July Already

May and June have come and gone without an update.  It's been a busy time with National Public Gardens Day on May 8th followed immediately by the Annual Mother's Day Bonsai Show that weekend. 

Ginkgo group planting

Club bonsai stand for Shohin, Mame and Komono

I've been knocking off my shadowing requirements for my docent's work.  There was a tour for the ABQ Newcomers Club.  Two Mondays a month have me out in the Cottonwood Gallery for the Nature's Notebook phenology study.  I generally stay longer doing "general grounds" docent duty. 

Chinese pistache in the entry courtyard

Crabapple by the Heritage Farm

In June I gave two tours of the Sasebo Japanese Garden to Camp BioPark groups.  The High Desert Rose Garden opened to much fanfare despite the young plantings.  It's very nice to have facilities at that end of the garden.  Also, there's now a direct path to the Sasebo instead of the detour through the Heritage Farm. 

Peonies in May

There was also the first of three Night Walks in the Garden during June.  I was meant to second the tour, but one guide was late and I ended up with my own group. 

Also in June, Trudy took to laying eggs in the garden beneath my window one evening.  In the morning the nest was empty and she wasn't seen for 5 days.  While doing maintenance on the roof, I found her empty shell.  She had been killed and taken up there by a raccoon.  She's buried beneath the Buddha under the pinon tree, where she often burrowed.  To ease the sorrow, we do have four of her hatchlings that turned up this spring.  They are safely in a terrarium and growing steadily.  We've begun protecting Terrance and Ten-ten with a raccoon-repellent spray around the yard. 

Next on the Botanic Garden calendar will be that Tanabata Festival.  Poems and wishes on special papers will be set adrift on Tuesday the 7th.