Monday, March 28, 2011

Back To Business

While the symposium was a lot of fun and we did spend some time today wrapping up some of the details, I had to shift gears to some other activities that have been on the "back burner" for far to long. Nice shot above and to the lower left of a pinish/red blooming vernal witchhazel (Hamamelis vernalis 'Kohanke Red') that we obtained from Song Sparrow Nursery (www.songsparrow.com/). Out in the garden, this species would be blooming in about three to four weeks but has an early start inside our Horticulture Center. I love the confetti-like blooms of all witchhazels and while I've seen the variable yellow and yellow/orange vernal witchhazels, this is the prettiest pink/red I've observed. This specimen, when placed out in the gardens, will be located near something light (white or yellow) that will make those blooms really pop. Song Sparrow Nursery donated some nice plants for our silent auction this past weekend and the funds from that auction will be used to support the gardens directly. It was a busy day today. I worked on catching up with coding bills and ordering more of our spring supplies. We had a semi-truck delivery of potting soil and other gardening stuff. The lift gate didn't work on the truck so thanks to Larry, Big John, Bob C. and the driver, they got everything off in good order. Larry worked more on some vehicles and as usual, bounced between projects. Vern, Dave and Bob A. continued on their bench creation while Ron W., Del and Bob C. spread shredded bark over the parking lot islands. Gary was in working on labels and spent some time cleaning up the laser engraver unit. We were both surprised at how dirty that machine can get with particulate debris. Mandy (our rookie labeler) came in to type in more labels (daylilies) and Jenny was on the other computer printing out our old-fashioned sticker labels for our annuals this year. Marv and Terry hauled out garbage and recycling bins and will be taking out containers later in the week. Marianne helped in the office with post-symposium work and preparing other handouts. Maury was around running errands and we also saw Dick H, Little Jerry, Kelli, Big John, Jean and many others. It was certainly a busy day. Darcie (member of our Horticulture Therapy committee) brought her college students (MATC-Madison) down to the gardens today and 12 of them went thru the gardens this morning to accomplish an accessibility study about our paths, ramps, etc. Janice helped welcome and orient the group after she drove over on a borrowed scooter (thanks Victoria!) that was one of two the students could use in their study along with our two "loaner" wheelchairs. Janice's "parade wave" was dusted off (see to the right) and used to perfect effect as she departed the Horticulture Center at 3a blinding mph. Below is butterfly eight and the ninth just came in today. We'll continue to haul them off to be sealed and hopefully we'll see most by the end of the week as the deadline for return is actually this Friday, April 1.

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