Released!

Those of you who missed last Saturday's butterfly release missed a good one. Chris Tomlinson took a great photo for the Sentinel and KKCO did a great 15 second story on the news Saturday night. My 15 seconds of fame.

It was coool. We had a variety of butterflies, some swallowtails, white peacocks and painted ladies. Talk about feisty. They were an amazingly active bunch. It took me a while to get them ready because they did not want to cooperate. It was worth it though. The way they flew out of the release box was terrific. Don't fret if you missed it. We'll do another one August 22. 1pm. Be there or be square.

Prince Charming

Isn't he handsome? I think he really must be Prince Charming. Granted I didn't kiss him. He wouldn't sit still. Donna and I rescued him last Wednesday from the parking lot. He made a really funny noise as he hopped across the asphalt. Phthwap, phthwap, phthwap or something like that.

I Love Our Volunteers

You all missed a great party yesterday. Our volunteer appreciation party was yesterday. It was a laid back summer afternoon kind of affair. Everyone ate and drank and enjoyed spending time with each other. We don't always take the time to do that. Our volunteers are really hard workers so it was good to see them just relaxing for a change.

Cristina really outdid herself out getting everything lined up. We had all kinds of food donated. Some really fun door prizes donated. And a DJ. I am continually amazed and delighted with just how generous Grand Junction is.

Thank you Grand Junction!

Speaking of Workenders....

The Weekend Workender Weed crew was here yesterday. And ohhh does the Gardens look good because of it. They cleaned up the kochia out from the Heritage Garden area and it looks so clean and tidy.

I promised them I'd have a different job for them next month. Maybe I'll finally get the Shozan-en pathway crowned and compacted.

Visitors

These guys are biking across country to raise money for Parkinson's Disease and Traumatic Brain Injury. What is with it with this new generation? Forming non-profits and raising money and awareness. It is wonderful to see the younger generation thinking about things other than themselves.

They were hanging out at the Gardens yesterday morning. I just happened to be here because the Workenders were here and I took the opportunity of some uninterrupted time to set the impact heads in the amphitheater. Being the friendly sort of fellows that they are we got to chatting. Raising money for Parkinson's and Brain Injuries was only the tip of the iceberg. They were interested in a variety of social issues. It was cool. You never know who you are going to bump into at the Gardens.

If you know someone affected by Parkinson's Disease or Traumatic Brain Injury, which I think is all of us, you might want to donate a couple of bucks to their cause.

The Rest of the Day Friday

Yee Haw! Hoo Rah! and Sis Boom Bah!

Friday was was a the nexus of the finalizaiton of four projects. I'd have been happy if any one of the following tasks got done but all four did so I'm way up there in the stratosphere of happiness.

1. Richard finished the duck float and put it in place. I haven't seen any ducks dancing the rhumba out there on the duck float yet but it is just a matter of time I'm sure. That and maybe they'd like a disco ball.

2. There were a couple of repairs and some pruning in the butterfly house I wanted to get done. It looks so wonderful in there.

3. The siberian elm forest that threatened to take over Celebration Plaza has been removed.

4. Most thrilling of all because I've been working on this one for around two years, there is a hose bib in the amphitheater and all the zones are working the way they should. This is truly a time to break out a bottle of the bubbly.

Friday?

Is it Friday already? Again? Really?

What a big week we had down here. Monday I was on "What's Sprouting" our monthly radio program at KAFM. Mark your calendars and tune your radios to 88.1 every second Monday at noon. You'll hear me babbling like an idiot, which, I understand, can be entertaining.

Tuesday the Green Guides folks were here. What a great bunch of folks. We went traipsing through the Gardens after hours looking at the native plants and relating them to home gardening. I had a blast. I always like showing off our gardens and will do it at the drop of a hat.

For example, the guy from the USDA stopped by to check in on Wednesday so, of course, I had to drag him through the Gardens pointing out this and that. And there is a lot of this and that right now, as you all most likely know.

I also got to meet again with the Tamarisk Coalition folks and somebody from Public Works with the City o' GJ. The conservation project going on on Watson Island is truely amazing. Next time you are at the Gardens allot a little extra time and take a stroll on the island. You can actually see the river. And the Gardens.

John came out and hopefully my irrigation irritations in the amphitheater are over. Yee Haw!

Today will be another big day. The Science Sleuths were here yesterday and they'll be here today again today. This is a cool collaboration between the City, the Math and Science Center, the Audubon Society and us. With all of us working together this program has been tremendously successful and the best thing is that no one had to do a ton of work. We all just contributed our on parts. I'm glad my part wasn't having to keep track of 14 rambunctious boys.

And how could I forget???? My favorite fellas from the City's Forestry Department were down removing and chipping trees. Oh don't be shocked, they weren't our fancy shmancy trees. They were wacking down those obnoxious Siberian Elms (aka Chinese Elms). I think we'll be replacing them with cottonwoods. I really love those trees. They provide such nice shade and I love the way they grow. And yes, I even like it when the cotton starts flying around. I got such a kick out of that as a kid and as some you may know, that kid is still around.

What a week, huh? Well, it is time to get moving. Today is another big day. See you in the Gardens!

New Project!

As you may already know we are helping the Tamarisk Coalition in their massive restoration project going on on the Colorado River just south of the Gardens. If you haven't taken a stroll down on Watson Island lately you should. Most of the tamarisk and russian olive have been removed and you can actually see the river and the north channel. One of the components of the restoration is to do an "uplands" demonstration garden. It is to show how what happens upstream affects the river. Normally uplands areas are miles away from the riparian area so it is pretty cool that you will be able to see the relationship between the two.

So what it means for me is planning. Yay! Planning gardens is fun. Almost as fun as working in them.

There has been so much going on I just don't know where to start. Dr. Curtis came out from the CSU extension and installed our ET transmitter. No, we are not trying to lure a cute little alien to the Gardens, an ET transmitter regulates the amount of water that is applied based on an average of how much water the plants are using. The transmitter gets weather information from local weather stations and then calculates accordingly. It has been going almost a week and I can't really tell how it is doing. I know it is a great relief not having to remember to water. I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

So Dr. Curtis comes in at 8:30 last Friday and says "You are going to be on the air in 30 minutes." Yikes! Any of you tuning in to KKCO last Friday around 9:15 will have heard me talking about the butterflies. There are pupae hanging in the puparium and butterflies fluttering around in the butterfly house. The greenhouses are a nice place to be when it is so unbelievably hot. All of a sudden 80 degrees seems kind of nice.

Dr. Curtis also brought his intern Claire out and I set her to work. She pruned the wisteria. You should come down and have a look. It is blooming again and looks just great. She took Jeff's kyak out to the middle of the pond and did a little investigating on the whole foot valve situation. She helped out with the watering and most importantly of all chose an excellent pizza for lunch.

It is toad season. Those little buggers are everywhere. They sure are cut though.

That is it for today. Time to get out in the Gardens while it is still nice and cool.