June 2011- Heat, Sunshine and Rain

Only 5 mins.? It sounded like 30 minutes of rain here. It couldn't have been too much tho, the rainbarrel only filled up 2 or 3 inches.
The black splatter looking dirt on those plants I got from Pepper, is just rain that splashed up. I plan to get them in bigger, more spacious pots soon. I'd like to be more diligent about finding and getting the potted plants a permanent home in the ground. I have a few potted plants, yeah, a problem is finding a spot, alot of the places I envision for some aren't ready yet. I certainly plan to have most all the potted plants planted in the ground before Fall though. I don't think I can take all that over-Wintering again in pots, worrying about, "is it going to be hardy enuff in a pot outside, is it going to be cold enuff in the garage to allow them to go dormant?".
Pretty flower combinations there, Pepper. I have some Catnip growing outside in a pot, but I think a stray cat (or cats) has been eating on it and messing it all up! I wanted to let it grow some more before I brought it in and let the cats in here have it, but it won't be as big as I planned now!
The only problem with using the inside of a pillow for a filter is I use pillows until they're about flat! Yes, that is neat to have a Sister in Afghanistan, I bet they have some heat, they would prolly like 95°! Oh, I hear thunder outside! I hope that means rain some more!
I can kinda celebrate having a job now! I start working at Fedex Tuesday! Actually, I have 2 jobs now. My housemate here wanted me to keep the state money from helping with her Mom. So, I guess I am a part-time 2 jobber starting Tuesday! Anybody want a part-time job? Fedex hires most capable everybody, except bankrobbers and such! And they have benefits, which is nice. Going to they're website to apply is a waste of time.
Will

Shortleaf, I have skimmed this thread. I am getting ready to go shopping so in kind of a hurry.
I wanted to tell you my opinion on your vine. I think it's bind weed. Keep an eye it. It's brought in by the birds and is a very difficult plant to get rid of. Blooms a lot and seeds everywhere.
Just my opinion. I may be wrong.

Thanks birder, I see bindweed is also called many names, like perennial Morning Glory and Creeping Jenny. I see from my Google search, that it is considered a noxious weed in many places. Hmmm.. I don't know, it might be kinda neat for a spot that might get submerged by rainwater 2 or 3 times a year.
That looks very possible though, thats what it could be.

Happ, those canary yellow cars are showing up more now. My neighbor has had her's for years now! ROTFL over how you got your's!!

Petey is back to normal now. We have one dose of medicine left.
AND, how can you not bring them in and love them?

I agree. The dianthus that came back last year for me are so pretty and full of blooms. I'm going to be adding a lot more all over!

Pepper, I'd be kicking some b*tt! Nothing makes me madder than to find a plant I want and then find out it's bone dry. I put them back because they usually have to sit in a hot truck till we get them home. I've even asked the person to water what I want.
Love love love Snapdragons!!

Will, seems a dead end is the last place you would want to be dumping an animal. I'll bet your Grandma had a good dog!

If you use the water daily or at least every three days, there will be no mosquitos.

Love the knee highs :o)

I've seen the algae that gets cleaned out of ponds. Sometimes it could fill a wheelbarrow!

I hope your whiskey barrel goes well :o)

Pepper, I just love the catmint! I think that's why I like Perovskia. Both colors are unusual. I never thought of using it with Sedum, but I really like that too!

Happ, I love it!! I also forgot that my other neighbor has a bright yellow bug parked out back. It's in a lot of my pictures, LOL!

Ooooh, love the glider and bed around it!

Pepper, it took a while, but I finally got a good stand of the cardinal flower. They like wet, but can handle dry. I go native. Queen Victoria, pretty as she is, won't winter over. I was also suprised with the blue lobelia a couple years ago.. Funny thing is. I had them many many years ago. I guess three seeds sprouted the same year. I was thrilled!

I didn't know you had a sister! AWESOME!! I hope he can find one of the cargo planes!

Happ, that's how I describe the andirondack chairs. They just drain all the tired from you!

I'm amazed!! It's absolutely yours!

Pepper, giggling over all the catmint! That is a beautiful pair too!

Will, you have ''gardener's lament.'' No place to put it yet :o)

Awesome!! Fed ex will be good! Good thing you never robbed a bank yet :o)

That is a nice bunch of plants! LOL! I see Queen Victoria! I had no idea!

Will, I agree with Birder. Any bindweed is a bad vine. It will grow a root you will try to get rid of every year. I'd kill it now. There's better plants out there.

You do NOT want bind weed, you will have lots of enemies with that....horrible, it will kill out trees if left on it's own. I will drop your iris off sometime Monday, probably just drop them at the edge of the drive cause I will be in a mighty big hurry, need to see my nephew then back either to work or after work I have a meeting so won't have any time.....but wanted to get them to you.

Wow it is cool today, gotta go finish up.

We got 3/4" of rain last night! Boy am I glad to see that, but we could sure use some more. Another chance for showers the middle of the week.

Took DGD's to the Tulsa Zoo yesterday. It is such a neat place, and they love going. They have all kinds of beautiful flowers planted all over the zoo. It's like botanical gardens zoo. lol

Yep, it's Queen Victoria. I've never seen the other kinds of it, just the fussy Queen. LOL. I have seen the blue but it's been a long time and it didn't like me either. lol

Will, bindweed you don't want. Trust us when we say that. KILL IT!!! lol. Think of it as bush honeysuckle. Horrible stuff!! And congrats on FedEx!!!

Yep, actually have 2 sisters and 3 brothers. Plus a brother in law and a future sister in law. SIL is great, BIL not so much. lol.

Happ, how true! Over the last few years we've noticed it on everything! Drive in the country and the abandoned places are covered. It's ugly!

Crit, I'd sure like to pass my rain along. We have had enough and are in for a chance almost every day this week. I'm getting realy sick of the cool weather too.

I wish we had a big Zoo around here. I just love to go to them! Especially now that they make the environment right for them.

Pepper, you need to get Lobelia cardinalis. No name to it.

That's a nice big family. I lost a younger sister and have two younger brothers. Maybe ''not so much'' BIL will change, once he's in the family long enough.

We're going to slowly warm up this week. I'm sitting here in thin winter jammies. I ate a bowl of cereal and am on the edge of goosebumps. I really hate being cold!

I saw a frame at one of the big fairs showing how big ONE seed of bindweed can get. It was set on a 4x8 sheet of plywood in a frame! It was HUGE. You really do not want to get bindweed started!

Years ago I did some work for the county. I was weeding newly planted tree lines. The machine was a weed badger. It would go between the trees. It had a wheel on an arm that spun.
Long story short, it caught some bindweed. Before I could stop it, I think it clear a ½ acre. I remember it taking a long time to get it untangled from the machine.
You certainly do not want that around. It is a noxious weed anyhow, so fines are in order if you do not kill it.

No Bindweed for me, all I got is somehow only in my pots. I'll be sure when I plant whatever is in the pots to pull out the bindweed roots and all.
Thanks for the well-wishes on my new and glorious job! Fedex should be alright, I had orientation today and my first day is 4:30 tomorrow morning. I think they said they go easy on the noobs for a while, the first few days may only be a couple hours each of the hard part. That's some bindweed seed there, Crit!

Oooh, sorry to hear you lost a Sister, billlyp. I have a pretty big family, I'm the oldest of 3 other siblings, a Brother and 2 Sisters.

I had a family reunion yesterday, oh joy!

Don't want no steenking weed police here, they'd lock me up! : )

No bank robbing for me, I'm still on liquor stores!
Will

No drop off today Will, returning to work after a few days off is major overload. Got the iris chopped yesterday and sitting in the little water garden.

Congrats on the new job. Starting at 4:30? Wowzer, is that am? Wowzer.

Amazing weekend we had and not a drop of rain for us. I heard you all got rain on Friday night.... I could use some, there are places I can't get the shovel in the ground, so weeding was a matter of tearing off the top covering with cardboard and applying mulch...rofl We have huge cracks in the ground.

Thats okay happ, Thanks, nothing like being middle aged and starting a new job! I knew I forgot something when I was writing earlier! That would be great, anytime happ, I would love to have it! Theres a good chance I'll be asleep if you come at that time.
Yeah 4:30 am, that is early! It will prolly be 3:30 or 4 am sometime though. Either they have new hires come in after the shift starts or they have me on the wrong shift. Oh, just in case anybody out there is interested in Fedex, I found something else out, they are stingy on starting insurance for new hires, its after 1,000 hours of employment, then you're eligible. I didn't need any right now, but it sure would be nice to be covered! At the part time rate, (which 90% of Fedex is), it could take around a year before you are eligible for insurance. I am guessing it is a surprise to alot of applicants there.
Yeah, its been raining pretty regularly here I think, not alot at a time but it seems like it's raining alot the last few days.
Will

Will, walmart is 6mo for insurance if you are full-time and a year if you are part-time, and part-time you have to work 3 times a week, nothing less. Insurance has gotten so expensive! Someone or a lot of someones have to be making money with all their hands in the pie..... Most companies like the part-time employee, which is great if you are the employer......hard on employees.

CGardens, that had to be a shock to see an acre of that stuff getting pulled into the machine! I have a small tiller like you see advertised and it is amazing how much stuff gets wrapped around the tines.....so I can't imagine trying to get that all dislodged from a big machine....

Thanks but I don't know if Walmart will have me! I've applied there several times and had several interviews at them even, I don't think they like me!
That stuff is climbing fast I see! I intend to pull it every time I see it. Here it is growing up the fence where I'm trying to get Wisteria growing!
Dangit! I must have another smudge on the lens!
Will

This message was edited Jun 13, 2011 4:53 PM

I'm gonna get those potted from Pepper soon into bigger pots. It has been raining so often lately that I'm pretty sure they're okay with they're current pots, except the Cardinal plant, it has grown maybe 6 inches since I got it, it still looks great! I'll get it and the others potted up into bigger pots real soon, hopefully tomorrow.
Here is the Cardinal plant going up like a weed! It says zone 5 so it might be okay here.

Here is Mable's Table! Isn't it cool looking?!
Will

If I had known Ligularia was this great looking I'd have got it sooner!

I thought the same thing when I saw the ligularia too!! I have I think 3 planted now. lol. I love them!! Can't wait til they bloom!! And now have 3 heuchera. lol. We might have to mulch our lobelia in the fall to help them survive winter. Maybe that will help the fussy Queen survive here. lol

Decorative pot with Heart of the Jungle ee coming up.

Very pretty happ! Bright and cheery.

Crit, ROTFL over our monster Bindweed, but it truely is!!

Bernie, I can imagine that! It just swallows small trees and climbs the big ones. Plus, it's all ugly when it's covered like that. Then it dies back in the winter. I'm sure it's good cover for the rabbits, but do we really need more of them? NO!

Will, smiling over the ''beating'' you just took!

You have a nice family. My sister and I were two years apart. My oldest brother and I are five years apart. The brothers are 18 months apart. Three of us were born in April. Mom and first brother in October, and Dad in May :o)

ROTFL! I forgot the liquor stores! Well none of that! You have a job to do!

Happ, I'd take cardboard and mulch over weeding some times :o) I like to weed, but hate to do chickweed and the others that have many short pieces. I have no room to get a hoe in and they know it!!

Will, you are luckier than most to have that job!! Yeah, the insurance is expensive for them. DH had to pay his at ''Proctor and Gamble'' for the first 6 months. After that it was good insurance tho.

Happ, ROTFL over the different wording for the same thing!!

I had a mental image of it all wrapping up before Bernie could get it shut off. Dad talks about the shoestring vine that they had problems with on the farm. Wrapped up good!

Will, not getting on at Walmart may be a blessing in disguise. It's a job, but you're put thru a bunch of ''feel good'' meetings every morning, and then the benifits are nothing.

Just keep ripping it out. You can kill the root while it's young. It still may take a few years.

Nice looking Cardinal Plant! I hope it winters over for you. The color is a beautiful blue hued red. The hummers love it!

Oooh, let me know if the lavender smells heavenly!

I have ligularia ''The Rocket'' and I love it! I set it in the shade on the NE side of the back steps. That way when I dump dirty water it will be the first to get it. It wilts easily in heat, but recovers by night.

Nice pot pepper! I looked at an EE called Coffee something, but never got it. I'm not good at storing things over winter yet. I love how the truck color echoes the lantana!

It's dark here, but not raining right now. We've had a half inch since 2:00 am. The oldest grandson is suposed to have a ball game tonight. I hope so. I haven't seen him play yet nd we have to either get him to the game or just take them home. They're playing nice quiet so far. Usually they're bugging me every few minutes while I'm on the computer, LOL!

Pepper that is a beautiful pot.

Will, there are water iris in your driveway sitting on a box lid......waiting patiently! ;)

Billy, kids aren't the only ones who like to bug people when they are on the computer, my DH doesn't say two words unless I am on the computer or wanting to watch a show! rofl.

I didn't see those earlier! I musta been in bed when you came by, last nite? I was looking for them after I read you're post up there, happ. And I thot, "oh no, the trashman picked them up"! I didn't see them at first, today was trash day. I've potted them up, I dipped the roots in my water/mudhole of a future waterpond.
It's about half full of rainwater, I got a photo of the newly potted plants today, the water irises are in the 2 medium sized black pots.
They are nice ones, thanks happ! I spent a couple hours this afternoon potting and even planting!
That 'Queen Victoria' Lobelia is looking good, I hope it overwinters okay too! That Coral Bells is a beauty too, it'll be a big plant in no time.
I keep everything watered when it don't rain, my pots never have a lack of water! I hope to have all of them planted before Fall.
I read that Ligularia was a shade plant, so I set them and the Heuchera Bells in shady spots.
Yeah, I do take a beating in Chess much of the time! My Grandpa was playing good last time, he beat me 3 out of 5 games.
Will

Bp, here's a pic of a pic of what our liguaria is supposed to look like when it blooms. The blooms are more daisy like. Kinda hard to see since I was aiming more for the plants but you get the idea. That's my huchera next to it. lol. I would love to have The Rocket!! I need to find that one. I like the blooms on it.

We are under a thunderstorm watch. If the cells move northeast, we should get some rain tonight. I certainly hope so. Don't need the severe stuff, but would like the rain.

There are 5 kids in my family. I am the 'baby'. My sister is the oldest and she is 13 years older than me. Then 3 brothers 12, 7 and 5 years older than me. Then ME!

I was excited to find some lobelia at atwoods 75% off sale of perennials, only to find it tonight all mushy. Don't know if I watered it too much or what. They were in those little plastic pots and wanted to be sure they didn't dry out. Nothing else did that.

Will I set the iris out today around noon or so, ran up to meet sister at lunch then back to work.

Crit, have to laugh, I have a sister 7 years older than me and one 11 years younger than me, so 7 - 11! I have a pic of my Mom about 10 months pregnant with my baby sister when my older sister graduated from high school. Had to have been a shock for my parents...rofl. Mom always had a baby sitter, with one of us girls... Do you remember your siblings living at home with you? My baby sister doesn't too much cause we were so much older. Wow you were either adored by your older siblings or picked on nonstop...rofl....

Hope everyone gets some nice rain and no bad storms. Looks like we are dry again. I watered today....

No, I don't remember a whole lot, just bits and pieces. I remember my 2 youngest brothers and I being at home together, but mostly just the one 5 years older than me and myself. A lot of 'newby' people that haven't lived in my home town all their lives, have told me they only thought there were 3 of us, because the two oldest moved away.

We had storms go through but only got 1/4" of rain. Oh well, at least I didn't have to water, but there isn't any water in the trays under them. And no damage ... thank you God, because there was some damage in Norman. They were predicting possibly baseball size hail! YIKES! We got a little pea size hail.

Thanks Sally. That Cardinal plant is a nice color. I potted many others today to go with it. I pulled some Bindweed off the fence, boy is it stubborn, the roots wouldn't come with it.
The Fedex job is still going, I've been there 3 days now, yippee! Ligularia 'The Rocket' eh? I'll have to look that up!

Happ, I remember my Mom being on the phone and suddenly needing something, LOL! I also remember her waving us away! My DH does the same thing!

Will, I have a small bucket just like the one you put your Coral Bell into. I think it's the cutest thing!

Pepper, I like Midnight Lady!

Crit, I hope you get rain. I hope I don't. We're wet enough!

Awww, I'll bet you were oohed and ahhed over! I love the three boys in the middle. That's so cool!

I don't think you caused the plant to be mushy. I'd take it back if possible.

Happ, you have a neat family story too :o) I'll bet your Mom fell over in a faint, LOL! I would have!

Crit, 1/4'' is a start. It takes rain to make rain I always say. Lucky on the hail. We rarely have anything larger.

Will, I took picture of the bindweed across the road, LOL! Keep that job!

OK, many picture to come.

First, Ligularia. I took this the other day.

A few years ago when I had it in another bed.

Next, Bindweeed. This is across the road and also the other day :o)

The dead in the trees left over from last year.

Now the big news. We have babies! Sara delivered the twins this morning.

Carly Anne was born first at 2:58 am. She weighs 6# 2 ounces is 19'' long

Callun Richard was born 7 minutes later at 3:05 am. He weighs 6# 3 ounces and is 19'' long.

Cael will be 7 on September 6th and Colton will be 5 on September 24th.

Boy left, girl right.

Closer :o)

All of us.

Yippeee..... more rain today! Nice gentle rain. It wasn't even forcast, but got a severe thunderstorm warning call at 4:45. Then this morning, they added a 20-30% chance of rain everday. lol

PRECIOUS is the first word that comes to mind. Congratulations! Nice size babies for twins ..... I be momma was huge and miserable!!!

Crit, thanks! Mama Was huge, but never miserable. She carried them straight and tall up to the end. All she had were swollen feet. She was 6# 3 & /2 oz. herself, so it's nice to hold that size again :o)

Congrats Sally! I remember you inserted a photo of you're DD about 3 weeks ago, (I don't know what DD means, I think daughter!). - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8585837 Thats quite a load there, my feet would be sore too! Cute kids though. Oh I guess I'll keep the job for awhile if I have to! Oh, how I love a new job! Now, I'm in the "remember how to do this" stage! They worked me good last nite! My feet are sore!
Thats some Bindweed, Sally! Oh, I have Coral Bells in two metal buckets, both buckets are in this photo. I set those in a group because they need something, like drain-holes drilled in the bottom -

Will

Oh Billy, congratulations! They are really pretty babies, twins, wowzer, I can't even imagine what that would be like.... ;) So excited for all of you.