june 2011 workday in the garden

every june we gather the members to give the demo garden a makeover before the big fielday event.  fellow dcmg member pam supplied these photos.

mid-summer; hot, hot, hot in the garden, july 17 update

 so hot in the garden!!!  we need rain, anybody know a good rain dance?  for all of you who come out to visit the garden, please keep in mind that this is a demonstration garden and the plants in it are on display.  please do not pick the fruits and vegetables on the plants and remember, removing plants-even self sown seedlings as well as the fruits and veggies is the same as stealing!  the pathologists in the building use the various plants and beds for research and you could skew the results and void reasearch that has taken weeks if not months to establish.  that said, here is what is going on in the garden this week.

we have finally begun the task of moving the arbor to the herb garden.  first it was taken apart and the top section was removed.  the side sections were dug out and relocated to the main garden to await installation.

 ti took all the effortt and muscles of our gardeners and despite the heat, they got it moved!

 with the lack of rain, we have had to water.  here is virginia giving the plants some much needed moisture.

 the view from the main garden down to the perennials

 ants like butterfly weed too!

 black and blue salvia

 i love to watch the butterflies!  followed this one around and got some nice shots of him, enjoy!

july 10, mid-summer update

at this time of year, most gardens tend to die off.  intense heat and dry weather cause plants to shut down and die back.  we aren't seeing that yet; there has been steady rainfall and the plants are looking beautiful.  early morning arrivals make gardening a pleasure since it beats the heat!

taking it vertical;  asian long beans are climbing the strings while cucumbers are climbing tall stakes.

 a florida weave is holding up the tomatoes in this bed

 all of the rain has caused a serious plant explosion in the herb garden!

 basil anyone???

 the raised beds are doing well too.  here is the little garden that anne planted, the tomaotes are taking over!

 when you have rain, you get mushrooms!

look carefully, at about the 7 o'clock position is a red object, that is a stinkhorn growing out from the cluster of mushrooms known as little helmets or fairy bonnets (coprinus disseminatus).

 growing between the clumps of switchgrass that top the berm on the rain garden is thare these mounds of creamy white foam.  they are called crust or parchment fungi.

 witches butter on the work table, it is decomposing the wood pretty quickly.

 the passion fruit that ate the garden...i really need to get this thing in a pot with an arbor to climb on.

 this used to be a compost corral.  it is now a squash arbor.  unfortunately, it is a plant from hybrid seeds and no squash are developing-just plant and flowers.

 the good thing about flowers, you can stuff them, bread/batter them and fry them for a tasty treat!!!

 pretty painted lady getting a drink

 carpenter bee on a sunflower

 somewhere in here is the rain garden.  the plants in it have outdone themselves and have completely filled the basin.  no more erosion problems!!!

 coneflowers in full bloom

 phlox plants in bloom

 jack in the pulpit in bloom in the shade garden

and it just wouldn't be sunday morning in the garden without cake; little muffins to be exact.  mixed grain with carrots and apples.

another steamy morning in the garden, 7/3

the big day has come and gone and now it is just a question of how well we can maintain the garden in it's current state.  so far, so good; we have had a fairly steady flow of volunteers stepping up to the challenge and things look good.  hopefully, they will continue to come out and support the garden.

we tried something new this past week, an afternoon work/picnic session and despite a low turnout, we had a good time.  to make it easy, it was a pot luck and there was plenty to eat.

darry and sam manning the grill-the only photo i managed to take!  i was too busy enjoying myself and i forgot to take more photos!!!  after thhe fire was hot, darry grilled some sockeye salmon and zucchini-both were tasty.

now for the current garden update

 the grapes are looking beautiful, now if we could only keep the birds out of them, we might get to taste them when they are ripe.

 borage in bloom in the herb garden

 as always, the garden is the site for skippers

 the new block herb garden in the outdoor classroom is adjusting to the heat-wish i could...

 reddening lepiota-a parasol mushroom found in the classroom.  it is an edible but we left it to drop it's spores.

 tansy in bloom-covered in tiny little bees

 the pennyroyal was the busiest spot in the garden-it was covered in bees of all kinds, some wasps too!

 hollyhocks

 the new compost structures are in use.  on the left we are building a new pile.  in the center is the pile that is curing and when it is finished, it will be moved to the empty space on the right.

compost bins can be built of all kinds of things, here is one made from straw bales.  it is not as durable but is still functional.