6-19-08, Friday

So many weeds, so little time. But Anna and Niki really cleaned up the amphitheater bed. It looks great. Take a peek the next time you go jogging, biking, walking, roller blading, or simply strolling along the River Front Trail.

Richard and Tyler got things ready for Monday's mealy bug massacre. A volunteer is coming out to apply a systemic pesticide to our mealy bugs. This will be only one part of a multi-facted attack, I mean, Integrated Pest Management Plan, to control the mealy bugs and scale in the greenhouses. We will also be applying horticultural oils and compost tea, yes compost tea, it just isn't for fertilizer anymore. We will also be thinning out problem plants and adding new specimens. I know it is summer and the attention is on the outside gardens but exciting things are happening in the greenhouses. We will be getting 6 new koi and I've found a new butterfly supplier who can get us some types of butterflies we haven't seen in the butterfly house for a while. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime here is a lovely shot of the cana lily Richard moved. It is very happy in its new location and looks just great with the varigated bamboo and the crazy camo plant against the back wall.

Pansy bed update. They were left in peace Thursday but today (Friday) the pests were at it again. Elsie repaired the damage and gave the darlings a much needed drink. When I told Niki about it she got quite pugnacious "This is war!" She did a lot of work getting the soil ready and planting the pansies so she isn't about to let anything ruin her good work.

Thursday is Plant Day!

I wanted to get photos of the Plant Select plants that got planted because that is what Max and I were busy doing yesterday. The front bed is filling in nicely. Maybe I'll get a chance this morning but I somehow doubt it because of all the weeding and watering to do. Tune it tomorrow and find out.

Here is a picture from the Sensory Garden. I just love the purple and the green.

And Kenton is marveling at the "biggest lavender I have ever seen". It is pretty impressive. You should come on down and check it out.

A friend of mine is visiting from California and we took a little drive south to Montrose. I'd forgotten what a cute little botanic garden Montrose has. If you are bored and looking for a nice afternoon excursion I highly recommend a drive down to Montrose. The botanic garden is off of Niagra Road right next to the Pavillion and it is always open. Plus you can stop for a Chicago Dog if you get hungry. :)

Those Darn Squirrels

It seems as though the squirrels have decided to move into the cactus garden. Who could blame them? Plenty of food, plenty of protection, perfect! Well, pack your bags you darling little rodents because you are moving out. Rick has built some squirrel only cages and has cooked up a concoction to deter the varmints. So hopefully that should take care of the problem. There also has been something rooting up the pansies and Rick put down a spray of some sort and I'm pleased to say that it looks like it is working. Yesterday anyway. I'll let you know how it goes today. In the meantime is here a picture form Ernie's cactus garden. I tried to get a photo of the bees that were busily collecting nectar and pollen but they wouldn't stay still. Too much to do. I can relate. ;)

The Worst Is Over

This was taken 2 weeks ago on the 6th. The river never got high enough to flood us this year or ruin the pump. We were lucky. It has been great for the wild flowers. Make sure you take time to head for the hills for a little hike and enjoy all the amazing flowers that you'll see this year.

Butterfly Pavillion

I drove up to Denver the day before the Plant Select meeting to meet with the curator of the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. I found out too late that the meeting was canceled because she was doing a segment for the news. Then the scheduling didn't work out for Thursday but I went anyway just to look around. And yes, I took a zillion photos, mostly of Operations Manager stuff like mister systems, the puparium and signage. But here is one I took just because I liked the plants.

I made it home safely and so did the plants. Here is what a truckload of plants looks like. Except for the flat and a half of pansies. It is really about 8 flats and I have a little truck. ;)

Here is the flat and a half of pansies. Just enough to fill in the bare spot in the pansy garden outside of the office. Perfect, just perfect.

So Much Has Happened

I don't know where to start. Can I even remember a week ago Friday? Ummm. No. Monday was a big day though. I finally got the pump going in the irrigation pond. Which makes me extremely happy. Extremely happy. So with my confidence up I attempted to get the fountains going in the Japanese pond. I was pretty close and then pfffft. The pump just wouldn't turn on. Cuss, cuss, cuss. I helped Paul Sparks shovel dirt for his dahlia bed and numerous odds and ends to get wrapped up because I was headed out of town to go to the Plant Select meeting at the Denver Botanic Garden. It was fantastic. The speakers were inspiring, the gardens too, of course. I took a zillion pictures but mostly of things of interest to an Operations Manager, like thermometers and exit signs and paving materials. I came back with a truckload of plants, yes a truckload of plants. So, that is what I'm working on this week. Getting those suckers in the ground. And keeping what is already in the ground to stay alive in the 90 plus heat we have. Here are a few pictures that are just purty and not work photos.

This is from a city park in downtown Denver by the art museum. These little guys just cracked me up. I liked how they were all lined up just so and they were so upright they reminded me of soldiers on parade.

Some day when I figure out how to get a handle on the mealy bugs, the brugmansia at the Gardens will look this good.

What a fabulous mix of purple, yellow and green. From the Denver Botanic Gardens.

So today Richard spied a new frog in the greenhouse. We surmised that perhaps it hitched a ride in on one of our new bromelieads. My camera does a poor job of zooming in so you can't really see it to well. If any of you know of a decent digital camera that has a good zoom on it let me know.

Can you see the frog?

This is a little better view. But not much.

Tomorrow I'll report on the Plant Select planting project. Today Richard and Tyler planted 2 flats of iceplants and the three honeysuckle, Kintzley's Ghost. Once they grow out a little they are going to look fantastic.

What? It is Wednesday Already?

So, I should start with Tuesday. Tuesday, Tuesday. What happened on Tuesday? Watering. Getting introduced to the new irrigation controller. Plenty of chatting with interested folks about the community garden. More on that tomorrow. Submitted the butterfly permit. Monday the guys from Painted Desert Landscaping discovered that the folks putting up the tent for the wedding this weekend impaled one of the irrigation lines. I'm sure glad Don from WD Yards came out to fix it. I probably could have fixed it but it would have take me all day because I haven't fixed that many pvc pipes. And it turns out the pcv saw is taking a little vacation and wasn't around yesterday. Or today. So I can put off dealing with the foot valve in the irrigation pond one more day. Shucky darn. ;)

They did a good job of going right through the pipe, huh.

The river's arisin'. Do I pull the pump or not? Not on Tuesday but I did today. This picture is from this morning and while the level did drop a little by this afternoon the storm clouds made me nervous. Plus I got to buy some swell pipe wrenches. They are 18 inches and red. Plus they make short work of the universal couplings on the pump. Nice.

The inlet didn't get this full last week when the river peaked. The bit of cement you see on the left is the outlet for when the water on the other side of the levy needs to drain. I haven't seen this little inlet so full. I'm curious as to how it will look in the morning.

And here are my regular shots from off of the bridge to Watson Island. These photos just do not do them justice. The channel is really turbulent.

However, the honeysuckle is starting to bloom along with the day lilies. The honeysuckle smells fantastic.

One of the really exciting things that happened today was that I finally got the dirt for the dahlia bed today. Yay! I forgot to take a picture of it. It no longer looks like an open mass grave. Now it looks like the beginnings of a flower bed.

The other exciting thing is that almost all of the pansies are planted out in front of the office. Cheryl, Kim and Hazel finished all but 2 flats. It looks great. What I envisioned but couldn't figure out how it was going to get done. The Gardens has such great volunteers.

The other really exciting thing that happened today was that the solar panels are now in place. They just need to get hooked to the grid which will happen Monday. It is so cool. We are so lucky to have them. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow. Or you could just visit your favorite Botanical Garden and see for yourself. ;)