Serious Gardening

Above is one of the prettiest compost piles around! Lots of debris is coming back to this pile daily as we purge spent annuals, collect leaves and cut back some perennials as part of our fall clean-up efforts. Today was another nice one although a bit chillier than yesterday with primarily overcast skies. There was a lot of gardening going on but progress also continues daily with set up efforts for the Holiday Lights Show (HLS). It was a great day for volunteers who worked collectively to work in many gardens and haul back loads of debris. We've had two carts gone for repairs which makes teamwork even more vital as we keep up out in the gardens. Thankfully, the two carts were returned today and are ready for action tomorrow. It was another very productive day. Below are some additional images from this morning.

fall color of Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) - woody vine

flowering kale (Brassica oleracea) - annual

fall color on variegated obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana 'Variegata') - perennial

fall color on 'Green Cascade' fullmoon maple (Acer japonicum) - woody tree

fall color on 'Popcorn' doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum) - woody shrub

We recently "put out the word" that we need volunteers daily to help get our fall chores accomplished in a timely manner to make room for HLS preparations. The response has been quite good thus far. Above is Ron K. working in the woodland walk garden which he has maintained for three years now. He did a nice job collecting debris and Larry H. (directly below) helped Ron with these efforts and some serious leaf collection. Kathy (second photo down) and Eva worked on purging annuals from the gazebo garden area. The ladies had no trouble accumulating massive piles of debris for that compost pile seen at the top of this blog. Del was in to work on his HLS reindeer and can be seen in the third photo down with Pat (working on getting lights on one of our large obelisks...). The fourth photo down shows Mary (left) and Kay tidying up in the shade garden along with Roy (off camera). These three did a great job and Kay shifted down to the sunken garden to help Bev W. haul off her debris from that space. Jenny and Dave, when not involved with public displays of affection (fifth photo down) did a nice job cutting back hostas in the Hosta Hollow garden and are hard workers (and a handsome couple). Dr. Gredler and Bill O. did their mowing rounds and Art H. was in to meet regarding a RBG project he's been working on all year. Urban (seventh photo down) continued cutting back shrubs and small trees in an area that we'll reclaim as newly developed garden space in 2015. We also saw Maury and many others today.

The grounds staff had a busy day with varied tasks. Larry worked on a wide range of both gardening and HLS tasks throughout the day. Pat spent the day on HLS tasks primarily related to the two "Towers of Power" and their eventual installation out in the gardens. He has spent a lot of time on the HLS and is one of our talented lights testers/repairmen too. Cindy did the cutting display and spent much of her time on continuing to purge seasonal plants out of the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden. Cheryl had "purging duties" in the terrace garden and had some other duties as well. Big John switched seamlessly between emptying containers, hauling debris and HLS set-up duties. I actually ran my first cords today and continue with various projects and preparations. Below are some additional images from today.