April and finally Springtime?

Hi billyp, oh those Hollyhock seeds I just got from seedrack.com but I learned after I got them that they need stratification first. I didn't know that until after I put them in a pot! If I'd read the papers first I suppose I coulda put the seeds in the fridge for 2 or 3 months! I'm still waiting on that Lily Tree's grand arrival! That Progressive Snapshot thing came in the mail instead today. I don't even want that thing. Having they're thing isn't gonna prevent me from canceling my insurance and getting something else! I told the lady when I asked "how come my insurance went up from the last 6 mos.?"
I told the lady I watch every dollar and theres no reason for my insurance to go up $16! I told the lady, "you can tell me, was that a teaser rate to get me to sign up?". Then I proceeded to tell her how seldom I drive and she said I should have this Snapshot on. Oh well, what to do?!

Tonite, I went to Lowes and saved a whopping $25 on a pond-liner! They had it incorrectly priced so they gave me the price that was on it! They had the 13 x 20 liner, (which was too big for the pond here), marked $60 off. I told the cashier girl, "thank god for sleeping workers". She got a laugh out of that. I'm thrilled to get a pond-liner, it wasn't in the budget before this.
I can go ahead with my waterlilies and stuff. It was just an honest mistake at Lowes I'm sure, they insisted on giving me the big price drop, I wasn't complaining! They prolly have it fixed now, but if anybody wants to try it, the store is at 40 hwy and I-70 in Kansas City, MO. While I was there I got a cheap seed packet of Better Boy Tomatoes.

Thanks Sally, I hope those Peppers look as good in real as they do in the photo!

I talked that dealer man down another hundred dollars, he really talks that car up. We'll see if it's really all that and fixed like he says! I could very well purchase it this weekend unless something goes wrong, like something he said is fixed and it really isn't.

Come back warm weather!

Happ, when are you coming?! I don't bite! lol Can I tempt you with an Ozark Witch-Hazel? If I don't produce a dark red Rose vine, my name will be mud!
Hurry, before gas gets any higher! : )

Will

This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 10:44 AM

Things have been busy for me and seeing Indep isn't on my way home and with gas prices, I need to include lots of things in that one trip.....but will be there sometime this month I know. Will I have a question you are buying all this stuff and putting in her yard, what happens when you decide to leave.

Hope the weekend is nice I have lots to do in the garden. We have taken out 5 dead pine trees, so I have lots to clean up, my raised concrete block beds done, mulch, weed, plant, you guys know all that good stuff. Sides take care of the stuff indoors. uggg.

Hi, all!

Checkin' in again after a loooong absence. I've had a lot going on. It's nice to see some friendly "faces" still around. :)

I was surprised a few days ago when I saw that my Bleeding Hearts were blooming. What a pleasant surprise it was!

I understand, come when you can, no hurry, the stuff isn't going anywhere. If I get this car tomorrow, maybe I can meet you somewhere?
Thats a fair question. I'm not leaving here for a LONG time!
Are you replacing the Pine Trees happ? I still have that 7½ year old Eastern White Pine tree.
It was the complimentary free seedling from ArborDay when I visited they're place up there in Nebraska City, NEB. in Jan. 04' I'll give it to you so you can replant those Pines if you want it. EWP doesn't get Pine Wilt like other pines like Scots Pine does, if thats what your's had, Pine Wilt is pretty common I think. EWP is native to the US also.
I've got California Fan Palm seeds, Black Hollyhock seeds, an Ozark Witch-Hazel and an Eastern White Pine tree for you!

Hi Ima! Thats a beautiful Bleeding Heart! I've never had one. They sure bloom early and nice I see.

Will

This message was edited Apr 8, 2011 10:44 AM

Hi, Will! Thanks! I didn't expect it to bloom quite this early, but hooray!

Of course, there's a dandelion right next to it!

My bleeding heart is just now reaching 6 inches tall. LOL. But my hellebore is blooming. It's a deep purple. I have plenty of purple in this dang yard but it's a pretty purple so I'll keep it. LOL.

Will, too bad you don't have Spicebush. The 2 I bought are dead for some reason. I need to check out MDOC's website and see if they have it.

Yuck, Dandelions! I didn't see it, but a dandelion is easily remedied!

There is Spicebush still at Missouri Conservation Dep't - http://extra.mdc.mo.gov/cgi-bin/mdcdevpub/apps/seedlings/search.cgi?record=all
Scroll about ¾ the way down to see them. I'd go in on a bundle of 25 of them, they are $8 per bundle of 25. If I remember right, the UPS shipping is only $5 for everything you get.
Even though they get pretty big, 12 x 12 or so, I'd still find a spot for some, they sound nice! From them the deadline to order is the end of April.
I ordered 2 bundles of stuff from them last year, a bundle of Ozark Witch-Hazel and a bundle of Blackberry bushes. I order stuff from them most years but I didn't this year. I have a tendency to go overboard when I buy plants online!

Thanks Will!! Will check into it and see if my dad can find room for several. If I had it my way the bush honeysuckle in the front yard would get torn out and replaced with these or witch hazel. But he likes them too much. lol.

You're welcome. Sounds like a plan! I know what you mean, I'd get rid of even more bush Honeysuckle if I could, but somebody here says, "it's just so pretty, I want to keep it!".

LOL! My dad and my grandma love honeysuckle. I prefer the native vine since the bush is a pest. lol. If it wasn't a pest I'd love it.

Happ, this is a nice article on what I use for borers. I am in the process of removing the leaves and refuse now, even tho I already sprinkled the systemic. I just had to fluff and shake off the granules, LOL! I was sick when I should have been out doing these things. I imagine they have hatched and are growing. They also can get too big for the systemic to work on them too, GRRR! When I dig and divide, I soak the rhizomes in Clorox and water. It still takes a while for the borers that made it, to surface. I'm not squeamish, but they are ugly!!

Hmm, I've never fertilized them. I think I'll do that today! I learned some valuable information. I would love to decimate all the borers!!

http://www.irisgarden.org/pesticides.html

Will, I usually try to plant familiar seeds like they plant themselves. I've never put anything in the fridge or knicked the seed coat, but I do soak the sweet peas in pretty hot water for a few hours :o)

Yep, you're right, in the fridge :o)

That's my Dad's complaint about insurance. He's had no tickets or acccidents, ever. They all go up tho. Ours did too.

How cool is that! Now you can go ahead with the pond! You were lucky they gave you the price! I'm trying Better Boy tomatoes too.

It's funny he still has the car. I figured he would have it sold by now. Be very wary! Drive it well and do take it to a mechanic. Especially to have the major car ''organs' checked out. I'd hate to see you get a money pit.

Happ, were the trees old or just in the wrong place? Sometimes I wish we could take one of the walnuts out, but it's full size and exellent shade. Trouble is, I need some sun. You have been busy outside! Me too :o)

Hi Ima!! I'm glad you are back! We are slowly filling in with old friends :o)
I've been thinking about you off and on this year! I was checking my Oak Leaf Hydrangea and I THINK it's alive! Time will tell :o)

Wow on the hearts! They are my absolute favorite Spring flower. They really bloom a long time too! I love your trellis and little bird ornament!

Will, meeting half way is a nice idea and would give you a chance to try the car on distance and gas!

Smiling over not leaving :o)

Ima, ROTFL over the dandelion!! I've been digging them and found quite a few ready to pop! Of course, when they do, it's easier to find them and dig them out.

Pepper, I've seen a lot of Hellebore pictures and some day... I'll find a good place for a few.

Wow on losing the Spicebush. What a shame.

Now Pepper, by letting your Dad have one thing, you get to have a hundred! (Wicked laugh :o)

I weeded most of the day, but we didn't get a drop of rain! Last night huge thunder clouds just South of us, passed just to the East of us, flashing all the way, but I couldn't hear the thunder. We could have used more rain, tho the temps have been nice! We had the window open all night Sunday and till 10:30 last night.

We were also under a tornado watch till 1:00 am. I looked at the weather and went to bed, with the window open. We weren't even going to get rain, but I'm thankful for no tornado.

Gosh, it's 7:30 am already. Where does the morning go?

Hi all,
sounds great happ, come when you can. I have an economical car now, if I can meet you somewhere just let me know.

I took Progressive's little "Snapshot" thing back and I showed the insurance agent what Progressive had sent me in the mail outlining my renewal rate. She says, "wow, it DOESN'T have the paid in full amount on it, which is how I pay. It was an even $50 higher than my last 6 mos. of coverage pmt. So I have plans now to pay $30 a month for Geico. I did get that car Sat., I've hand-washed and cleaned it up more. Here is a photo of my $1,900 car yesterday! It needs some TLC gradually but it is in exceptionally nice condition for an inexpensive car. It doesn't have any rust yet. Now that I have it, it'll prolly rust out and quit running! lol Just kidding, I hope it doesn't go that way for a while! I was pleasantly surprised that I saw after I bot it that it's not the base model, like I thought it was! For one thing, now it has a slightly larger engine than I thought.
I got pretty lucky on it's condition. I didn't have it inspected, like I should have. The car was just so far away and little cars for sell just don't last long. I was lucky that he held on to it for that long.
So far so good on some stuff. I got lucky that it doesn't leak fluids that I know of. He was confident in it enuff to drive it all the time. He said he'd been driving it because of the fuel economy.
It's not the ideal used car find, you know where an elderly lady has driven it only to church on Sundays and to the grocery store, and of course she's the original owner! It had a salvage yard engine put in it a few years ago and it has even had the instrument cluster replaced, but all that was done good enuff I guess! If I can keep the body in decent enuff shape I don't expect to have any trouble selling it and getting my money back someday.

Will

Now, I'm not sure that the Black Hollyhock seeds need cold stratification, they appear to be sprouting! This soil is Miracle Gro© garden soil, so I'm not thinking those are just weeds. Does anyone know what those little seedlings should look like? Here is a photo today of a pot they are in. If those Hollyhocks sprouted this year that would be sweet!
Will

Will, very nice car!! If you don't have any fluids leaking, that's a good thing. Mabe he wasn't a shyster :o) You won't have to keep looking for a used car either, so that's a good thing too! And you're getting the insurance straightened out!

Very hard to tell yet if they're hollyhocks. They should have the little leaf soon if they are. I hope they did.

I'm slowly getting all the beds weeded. I finished another small bed yesterday and am still working on the one big bed.

I have two grasses in there and am debating on taking both out. One is Tall Bluestem and I dug it from the RR tracks before they tore out all the trees and turned it into more field. It's spreading into the plants near it.

The other is Purple Top that I got from DD's. I never noticed it turning purple last year. I think I'll plant it across the road so I can get it back if I want.

We both have a dental cleaning early today and then off to town to buy fencing and posts for the new pea fence. Yayyy!

Car looks really nice Will. Congrats. With gas going up economy is what every one needs.....

Well my vacation was canceled by 2pm yesterday, that didn't last long! Dang and we are to have perfect weather these two days....gosh darn it! Oh well. I got a lot done last night, mowed around flower beds, cleaned up some stuff, and got some siberian iris planted, pulled a few weeds.

Since my vacation was canceled Will I may need to put you on hold again.....sorry.

Thanks you guys, hope it runs a while. Thats fine happ, the stuff isn't going anywhere. I'm thinking those are Hollyhocks, another pot of Holllyhock seeds has 1 plant with similar leaves on it. Yeah, I'm glad to have the looking part behind me. The price of gas isn't coming down!
Good idea, billyp, if the grass is over across the street, it isn't going far!
I can't believe it might be getting below freezing this weekend.
Anybody ever seen Euonymus in a metal bucket?!

Car looks great Will!! Even the tires looks good from what I can see.

If your hollyhocks are coming up from seed then I will get mine going here soon. I need to put mulch around what I have already cause a couple are surronded by grass and if I don't mulch my dad will mow them down. lol. 2 of the 3 I had last year came back so I will put a black one in there where the old one was.

Thanks Pepper! Those tires are holding air, they are pretty well worn, at least they match! I washed the sidewall part of them and washed all the brake-dust off them, one of the wheels was just covered in it. Maybe it's me, prolly is, but something don't feel right about that car! I don't think it's buyer's remorse because it didn't really cost that much. I just have this feeling that something major is on the edge wrong with it. I hope it's just me! I'd like to take it maybe on a road trip to Florida to visit a friend and I'm not liking the image of me broke down in it on the free-way somewhere! Maybe I can ask the guy I bought it from and he'll be honest about it, if he knows anything wrong with it. I think he likes me okay, although I doubt that he found humor in me asking if he hauled animals in this other smelly car he was selling, or telling him after I bought this one, that I see he beat me out of floormats.

I'll know more if those really are Hollyhocks in a few days when they grow a bit more, right now they are still kinda puny! You have regular Hollyhocks Pepper? Will you save me some seeds from them this Fall if you can? Even if they are a named variety, they will revert back to the traditional Hollyhocks by seed maybe, which is fine with me, they are still pretty. Oh, the m word! I do alot of mowing and it never gets enjoyable!

Ewww.. you had you're vacation canceled happ? That stinks, I always did look forward to time off when I had a full-time job.

Dental cleaning and then fence buying billyp, thats a day's work right there!

You have no idea how these two days have been here at work, thinking I was gonna be out there in what felt like a lunch Missouri's two perfect days! ughhhh! Gave my vacation request in Monday morning it was signed and good to go, then by the time I came back from lunch there were problems....but that is the way it goes I guess.

2 of my hoolyhocks are named from Bluestone. The others are the bagged 1s from WM.

These are the ones I got from Bluestone: http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/HOCCS.html

Well, the 3 Purple Prince© Lily Tree bulbs finally came today! Yippee! I got them all potted up this afternoon. The little box from Brecks said "Hurry and plant me, I came all the way from Holland and I need to breathe!". Here the 3 are all potted up, (in the photo). Nevermind all the little specks, the bulbs came in wood shavings so I dumped all that in the pots too!

Happy Birthday Pepper!

Oh Happ, vacation cancelled? That's not fair!

Will, good, just a few hollyhhocks will take up room. That's a nice looking eunonymus!

There's still time for a mechanic to look it over. Better safe than sorry before a trip, and the trip sounds like a good thing to take!

The tooth cleaning went well and the pea fence is up and they're planted :o)

Pepper, those are beautiful hollyhocks!

Will, laughing, my Breck's box said that too!

It's cloudy, cold and windy, but perfect for treating everyone to a buffet birthday dinner at Pizza Ranch. They make the best chicken and use real potatoes in their dinners. I'm not sure what all is offered in the buffet, but the pizza is good too :o)

Happy Birthday number 3 Bp!! LOL!! Gotta get you on all of the threads. lol

Cold and wet here. All plants at work in the greenhouse so they are protected from the threat of frost tonight. Creeks are running high too. Hope we don't get any more significant rain tonight. That will really cause flooding!!

Pepper, hopefully I matched you on the three wishes :o) I've only had half a mind lately with the other half constantly going over the things I need to do outside :o) Seems I haven't been very good with the DG Birthday List I made for myself, LOL! I keep missing birthdays.

I can imagine how nice it is to work in a greenhouse, as long as you have room to mess with the plants :o)

We had a wonderful buffet chicken dinner yesterday and the older lady cleaning our table was a peach! DH mentioned it was my Birthday Dinner and she brought me a coupon signed by the owners, good for a free medium pizza. YUM!

It's still raining this morning and that's fine with me!

Hi all! Happy Birthday to anyone with a birthday! I wished Sally happy birthday on Facebook. I'm not sure who all had birthdays, but happy birthday! Mine is no big thing, but I take money and diamonds on August 17th! lol

I took the plunge and got a seed packet of Hollyhocks at Lowes yesterday, thats them in the photo, they look pretty enuff in the picture. I'm surprised a cheapo seed packet would have 500mg of seeds, it's usually less on the cheap seed packets, maybe they're big seeds. Just call me The Seed Man!

I put up my $5.99 Harbor Freight flimsy metal arbor today. I'm trying to think of a way to not have to fix it every time the wind blows! I'm still undecided on what I want growing up it.

Thanks billyp, that Euonymus has grown up to be a nice specimen. It's too nice of a plant to not be in the ground, I'll try to find a place for it in the ground this year.

I agree, if I get the extra money I might have the car looked at closer by a mechanic, so far so good. I figgered the mileage on it for the first time since I bought it and it is 30.1 miles per gallon, so I'm good there! That sure beats my truck, it only gets 12 mpg and it has an oil leak too! I've never been to Florida, that would be like a dream come true! But, theres no place like Missouri!

Speaking of Brecks, they sent another $25 coupon with no minimum, so I ordered another 3 Lily Tree bulbs for $2.94 after shipping, it's called Satisfaction. They said on the phone that I could use another coupon even tho I've already used one. I kinda doubt those packages really come from Holland, it just don't seem like enuff money for shipping, I don't know how they stay in business! I've been wrong before tho!
Will

With that many hollyhocks you will be begging people to come take some off your hands in a year or 2. lol

Had a great birthday yesterday. Worked and got out before anyone could catch me. LOL. I was shopping today there and several people promised payback for leaving so early. LOL. Went out to dinner tonight with a few friends and had alot of fun. One of them paid for the whole thing, catching us off guard. Went to Rib Crib because we had a few coupons to use up and ended up not using them because he paid for it all. We grumbled a bit because of that but we'll go back next month. lol. We did appreciate it.

Got a new camera for my birthday yesterday too. Finally got the battery charged a bit ago and am checking it out. It's a Canon Powershot A3300IS. 16 mp and 5x zoom. Zoom's smaller than I want and need but it'll have to do for now anyways.

I hope it turns out that way! I'd love to get Hollyhocks started here, it's a nice flowering plant.

Will, if a plant reseeds like crazy, they usually charge more, and vice versa :o) I think Hollyhocks are in the middle, so that sounds like a lot of seeds!

I had an image of a mammoth sunflower grown on each side of the arbor and tying the arbor to them. Nothing blows down a sunflower, LOL! Annual sweet peas don't get too heavy.

I like the eunonymus because it's the only thing besides a pine tree that keeps it's leaves. I set three in the North Peopny bed to hopefully block wind and give privacy to us and our nice neighbor. She may not be there forever. I have one in the back yard and one in the middle yard. I started all from stems and it wasn't easy. One rooted out of a pot of 15 various stems. I tried every year for a few years so all of them are various ages, LOL! But, now I have my own to root from. These were from a neighbor's shrub.

Now I have trimmings from my dwarf blue spruce ''Fat Albert'' in the garden trying to root them. I put them in last Fall. They are even harder to root. Those I tried to overwinter in the house didn't.

Wow on the gas mileage! I thought if you were buying a car, a mechanic would look it over for free. Maybe I'm dreaming :o) It sounds like the guy did not sell a lemon over E-Bay, so good for you!!

They come from Holland. Bulbs multiply, so they get their money's worth, and import shipping might be next to nothing. DH has realatives in Holland and his Mom and Sister went over to visit. Only a Daughter could speak english. They had been writing letters back and forth before that. They were so glad to see everyone, and later, the relatives came here.

Summer Carnival are pretty. What if every seed grows? LOL!

Pepper, that sounds like a great Birthday and a delicious supper!

Fantastic on the new camera! I forgot you needed the pocket size. Mine is bigger and heavier than my point and shoot, but I do like how it feels.

You'll like the larger screen, megapixels and the wider angle.

Yesterday the rain turned to rain and snow, then a bit of snow, and back to a cold rain. It stuck for a short while, but melted. I needed to go out and wore a stocking cap. Not nice and I hate winter for sure!

DH mowed the high spots in the yard, but by Monday, I may be able to mow the whole thing. Yayyy!

Well, last night and this morning I bought some more plants. LOL. My grandma wanted seeds from Henry Fields so I also bought a tree peony and a minature rose on there. Then today at Walmart I bought another rose, Blue Girl. I took one sniff and went nuts!! LOL!! I like some of the others more for size and color but she had the best fragrance of the ones already in bloom.

Oh, I made 4 pots, (not little 1 gallon pots, but 2 gallon pots) out of that 500mg seed packet of 'Summer Carnival' Hollyhocks! There is around 12 seeds in each pot!
I hope every seed does grow!
Speaking of Hollyhocks, my Black Hollyhock seeds are sprouting and they look more like Hollyhocks all the time!

How about these Creeping Phloxes? This is only 2 small plants, the flowers have spread way out. All that clutter is gonna get cleaned up prolly in the next few days.
I'm gonna put weed fabric, mulch and landscape edging around it and that October-special-from-Lowes-'Red Haven'-Peach-tree (that over-wintered beautifully).

I've had trouble trying to grow Sweet Peas from seeds, but I'd love to have them. I like that idea of the Sunflowers, thats neat, I love Sunflowers.

Good luck with you're 'Fat Alberts' billyp, they are a nice Blue (reliably) Spruce, and they are expensive to buy..lol!

Yeah, 30.1?! My luck isn't that good! I musta figgered wrong! Oh well, somebody said gas could be $4 a gallon by mid May!

Thanks billyp, I hope I'm lemon free this time!

Yeow billyp, DH is Dutch eh? I had a coworker years ago who was Dutch and she even had red hair!
Will

Do these Black Hollyhocks look like Hollyhocks to anybody else? I'm hoping it isn't just me and wishful thinking that they are the real Hollyhock.

Here are my 4 pots of 'Summer Carnival' seeds all potted up today. Don't pay any mind to the date on that one label! : )

Here is a bigger view of the backyard here. I filled up that old RadioFlyer© with dirt and I'm gonna fill it up with flowers! See my flimsy metal trellis from HarborFreight?
It's over the waterpond that I am planning, it's very much still in the planning stages! But, that mess will prolly be cleaned up within ten days or so, even that car we are moving.

Ah Pepper, I love ''impulse'' buying with plants! I'll be interested in following the tree peony thru pictures, if you remember you have a new camera, LOL! and I adore mini roses. I meant to plant a bunch oh, years ago, and never made a place for them. I absolutely buy for scent :o)

Will, hollyhocks have a powerful hold on us. Who doesn't remember having them as a kid, or those still growing around the old outhouse at Grandma's house? I hope you have plenty of room to plant all that grow. They should re-seed well.

I soak the sweetpeas in very hot water for a few hours. You really have to soften the seed coat.

I hope every Fat Albert grows! We paid $70.00 for a tree that was 4' tall. I bought a book on propagating hard and softwood stems. I am known to nick branches :o) I am not known for my survival rate :o(

Most of the Dutch kids I see are blond. DH's family all had light brown hair.

The peach tree looks great! The phlox are a beautiful bit of color! I always manage to take a picture, then realize I have a mess in the back ground, LOL! It seems to happen more in the house!

We need more leaves, but it could be hollyhocks. It's a nice bunch of plantings. I hope they all grow!

You have a nice yard to work in. Once you move things, there will be more room.

What are you planting in the wagon?

We brought my plant stand in Sunday so I will be sowing peppers, cabbage, brussels sprouts and tomatoes!

Yesterday, I cleaned the catch-all room and closet of my elderly relative and took a few knick-knacks and vases as payment. I always use the excuse that I've drug dirt all over the house and vacuum all her rooms for her. Then she tries to pay me and I tell her no. We do this every time :o)

Over the years she's cut newspaper clippings and really has a treasure trove since a lot of them where when the guys like my Dad were going into the service. I spent all afternoon scanning old obituaries and remembering those who lived here when I was a kid.
Sunday I mowed the high spots in the yard. That felt good! And it looks good!

We're getting thunder with our rain now. The power went out for a minute around 5:00 am so I better hit send before I lose all my words!

Went to hockey game last night. Mavericks actually won last night so we have another game tomorrow night. Gonna be fun!! lol

Pepper, are you taking your new camera to test it?

My remaining 2 of my 3 Ozark WitchHazels, (from a bundle of 25) are sure looking good, they are in the photo below, they are the two with leaves already. They must really be stalwarts, every one of them that I have planted came back after Winter! And, these 3 in pots are back, so the Winter didn't faze them!

Thanks billyp, that Peach tree is coming along, with the Creeping Phloxes! That tree, and the Phloxes will look so much better when that debris is gone.
Thanks, and a moving we are doing! Today I did more yard-work back there. I'll post a photo of the area when we're done, it will look much different!

Well, my fishpond is slowly coming along. It is about 21 inches deep at it's deepest so far. I'd like to make it close to 30 at least, in case I decide to have fish someday.
I don't think I'll be able to avoid getting in it and digging! My shoes are going to be caked in mud! Hmmm.... what kind of flowers in the RadioFlyer wagon? I don't know yet, maybe violas or pansies. Anybody have any ideas on flowers for that wagon? I see in the photo the trellis is quite crooked, I'm gonna try to straighten it up some.
Hehe, thats a neat trade for the housework there Sally!
Will