November 8, 2015

Fall colors this year have been particularly vibrant, as evidenced by the lovely rose shade on this cluster of Maple-Leaf Viburnums by the quarry trail. As fall has advanced, our project has also—with a lot of work being done in several different areas: construction of the pole barns continues, and the main barn is roofed and ready for siding; individual spaces in the parking lots have been designated and provided with car bumpers and rock outlines; plans are being laid for sanitation facilities at the Quonset hut and for a cistern system, and dozens of dead cedars and Virginia pines have been removed from the South Quarry Overlook. None of these are very photogenic at the moment, so I’ll leave them for later. Cataloging of our native species is being enhanced by hundreds of detailed photographs, but that, too will be for a later inclusion. Other fall advances have been more visible. First, stone work for the “tumble-stair,” the rock staircase below the South Quarry Overlook that we hope will somehow look as though it fell into place among the rock tailings, is becoming more definitive, although still not finished:

Stepway forming up.

Stepway forming up.

Several representatives of area garden clubs and native plant groups “cased” the project to see if they would be interested in having field trips, later. (They seemed to indicate they might.) With apologies to the gentleman whose face I managed to obscure in the photo, here they are standing on the almost-finished Bridge #2 (the first built, but designated as #2 on the plans):

Garden Club group on almost-completed Bridge #2

Visitors on almost-completed Bridge #2

A new addition has been the creation of a “swale garden,” according to our naturalist, Devin, not a “rain garden” since it is intended to remain moist. It is only partially planted at this time, of course, and will look different once the plantings mature:

Partially planted swale (don't call it a rain garden).

Partially planted swale (NOT a rain garden).