Happy early 4th of July!  After a weekend of beautiful weather (and lots of garden visitors!), today started with some light rain but the sun came out quickly and the day warmed to 83 degrees F.  We had a solid turnout of both grounds staff and volunteers today as we get ready for a busy day tomorrow.  Visitation should be quite strong tomorrow and we are offering free admission for veterans and active military personnel (with ID). We haven’t had as much heat as I’d like to see and recent heavy rains and cool nights have created some issues.  However, our displays are filling in nicely and July will be a strong month for growth.  Nice shot above of Incrediball® smooth h ydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Abetwo’).

Larry O., Larry H., Bobby K., Trevor, Big John, Cindy and I were all here as grounds horticulturists today with a wide range of tasks to tackle.  Duties included shearing, pruning, mulching, tidying paths, fertilizing, planting and just about every other type of horticultural task.  We still have some planting to accomplish over the coming weeks including many perennials and shrubs.  We are also trying to catch up with our plant labeling and plant records.  July is a busy month with weeding also being a primary task!  The weeds have loved all the rain..as have the mosquitoes.

with a bit of rain, the ‘All Gold’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) looks like a waterfall in this location

‘Little Rocket’ ligularia (Ligularia stenocephala) – perennial

golden hop-tree (Ptelea trifoliata ‘Aurea’) – woody tree

water lilies (Nymphaea) are filling out nicely – perennial

Our volunteers had a busy day today.  Above are Eva (left) and Kathy weeding in the gazebo garden.  The ladies later moved to the reception garden which had plenty of action in terms of weeds.  Bob K. and Alan did a great job weeding (even in the rain) out near the arboretum.  Kay always does a nice job tidying up her portion of the shade garden.  Dennis (directly below) worked on the  North path.  Ron R. and Steve E. tidied up gravel paths and in many instances, skimmed muddy gravel and replaced these spots with fresh path gravel.  Rollie and Dr. Gredler finished their mowing rounds while Bill O. finished shearing the boxwoods (Buxus ‘Green Velvet’) at the pergola.  Stan and Kristin were out to tidy in the Japanese garden and Amy H. was nearby weeding as well.  Dave, Jim, Ron Y. and Steve J. all had carpentry projects and Maury ran some errands.  Gary worked on some new labels and Peg was in to continue working on our plant records and label preparations.  Barb C. was out working in the Giant Aquarium.  We also saw Mary Kay, Becky and many others today.

long distance photo of Dennis…not really sure what he is doing but those boulders lined up by his legs make it look like he has huge giant boots on!

observation pier in the distance with zig-zag bridge in the foreground

nice shot (above) in the Japanese garden

the plants at the North Point garden are filling in nicely

speckled maple (Acer pictum ssp. mono ‘Hoshiyadori’) – woody tree

variegated Corneliancherry dogwood (Cornus mas ‘Variegata’) – woody tree

‘Vienna’s Weeping’ European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) – woody tree

‘Astra Blue’ balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) – perennial

Black Lace® elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’) – woody shrub

‘Pink Cotton Candy’ wood betony (Stachys officinalis) – perennial

‘Leilani’ hybrid coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) – perennial

a stoic garden visitor

the Giant Aquarium is looking great by the way!

SunPatiens^® Compact Tropical Rose impatiens (Impatiens x hybrida ‘SAKIMP037’) – annual

‘Painted Lady’ sweet pea (Lathyrus odoratus) in the Heirloom Garden – annual

bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) – woody shrub (colonizing!)

We think we had almost 5″ of rain overnight and the gardens were a mess this morning as seen in some of these photos.  With so many gravel paths, heavy rainfall usually creates some washouts but we’ve never seen them this bad (directly below!)!  Most of our staff and volunteer efforts today revolved around tidying up the gardens.  There weren’t many large branches down but there were plenty of smaller twigs, leaves and plenty of mud!  Some hot, dry weather would help but it looks like more rain tomorrow and perhaps Saturday.  Well, at least we didn’t have to water today!

Our grounds staff of Cindy, Bobby K., Larry H., Larry O., Trevor and myself all had myriad duties and everyone was involved with tidying and some clean-up associated with the storms.  We put a hold on planting today due to the muddy beds but didn’t run out of jobs.

Volunteers like Ron R. above, had a busy day today.  Ron and Kathy P. started with some clean-up and Kathy then worked with Suzy and Marilyn on some weeding around the trial beds at the Horticulture Center.  Ron continued his clean-up efforts throughout the gardens.  Marv B. (directly below) worked on his moss areas and helped tidy some paths.  Bob K. did a whole bunch of weeding and cutting back bulb foliage in two locations.  Rollie and Dr. Gredler did their mowing rounds.  Jim H. brought three RECAPPERS to tidy up the Japanese garden.  Dick H. ran to the dump and helped with some other projects while Steve J., Ron Y., Jim and Vern worked on carpentry projects.  Peg worked on plant labels in the afternoon.  Ron P. was in to repair lights and we also saw Maury, Gary, Becky, Mark S., Bill F. and many others.

Marv B.

Bob K.

Suzy (left) and Marilyn

Summer Ruffle™ variegated Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus ‘Aarticus’) – woody shrub

variegated obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana ‘Variegata’) – perennial

Tiger Eyes® sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’) – woody shrub

‘Postman’s Pride’ stonecrop (Sedum hybrida) – perennial

‘All Gold’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) – perennial

‘Sun King’ golden Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata) – perennial

Giant Exhibition™ ‘Magma Scarlet’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual

‘Ghost’ hybrid painted fern (Athyrium hybrida) – perennial

Japanese aster (Kalimeris incisa) – perennial

one of our coneflower (Echinacea sp.) trial entries…..vivid color!

I don’t think we saw the sun today.  It did try to push out a bit in the afternoon but didn’t quite make it.  The morning was overcast and we knew rain was on the way for the afternoon.  The rain arrived earlier though at about 9 am and after two hours of moderate rain, there has been wind and drizzle the rest of the day.  We did get a lot of indoor projects accomplished after coming back to the Horticulture Center.  Volunteers included Kathy, Eva, Mary Kay, Vern and we also saw Stan, Kristin, Chuck, Maury, Dick H., Vern and Art.  Larry O. Larry H., Trevor, Bobby K. and I were here as grounds staff.  We welcome the rain to be sure and will continue planting and tidying tomorrow!  Directly above and below is our Coleus Collection which is filling in nicely.

‘XXL Veracruz’ dahlia (Dahlia hybrida) – annual

‘Merlin Blue Morn’ petunia (Petunia) – annual

butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) – perennial

striped mallow (Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’) – perennial

celtuce (Lactuca sativa) in the Heirloom Garden – annual

‘Cimmaron’ lettuce (Lactuca sativa) – annual

borage (Borago officinalis) – annual

‘Illumination Raspberry Improved’ hybrid foxglove (xDigiplexis) – annual

‘Tidal Wave’ katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) – woody tree

Japanese spikenard (Aralia cordata) – perennial

blooms of Adam’s needle (Yucca filiamentosa) – evergreen perennial

American elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) – woody shrub (above and below)

‘Sunny Delight’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) – perennial

Nice shot directly above of golden orixa (Orixa japonica ‘Aurea’) which is a relatively new, shade tolerant shrub that is starting to gain popularity in the Midwest.  We have a nice grouping of five of these near the arched bridge and they are thriving in this partly shaded location.  It was a cool start today with temperatures around 45 degrees F.  It warmed nicely with ample sunshine to about 77 degrees F and it was nice to see lots of visitors out in the gardens.  The rain last week helped carry over some moisture but we hope for a bit of rain later in the week and it sure looks promising.  We had a great crew of grounds staff and volunteers working on many general gardening projects.  Big John, Larry H., Janice, Trevor and I represented the grounds staff and we had Kathy, Eva, Firefighter Cathy, Elaine, Jenny, Bill, Maury, Gary, Steve J. and many others on hand as volunteers.  We still have some planting to finish and the weeding continues in earnest!  It was another great day out in the gardens.

the fern & moss garden (above) is looking great right now

golden sedge (Carex elata ‘Bowles’ Golden’ ) – perennial

a sunken treasure chest (made by Vern) is a new feature in our Giant Aquarium which interprets the story Commotion in the Ocean (Miles Andreae)

note that our aquarium elements echo the story line…

golden meadowsweet (Filipendula ulmaria) – perennial

reliable, old-fashioned ‘Palace Purple’ coral bells (Heuchera)  – perennial

cool shot in the Scottish garden with a big patch of yellow fumitory (Corydalis lutea) – perennial

breadseed poppies (Papaver somniferum) seen above and below are peaking right now – annuals (note bees above!)

‘Ringsabell Mulberry Rose’ hybrid bellflower (Campanula hybrida) – perennial

purple poppy mallow or wine cups (Callirhoe involucrata) – perennial

Snowflake™ oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Brido’) – woody shrub

interesting flower (1″ diameter) of ‘Golf Beauty’ drumstick flower (Craspedia globosa) – annual

The scent of these royal lilies (Lilium regale ‘Album’)  (seen above in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden) was intoxicating on this sunny and cool summer day.  With ample moisture last week, watering hasn’t been as time consuming as colder weather has allowed soil dampness to persist nicely.  Hotter days will be important very soon though for all of our heat loving plants.  It was nice to be back in action after a successful and enjoyable trip out to Hamilton, Ontario for the American Public Garden Association Conference last week.  I was able to tour the gardens (everything looked great) and am catching up to speed in regards to our late June planting and maintenance initiatives.  Other grounds staff included Larry O., Cindy, Big John, Larry H. and Trevor. Everyone had a wide range of tasks to accomplish and did a great job continuing our momentum out in the gardens.

blooms on ‘Blue Sunrise’ perennial geranium (Geranium hybrida) – perennial

Crimean sage (Phlomis taurica) – perennial

‘Overdam’ feather reed grass (Calamagrostis x acutiflora) – perennial

‘Little Peach’ lewisia (Lewisia longipetala) – perennial

‘Zebra Stripes’ plantain lily (Hosta) – perennial

While unseasonably cool at 70 degrees F for a high today, it was sure great “working weather”!  Above is Mary Kay preparing for a youth project.  She was later joined by more of our education volunteers. We had a strong volunteer turnout for the grounds today.  Dr. Gredler and Rollie took care of their mowing duties.  Lloyd and Derrick worked on some weeding and tidying while Derrick also helped Dennis and Garrett with our boulder wall project on the North path.  Bob K. did a bed preparation project near the Horticulture Center.  Kathy and Eva weeded in multiple areas. Kay was in to tidy up her area and both Kristin and Stan did plenty of work in the Japanese garden.  Marv worked on both of his moss areas. Peg was in to work on plant records and labeling duties and Gary worked on label production earlier in the day.  Maury ran errands for us while Ron P. continued repairing lights for the Holiday Light Show (HLS).  Steve J. helped with various projects and was alongside the carpenters of Ron Y., Vern, Dave and Jim.  Dick H. had some jobs and we also saw Becky, Mark S., Polly and many others today.  Our Home Garden Tour Committee (Barb, Sue, Carol, Cora, Janet, Becky, Hayley and me) met to discuss the exciting and upcoming 2017 Home Garden Tour (July 15th). Tickets ($10 in advance) are on sale now at RBG or K&W Greenery!

Vern (left) and Jim bringing back a bench for repair

Eva (red), Kathy (blue) and Big John in the background

“Mossy Marv” tidying up one of his two large sections of moss – looking good! (the moss)

Becky D. putting new ink in our engraved bench letters – awesome job!

Dick H. (left) and Dennis

Garrett (left) and Dennis

nice lighting coming through an Emperor I® Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Wolff’) – woody tree

view looking upwards in to a ‘Goshiki’ variegated zelkova (Zelkova serrata) – woody tree

‘Young Lady’ smokebush (Cotinus coggygria) – large shrub

yellow meadow rue (Thalictrum flavum subsp. glaucum) – perennial

field scabious (Knautia arvensis) – perennial

‘Wild Horses’ coneflower (Echinacea hybrida) – perennial

blooms of golden Southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides ‘Aurea’) – woody tree

opening bloom of Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) – woody tree

blooms of purple catalpa (Catalpa x erubescens ‘Purpurea’) – woody tree