A flurry of snowflakes and a blustery breeze accompanied my walk around the Arboretum grounds today. The meadow, gazebo and Pieris japonica flowers were covered in varying amounts of snow creating the appearance of a light sugar coating.
The Plant Sale page (https://www.arboretumfriends.org/plant-sale-2024/) has two sections, several paragraphs of static text and banner at the top, followed by a dynamic area that automatically displays posts (like blog entries) that are tagged for the Plant Sale page. This manual page will focus on adding posts that will be displayed at the bottom of the Plant Sale page. Other manual pages provide additional information about the Block Editor, Images and the Media Library, and Images and Galleries in Posts. All the manual entries me be viewed here.
The first page displayed on logging in to the website is the administrative dashboard. Click the screenshot at right to enlarge it. Numbers correspond to the annotation on it.
#1 At the top right you will see your username. Hover your cursor over that to see the Logout link.
#2 Hover over “Friends…” for the link “Visit Site” to go to the website. While on the site, return to the dashboard the same way.
#3 Posts and # 4 Media open important menus for finding or adding posts or media (images, pdf’s, etc.). Hover over Posts, then click on Add New.
When you first enter the new post screen, WordPress sometimes shows a help screen for the block editor. Click through it or close it and proceed with entering a new post.
The screenshot at right shows the layout of the post edit screen. Add your post’s title, then the text body. Press “Enter” at the end of each paragraph to start a new paragraph.
When done, expand the Tag section in the right sidebar and add the tag “PS-24” followed by Enter.
By now, your edit screen will look something like the next screenshot. You can make corrections or additions, add images and headings and otherwise customize your post.
When you are done, click the blue Publish button at the top of the right sidebar and press the second Publish button that appears to confirm the process.
Click the “View Post” link that appears under your post. If you want to go back to edit the post, click the “Edit Post” link in the black bar at the top of the screen.
Then, go to the Plant Sale 2024 page to confirm that your new post appears in the posts area of the page as illustrated in the image at right.
This week’s photos offer a wide variety of late winter images. The persistent, dry, paper thin leaves of an American Beech tree (Fagus grandifolia), fluttering in the breeze and soon to be pushed off by fresh new growth. The evergreen, yellowish, flat foliage sprays of a Sawara Cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera cv. Filifera Aurea) adding a bright spot in the landscape. The delicate, deep pink flowers of an espaliered Japanese Apricot (Prunus Mume cv. Kobai) blooming against the walls of the Carriage House. Spring is on its way!
Picture credits Margery Ennist.
Chilly, overcast and damp after yesterday’s snowfall. Lovely little vignettes were created around the grounds, from the snow covered foliage and male cones of a Cryptomeria japonica (Japanese Cedar), to bright red berries and snow on Ilex centrochinensis x. Aquifolium ‘Centennial Girl’ (Hybrid Holly), to the lemony yellow flowers of Jasminum nudiflorum (Winter Jasmine), holding their own even under a blanket of snow! Mother Nature at her loveliest!
Picture credits Margery Ennist.
Chilly, damp and raw conditions made for a quick walk around the grounds. Even so, the lovely, sunny yellow Hamamelis x intermedia Sunburst (Witch Hazel) was a welcome sight, living up to its name by providing a bright spot next to Matilda’s Cottage; a close-up of the flowers shows their unusual strappy petals. The shiny, leathery evergreen leaves of Magnolia grandiflora cv. Edith Bogue (Southern Magnolia cultivar) with their indumentum covered undersides provide a nice foil for the cone-like Magnolia fruit.
Picture credits: Margery Ennist.
A lovely sunny day in the mid-50s, hard to believe it’s February! More early bloomers are doing their thing: bright yellow sweeps of Eranthis hyemalis (Winter Aconite) adorn a bed next to Matilda’s cottage, purplish/red Hellebores (Lenten Rose) are blooming in the beds under the Japanese Maple collection and a small clump of sunny yellow Adonis amurensis (Pheasant’s Eye) is keeping the Winter Aconite company. Enjoy a visit soon!
Picture credits: Margery Ennist.
Winter is the perfect time to get a good look at the bark on trees, without the distraction of leaves, flowers or fruits. The Acer griseum (Paper Bark Maple) at the entrance to the Haggerty Education Center is a gorgeous collage of overlapping, exfoliating bark in shades of brown and tan. The Heptacodium miconioides (Seven Sons Tree) presents a smoother bark, with long exfoliating strands of bark that move with the breeze. A Lagerstromia indica cv. Acoma (Crapemyrtle) also has a smooth bark, but with subtle patches of beige, peach and olive green. These are not the only examples of interesting bark to be found!
Pictures courtesy of Margery Ennist.
Cold, chilly, breezy, not ideal for a stroll in the gardens, but the fresh air was invigorating and welcome. Lovely, shiny dark red leaves on a low to the ground Leucothoe axillaris (Coast Leucothoe), interesting green flowers of a Helleborus foetidus (Stinking Hellebore) and a lovely fuzzy bud, one of many, on the Magnolia x ‘Butterflies’ (Hybrid Magnolia), just waiting for the warmth of spring to burst forth into bloom! To quote Percy Bysshe Shelley in Ode to The West Wind: If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Picture credits: Margery Ennist.
A chilly but welcome sunny day at the Arboretum. Even though Spring is still two months away, a few plants are blooming in the dead of Winter. Beautiful, delicate white Snowdrops (Galanthus), lemony yellow Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) and strappy reddish orange Witch Hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Diane) blooms can be found if you look carefully enough. Be sure to visit soon!
Picture credits: Margery Ennist.
The Friends celebrated the New Year and the 50th Anniversary of our founding with a presentation by Judy Snow, past President of the Friends, showing highlights from Friends’ activities and remembering many horticultural friends and events through the years. The presentation was followed by a delicious spread of sweet and savory treats, as well as coffee, tea and bubbly. All who attended were happy to be back in the Haggerty for a live event and a chance to catch up with friends!
If you are not a Member of the Friends, please join us, we would love to have you!
Picture credits: Margery Ennist.
