Workin' in the rain

This weekend I volunteered at the Chicago Botanic Garden's "Blooming Sale." I have done this for the past three years and really enjoyed it. This year it rained. I worked from 12:30 to 4 on Friday, and for most of the afternoon it rained. I did have a good rain jacket, so I didn't get soaked, but my foot were wet, my hands were wet, even though I wore garden gloves. The most ironic thing about Friday was that the sale did a terrific business. There was a line of people waiting to get in, and we were busy for most of the time. When the rain stopped, most of the people were gone. On Saturday morning I worked again. The day was cool but sunny. The sale wasn't nearly as busy as Friday. O well.

Big Questions

Why is the blooming season of spring flowers so short? I have barely begun to enjoy the daffodils, now they've faded. The tulips are blooming, but not for long. My azalea's flowers are on the ground, like violet snow. The star magnolia and the amelanchier have a lot of green leaves, no more flowers. Mu redbud is still in bloom, the flowers looking like purple foam on the branches. But my favorite, the Korean spice "viburnum juddi" is still covered with pale pink balls which smell so wonderful. I have been taking the time to smell them every time I walk past. I have only a few more days to enjoy them--since the flowers never last more than a week or two.

At the Botanic Garden

Maybe you wonder what I do every week at the Botanic Garden----so I took some pictures last Friday and will tell you what goes on.

Here I am ready to work with a group of elementary school kids at the Aquatic Station. The theme is adaptations and I lead them in a discussion of how plants and animals have adapted to living in water.

This group of second graders is from the Chicago Public Schools.

The students observe macro invertebrates and attempt to identify them from charts. There were plenty of creatures in the water--including dragonfly nymphs, scuds and side swimmers. Every one learns something that they couldn't from a textbook in the classroom and gets to enjoy a lovely spring day at the Botanic Garden.

Spring!

Spring has come to Elmwood Ave.