Cloudy and Muggy

Nice shot above of ‘Supreme Cantaloupe’ coneflower (Echinacea sp.) seen near the Heirloom Garden this morning.  Our summer blooming flowers are really hitting stride right now and recent heat, coupled with more than adequate moisture, has everything growing pretty well this week (including the mosquito population).  More rain is predicted throughout the week but our music event in the gazebo garden should be dry this evening!  The morning was actually quite cool and pleasant with humidity setting in after the lunch hour with overcast skies most of the day.  We had some great volunteer help today and our grounds staff accomplished a wide range of projects.  We had a bus tour from Cedarburg, WI today and they seemed to enjoy the gardens.  In fact, we had a lot of visitors out in the gardens throughout the day which is always nice to see!

 

The grounds staff accomplished a lot today and it was nice that the only watering needs were some of our containers and the yard plants!  Larry H. worked on mulching, watering, weeding, path repair, re-graveling and tidying up the gazebo garden for the event tonight.  Trevor push mowed and took care of watering all of our containers.  Big John also push mowed and worked on shearing shrubs, major pruning, securing our large bananas and other tasks.  I was able to get outside for quite a few tasks including some lawn fertilizing.  It was a busy day!

 

I didn’t get any photos of volunteers today but we sure had some good ones.  Kathy and Eva worked on some planting in the gazebo garden then shifted to pinching back our MANY coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) plants as well as significant weeding.  Vicky and Steve were in for some serious weeding and planted along the “scented wall”.  Vern worked on some painting and carpentry projects while Bill O. did some mowing and repairs in the Horticulture Center with Dave K.  We also saw Jim W., Tina B., Chuck S., Cheryl D., Dave B. and many others today.

‘Butterfly Kisses’ compact purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – perennial

‘Milkshake’ double white coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) – perennial

one of the many shades (mix) of coneflower for the variety ‘Cheyenne Spirit’ (Echinacea hybrida) – perennial

‘Annabelle’ smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) – woody shrub

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

‘Delft Lace’ false spirea (Astilbe hybrida) – perennial

‘Fubuki’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) – perennial

‘Purpurkerze’ false spirea (Astilbe chinensis) – perennial

‘Sunburst’ false sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) – perennial

‘Frosted Explosion’ annual switchgrass (Panicum elegans) with ‘Profusion Orange’ zinnia (Zinnia hybrida) – both annuals

rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) – perennial

the North Point garden as seen this morning

the Hummingbird Haven theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden

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

‘Prairie Sun’ gloriosa daisy (Rudbeckia hirta) – annual

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

the corner planting near the “Biota” sculpture is looking great (nice job Hal and Doris!)

exquisite bloom of eggplant (Solanum melongena) – annual