Vivid Colors Abound

Directly above is our Gothic color theme out in the terrace garden.  We continue to have a lush season with well-timed rain arriving yesterday afternoon and light sprinkles interspersed throughout today.  Our dark theme has been quite popular and has filled in nicely over these last 2.5 months or so. The top image shows some very early fall color on Tiger Eyes® golden staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina ‘Bailtiger’).  We are seeing some other early signs of fall with foliage shifts that make you think it is a month later than it is.  Our recent evening temperatures have been quite “September-like” as well.

We had a great day at the gardens.  The heavy rain that arrived for 15 minutes yesterday didn’t cause many problems and our clean-up went well throughout a day that also saw plenty of visitors enjoying another August day in the mid 70 degrees F.  Janice, Bobby K., Trevor and I were here for grounds duties which including tidying, primping, mowing, NO watering and some other odds and ends as we get ready for another busy weekend that also has three weddings!  We had some great volunteer help as well.

‘Santos Purple’ rigid verbena (Verbena rigida) – annual for us

swallowtail caterpillar on bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare ‘Smokey’)

nice combo in the Hummingbird Haven

‘Morton’ Himalayan pine (Pinus wallichiana) – woody tree (five-needled pine)

Amur maackia (Maackia amurensis) in full bloom! – woody tree

‘Chocolate Drop’ stonecrop (Sedum telephium) – perennial

Viette’s Little Suzy black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Blovi’) – perennial

Above is Janice doing her thing in the Heirloom Garden which looks great right now.  Our volunteers today included Kathy and Eva (see below) who shifted between weeding/tidying duties in multiple garden areas.  We always tidy our wedding gardens before the weekend that the ladies helped with that as well.  Shirley H. was back in action and weeding in the Scottish garden which certainly needed her undivided attention.  Bill O. was out mowing and both Stan and Kristin were in to tidy up the Japanese garden.  Vicky O. was in to tidy her two assigned gardens.  We saw a couple others but it was a relatively quiet (but productive) day!

Kathy P. (the stern one to the left) and Eva

the Giant Aquarium is looking great right now!

‘Heartthrob’ hibiscus (Hibiscus hybrida) – perennial

a nice tropical look with ‘Thailand Giant’ elephant ear (Colocasia gigantea) and Abyssinian banana (Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’)

‘Pearl Frost’ variegated orixa (Orixa japonica) – woody shrub

capsules (with nuts inside) of yellow buckeye (Aesculus octandra) – woody tree

‘Purple Flash’ ornamental hot pepper (Capsicum annuum) – annual

‘Vanity’ variegated red maple (Acer rubrum) – woody tree