What is that stuff?!

 

We don't know what it is.  We know it's everywhere on the farms.  After a full season of watering on the crops, this tends to show up on the ground in certain areas. It's slimy and slippery when you walk on it.  My fellow co-workers and I call them "brains" because of the obvious; they look like nasty diseased brains.  I was walking amongst a "brain" patch today, and thought of how disgusting this stuff was... wouldn't this make for good props in a horror movie? :0 (Gross!)

Peonies

A favorite of mine in the spring; Peonies are beginning to bloom!  The greenhouses are packed with them, and color is about to explode throughout! Some varieties have already begun to bloom.

 

Peony Mrs. Wilder Bancroft

 

Peony Immaculee

All the Immaculee in bloom

Peony Charlie's White

Peony Walter Fraxon

Peony Shawnee Chief- probably one of my favorites

Shawnee Chief

Peony Rosabel; this is going to be colorful!

Peony Rosabel

Peony Rachael

Limelights and Stormy Skies

A field of Hydrangea Limelights looked awesome against a the stormy, contrasting sky yesterday afternoon.

Newbies

We have a few new varieties of daylilies at work.  A couple of them began to bloom today.

Hem Ruby Spider

Hem Primal Scream

Clouds over Horizon

Some cool clouds rolling in today over a bed of Liatris.

Ilex

Beautiful red fall berries cover the stems of Ilex First Editions Wildfire.  Perfect for a nice contrast again the winter snow!

Goldstrum

A summer perennial favorite.

Aster Yellows

There's been problems with Aster Yellows affecting the Coneflowers this year.  Many of them will have to be thrown away because of this disease.  Aster Yellows is a chronic systemic disease cause by a bacterium known as phytoplasma.  It's moved between plants by a leaf hopper insect. The purple coneflower is just one variety affected by this disease; others include the carrot, onion, celery, asters, and marigolds.  Symptoms include stunting, green flowers, deformity, and sterilization.

A normal looking Purple Coneflower.

A Coneflower plant infected with Aster Yellows.  The leaves are deformed and cupped;  its flowers severely deformed, stunted, and green. 

Daylily

Taken in a friend's yard; even though they were purchased from work!

Hem Prairie Wildfire

Hem Hyperion

Hem Grape Magic

Color Blocks

Blocks of color are popping up everywhere on the farm!

Adding a nice foreground to the farm's greenhouses; Hem Happy Returns.

Hydrangea pan Limelight in full bloom!

Lines of now blooming rose varieties that were planted this spring.

Daylily

Hem Rocket City- bright orange

Summer bloomers

Iris Lion King

Magnus Coneflower

Dianthus Fruit Punch Coconut Punch

Problematic

Pesky Jap Beetles are back, and hitting the farm hard! Over the weekend, they mowed down a bunch of our Rose crops.  I happened to catch some of their destruction below.

Destroying the foliage on a Rosa rugosa variety

Clusters and clusters of them!

Do Tell

Peony 'Do Tell' in full bloom!

Spring beauties

Dicentra Bleeding Heart

Lovely hearts!

Dicentra White Bleeding Heart

Bergenia flowers

Beautiful Bergenia floral clusters!

Dicentra Gold Heart Bleeding Heart

Bergenia

Spring tenderness

Spring 2012 has sprung at work!  Due to the recent low overnight temps, we've had to protect our tender new growth on our plants. The last few nights we've watered our plants to form a protective ice barrier.  The results were beautiful!  Ice art...

Abies concolor

Icy needles

Serbian Spruce

Icy Daub's Frosted.... they really are!

A line of iced over plants, next to our greenhouses

Summer's not here yet!

Want a cool ride on this tractor?

Look at the size of these icicles!

Small Austrian pine

A "fountain" of ice!

Cham Golden "Icy" Mops