I'm Back!

Hi Everybody,

I didn't really go anywhere. There has been so much to do it seems like I can hardly keep track of it all. Everything is growing and blooming down at the gardens. Paul's dahlias are really starting to flower. We've been finding all sorts of things from kittens to leopard frogs. More koi have been donated so we now have 5 koi in our Water Garden and some stunning new koi in the Rainforest Greenhouse. To really catch up on what has been happening in the Gardens you should really come down and see for yourself. The opening for the Riverside Parkway is this Friday at 10 am. That would be a great time to come on down.

See you soon!

Update

Time flies when you are having fun. I can't believe it has been a week since my last post. Well, a lot has been going on. Watering, weeding...... ;) I'm also very close to getting all the plants that have been donated to the Gardens in the ground. Some of the Plant Select plants are blooming. A lot of the weeds are gone thanks to the Weekenders. I fixed the swamp cooler thanks to the use of a tube cutter from the guys over at Elam's. The Rose Society has been out working on the roses and boy do they look great. And meetings. I've been in a lot of meetings. I'm hoping today I can make it down to the hazardous materials dump today. Plus the most exciting news is the kittens I rescued from the spare tire from someone's truck in the parking lot. I promise pictures of all of this and more when I get the time.

Until then, have a good day and happy gardening.

Graffiti

After 10 years of no problems the Gardens has experienced a rise in vandalism. The walls surrounding the children's garden have been marked with graffiti three times this year. Unfortunately twice in the last two weeks someone has attempted to break in to the Gardens. So it was a pleasant surprise to see these chalk drawings on the sidewalk when I came in yesterday. It is nice to know we aren't just attracting the attention of delinquents. ;)

Celebrate Good Times!

It is official. Celebration Plaza is open and ready for use. The ribbon cutting was Tuesday and for those who came out it was a nice party. Of course the cottonwood was everywhere but that is just the season. The garden looks great and the fountain is a great attraction. Here are some photos of the day.

Mmm. Cake.

The speeches are over and we are all gathering around for the cutting of the ribbon.

Smile!

You probably know all about the opening because I'm pretty sure every tv station and newspaper had it covered.

Critters

There were a lot of critters out and about today. Below on the log in front on the right side is our cute little turtle. It just showed up one day a week or so ago. Richard says it is really shy, so we kept our distance.

Then I saw a velvet ant and I got really excited because I'd never seen one live before. I didn't know they are a type of wasp.

And our cute green frog showed up. I hadn't seen it since March. Richard and Tristam said it was croaking. Which is so much better than it having croaked which is what I thought it did.

Oh there were technical difficulties today. The swamp cooler was leaking. It had been leaking off and on for about a week and I didn't think too much about it. Today it started leaking in the gift store so it needed attention ASAP. The problem was the old float had corroded and it wasn't working properly causing a leak on the compression fitting. Not only do I now know how to replace a float on a swamp cooler, I know where the cut-off valve is for the water for the swamp cooler. Yee Haw!

Here is the new float.

Here is Keith from Lunsford showing me the old float.


Here is the drain.


Here is the whole swamp cooler assembly.


And here is David trying to fix the leak.


See, he can do things other than glad handing. Which as you can see he is very good at.

This was Friday night at the Art Center. They invited the Gardens to be at the opening and have really reached out to the Gardens. The shows are really great and you should take the time for a visit.

Saturday Recap

Saturday was one of those days where I'm just going to go in for an hour to get Sharon started on watering. Really. Then one thing leads to another.... I started out by spraying garlic in the amphitheater. The Munro Pump Fundraiser was Saturday night and I wanted to see how it worked. That took a lot longer than I thought it was. Then I forgot about putting up the lights. And then there was a little watering that had to be done. And then, and then and then. But look at the groovy bee on the hibiscus.

And the lovely blooms on the magnolia....


And the bud that is going to be a lovely bloom in just a day or two...

Don't Be Koi

The opuntia beetle has arrived. No, that isn't a good thing. What is a good thing is that Bob is coming out next week to look at the solitary bees and he can take a gander at them while he's here. If I had a better camera you could see it under the third flower from the left. They are really groovy looking insects. Come out to the Gardens if you want to see one up close and personal. Just don't wait too long because I know between Bob and the Cactus Club they aren't going to be around long.

Just a few steps from the cactus garden is our pond with lovely, lovely lillies. I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures.

Memorial Gardens donated three gorgeous koi to the Gardens. And one bonus catfish. They were actually kind of tough to catch. I thought it would be really easy. Just sprinkle some food on top and up they come and WHAM! You've got them. Monte had to drain the pond in order to net them. I didn't get any pictures of the catching process because I was afraid I'd get my camera wet. Where I slipped was when I had my camera at the Gardens when we were releasing them. I didn't go in. Whew. Anyway here is the exciting koi release.

Fish #1

In it goes.

Fish #2

Fish #3

This was the one that was jumping the worst and now it doesn't want to go. Silly fish.

Free at last!

Isn't it cool?