The Magnificent Ten

img_6377

Above (left to right) are Dave E., Larry, John, Bobby K. (crouching), Mark S., Alan M., Larry H., Dick H., Bob K. (#2) and Dwight.  Dwight is the owner of Sunset Acres Tree Farm (http://www.sunsetacrestreefarm.com/) near Stoughton, WI and he and his wife donated about 60 evergreen trees to our Holiday Light Show (HLS) this year.  Sunset Acres Tree Farm has supported this event for the fourth year in a row and we appreciate it greatly!  Our volunteers and staff on this expedition cut, loaded and secured a wide range of evergreens for use in the HLS.  Everyone came back exhausted and smelling like pine needles but it was a very successful trip.  Kathy P. made up a nice “care package” of goodies for our trip and the guys sure appreciated it!  It’s always a fun convoy and we made it home without any trees falling off!  Once we made it back to the gardens around the lunch hour, some of these guys continued to help out with various tasks.  Some of my photos further down are from a trip to Longenecker Gardens yesterday which is part of the UW-Arboretum up in Madison.  It was a beautiful day yesterday with plenty of color and interest at the arboretuml.

 

Larry O., Larry H., Big John, Bob K. and I were all on this trip but had other duties upon our return.  Everyone had further HLS projects to continue which is now certainly a daily task for most of us.  Cindy held down the fort this morning and had a wide range of gardening tasks and watering as well.  We briefly saw Janice but everyone sure enjoyed another nice, sunny, Autumn day!  The grounds staff had an exceptional day.  Our other volunteers today included Kathy, Eva, Shirley H. and firefighter Kathy.  The ladies did a whole lot of clearing out of annuals and perennial debris in multiple areas.  Dr. Gredler was in for mowing and Peg worked on our database.  Dave, Vern, Bob and Ron all had carpentry duties.  Gene collected leaves.  I know that we also had Maury around and some others but I missed seeing other volunteers due to the trip but appreciate their efforts nonetheless!

img_6365 img_6370

Sunset Acres Tree Farm (Stoughton, WI)

img_6371

img_6374

Larry H. (above) was up in the trailers today arranging pines and here was starting to settle in for a nap

img_6372 img_6307

awesome fall color on black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica) up at the UW-Arboretum

img_6309

Longenecker Gardens has a very remarkable woody plant collection

img_6325

Osage orange (Maclura pomifera) fruits (4″-5″ in diameter!)

img_6333

fall color on paw paw (Asimina triloba) – woody tree

img_6336

img_6350

persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) had ripe fruits (yummy)

img_6361

winterberry (Ilex verticillata, unknown female variety)

img_6315

American chestnut (Castanea dentata) had been picked over by the squirrels and other wildlife

img_6319

the sumac (Rhus sp.) patch above at Longenecker was glowing!

img_6320

view from underneath a Southern catalpa (Catalpa bignonioides) – woody tree

img_6357