We had a very strong volunteer turnout today.  Above are Alan (left) and Ron P. out hauling shredded bark to mulch the parking lot islands along with Larry H. and Lloyd (both below leaning on their forks and taking an early break..).  The guys did a nice job collectively mulching a huge area and were joined by Gene later in the morning.  The second photo down shows Ron R. (left) and Bob C. composting multiple areas that will ultimately be planted with seasonals this spring.  Rollie (third photo down) was in as was Jenny M., (painting), Dr. Gredler (painting), Maury (errands), Del (cleaning), Marsha (photography) and many others.  Pat C. (fourth photo down) continued her assessment of labeling needs (repairs, replacements, etc.) in multiple areas and Gary was inside working on this same project as well as producing new labels for incoming plants.  The fifth photo down shows (left to right), Peg, Kathy and Eva.  The ladies did a great job with some early weeding and collected lots more debris from garden areas adjacent to the sunken garden.  The sixth photo down shows John being hauled around by Terry…the guys brought up the “cutting display” bench as it’s that time of year to show folks what’s in bloom and where it’s located.  Dick H. ran multiple loads to the dump while Ron Y. (seventh photo down) continued staining portions of the new cedar obelisks the guys are making (see Vern and Dave in the eighth photo down).  Jim D. was part of that crew too and we also saw Bob D., Tina B., Harry M., Cheryl R. and many others today.  See further below for more photographs from today.

Today, Spring Fever became official with sunshine and highs in the low 70 degrees F.  It was a perfect day for our first Story & Stroll program of 2015 which saw some nice attendance and we saw quite a few folks out in the gardens including our Story & Stroll volunteers.  Above is our espaliered apple (Malus) along the side of the Rath Center that is quite striking even when not “in leaf” (yet!).  I was able to tour the gardens while giving a tour to a group from Illinois that organizes bus trips.  Despite the barren landscape, I think they enjoyed the tour and took time to pose in the giant Adirondack chair (seen below).  I was able to photograph more early bulbs and other interesting color (see further below) this morning as well.  Despite the weather, I was desk bound frantically finishing spring orders and preparing for the return of our seasonal grounds staff next week.  Further below I’ve shown the expected progression of our vast quantities of Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) that are just peaking out of the ground but will quickly fill in and be blooming within 2 weeks or so.

We had a wonderful turnout of volunteers today. Eva, Kathy and Kay all went out in the gardens for tidying duty this morning.  Joanne A. was out there in the afternoon doing the same thing and Stan worked on quite a bit of pruning in the Japanese garden.  Pat M. continued work on the giant obelisks and Maury ran some errands for us. Janice had lots of projects to work on and Gena, Myrt and Nancy came in for painting.  Art and I met to go over a current audio-visual project.  We also saw Dr. Yahr, Cindy B., Big John, Jackie, Urban, Jumbo Jim (with his son), Dr. Gredler, Alys and many others.  Looks like April showers will appear sporadically over the coming days but that can only help us after the dry winter.