Hi All,
It’s such a beautiful late summer’s day! Hope everyone is enjoying a long three day weekend.
Project GREEN volunteers met for week 17 at the PGG on Monday, August 26. Volunteers were given a couple choices for meeting times (8 – 10 a.m. or 9 – 11 a.m.) as the weather was hot and steamy, just like the last days of August should be. Our rain gauges showed zero amounts of rain since we last met and 78 degrees at 8 a.m. As I drove out of the driveway around noon the temperature was 88 degrees. Whew! Truly, it was a day to cook an egg on the sidewalk. The 13 cheerful and energetic volunteers in attendance were: Susan Ahrens, Linda Bergquist, Rina Sjolund, Sue Mullins, Erin Buscher, Chris Ostrander, Monica Hoherz, Mary Laughlin, Hetty Hall, Pat Yeggy, Evelyn Frey, Jim Peters, and moi. From the listing of times spent at the Gardens, it appears most volunteers stayed two hours with a few staying longer and others leaving earlier. Our work goals were to water and weed our flowerbeds. Happily all our gardens received a cool drink of water, using only two very long hoses! The Little Free Library was filled and containers and wagon were fertilized and watered.
Chris Ostrander is watering a very thirsty tree as she noticed an extremely tall elephant ear plant growing in the north end of the Triangle flowerbed. From her expression it is worth dropping by to see the huge ears of this plant! The Triangle bed is closest to Park Road along the hiking/biking trail. There is a bench for passers-by to sit and enjoy the meandering Iowa River. Park in the parking lot off 820 Park Road and take a walk along the Park Road sidewalk towards the Triangle bed. Check out the Southwest parking lot corner to see lovely Evelyn’s Corner on your way to the Triangle bed. From there it’s an easy walk to see the Quilt, Mary’s tree, our newest bed of perennial native plants, the white arch near Ligularia dell, and ending at the Circle. There are many other planted and labeled flowerbeds and benches scattered around the 8+ acre site. Don’t forget to stroll the hiking/biking trail to see Dashes 1 – 7! Make your way back to the parking lot along the sidewalk in front of the Ashton House to see 6 gorgeous containers filled with flowering plants.
We will next meet for week 18 on September 3, TUESDAY. Let’s plan to resume our 9 – 11 a.m. times. There are two months left for our work together and our time will go quickly! Every week the Gardens look more and more beautiful, thanks to our merry band of gardeners.
Here are the numbers after 17 weeks working at the PGG. Weeks 1 – 16 + Week 17 = 722 1/2 hours + 26 hours = 748 1/2 hours for Project GREEN volunteers! Many thanks and lots of gratitude to our volunteers!
Looking forward to seeing my Project GREEN friends on TUESDAY. Until then, happy gardening! Diane