Muggy Day

I viewed today in two ways.  It became pretty tough to work out in the muggy, humid, 90 degree F day but that heat should really get our summer annuals and tropicals moving along.  The water lilies (Nymphaea) seen above are starting to bloom in the koi pond too.  Despite the expected heat today, we had a full crew of volunteers coming and going all day and the grounds crew stoically dealt with a wide range of issues.  We continue to plant although watering became vital today as some areas are getting quite dry.  We hope to get some rain in the coming days but I also have volunteers coming in to plant over the next four days and hope for some nice “windows of opportunity”.  Directly below are more photos from today.
 ‘Misty Lace’ hybrid goatsbeard (Aruncus hybrida) – perennial
 American smokebush (Cotinus obovatus) – fall color is a nice orange
 the Koi thought it was snack time although they had already been fed!
 “golden garlic” or lily leek (Allium moly) – perennial
‘Blue Moon’ wisteria (Wisteria macrostachya) at peak

Although we all made fun of Bob K. today for his “Easter bonnet” hat (seen above), he was a huge help with watering the entire yard.  Despite the fact that many plants have gone out in the gardens, it still takes a couple hours to get through the watering and he did a nice job.  I wasn’t able to photograph all the volunteers today but we had a lot of gardening going on as well as other tasks.  Thanks to Bob K., Eva, Kathy, Kay, Vicky, Roy, Marv, Vern, Dr. Gredler, Karen M., Mary, Gena, Myrt, Betty, Patty, Mary H., Kathy #2, Jan, Alan, Lois, Janice and all the Chestnut House volunteers.  We also saw Kris K., new intern Molly, Maury (errands), Dick H., Dave, Bill O. and many others today.  I’ve been impressed with the great volunteer turnouts daily this time of  year and while we still have lots to plant and weeds to address, we’re making progress every day!

The grounds staff all had a wide range of tasks with everyone also involved with watering.  Big John and Terry set up sprinklers, ran irrigation, rototilled, planted shrubs, hauled plants and shifted between many other projects.  Cindy focused her weeding and planting efforts in the Smelly Garden theme in the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children’s Garden and had some watering as well.  Cheryl had watering, weeding and clearing of significant bulb foliage.  I was able to run out three more large loads of plants out in preparation for some installation tomorrow.  It was sticky out there but productive!

 Eva (left) and Kathy
 Mary (left) and Kathy
 Betty hoeing up cottonwood (Populus deltoides) seedlings!
 Jan headed to the Scottish garden
 Marv primping the moss island
 Victoria (pink) and her mom
 Janice (with hat) and the Chestnut House volunteers
 Vicky multi-tasking
 Kay doing some serious planting
 Vern
Roy
From left to right..Mary (with the really white shoes), Nancy, Myrt, Gena and Patty
 Snow Pavement rose (Rosa ‘Schneekoppe’)
 ‘Scarlet Pavement’ rose (Rosa)
 ‘Wild Russian’ delphinium (Delphinum x elatum) – perennial
variegated Corneliancherry dogwood (Cornus mas ‘Variegata’)