August Arrival

August arrived with sunshine and a warm day in the mid 80 degrees F.  It ended up being quite sticky this afternoon but it was nice to see a large turnout of visitors enjoying summer peak at the gardens.  Many of our beds, like the one seen above, have filled in nicely and are looking good.  August has always been a good month for us in terms of presentation although we’re starting to do more watering to augment some areas that are finally drying out after weeks of fairly heavy and consistent precipitation.  Our grounds staff of Cindy, Larry H., Janice and Trevor all had a busy day of weeding, mowing, mulching, watering and other duties.  I was able to apply herbicide along many of our paths as the weeds haven’t slowed down much this summer.  We had another great day.

‘Zahara Double Raspberry Ripple’ zinnia (Zinnia marylandica) – annual

peek-a-boo plant (Spilanthes oleracea) – annual

buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) – woody shrub

‘Summer Beauty’ ornamental onion (Allium sp.) – perennial

‘Neptune’s Net’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

Above are Eva (left) and Kathy ducking down and hiding in the formal garden (I think they were weeding…).  We had some great volunteer help today.  Bill O. was in for mowing.  Vicky O. was in to weed and tidy up her various assigned garden spaces.  Peg came in to work on labels and plant records.  Don and Pearl stopped by to tend their garden space at the far end of the shade garden.  Dale S. (“Mr. Moss”) came in to check on the moss gardens and is always a big help.  We also saw Art, Marlene, Mark S. and many others today.

Vicky O.

Pearl and Don

blackberry lily (Belamcanda chinensis) – perennial

‘Alumia Vanilla Cream’ marigold (Tagetes patula) – annual

Vermillionaire® firecracker plant (Cuphea hybrida) – annual

prairie blazing star (Liatris pycnostachya) – perennial

bloom of ‘Sibley’ winter squash (Cucurbita maxima) in the Heirloom Garden – annual

dill (Anethum graveolens) – annual

dahlia (Dahlia variabilis) mix in the Heirloom Garden – annual

‘Cosmic Orange’ sulphur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) – annual

‘Strawberry Fields’ globe amaranth (Gomphrena haageana) – annual

compass plant (Silphium laciniatum) – perennial