Outdoor planting

It’s hard to believe that May has come and gone so quickly! This month, the grounds crew staff has expanded with three new employees and we are thrilled to have them. We have been blessed with people who have a passion for gardening and a passion for the Lord!

There have been numerous deliveries of plant material to the museum in the last couple of weeks. This spring we received over 9,000 plants, including trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and aquatics for the bog and lake.

Perry has been busy planting thousands of aquatic plants in the shallow areas of the lake. What a site it will be when these plants fill in! Water lilies, lotuses, rushes, pickerel weeds and aquatic irises will all be flowering during the growing season and will beautify the lake edges. At next year's opening the lake is going to be spectacular!

Warm season annual plantings have also started. Kim fertilizes the recently planted dragon wing begonias (seen from the dragon-themed bookstore). Next week, over 1,000 more annuals are due to arrive, so we will be removing the pansies and planting the warm-season annuals in their place. Brightly colored vincas and pentases will greet all the visitors to the new bookstore.

With what seemed like weeks of rain finally letting up we were able to start the plantings in the bog garden area. Poor weather delayed shipments of the carnivorous plants, but they have finally arrived! The bog is really starting to take shape with a large variety of moisture-loving plants such as pitcher plants, irises, sedges and many more. This garden will showcase many unusual plants with fantastic flower and leaf color.

We can’t wait to complete this garden and add more props such as logs and, of course, the fog system that will run through the bog. Once finished we will start on the "dinosaur rainforest" garden! Wait till you see what we are doing in that two-acre garden!

Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate all of your prayers and support for the museum.