The atmosphere today was like a home coming! This was our first Tuesday back at the garden after having been rained out four Tuesdays in a row! Steve Davis was on site checking on garden conditions and new developments (i.e. state of new plantings and plants flowering, see below). Bill Dobner was also on site tending the compost and checking on the conditions in the shade house. Bob Butler was continuing his yeoman’s task of cutting down about-to-bloom mustard, the theory being that if it doesn’t flower and go to seed, we can get ahead of its spread.
Jim Cyr had asked that we work on eradicating his bugbear (horehound) in the area west of the rare fruit orchard where it intersects with Sage Hill. Nancy Taylor Walker, John Allday, Beverly Kemmerling, Janet Wall and Monica Barton joined me in this task. Jim provided us with empty 15-gallon pots to collect the refuse as we filled them. At one point there was a competition to see who could dig up the largest specimen. Nancy was the official photographer for the day:
In contention were Monica,
Janet,
and John.
John won!
In addition to the full cart (below) which Nancy emptied in the green waste bin,
Jim Cyr took a full load down in the Cushman cart.
Some of what Steve discovered were some new plants blooming including:
Veltheimia bracteate in the S. African section,
Freesia also in the S. African section,
and Sage Hill which is solid yellow with Encelia californica and some E. farinosa.for the first time in several years.
Hopefully the rain tonight (if it materializes at all) will be slight and the garden will open again to the public shortly thereafter so these and many other plant treasures can be enjoyed.
Stay well and enjoy the garden…KMM