urban garden festival, may 18, 2013

 after a frantic couple of months of planning, planting and just about anything you can think of as related to maintaining a garden, we finally had our chance to show it all off.  thankfully, the rain held off and we had some sun, especially nice since we set it all up in the rain on friday!    as you came in from the parking area, these electric pink azalea bushes greeted you.

the rose society had a lovely selection of roses for sale.

our own plant sale featuring plants from our home gardens.

the new kid on the block, the keyhole garden.  to see how we built it, be sure to look at the keyhole garden page by clicking the tab above.

 all around the outer edge are herbs and beneficial plants that will attract beneficial insects to help us control the damaging ones.

 henny penny abandoned her nest but we left it up in the arbor for another bird to use.

 the herb garden has exploded with all of the rain that has fallen.  the large plant in the left/back is a comfrey that is putting on quite a display with all of its blooms.

 beautiful iris in the herb garden

this orange thyme has become one of my favorite plants.

 so many people were intrigued by the pallet garden.  i answered many questions about building one.

 a new feature for the show, a wildlife garden.  it is easy to get your yard certified as a wildlife habitat.

 cute statue and a lovely weigela in a pot

 the coreopsis in the rain garden is showing off its color

 the rain garden had a real workout the last few weeks and it shows in the lush new growth of all of the plants.

 the square foot garden, a great way to produce large amounts of vegetables in a small space.

 the zombie garden looks a little sparse but that will change as we add more dead bodies...

 the shade garden is always one of my favorite places to be.  

 our sedum garden is filling in nicely.

sedums have become one of my favorite plant groups.  they are hardy, versatile and the number of varieties is so great that you can always find one more...

all in all, the show was a success.  we had two food trucks join us, your dish is our command  and the yum cupcake truck, the food was great!  we hope you come out again next year!

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.

the big day-6/18, field day & gardening a-z

 each year, the week before our field day event is jam packed full of tasks that needed to be completed a month ago.  this year was no exception.  the difference, we had a wonderful group of dedicated volunteers helping us out!  many thanks to all who persevered the heat and the hail to make it happen.

our last sunday workday before the big event-as always, cake.  pumpkin spice with apples

 one of the many beds to be finished, the new herb garden in the outdoor classroom

 and speaking of the herb garden, we now have a bed of basil!  it features different varieties of basil, one of my favorite things about summer.

 just look at the herb garden-the plants have exploded!

 the cinderblock garden on the pad formerly used for the satellite dish.  and speaking of the dish, stay tuned for photos and videos of the transformation from dish to flower bed.

 a close-up of the portulaca, aka moss rose, in the block garden

 there is no end to what you can do with cinderblocks in the garden and if you add a little spraypaint...

 there's no telling what you will get!!!

 beans, bush and asian long beans

 raised bed garden

 the new memorial garden

 over in the junior master gardeners beds-more cinderblocks!

 and even more cinderblocks

 the new enabling structure is home to tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and herbs

 and around the garden, you will find buckwheat sprouts-a trap crop planted to draw beneficial insects to the garden.

oh, i did mention hail didn't i?  well, here it is.  it was egg sized when it fell but by the time i took this photo-an hour later, it had melted a bit.