Autumn at the Grange 2014

I can’t say enough about how beautiful the grounds are looking in all the gardens we have landscaped surrounding the perimeter of the new amphitheater. We still have work to do; such as, removing some hosta from the water wheel garden and replacing with other plants to give more variety; then, there is the Washington Walk that runs along the length of the amphitheater to the water wheel garden and into the woods where Roy and our garden club have cleared vines and pruned overgrown somewhat dead boxwood. DeeDee and Cathy give their thanks to Wyn Coghlan, Connie Stelzenmuller, Sandy Beale, Sarah Collier, Betsy Crowell, and Roy Sandstrom, from The Grange Estate, who came out on this first Tuesday in October to work on such a glorious fall morning. Someone remarked how satisfying it was to work at The Grange.

DeeDee and Cathy organized the morning to transplant what they bought at Yellow Springs and plants that Sandy Beale brought from her own garden. Additionally, our tasks on this morning were to weed the Entrance Garden–Ajuga that had creeped into the pathway in front of the magnolia was removed and transplanted to other beds Thanks to Sandy Beale’s generosity (Sandy travels up from New Castle, Delawere), we have added spring color to the Triangle Bed. Sandy shared some of her native, shade plants– blue lobelia (lobelia siphilitica, cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis), heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’, golden star (chrysogonum virginiantum, wood poppy (stylophorum diphyllum), windflower (anemone canadensis), mountain mint (meehenia cordata) and skullcap (scllataria ovata) Sandy made identification markers for each group of plants. We will eventually use metal markers. Thank you Sandy.

At the water wheel area, Sarah and Roy planted three dwarf clethera–‘sixteen candles’. Also in the water wheel garden, the old yew was given a severe “hair cut” to open the vista surrounding the water wheel and new clethera. The soil was wonderful to handle–moist and almost free of those pesky vines.

Davey Tree Service is the vendor of choice for purchase and planting of trees (tbd) for our Tree Trade grant. We will complete this project early Spring, 2015.

We have one more service day at The Grange in November for the season; so, if you haven’t made it yet, do put this one on your calendar. I don’t think you will be disappointed with what you see that The Gardeners have accomplished at The Grange.