Wednesday, July 29, 2009

We're Getting There...

Today was lovely with sunshine and upper 70s. We're complaining about how cool it's been but we're very fortunate considering some of the heat and drought issues in TX, WA and even parts of WI. Nice shot above of our Ma' Chii' (spelling is wrong I'm sure) in our Fern & Moss Garden. This quiet retreat has a nice view and is a nice spot to take a break. We had lots of visitors today and were able to get most of our significant watering/irrigation accomplished this morning. I took the time to go around the entire gardens and was pleased overall. We have some "rough spots" but should be able to address those in the coming weeks. Our primary limitation is labor at this point. I love this "mini-border" in our sunken garden below that is actually mirror-imaged on the other side of the path. This composition reflects (to me) a perfect balance of flowers and foliage.
The fence gang of Dick H., Dick P., and Rollie were joined by the grandson of one of our volunteers (Rose). They put up a significant amount of fencing and are poised to do more shortly. We had Kay today and she helped Marianne plant and weeded in the entrance garden and reception garden. Her progress is always immediately apparent. Rose and Urban worked on painting today. Marianne planted, cut back perennials, weeded, tidied up and watered. Terry working on pruning, weeding and watering while Marv kept irrigation and his sprinklers going all day while he bounced between various priorities. Little Jerry worked on pruning back trees that were in the way of the fence fellas and ran irrigation as well. I gave our new assigned gardening volunteer (Dan) a tour of his area and we're happy he'll be tackling the woodland walk; which is screaming out for attention right now. I also met with Randy, a volunteer professional photographer, who will be targeting certain plants for close-ups for our records. It's always nice to add more people to our happy family. Nice shot to the left of one of my favorite stonecrops (Sedum spectabile 'Samuel Oliphant') with petunias in the foreground. To the right is a nice perennial, ornamental onion (Allium 'Summer Beauty') that really looks great from now thru the summer as it maintains its flower form until frost. Enjoy some other shots from today. I think we've achieved our goal of looking better each year (with less $!!!).







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