Vivid Spring Colors Abound

Posted: May 9, 2016 by Mark Dwyer

Above is a nice shot of the ‘Autumn Moon’ fullmoon maple (Acer shirasawanum) with vivid spring growth. These hints of salmon-orange will fade as the leaves brighten to a clear yellow on this small maple. Today was our Spring Plant Sale Clearance (15% off everything). We saw some steady traffic today and our chance of rain never really materialized during the day which we were worried might happen. Mary W. and Pat R. helped run the sale today with Janice helping get everyone ready to go. However, Monday is also a busy volunteer day so there were plenty of projects going on at the Horticulture Center and out in the gardens. As we transition past this plant sale, our own planting out in the gardens becomes more pressing.

‘Red Fox’ katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) – early growth (will fade to green)

‘Golden Gift’ magnolia (Magnolia hybrida)

‘Victor Reiter’ sea thrift (Armeria maritima) – perennial

Carolina silverbell (Halesia tetraptera) – woody tree

We had a nice assortment of volunteers today. Above are Eva (red) and Kathy weeding along our fence line. The ladies covered a lot of real estate and Peg was out weeding in the gardens as well. Alan M. worked on weeding and mulching while Ron R. (directly below) did a nice job sweeping up paths near the observation pier. Maury, Dick P. and Vern worked on the Giant Aquarium project (see below) while Dave T. and Gene had carpentry projects back at the Horticulture Center. Gary was making signs all morning. Marv worked in the moss garden. Stan and his wife were in for some work near the Japanese garden and both Karen M. and Cheryl P. were also in the Japanese garden tidying up. We saw lots of other folks over at the Horticulture Center and out in the plant sale as well.

Ron R.

Dick P. (above) working the exterior of the Giant Aquarium

Maury (on ladder) and Vern in the Aquarium

The grounds staff continue to be on top of their game. Above are Big John (left) and Terry putting up hanging baskets that they picked up this morning. The guys also started installing some of the Hummingbird Garden Art Projects out in the gardens. Janice was in this morning to get the Clearance Plant Sale up and running. Cindy did some watering, deadheading, weeding, tidying in multiple locations around the gardens. Larry H. continued mulching and helped with some watering duties as well. Bob K. installed our ‘Dancing Waters’ fountain and had some other jobs as well. I was able to install some tree signs today and did get a great tour of the gardens to see what our next set of priorities will be shortly!

We had a dedication/informal presentation for Kathy P. today (seen above and below). Kathy, while an excellent garden volunteer, is also a very generous baker and had donated her time and supplies to augment our cookie/treat offerings for volunteers. Her creations are yummy (much appreciated by everyone!) and a bunch of folks pitched in to have a custom embroidered apron and baking hat for her along with other odds and ends. She is a great woman and her love of the gardens is apparent. We think she’s pretty neat and if she’s reading this…”Now that you have that apron…get baking!”.