Light Frost Arrives!

This morning revealed frost on windshields around town and our tropicals at the gardens were “tinged” a bit with temperatures hovering near that 32 degrees F last night.  Nice shot above of a red maple (Acer rubrum) starting to get some nice late season color. It looks like the next significant frost will be this Saturday night with the predicted low temperature around 27 degrees F.  That should finish things off for the season. We’ve already removed about 80% of our annuals and continue with removals as we have the time and labor to do so!  Today was a very productive day in that regard although the grounds staff of Cindy, Larry H., Larry O., Bobby K. and myself focused mostly on our Holiday Light Show (HLS) duties although there was some mowing and tidying happening as well!

fall color of Lavender Twist® redbud (Cercis canadensis ‘Covey’) above – woody tree

spectacular fall color of ‘Aconitifolium’ fullmoon maple (Acer japonicum) – woody tree

fall color of Korean maple (Acer pseudosieboldianum) – woody tree

‘St. Louis’ Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) – perennial

fall color of ‘Popcorn’ doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. plicatum) – woody shrub

this batch of ‘Cimmaron’ lettuce (Lactuca) is still going strong in the Heirloom Garden – annual

We had a strong volunteer turnout today and it’s likely I’ll forget some folks as there was a lot of action on this beautiful, late season day. Above are Dave (standing), Steve and Jim (foreground) assembling, placing and leveling a new memorial bench along the North path.  The guys also had indoor jobs along with Vern and Ron Y.  Ron P. continued to repair lights for the HLS.  Those involved with plant removals and cutting back perennials today included Hal, Doris, Alan, Bob K., Vera, Marleen, Kathy, Eva and Cheryl.  Dr. Gredler and Bill were out mowing while Dick H. made five trips to the dump with larger debris.  We also saw Mark S. and many others today.

Vera, Kathy and Eva (left to right)

Marleen (above) with monkshood

Bob K. and Alan M. (background) tearing out their third berm!

our Education Volunteers were busy today and these students had a blast on the giant Adirondack chair

Cindy B. (above) continues to make great progress placing our half gallon milk jug luminaries (all 2,500 of them…) for the HLS

‘Solar Eclipse’ foamy bells (xHeucherella) – perennial

these ‘Firecracker’ variegated fuchsias (Fuchsia triphylla) made it through the light frost – annual

fall color on Beaver Creek® witch alder (Fothergilla gardenii ‘KLMtwo’) – shrub

‘Running Tapestry’ foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia) with leaf from State Street® Miyabe maple (Acer miyabei ‘Morton’)

Golden Raindrops® crabapple (Malus transitoria ‘Schmidtcutleaf’) – woody tree