Dee's Recovery from Surgery #2

other than All About Spring, which of his don't I adore!

but I've fallen in love with American Master and Designer's Art, both of which I've seen. he's had four more I adore in 2008 and 2009 as well, but haven't seen them yet.

and would you believe I don't have Queen's Circle or Christiana Baker yet? any blue and white sells well here. extremely well.

I start dreaming up crosses right after bloom season (now, why didn't I make cross X?). This continues all winter, then my mind goes blank. These are median crosses, of course. As you have a lot of interesting TBs, do a couple of crosses for IBs, if you have neat SDBs for the necessary pollen? That will give you some TB information(what it can produce). Then you can do the same TB on another one to get the same color result--no help on bud count etc. See how much fun to play in someone else's patch?

by the way, as Nana taught me to say, "Morning Glory!"

Have SDBs here. Started collecting them in 2007. Unfortunately, I don't get a heck of a lot of bloom. Last year they bloomed first time - got six blooms on 12 plants. Dee keeps telling me to dump ice on them. other ENCIS members keep telling me they get blooms. I don't. but then again, we are more sun challenged than they are.

Today is a day of rest from the garden. Just going to read, cook and clean. I enjoy doing all of these tasks. I discover yesterday I had started some of the clipping wrong so I re-potted them. It was a very pleasant time but I was on my feet for at least 4 hours just doing a mundane task. That is a task you are redoing. Just standing still on my to do list, not moving forward. Monday I have a dentist appointment. I have two fractures in a tooth so I have to get a crown. My insurance pays 60% so it will be interesting what my share will be. I cannot complain because this is the first work I have had to have on my teeth, except cleaning twice a year, in over 15 years.

I have always told anyone who asked that I was of English descent. When I had a bone scan a few years back, my doctor disagreed with me. She told me I was of Welsh descent because my bone structure was that of a very strong ox. I guess at this time in my life, that is good. I am taking more cutting Tuesday and on. This is just something I have started but it is fun. Most of the materials I am using are recycled pots from the HOA landscape crew. I told them I needed some pots and they delivered over 500 4" pots. It is a great learning experience and will give me something to do over our so called winter.

Hope you are all having a wonderful, warm day. Dee, has it stopped raining in your area? The weather channel showed all of Oregon in rain. We are actually having warmer than usual weather. Photo is Hardy Hibiscus. I am at this time trying cuttings and seeds. The seeds are very hard so I have soaked them in diluted perxcoide and they are in a damp paper towel on top of the direct tv box in a baggy filled with my hot air, LOL. I got this tip somewhere in the hibiscus thread of DG.

It is not raining right now here, but give it a few and sure it will. We are to receive sun on Thurs then more rain. Nothing unusual for this time of the year.

Got thru on the catalog page H and thru photo editing and making all the much needed thumbnails thru letter B, C will be an all day project as it is large and I check all the photos to see which is better last years or 09 and then to see if I have some missing which I think will be under 15 pictures this year.

So far what I am missing is
Altered Image
Applause Line
Black Stallion
Bordello Queen
Border Guard
Double Ringer

D

you're missing the photos, or the irises, Dee? LOL darn - I looked forward to seeing your latest photography efforts. only 15 new ones, heh? any room on your website for more general photos of your gardens?

well, sky, that explains me. Jones is Welsh name, and my heritage is Scottish, too, Dad's side, French and sioux Indian and poor Tenneesee dirt farmers on Mom's. built short and strong. Doc says I have great bones, too. not great joints, however, neck, shoulders and knees are messed up.

heck fire, lady! gardening IS Sunday leisure! BAH on that cleaning and cooking mess! [never did like housework.....Martha Stewart would throw me in the briar patch!] outside in God's world for me!

Well I am not Martha Stewart type but have several neighbors that are and one dropped by the other day and I was horrified because I had been gardening for 5 days straight and my poor DH cannot put away or pick up anything. That is why I decided to give outside a rest and hit the house today. My daughter stopped by and said I needed to rehire my house keeper. I am giving the money I save to the food bank for the homeless families. I cannot think about children not having a place to live and no food. I think I would rather do that than have a sparkling clean house. Of course, it is 11:30am and I am still sitting on the couch.

OK as far as descent is concerned, after a dash each of French & German in alphbetical order I am English, Irish, Scots & Welsh. One English friend told we that I am a civil war all by myself. Doesn't help my gardening either. Never mind Martha!

Well if you want to go all the way. I am Welsh, Cherokee (little bit), German and Italian. Quite a mixed pot. Still on the couch but I have done my hair and dressed. Maybe I will clean house tomorrow.

No Bonita, I have added about 200-300 new iris to me...some older ones from the late 90's that I wanted to build stock and many new ones. Those are out of ABCD that I do not have the pictures of.
Going to make a page of just clump shots hopefully this year since I have discontinued carrying the arilbreds, and next year will get rid of all the daylilies, that will give me more space for things like clump shots.

D

Will you still test AB seedlings even though you no longer carry them?

LOL Sharon, why do today what you can put off until tomorrow. Martha never was one of my favorite people and I'll take gardening over cleaning house anyday. I'd rather be outside with my fingers in the dirt or just walking around and looking at everything and day dreaming about what all I could do to improve the garden for next year. LOL
As far as the house goes, we very seldom have any company and I give it a hit and a miss. We try to keep it clean but since we live in the boonies and we don't even have sidewalks either one of us are the dogs are always tracking something into the house. That's with 3 different rugs in place to wipe your feet on before you come in. Of course the patio has leaves all over it right now and the dogs bring them in. (frown) I just cleaned it off spotless Friday evening only to have it completely covered in leaves again today. I'm waiting until the leaves finish falling before I clean it all up again.

Anyone know how to get rid of an armadillo? I have one out in the yard rooting everything up. It has dug up a bunch of my new daylilies, pansies, and snapdragons. That's not including what it's done to the yard. I've tried to watch for it at night but I can't ever catch it out there doing the damage. I've even walked out there in the middle of the night with the flashlight looking for it to no avail.

Dee, the quilt is just as beautiful as I thought it would be. I know your getting real excited about it. I'm so grateful that you have been posting photos of the progress. I'm still drooling over it. Speaking of irises, I have 2 rebloomers out there blooming their little heads off. I'm glad I finally had some daylight to walk through the gardens and see what was giong on. (grin)

Got to get ready for church, hope that all of you have had a wonderful weekend.
God Bless each and everyone of you,
Love Marian

Lucy, since I am a test garden and still have AR I will test them. Had three crosses with the I aphlla pollen so curious what happens with them. The bed I made for my AR they LOVE it and am testing some now for two people, so oh my will test. No problem

Glad you like the quilt.

D

Remember that crosses with aphylla germinate over a number of yrs, not all at once. I will have to dig seedling next summer before it hides underground as ABs do. thanks, Lucy

What a diverse group we have here. How to get rid of an armadillo!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Soup? Annie get your gun. Ammonia?



Maybe IrisMA has a good spell for them, LOL.

This message was edited Nov 8, 2009 10:07 PM

oh now I can't wait to see pretty iris photos AND pretty iris quilt!

sweet dreams, sweet friends- I can't keep my eyes open. we raked and blew and mowed over and blew and raked some more. Lots more leaves to come down, too.

Catch an armadillo on the 3rd Sat of the month. Recite (from Kipling) 'Curls up, but can't swim, stickley prickly, that's him.' Animal will die of embarassment.

No no no IrisMA...it's the 2nd Sat of the month.....but the Kipling thing is right. ^_^

I bow to your experience on gathering material in the moonlight. We will help them deal with armadillos yet. Too far north here so will just curl up with my book.

LOL, you guys!

Aren't we funny when there are no irises in bloom.

Lucy, did not know about aphlla not germinating all at once but I do not throw away the potting soil unless I do it right around the same plant.
On Spuria (more so) than Sib or Japanese sometimes they take 2-3 years to germinate. I have some that final did so from '07...
Do not know how to get rid of Armadillo's as mine is gophers and moles.

D

Well just finished the L in the bearded for the catalog then will go back and do all the photos and the links then will start on the JI and Sib and Spuria...

D

Ahead of the game at least.

Kipling did not say anything about gophers & moles so we can't embarrass them. 'Night all.

Gotta do something, Polly....I have two roses, one garden phlox, and one small yellow thing that is suffering mightily...blooming today. I might have to follow IrisMA and go read Kipling by the light of the moon. It's almost midnight anyway.

Dee, I wish I knew just a fraction of what you so obviously know.
And I wish I would take the time to get back into quilting.

was it here that I mentioned that a reblooming iris won best of catagory at the NC State Fair? and that it was tagged as "Blue Suede Shoes" but was not blue?

The fella that had entered "Blue Suede Shoes" called me yesterday. We chatted quit a bit. I'd never noticed a reblooming iris at the fair before, but he says if there's one there, it almost always wins something. He was stunned to hear his was not Blue Suede Shoes, but he can't remember where he got them mailorder.

Well I'm glad he called you and you set him straight. Now we know if we have a blooming iris on to enter it at the State Fair. I have a couple that are blooming right now. Redelta is one of them and I don't remember the other one. I suppose it has something to do with all the rain we got the past two months. I'm surprised they didn't all wash away or rot due to all the water standing so long.

Now he can look through all the iris books trying to ID what he has. LOL
Happy Gardening everyone,
Marian

I don't know, Marian. we're having "remnants" from Ida raining on us all day for today through Thurs. Flash flood advisories through 9pm Thursday night so far. I stayed up just to watch the best weather reporting crew on the late news. think it might be my turn to post "drown garden" photos! LOL

now my eyelids are closing by themselves.

No rain, never any rain. Maybe that is is why they call us the Southwest Desert....

Marian, try the jalapeno juice on your plants to get rid of the armadillo. It won't hurt the plants. You can just spray it out of a bottle or dab it on with a cotton swab. If you spray/dab under the leaves, it stays on longer if it rains.

Sue

yipee another milestone for me, got down on knees today can not sit on heels yet, but I am thrilled

D

YAHOO for you. Now if I could just do that LOL. So glad you are coming along so well. The heels will be next so be patient.

Wonderful news! I knew you would.

I'm so glad that you're doing so well.

I truly was scared, but I did it with no pain.

D

Good for you Dee! I am so glad your knees are comming along. You are one tough cookie to get down on your knees already. I would have thought it would have taken alot longer. Your quilt is looking lovely! How is Cass doing?

oh Dee, this is good news, but you are pushing it to be down on them already, aren't you? well, what does it matter, if you have that flex in them already, whoopeeeee!

today is the day we go pick out a tree. our local Christmas tree farm is south of Raleigh, sandwiched inbetween NCSU research farms. saddest thing, the old man's son, whom we ususally work with when we are chosing a tree, has died of a heart attack recently. The father, who's farm it is, is over 90. He has an old piece of equipment that bends the wires to make Christmas wreaths, which he's ususally doing as folks watch. I'm hoping some of his other family is there to help him today. But as Ida's left us soaked, with rivers, creeks and lakes filled past capacity and the leaves abnormally stripped from the trees, with a cold front right behind her, it does feel like Christmas tree weather!

Dee, way to go. But I am sure your doctor would not approve. When I had surgery earlier in the year and I was out in the garden before I should have been, one of my neighbors called my doctor because they knew him personally. Needless to say, I got an immediate call and a prescription for a lose dose of Valium to keep me calm. I took them for a couple of days and then proceeded back into the garden but I was only doing light work. What do you have left on your plate as far as gardening? We are finally in the high 60s and I will bring in some germanium cuttings this weekend and a few inpatients and then I am done. When I say that, my friends and family just roll their eyes. Still working on the greenhouse but every week this young man changes his mind, reconfigures everything and spends more money. I do think we are on our last change. Should start planting in two more weeks. We are also going to grow our own worms and make worm soil. Th family owns several golf courses and restaurants so we will have a bunch of waste for them to eat. Have a new source for coffee grounds. Love to all of you.

Honest the doctor and the PT told me to try it with someone there and only do one or two and that is ALL I did and a friend and my honey were there with me. Had wanted to do it earlier but no one there beside honey and thought if I got stuck he could not get me up without hurting himself.

That is great about the source and the worms I love them and wish I had more time for a worm farm. I am done outside except for planting some more seeds which will arrive this week, not sure how many except alot which is OK with me. A grower friend of mine is moving this summer and I told her to save or plant there was silly, I have the pots, the soil the time and the energy so will do that next week.

Had our Iris Christmas potluck gift exchange today and everyone was surprised with the weight lost and the fact I was not limping at all...

Tried and going to lay down for awhile and then maybe this evening will finish the last iris on the quilt until I do the sides and the pull over.

Still have to find a cute worm and nice dragon fly as those must go on it someplace as I will never do a quilt pattern as they say, I have to have something personal and my personality on them.

Hugs to all

D

Not limping! That is great news. The cute worm and the dragon fly will be great additions to your quilt Denise. It's sure coming along nicely.

My favorite insect in my garden is the dragonfly ""They lay eggs in our Koi pond and every year their babies hatch and fly all over the landscape and the neighborhood. But they always come home to the KOI pond...One year we had the KOI pond vacuumed because it was full of debris that had blown in with a very bad wind storm. Bad Idea. We vacuumed up all the babies and we had no dragonflies the next year. You live and you learn.

Number one or close is the hummingbird. I have babies that are grown and return every year. I put out their welcome package. Nesting material, spider webs have not been swept away and a whole lot of water and moss.... The only problem we had this year is the hummer decided to place her nest right by the large 8'x8' window at the top of the landing on the stairs on the way to upstairs. Unfortunately. mother hummingbird saw DH coming up the stairs every day. She would buzz him and then after he continued up the stairs she would flood the window with a white milky whatever. "A white milky substance that ran down the window. I had the window washer out which was lost cause.