Who else has the midsummer gardening blues?

frank - I like the big bold Hostas as well. I don't normally divide mine unless I really need a piece for another area. And anything yellow has been a favorite color for the past few years. My problem is space as well since I have a ton of other shady perennials as well that would have to go to make room.
Kayly - You're right. I probably shouldn't wish for rain in case I get a flood like '08. Supposed to get rain tonight but I'm not holding my breath. I did water this morning so maybe that will bring the rain (along with an elevated water bill).
I did work in the front yard late in the afternoon yesterday. It was relatively cool (82) but I was wringing wet after 2 hours of putting down compost and mulch. Thought I'd be smart and go out early today. Worked for about 3 hours just dead-heading Astilbes and Hostas and tidying up but you'd think I'd just finished a marathon. Ugh.

I keep hoping for some rain as well, although I sometimes wonder if I'm not watering the plants just as much from all the sweat I drip on them being out in the heat as comes out of the hose nozzle! I even washed my car yesterday evening to help the rain come - that usually works!

Sounds like lots of beautiful hostas are finding a home with you frank! I think many (or maybe most) of us here have various plant addictions that we are slaves to. In fact that sounds like a great topic for a thread!

midwest - LOL on the sweat/hose nozzle comparison. The lenses on my glasses collect dripping sweat when I'm all bent over gardening so I'm constantly cleaning my glasses.

Me, too, with the glasses - it's so irritating because I try to find a spot on my shirt that I haven't wiped my sweat with! I've been known to take 3 showers a day in heat like this. Usually, 2, though!

sherri - I was going to say the same thing about trying to find a clean spot on my shirt for cleaning the glasses! I did end up taking two showers the other day as well. I try to plan the gardening on a day when I can spend the entire day doing it without having to clean up to run errands and such. Then I can be sweaty all day and not cringe.

Warning..watch wiping the glasses while gardening. I did the same thing, but I guess the clean spots weren't so clean. I ended up with many fine scratches on my acrylic lenses :(:(: and have gone to going indoors to rinse if needed.
I use 3 sheets of Bounty-folded in fourths and used as a headband. It works swell on keeping the sweat out of face..and when it is soaked..time for quick break and new headband.
I dragged the hose around yesterday which is why we got so much rain last night and today. My power knows no limit!!!!!

This sounds really dumb, but I never understood headbands to keep sweat out of the face. Maybe I sweat differently than other folks, but my face itself sweats, I think, which is why I never bothered with headbands. Or maybe it IS my head and for 51 years did not realize thatI Marcia, I'm going to try your idea - I know fab softeners keep mosquitoes away and if it keeps my sweat away, this will be revolutionary to me! I will owe you forever and ever! (Or, at least give you a plant!)

: )

Still no rain here - it's all north of us. Hope you WI gardeners are surviving with the heavy rainfall. It was already 80 degrees at 7 am this morning. The wind has picked up though and I'm hoping that it's bringing the cold front and some rain with it. It's been over a week since we had a decent rain and, even though I'm watering, it's not working it's magic with bringing any rain. I'm waiting for those cooler temps on Monday to do any more gardening work.
I really do try to be careful with cleaning the glasses but I'd be running in the house every couple of minutes. Of all the parts of the body, my head sweats the most. I have thin, short hair and don't wear a hat since I'm gardening in the shade but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Usually my scalp itches like crazy when it sweats but I've started taking antihistamines and it seems to help.

Fabric softeners to keep mosquitos away, I have to try that! I have some really strong-smelling ones that I bought to put inside suitcases full of dive gear to counter the overpowering smell of nasty neoprene after a tropical diving trip. Would never think of putting them in my dryer, in fact I have stopped using any fabric softener at all, and we have about 200 dryer sheets...enough to last a lifetime of dive trips. Good to find a new use for them.

The way I know it's really hot/humid outside is when sweat starts trickling down my eyebrows and nose. Headbands do help to catch it and keep it from mixing with my sunscreen and/or bug repellant and getting into my eyes.

Last night we had a big windstorm that brought down a huge cottonwood branch on the power lines behind the house. Miraculously, the power did not go out. After 3 calls to ComEd, the branch is still there. No way are we touching it!

This was our sights this morning downtown after about 5, 6 " of rain. Milwaukee got 8" in some areas and is really flooding out.

Wow, Cece. I saw some shots of Waukesha on the news. What a crazy sight.

The Rock River is expected to go above flood stage today here in Watertown. The last report I heard said that we officially got 6". It was wild watching the rain come down in sheets. The lightning was fierce, too.

We have an 80% chance of more storms tonight, with another 1-2" possible. :(

I'm seeing a batch of thunderstorms heading straight east towards us (she says as she's watering the withered impatiens). It's been getting windier in the past hour as well. It usually weakens a bit when it hits outside of Chicago and doesn't reform until it gets over to Valparaiso.

Cindy, I'm just west of Chicago and this one just hit - black as night, windy, lightning, but . . . no rain. If you're as dry as us, I hope it picks up some water over the lake before it gets to your neck of the woods in a couple hours!

Cece, I hope everyone is OK by you!

Golden, a couple of weeks ago, a huge branch from a siberian elm came down in our yard on the power line, too, and our power did not go out either! What a coincidence! When Com Ed finally came out after two days later, they got the branch off the line and said the brunt of the weight was actually on the phone line. But we had phone service, too! Turns out it's an old line from a previous provider because ATT said "not our line". We're racking our brains trying to remember who we had before ATT. Meanttime, the phone line is connected but hanging about a foot from the ground! Here's a pic of the branch that took it down.

sherri - Didn't get much more than 2 minutes of rain from last evenings batch. But early this morning, we finally got some much needed rain along with thunder and lightning. I only woke up because we lost power and one of the detectors was going off. Didn't stay awake long enough to look around outside but it must have come back on rather quickly. At least no tree limbs down. I am in the process of getting an estimate on removing a very tall, spindly oak that's arching way over the power lines. Hate removing trees but the top is leaning almost 45 degrees. Last time a tree came down - about 12 years ago - it pulled the electric connection off of the house. Silly utility company ran all of the power lines from the back of the lots - all wooded - when this subdivision was developed.

Cindy, I got an estimate for removing this siberian elm - ready? - $3,000!! They said it was because of its proximity to the power lines. Forget it! I'll let it come down piece by piece.

I spoke too soon last night about the rain - 7" in Elk Grove Village, just west of here! Careful what you wish for, right?

Glad you guys didn't get too soaked!

I'm still beating those blues away by over indulging myself! I have 71 new varieties of hosta ordered now along with 5 new elephant ears to add to the 14 varieties of ears that I already have. Now I have to find enough growers pots of the right sizes and go grab a few bales of peat and a bale of perlite to pot everything up when it comes. This should keep me busy for a few days. Luckily I have about 1,000 growers pots on hand for just such an occasion. I have another trade set up for tomorrow which will net me another 6 varieties of hostas bringing my total up to 171. This time last year I had 12 and I had 64 in the spring of this year. I am out of control! It is fun though.

Hobbies rarely ever pay for themselves. Once a hobby turns into profit making it becomes a business and that means work. I would rather trade and give away plants as I always have rather than sell them. For some reason I don't feel right selling them. The majority of my hostas are new so it will be a few years before things start looking nice and filling in. Monday I am thinking about picking up 1,500lbs of flagstone (that's how much weight the van can handle) and ordering a ton of hardwood mulch, probably brown. That will give me a couple more days of things to do.

I am running out of room to put things on my driveway so I have to come up with something so I have a place to sit all the new plants and stuff. If I had someone local off of here or GW I would just give them a bunch of plants just to get rid of them. I am going to see if my elderly neighbor would like to have a new hosta, Paradigm, since they do have one mature medium sized hosta in their yard. Paradigm would look nice next to it. Maybe I can give them a bunch of hostas if they can get their son to prepare a bed. I’d lay them out and plant everything for them. I probably have about 50 pots of duplicates from 3” to 1 gallon.

I always find something to do either about or for my garden at anytime of the year. I am already thinking about spring bulbs even though I don’t like their foliage competing with my hostas. After they bloom I tie the leaves down. That is a PITA. I better get back to work on my garden or it will never get done!

sherri - I've got one estimate so far and waiting for call-backs from 2 other companies. To remove my oak, it'll cost about $800 or $600 if I do it in conjunction with taking down one other dead tree and removing dead wood from a big oak next to the patio. The guy said that he knows some people at our electric company who can drop the line at no charge while he's taking the tree out. You might want to check into that option. This estimate did not come from a certified arborist but from a licensed and bonded tree removal company. And that quote is for taking it down by climbing since they can't get a hoist/bucket into my back yard.
That sun is still a little hot today so I'm waiting one more day for things to dry out a bit and cool off before heading outside.

Cindy - I would definitely pay the $600 or $800. The quote I got for $3,000 was from a certified arborist. Maybe I'll call a tree removal company as you did. They may be more willing to get close to the line and work with ComEd to drop the charge while they work.

Frank - You know, I totally get that about selling your hobby or art. I used to sew and make jewelry and I just could never sell it because it didn't feel right. First, it would become work; second, how can you sell a part of yourself, which is what art is? I think I just said that because you have so MUCH and it's probably gorgeous!

I think if I was trying to save a tree (such as the one oak with lots of dead wood), I might call an arborist, especially since any tree in my backyard would have to be climbed. Even though not an arborist, the guy who gave me the first quote was all about saving the tree by my patio and cautioned me about being too aggressive with the limb removal on it.