Morning Monsoon

The day had a wet start with drizzle which turned to monsoon-like rain with some thunder and lightning for an hour or so.  We had some significant flooding in the garden and path washouts but most of the moisture drained off by the afternoon.  We had a very productive indoor morning with both staff and some volunteers.  It was a day with some very important house cleaning as our Holiday Light Show (HLS) efforts, along with other projects, had created a confusing mess in our Horticulture Center and garage.  We tidied up, tested lights, organized and inventoried HLS supplies, fueled vehicles, etc.  We also continue to run for supplies as needed.  After the rain moved on by 11 am or so, we headed in to the gardens for path repair, HLS work, etc.  Above is the fall color on Tatar maple (Acer tataricum) which is closely related to Amur maple (Acer ginnala).

Staff included Cindy, Big John, Larry H., Larry O. and myself.  Volunteers included Kathy, Eva, Bill O., Vern, Chuck S., Ron P., Dr. Gredler, Dick H. and a couple of others that stopped by throughout the day.

‘Born’s Gracious’ skeleton-leaf silver maple (Acer saccharinum) – woody tree

from the underside of a bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora) – woody shrub

I can’t stop photographing the fall peak of our ‘Aconitifolium’ fullmoon maples (Acer japonicum) – woody tree

fall color view from beneath a katsura tree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) – woody tree

hostas will also frequently display excellent fall color as well! – perennial

the fruits of these ‘Black Olive’ ornamental hot peppers (Capsicum annuum) are still showing color!

Special thanks to Mr. Gary Smith for his fourth term as our Interim Executive Director.  Gary has been such a huge help at the garden as a volunteer and certainly his leadership skills have kept the gardens on track this year after he was handed some significant and perilous challenges this past Spring.  Well done Gary and thank you!  Gary is now helping transition our new Executive Director, Becky Kronberg, in to her much anticipated leadership role.

the Russo Family Fountain (above) has been cleaned and stored but will return in April of next year to shoot water 40′ in the air!

while they are more spectacular in the water, our Russo Family fountain (rear) and Dancing Waters fountain have been retrieved for storage

the railings on the gazebo are rotting and will be replaced this winter or early spring by our talented Grumpy carpenters

start of fall color on Beaver Creek® witchalder (Fothergilla gardenii ‘KLMtwo’) – woody shrub

fall color from the underside on umbrella-leaf magnolia (Magnolia tripetala) – woody tree (leaves are 15″ long!)

start of fall color on dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) – deciduous conifer (will turn burnt orange!)

cool leaflet from the variegated fiveleaf aralia (Eleutherococcus sieboldianus ‘Variegatus’) – woody shrub