Fantastic Friday
It was a busy day at the gardens and the sunshine and cool temperatures made for a good day to get things done. Nice shot above of the branching texture and interesting bark of the hackberry (Celtis occidentalis). While it was chilly this morning, the sun warmed the gardens up quickly and we had a lot of activity out in the gardens. Larry H., Cindy and Janice all had myriad projects out in the gardens throughout the day and we had an excellent volunteer turnout. I was able to spread some crabgrass control out in some select turf areas and we’re not far away from doing some weeding and considering our first mowing.
glory-in-the-snow (Chionodoxa sardensis)
the first tulips (Tulipa) of the season (above and a nibbled one below!)
I was busy with some different projects today so didn’t get as many photos of volunteers as I normally do on a day like this. Above are Magda and Marleen (driving). I took this photo right before I rolled off the hood as the ladies wont slow down for me. The ladies did a nice job tidying up their garden area and Kay was in to continue composting her area as well. She put down a lot of of compost this week! Dennis (below) did some significant mulching while Kathy P. tidied along the west road along the west side of the Parker Education Center. Peg was in to work on plant records and Maury ran errands. Jim was in with four RECAPPERS and they did a great job in the Japanese garden with path improvements and some re-setting of rocks. Chuck did some recycling and we also saw Mark S., Bill O., Hal R. and many others today.
“Behind the Scenes” of Holiday Light Show (HLS) storage – note 150 arches (20′) stored with lights still on that create a domed storage area for a whole lot of additional lights (above and below) – that colored tape indicates groupings of certain colors on those arches (made of plastic conduit) so they are ready to go out in a short six months from now!
our 18″ diameter culvert pipes are painted and ready to go for our “Gothic theme” this year (lots of maroons, reds, “near black” and silver
aside from our excellent bagged compost (blended), we’ll be offering this Purple Cow Tomato Gro soil amendment which is perfect for the bed or container! ($7 for a 12 qt. bag)