The Progression of Autumn

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Yesterday I mentioned to our Grumpies that October is second only to May in terms of how busy we are out in the gardens.  I say this for a couple reasons.  Not only are we juggling fall clean-up needs but we also have to accommodate late season planting (lots of bulbs this year too!) and the removal of so many annuals after a hard frost arrives.  The frost is likely in the coming weeks and then it takes many weeks to clear our annual beds.  Toss in to the mix all of our Holiday Light Show (HLS) preparations and October becomes a very busy month.  Today continued our progression of dealing with everything I mentioned above and we had good people on hand to take care of it!

It was just Cindy, Big John and myself on grounds today although we had some great volunteer help as well.  Both Cindy and John had plenty of watering although it looks like rain later in the week.  Cindy continued with the cutting display and garden tidying while John planted trees and shrubs and also continued to put up lights for the HLS.  I was entrenched in preparing orders for 2017 already and am trying to keep up with our late season plantings and labeling of such.  Kathy, Eva and Brian all worked on garden tidying in multiple locations while Rollie and Bill O. did their mowing rounds.  Kristin and Stan did some work on replacing stones in the Japanese garden entrance and Joe M. was out weeding the beds at the Horticulture Center.  Maury ran some errands for us and we also saw Bobby K and Robert K.  We had a VIP from Beaver Creek Nursery (Steve Didier) stop by and we took a quick tour of the gardens to look at some trees and shrubs.

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the lights are being put up earlier each year to accommodate timely set up for a bigger and better HLS this December!

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‘Red Neck Girl’ forsythia sage (Salvia madrensis) is finally starting to bloom (yellow) just in time for frost!  UGH! – annual

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Black Lace™ elderberry (Sambucus nigra ‘Eva’) – woody shrub

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‘Sky Rocket’ fountain grass (Pennisetum x advena) is looking excellent right now – annual

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the Giant Aquarium is still looking good and our plants have filled in nicely!

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the frame that highlights this “circular view” from the Japanese garden is a repurposed cheese mold!

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‘Heavenly Blue’ morning glory (Ipomoea tricolor) – annual (opens up darker)

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‘Autumn Ember’ begonia (Begonia hybrida) – annual

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the colorful gazebo garden border looks great from under the gazebo which will still host two more weddings this season!

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the season is upon us as visitors will notice more and more lights each and every day!

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I don’t think I’ve ever photographed the end of our boardwalk here with these two seats offering a nice view across the pond

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‘Argentea’ variegated pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia) – woody tree

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cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) is still looking bold and should shrug off light frost – annual

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the giant ruler (one of two) in our prairie will help with our fall education programs as students enjoy our prairie restoration