A Cool September Day

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The photo above, shared by Marsha Mood, is my new favorite shot of the fern & moss garden.  What an excellent photo!  That garden continues to look nice with a wide range of color and texture with so many ferns.  With a cool start to the day which warranted sweatshirts for some folks, the daytime temperatures only reached 75 degrees F and it was absolutely delightful out in the gardens.  The cottonwood (Populus deltoides) leaves continue to fall but that just adds to the “Autumn Ambiance” as we call it!  There were lots of visitors today and it’s exciting to see so many people enjoy visiting the gardens.  Our hours change today with closing now at 6 pm with waning daylight this late in the season.

Our grounds staff had a busy day today.  Cindy worked on tidying multiple areas, planting, plant sale preparations, mum unloading and watering.  Larry H. push mowed, unloaded mums and had lots more progress putting up lights in the Japanese garden for the Holiday Light Show (HLS).  Big John did more pressure washing, push mowed, watered containers, unloaded mums and had some other jobs as well.  I was able to place more plants for installation, tour the gardens and ultimately continue on preparations for our looming Fall Plant Sale (see our website for details!).

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flower of the Tiger Eyes® sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’) – but look at the two visitors!

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‘Morden Blush’ rose (Rosa) looking great today

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‘Wildwood Twist’ Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum) – perennial

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variegated obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) – perennial

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‘Pink Frost’ Japanese Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium fortunei) – perennial

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donkeytail spurge (Euphorbia myrsinites) – perennial

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Our volunteers were a great help today and we had an excellent turnout.  Ignore the “pea soup” color of our pond above and note the Chestnut House volunteers collecting leaves on the observation pier (yesterday) where they accumulate quickly!  I didn’t blog yesterday but we had another nice volunteer turnout that included Kathy, Eva, Marv B., the volunteers seen above, Cheryl D., Alan M., Dr. Gredler, Vicky, Steve, Bill O., Gena, Myrt, Nancy, Mary, Patty, Sutton, Stan, Kristin and many others.  Maury and his lovely wife Kay picked up our “loaner wagons” for the plant sale as well.

Today our volunteers worked on diverse projects.  Kathy and Eva weeded in multiple areas as did Vera, Marilyn and Suzie.  There was some minor planting going on as well.  Shirley H. focused on the Scottish garden and shifted to some adjacent clean-up projects.  Kay was in later to tidy up her portion of the shade garden and installed some plants too.  Betty was in to tend her berm and Dr. Gredler did his mowing rounds.  Dick P. and Rollie went on a road trip to pick up Fall Plant Sale plants.  Alan was a huge help in the yard getting ready for the sale.  Bob C. and Lloyd collected leaves while Dave and Steve repaired a brick path.  Larry O. worked on all sorts of projects while Dick H. ran to the dump many times.  Jim and Ron Y. continued their progress on making obelisks for the plant sale.  We also saw Gary, Urban and many others today.

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Kathy (left) and Eva

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Marilyn (left) and Suzie (note the “rabbit ears”)

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Lloyd (foreground) with Bob C. (on the pier)

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stiff goldenrod (Solidago rigida) – perennial

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‘Black Olive’ hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) – annual

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Easy Elegance® Sweet Fragrance rose (Rosa ‘BAInce’) – woody shrub

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Easy Elegance® My Girl rose (Rosa ‘BAIgirl’) – woody shrub

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Easy Elegance® Snowdrift rose (Rosa ‘BAIrift’) – woody shrub

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‘New York Improved’ eggplant (Solanum melongena) in the Heirloom Garden (old variety)

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The North Point garden was looking nice this morning