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Happy 4th of July!
HAPPY RED, WHITE & BLUE DAY!'Seriously Scarlet' breadseed poppy (Papaver somniferum) - annualblooms of common yucca (Yucca filamentosa) - semi-woodyAnd the blue above is the annual, love-in-a-mist...
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Another Frantic Friday
Fridays are usually frantic for a couple of reasons. Â We have to tidy up the gardens for the weekend visitors and weddings and with recent lack of precipitation and a sunny high near 90 degrees F...
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A 5 Acre Urban Oasis
One objective during my vacation time is always to get a "plant fix" (beyond catching up with weeding my garden). Â My wife, two daughters and I went to Chicago yesterday with the primary destination...
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The Difference A Week Can Make...In The Garden
I had a great week on vacation and was able to spend time with the family, catch up on some household duties (I somehow got out of re-sanding and re-finishing hardwood floors...whew!) and home...
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Another Scorcher
Great shot taken today at the top shared by Marsha (thanks Marsha!) showing a hummingbird moth gliding towards a native bee balm (Monarda fistulosa) which is also called wild bergamot. Â It was a...
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Another Hot One
Today was another hot day with a heat index near 100 degrees F. Â It's a bummer to start sweating by 7:30 am but we have some tough people around here. Â Above is a shot (from the top of a 15' ladder) of...
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Sunshine (& Heat) Galore!
Today was the hottest of the week (104 degrees F heat index) although there was at least some periodic cloud cover. Â As has been the case over the past couple of days, most of our volunteers were in...
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Another "Day of Thirst"
Needless to say, it was another hot one although there was some cloud cover and a breeze which made it a bit more tolerable. Â There was lots of irrigation running, sprinklers being set up and hand...
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A Great Garden Tour For Everyone!
It was a beautiful day for our annual Home Garden Tour! Â With temperatures in the mid 80 degrees F, hundreds of tour participants enjoyed seeing the eight garden sites with a wide range of garden...
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Vancouver (Day 1)
My day started with the 3:20 a.m Van Galder bus (from Janesville) to O'Hare airport this morning. Â Of course, the check-in process was just as much fun as the security check point but I did make it to...
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Vancouver Island (Day 2)
Today was a crazy day and I've already dozed off a half dozen times as I've been adding photos to this blog after our return back from our Vancouver Island Tour. Â We took a 1.5 hour ferry ride to...
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Vancouver (Day 3)
Today was mostly educational sessions in the morning. Â We had some good speakers that were quite inspirational and their passion was evident. Â I met some new people and went through the trade show...
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Vancouver (Day 4)
Today was another beautiful day in sunny Vancouver and I had a full day of trips with eight destinations. Â I've included them here in the order I viewed them and included some captions as well. Â With...
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Vancouver (Day 5)
Today was the second of two days that focused on lectures and various topic presentations. Â It was another sunny day in Vancouver with temperatures around 78 degrees F or so. Â I was able to walk around...
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Vancouver (Day 6)
The start of our tour day included stops at three local nurseries in the Vancouver area. Â There were four buses touring and arrivals were staggered at each site. Â I've included just a couple shots from...
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Back Home
It was nice to be back to work today and the gardens look great after a week of rainfall and cooler temperatures. Â It was extremely cool last Friday and Saturday (60 degrees F) but today will get in to...
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Orange Theme Succeeds
The photo above was taken this morning at around 6:30 am. Â I think our orange theme has been very successful and is certainly not short on color or impact. Â This is probably a peak shot as some of the...
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Male-Dominated Day
It was strange today not to have any female grounds crew members around. Â No Cheryl, Cindy or Janice. Â I'm not complaining. Â It was just odd! Â We did have some female volunteer help but for grounds...
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Thursday Planting & Primping
The weather was simply perfect today with sunshine, a light breeze and temperatures in the upper 70 degrees F. Â It was certainly perfect gardening weather and the gardens in general are at their most...
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Nice Precipitation
Above is a nice shot of the Nancy Yahr Memorial Children's Garden ("Pollinator's Paradise") taken recently from a hot air balloon above the gardens. Â Dennis and Gena (RBG volunteers) floated over last...
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