VIP Visitors
The day went quickly for me today and while I had a lot to accomplish, knowing that we had a nice, soaking, 7/10″ of rain overnight took the stress off of watering today! It is liberating to have that off your plate! Nice combo shot above of a blazing star (Liatris sp.) with zinnia in the Hummingbird Haven. While I was off running errands for our Horticulture Therapy Symposium (Gardening for Life) this Wednesday, lots of activity was happening at the gardens including MANY visitors. We are at summer peak right now and I think it really shows throughout our 20 acres. Cindy, Larry O., Janice and Trevor were our grounds people today and had a wide range of tasks and duties. I also gave a tour for some folks (Richard, Janice and Alex) who were visiting from the Chicago Botanic Garden. We had a great tour and chat on the perfect day! Our volunteers (Kathy, Eva, Bob K., Alan, Ron R., Derrick, Garrett, Dennis, Ron P., Ron Y., Dave, Vern, Dick H., Gary S., Peg, Kristin, Stan, Art, Magda and many others were very busy today but the weather was perfect!
ROYAL HAWAIIAN® ‘Maui Gold’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) with Amore™ ‘Queen of Hearts’ petunia (Petunia) – both seasonals
South American verbena (Verbena bonariensis) – annual
‘Coffee Cups’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) with ‘Lime Green’ flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata) – annuals
Sugar Tip® variegated Rose-of-Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus ‘America Irene Scott’) – woody plant
‘Rainbow Loveliness’ fringed pinks (Dianthus x hybrida) – annual (super fragrant!)
resurrection lily (Lycoris squamigera) – perennial
Chicago Botanic Garden VIPs (Janice, Richard and Alex) – left to right in both images
‘Jazz Marble’ coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) – annual
tall sulphur cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus) – annual
‘Ping Pong White’ globe amaranth (Gomphrena globosa) – annual
‘Candy Cane Red’ variegated pepper (Capsicum annuum) – annual
scarlet milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) – annual
silver spurflower (Plectranthus argentatus) – annual
‘Cheyenne Sky’ perennial switch grass (Panicum virgatum) – perennial
amethyst flower (Browalia speciosa) – annual
‘All Gold’ Hakone grass (Hakonechloa macra) wall planting – perennial
the Gothic theme in the entrance garden is looking good!
‘Bishop of Llandaff’ dahlia (Dahlia sp.) – annual