing rounds and Dick H. helped Larry O. out (two photos above) bringing back our raised beds from the other building and hauling debris to the dump.  Jim, Dave, Steve and Ron Y. worked on various carpentry projects while Ron P. continues to repair lights for the Holiday Light Show (HLS) which we will start setting up within the next month or so.  We also saw Chuck, Tom K., El, Bill O. and many others today.

Alan (above)

Bob K. (above)

Derrick (the Australian) – G’day mate!

sunken garden composition

cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) – annual

‘Royal Blue Ensign’ dwarf morning glory (Convolvulus tricolor) – annual

‘Hot Biscuits’ amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus) – annual

‘Queen Red Lime’ zinnia (Zinnia elegans) – annual

Phoenix™ Red beardtongue (Penstemon hybrida) – annual

resurrection lilies (Lycoris squamigera) continues to amaze! – perennial

underside of ‘Thailand Giant’ elephant ear (Colocasia gigantea) – tropical