Work the Week of Sept. 9

On Monday I arrived early at 7am in hopes that I could beat the rain. I was already raining so I offered to walk a dog for the staff. The city's work crews were not out yet, and they never arrived. Many of my loyal volunteers did come even though it was raining. I began by removing some iris and by the time I finished the crew began arriving - Betty and Ed Marcus, Carol Hudenko and her husband, Crys Wells, and Jeanette Holmes. We removed one large shrub, many small ones, and a few ground covers and grasses. Ed dug out the irrigation line along the street, cut it and clipped it off. The south portion was pulled out about 6 feet. All plant material was placed in temporary pots and will be replaced when the city work is completed - hopefully this week. The irrigation is off with all the rain.

Inferno before digging

Thursday, the city resumed work on the water lines. We had a large crew and most worked on weeding and deadheading. Rebecca Davis was the 1st to arrive and she worked under the aspen trees weeding. Leslie Stone, Sue Ordway, and Carol Hudenko all weeded and deadheaded in the main garden. We have begun to cut back iris and lavender as well as many other flowers. Lori Tamblingson worked on the corner weeds and Whitney Fessler worked on deadheading. Carol Lease worked on staining the 2 remaining redwood benches. I spent my time working on a whiskey barrel that I neglected to put holes in.  The plants were floating so I removed them, the water, and the soil. Joe Harte came and worked on the locust again and will come on Monday to put holes in the whiskey barrel. Peggy Sheldon-Scurlock filled in for Judith and watered all the indoor plants. Rebecca filled bird feeders with the last of the food. Next week we will begin adding suet feeders and removing other feeders as they are empty. Most of the hummingbirds are gone.

New Blooms:
Fall aster (purple and white), red leaves on the Virginia creeper, Maximillion's sunflower,and some re-blooms on many perennials.

                      Fall Aster                                                   Maximillion Sunflower
Plans for the next week:
Thin a few more iris
Weed and deadhead
Re-plant the whiskey barrel and the inferno
Put out suet feeds and begin to clean seed feeders for winter
Clean bird baths

Upcoming:
Annual Harvest Festival Potluck- Thurs. 9/17 at noon
Make a Difference Day - Sat. , Oct. 26, 9am-12pm, Girls for Good
Last day in the garden for 2013 - TBA (weather permitting)

"Even the smallest landscape can offer pride of ownership not only to its inhabitants but to its neighbors. The world delights in a garden.... Creating any garden, big or small, is, in the end, all about joy."-  Julie Moir Messervy

Thanks,
Loni