October Color Abounds!

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Despite the cool start to the day at 52 degrees F, it warmed up nicely to about 73 degrees F with blue skies.  We had some light rain over the weekend so not much needed watering aside from our containers.  The color out in the October garden is still quite exceptional and we’ll keep it going until hard frost arrives.  Nice shot above in the reception garden this morning.  We had an excellent turnout of volunteers and our grounds crew continues to accomplish a lot in one day!

Cindy worked on watering and tidying duties most of the day and has a knack for the perpetuation of color as long as possible in any garden area.  Larry O. also watered, processed Holiday Light Show (HLS) lights and had myriad other tasks throughout the day.  Big John and Terry hauled and staged HLS lights for testing/use and headed out to start putting up more lights throughout the gardens.  We target areas that are off the beaten path for now that are not in conflict with current visitation and our last four weddings of the season.  Bobby K. continued progress on the new power panel and has ideas for more improvements.  I marked more locations for trees and shrubs to be planted and am actually working on orders for 2017!

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‘Parfum d’Ethiopia’ white wormwood (Artemisia hybrida) – tender perennial

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variegated Japanese silver grass (Miscanthus sinensis ‘Variegatus’) – perennial

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

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uncommonly good fall color on a tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) – woody shrub

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‘October Skies’ aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius) – perennial

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‘October Skies’ aromatic aster (Aster oblongifolius) – perennial

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Tiger Eyes® staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’) with some fall color – woody shrub

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Above are Terry (left) and Big John putting lights on our outer fence.  We still have a lot of work left for getting the HLS up and ready but our progress over recent weeks has been exceptional (as has the weather for the most part!).  Our volunteer had an excellent day out in the gardens and at the Horticulture Center.  Alan, Bob K., Del and Gene were all working on path tidying. Ron R. helped patch up potholes on our gravel paths while Dave E. finished re-leveling a portion of the patio around the gazebo.  Kathy, Eva and Shirley all worked on garden clean-up and the removal of spent annuals.  Dr. Gredler and Rollie did their mowing rounds while Dave, Jim, Vern and Ron Y. continued progress on our new benches.  Dick H. made some dump runs and later helped Dick P. with installing memorial bricks.  Steve J. had some roof repairs on the Horticulture Center and Maury was back in action and went on some errands for us too.  Peg came in to work on our plant database and we also saw Gary S. and many others today.

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Alan M. (above)…..ninja-like movements and balance

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Del (left) and Gene

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Dr. Gredler

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‘Gold Rush’ weigela (Weigela florida) – woody shrub

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

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colorful hips of ‘Quatre Saisons’ Autumn damask rose (Rosa x damascena) – woody shrub

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‘Hot Lips’ turtlehead (Chelone lyonii) – perennial

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our Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’) forest is still looking bold

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grapeleaf anemone (Anemone tomentosa ‘Robustissima’) – perennial

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‘Honorine Jobert’ Japanse anemone (Anemone x hybrida) – perennial (Perennial Plant of the Year – 2016!)