Hi All,
It was a beautiful morning on Monday, September 29th. Our 9 a.m. temp was 67 degrees and 11 a.m. it was 78 degrees. The sunshine was spectacular!
Week 22 was Project GREEN volunteers’ 2025 BIG project day. Two years ago, we planted over 40 boxwood bushes around the parking lot. Ed Rinderspacher used a large auger to dig holes and volunteers quickly planted the donated shrubs. Thanks to Beth Cody for her donations! Last year we cut back the Arrowwood Viburnum ‘Blue Muffin’ growing along the north side of the parking lot. These bushes had grown to nearly 20 feet tall since planting in 2013. With Ed R’s and Larry Allen’s chain saws help, the bushes quickly became 3 feet tall. Volunteers gathered debris and shortened their lengths to be sent to the landfill with Steve Erickson’s and crew’s assistance. 2025 will be remembered for adding another peony bed parallel to Normandy Drive’s original peony line-out bed.
There were 15 volunteers in attendance for week 22 at the PGG. They were: Diane Allen (4 hours), Rina Sjolund (3 hours), Mary Laughlin, Susan Ahrens, Kara Frankman (MG), Hetty Hall (3 hours), Evelyn Frey (3 hours), Barb Schintler (2 1/2 hours), Jim Peters (4 1/2 hours), Chris Ostrander (3 hours), Erin Buscher (3 hours), Monica Hoherz (3 hours), Cindy Parsons (3 hours), Byron Vandenberg (MG), Linda Schreiber (MG). Extra work accomplished since week 21 was volunteer Laura Hawks as she trimmed a Larch tree and dug 10 peonies for transplanting (1 1/2 hours). Many thanks to each of these remarkable, exceptional, amazing, astonishing, astounding, marvelous gardeners! Yes, I saved more adjectives to use another time!!
It was a sight to behold watching volunteers dig 15 peonies and transporting to the newly prepared beds thanks to Ed R! There the peonies were dug into their new homes along with the 10 peonies Laura H dug last week. Meanwhile other volunteers weeded the original line-out peony bed. Next step for both beds was adding beautiful black mulch to both old and new peony beds. Ed R edged the beds with his power trimmer. Another Ed tool was his Dingo, which transported piles of mulch making it easier for volunteers to equally cover each bed. Last step was setting up the tripod sprinkler that went back and forth nearly 4 hours. All this was accomplished by 10:35 a.m. by extra-ordinary volunteers! Thanks to Jim Peters for getting hoses pulled to the peony location and later Jim and Evelyn Frey for turning off the water around 2 p.m.
Many volunteers stayed extra time mulching other PGG beds and watering and weeding. Ed used his Dingo to move mulch needed all around the Gardens. It was a busy morning filled with satisfying results.
Here are the numbers after 22 weeks together at the PGG: Weeks 1 – 21 + Week 22 = 902 1/2 hours + 37 1/2 hours
= 940 hours for Project GREEN volunteers!
Congratulations to all the volunteers!
We have one more month together (26 total weeks) to accumulate 1000+ hours while working at our beloved Gardens. The next two weeks (23 & 24) we will continue to weed, water, mulch. Week 25 we will remove canna lilies & elephant ears. Week 26, the annual plants will be pulled. Our time together will go quickly. Remember to include your (snail) mailing address after you sign-in Monday morning. The Project GREEN newsletter will be mailed soon and no volunteer should be missed.
There is LOTS going on at the Gardens! The REAP Grant is in full-swing. Here are a couple pictures showing new additions to the Gardens:
Hope to see lots of volunteers Monday, October 6th for our 23rd week together. Until then, happy gardening! Diane