swelter swelter, it's hot out there!

if you came out for the field day event, then you know how hot it was and it is still hot out there. somewhere in the forecast was a chance for storms that were supposed to bring relief but i think they had other ideas because i don't recall any rain. all in all, except for the high heat and humidity, the show was a success! thanks to all who came out and helped us pull it off! below are some photos of the garden as it appeared in the show and i hate to say it but i only took a few photos during the show. when i wasn't giving tours of the rain garden and the various structures around it, i was hiding in the shade awaiting my scheduled task of cleaning up the recycling bins! someone promised to send me photos but so far, she has not, oh well.

the asparagus long beans are winding their way up the bamboo teepee

cukes in the veggie garden, the few that we have picked are tasty and the deer have been sampling the leaves-we need to break out some more bars of soap to keep them at bay!

one of the raised enabling beds that was designed for handicapped gardeners. almost all of the plants in the bed are volunteers-they reseeded themselves. in the bed are petunias, verbena, goldenrod, celosia, snapdragons and more.

the rain garden

nasturtiums in the edible flower bed

the rock garden and the trumpet vine

the butterfly garden

the perennial garden

darry doing his talk on cultivating shiitake. he talked all day! many people were fascinated by the idea that you could grow mushrooms in your own backyard.

apparently, i wasn't the only one hiding in the shade. the shade garden was a popular spot with many of the visitors.

another shot of the shade garden and some of our visitors

a view of the rain garden, some of our garden structures and the recycling booth.

try to stay cool and if you have some time, join us in the garden on a sunday morning. we try to get out early to beat the heat and sometimes, i bring coffee cake-fresh baked coffee cake!

unwelcome guests

what a week we had!!! it was an amazing amount of work to pull off the field day event and it couldn't have been any hotter! we were horrified to discover the reemergence of an old nemesis-southern blight. it has turned up in two plants in the rain garden. we quickly removed them and we hope that we have caught it all because it has the potential to wipe out all of the plants in the rain garden.

a wilted plant in the rain garden gave way to suspicion; the soil in the rain garden was not dry since we have had ample rain. closer inspection revealed mycelium around the base of the plant.

further investigation revealed the tell tale signs-a cluster of what looked like mustard seeds around the base of the stem. the fungal disease is spread by water so you can imagine how upset we all were to learn that we could lose every plant in the rain garden if we cannot stop it from spreading.

those crazy moles, they are everywhere in the demo garden.

final call for help

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it is the eleventh hour and we are down to the wire!!! if you have time, stop by and lend a hand getting things finished for the big field day event. we have a few things to finish such as labeling the plants in the various beds, painting the bridges, assembling the rock garden and general sprucing up. also, there is a tree to be removed so all you big muscular types should lend a hand in getting that done! hope to see you there!

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the count down has begun!

as all of you know, we are attempting to get the garden ready for our big Horticulture for Homeowners Field Day on the 20th.  it has been an amazing amount of work and we really could have used more help.  a small group of volunteers have been coming out and we are very grateful they have been able to help.  however, it was disappointing that more members haven't done the same.  especially since the experienced members know how much work it takes to plan and prepare for an event of this size.

our tiny little vegetable garden.  we finally put up trellises for the cukes-vertical gardening is the way to go in a small space.  also, we installed a tall teepee for the long beans, they can grow as high as 12 feet with beans that can be as long as 2 feet.

the old butterfly garden has gotten quite the make over.  it now has a lovely collection of coneflowers, rudbeckia, tickseed, salvias, phlox and more.  the butterfly bush is in bloom too!

the green roof structures have gotten a coat of stain and they are ready for the plants.

***keep an eye out for NPT's Volunteer Gardener show, they will be out in the demo garden this week to tape a segment on on all of our unique structures and beds.

thanks for all of your help!!!

we are so fortunate that volunteers have been making time to help us with the demo garden.

compared to last year, we have so much more finished or almost finished for the homeowners field day.  the garden looks wonderful and we owe everyone who has been coming out a huge round of applause!!! 

david and darry hard at work on the green roof structures

the structures are ready to be stained and the plants installed

we've added sod, mulch and a few berms to the stream bed.

we've had some unwelcome visitors to the garden, hibiscus saw flies and their larvae

the damage that the larvae do is amazing.

the larvae in the top photo and the adult sawfly in the bottom.

Nancy hard at work installing the last of the liriope under the trees.

so far, we have added creeping jenny to one of the berms by the stream bed.  

some of the many beds we tend to in the demo garden.  on the top , an enabling garden which is ideal for handicapped people or those who cannot stand or kneel.  in the middle, the shade garden and the new herb bed on the bottom.

one of our new foxy little friends.  possibly a vixen and a kit are living down in the old mulch pile.  we watched this one wander around the burrow.