update from the garden 5/29/11-new structures coming along nicely!

 it all starts with scones, apricot scones-sometimes, you have to do something different and today it was scones rather than cake.

 one of the new raised bed structures.  meant to be accessible to those gardening from wheelchairs, it is a great way to build beds quickly and inexpensively.  wendi and shirley are painting the blocks in bright colors.

 plotting and stacking the final layer of blocks

 more painting!

 you gotta love smart gardeners!  alice and lynn moved the potting operations to the shade

 lynn was totaly in the weeds...

 amazing what a little mulch can do to a bed.  the raised bed structures look so much better now.

 the new memorial garden awaits soil and plants

 ninja sam, armed with a water gun seeks hot gardeners to cool off

 and in bloom this week, black and blue salvia

 asclepia tuberosa-native butterfly weed

 coreopsis

 asiatic lily

 the new classroom will be used during the field day event to demonstrate lasagna gardening

and did we mention cicadas?  they are everywhere!!!  can somebody make them go away now?

5/15-moving right along

it was a dark and dreary morning but at least it didn't rain on us!  we had a nice time and much was accomplished today.

and as always, i come with a freshly baked cake.  this week's selection-almond poppyseed cake with a little lemon zest for zing.  i blinked and the crew dug in and ate half the cake!!!

 the first bluebird brood did not survive-mockingbirds!  mr & mrs(that's her in the photo) are preparing for the second brood.

 butterfly weed almost in bloom

 what we did today-mulch the garden.  two loads were delivered and the crew spent the morning spreading it out over the pathways.  in the photo, darry fills the wheelbarrow while anne rakes it out.

 in this photo, david dumps a load while anne continues to rake it out...



and as the morning progresses, the cake disappears...everyone, including myself, had at least two pieces!

 st. john's wort in bloom in the herb garden.

 nancy dividing plants in the herb garden

last year, i collected logs to construct the walls of the herb garden.  many of them are sprouting mushrooms.  while many of them are inedible, they are all interesting to look at.  here are a few photos of the fruiting bodies present today

 every bottle garden is a potential terrarium, ours is no exception!

 now, doesn't that look pretty?  amazing what a little mulch can do!

going, going, gone...there's a first time for everything!  come join us some time, you know there will be cake!!!

5/8-happy mother's day (a week late)

 what a way to spend mother's day-in the garden surrounded by flowers!  we were joined by new member, margaret and we had a nice morning.

ice plants in bloom

 helianthum and cat mint-beautiful combination

 heuchera-coral bells

 columbine

 it's just not a sunday in the garden unless there is cake-sour cherry buckle

 and without babies, it's just not mother's day!  robin chicks