March 2012 in like a lamb!

Ok, thanks Pepper, I'll likely be doing that, it sounds cool. Well, I finally did some finishing touches on some unfinished projects outside, no better time I guess! One is my Shade Garden and the other is along the driveway. In both I tried to keep the mulch thin enuff around where plants are so the plants can get thru, they're pretty small still.
The Water Irises from happ are the first to complement the pond with green. I want to do some modifications to that pond. I want to take the liner out, clean it and do some things like dig where all that liner shows on the upper right, I still don't know why I did that! I don't like seeing that much liner, I think I planned on setting a pot or something there, which is a stupid idea of mine because it could puncture the liner. I'd just generally like to reposition the liner a little because I kinda cut a little too much liner on the left side. I'd like to try to do anything possible to give it a larger appearance, it is more like a puddle, but even puddles are so much work!!
I got a lotta mulch to put down yet! See the 'Veronica' Speedwell in the mouth of that blue fish?!
Shine on Colorado Blue Spruce 'Globosa'!





This message was edited Mar 13, 2012 9:29 PM

49°/77°/56°
Morning sunshine will give way to isolated thunderstorms this afternoon. Warm. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.

I've done all my jobs except digging up plants. It's too soon for that. It felt good to get the iris cleaned off and the borer control down the day before we got rain. Awesome timing with Mother Nature!

I'll bet the neighbors think you just have black plastic laying all over, and think it will blow into their yards.

Pots and then some, LOL! I don't have that many big ones, but I do have many little one's I start tomatoes, peppers and flowers in.

If you have extra plants, pot them up and set them out front with a free sign like I do :o)

Yep, the shed just needs a whole new sheet. It's worth it's weight in gold, so you never want to let a shed go. I'm so happy my neighbor is going to have her shed roof redone. If not, it's going to fall in. It has a root cellar inside. I'd LOVE to have it!

Laughing, I wondered whaere the picture was. The edging looks really good painted!! Good idea!

Looking at the first picture, I do see a mess. Sorry, but I do. It's easily tidied up tho. It's not something I would turn into an inspector tho.

Otherwise, look at all the work you have done over the last few years. Get some of the mulch down on the smaller areas and it will look better immediatly. Then the inspector will see what you are working towards.
Yes, you cn move peonies. Dig wide and deep. Lift it out carefully. You will still have large vbroken roots, but it should make it.

Oh Rusty!
I am so so sorry you had to put your dog down. I agree with him being mean tho. I will miss him for a long time :o(

Will,
I like the ''greenhouse'' and spray bottle. I too bought a nice mister bottle so I can not drown my seedlings.
Well, look how nice the mulched area looks and I love the speedwell in the fish!

DH just got back from his walk. The sun is just up and it's my turn to go.

Have a great day everyone!!

The high here was 83° today! It was like Summer, they said it smashed the old record high and the record low (high) fell too. I worked outside aplenty today.

The yard inspectors already came Monday, they just bug-eyed out of the police car windows and didn't get out, I'm sure they saw enuff progress. Oh, the main pavement part back there is clear now, I took a photo of it today, it's decent enuff. Oh yes, Sally, I agree, it is/was a mess. If I can just keep the neighbors off of me long enuff, I might be able to get it done. I am lucky I got away with my procrastinating landscaping project of a backyard this long! Elbow grease is really gonna be going a long way on this backyard.

I may just do that, set freebie plants out for neighbors, tho I'm not too keen on some of them.

Haha, yeah that black plastic does prolly worry them, it doesn't budge tho, it's all stapled down with garden staples! The nice hispanic lady next door told me yesterday that they were told who called on them, it was the neighbors behind them, you know what they said? They said they had so many weeds that wild animals were coming into they're yard from the weeds. I think she said they also told the police that they are growing marijuana in they're backyard, which they aren't..lol Actually, I think they might've said that about us because of those inground buckets of P. Davidii Bamboo, it resembles it I think.

How about this Speedwell 'Veronica' putting on quite a show with little purple flowers! Oh, Pepper, they separated my 2 orders from the state nursery, the Hazelnut bundle arrived today, the Dogwoods arrive next week, she said, when I called to ask them what's going on. Some so and so at UPS or something broke the tallest one in the bundle because it stuck out more I guess, maybe they won't do that to the Dogwoods. This photo of the Hazelnuts will give you an idea of they're size, they're kinda small. They sent me a deceptive notecard saying that one of my orders was "unavailable" so I panicked and called them and they had worded it wrong, all they meant was they had to separate the 2 bundles for some reason. I'll mail it to you hopefully next week.

This message was edited Mar 14, 2012 9:19 PM

In this photo I believe is 2 Soapworts, in the fish and next to the rocks/pond, and that up right is a Creeping Phlox, I have 2 of them, they are nice too, I cleaned them all up around the 2 for when they bloom the solid purple/pink/lavender color. In the water is the biggest of the two Water Irises from happ, tho they both grow like gangbusters in the warm temperatures.
Thanks Sally, on the compliments on my greenhouse, spray bottle and fish! : )

Just catching up on the thread.

Rusty, I am so sorry about your dog. It's a sad thing but sometimes it is for the best.

Will, I can't believe the neighbors you have around there. I don't know about the neighbors yard with the tall grass, but it is obvious you are working on your yard. I consider it "organized chaos". lol Some people have nothing better to do than stick their nose in other people's business. I'm glad there were no adverse affects to you on their report.

I have started 2 Jiffy gardens, 2 flats of 2" pots and about 56 jugs of ws'ing. Still have a few more to do even though we have not had a 'winter'! UGH. I just figure they will make good terrariums to start my seeds.

We are going to be between 76* and 82* for the next 7 days. It is beautiful weather to work in the yard. I am leary of cleaning the leaves out of my flower beds because we are notorious for March and April winter storms. I'll just wait a little while longer.

I too have a peony I have to move. It is just coming up so will be a good time to do it. It is too close to a tree and doesn't get the water it needs because the tree soaks it up.

Have a great day everyone!

Yeah, they are quite a bit different than the neighbors on Leave It To Beaver. I think they are racists back there myself. Those hispanic neighbors are health conscious and law-abiding citizens that got the complaints on them. I know the husband is a weight-lifter and would never grow marijuana either. I think they've been complained on several times for frivolous stuff. They've kinda given up, there is some noticeable trash in their yard now. She told me the other day that they're moving to Florida. I never noticed they're weeds high, I think they were getting told on after only missing a week or 2 of not mowing the grass, I've never seen it more than 6 inches high or so. I liked those neighbors too, they were the only ones I liked, I gave them toys for their first infant about 8 mos. ago.

I got another mini-greenhouse today at Walmart for $3.50. It's the traditional 72 cell kind you fill up with soil. Fyi, I wouldn't recommend the pellet mini-greenhouse for anything but tiny seeds like tomato seeds, my Pea seeds are bigger, and they roll off the pellets when the pellets soak in water, the Pellets aren't flat anymore, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I give my 2 cents anyway! lol.

Oh good, I won't be the only one digging up a Peony! I'm gonna have the wheelbarrow nearby when I dig up the Peony!

Yeah, I too am skeptical that it's going to stay warm 24/7 until May or so.

"Organized chaos" is a good description of the yard here! : )

Will

Will, your neighbors would just die if they saw my yard. lol. I haven't trimmed any of my mums and other plants yet for spring. I did start on the mums yesterday but the heat got to me so I quit. Didn't get very far either. lol.

No hurry on the dogwood. I haven't even told anyone it's coming. lol.

The Dogwoods are on the way! I got a notecard from them saying they're coming. They are good about notecards.

Yeah, a rural area would be nice. Here is one little Ligularia 'Midnight Lady' coming back up, the other one may not have made it.
Boy, that Speedwell Veronica 'Georgia Blue' is really putting on a show. My 2 'Bruce' Semi-Dwarf Plum trees have nice white flowers on them. The 'Red Haven' Semi-Dwarf Peach tree has nice pink flowers itself.
Will

This message was edited Mar 16, 2012 4:02 PM

My 2 Mums survived the Winter in pots even. I think that's kinda neat, now I'll have Mums in the Fall. It HAS been warm and muggy lately. I was digging and stuff with my wheelbarrow, it was some warmish work, I too can relate about the temperatures lately, Pepper.

Well, my friend has pulled rank on me again about the landscaping, today. It's all good now, we compromised, I agreed to remove the black mulch and do some other changes in order to keep the major
landscape mulching job by the waterpond. I agree, the black mulch is a bit hideous. It's going to make the ac unit work even harder when it's hot. And I think black mulch is kinda out anyway.
I shouldn't have put it down to begin with. I didn't argue with her, it's her house, and I want a place to live. She's not entirely happy with the huge area that I want to mulch, but I was persistent with my groveling and crying! All kidding aside, I think I succeeded in convincing her that it will look nice, which I think it will. She hadn't been out there in a while, since we recently needed to congregate back there for the inspector visit, to her dismay, she saw how big and major my landscaping plans are.

Here is the Blue Flag Iris from Imames (1 of 2 pots from her bulbs) and the big red pot of Ditch Lilies from happ, both from the Fall RU in Oct. 09 in Parkville, MO.
How about this closeup of a flower on my 'Red Haven' Semi-Dwarf Peach tree? In this photo way up in the background is the Red Lily that I got from Pepper, the 2 in the front are a Speedwell Veronica 'Georgia Blue' on the front right (not in the water) and left of that is a Lavender 'Munstead'. That single, small lavender is quite fragrant, I can easily smell it when I'm close.
The Lavender's label is funny, it's talking about "Lavender on the table from Mable" or something like that! I don't want to eat no steenking Lavender, it's a nice landscaping plant!
And the biggest of the 2 Water Irises from happ, it's turning green and growing fast, those 2 plants are about twice that big now.
Speaking of happ, whenever you get to Independence/Sugar Creek, come on over and I'll give you that striped Wandering Jew start basket. About 3 weeks ago I put 5 or so more cuttings of it in the pot, it is big with Wandering Jew cuttings! I should be getting very close to a finished backyard, (I've kinda been hurried along..lol), I'll give you a tour!
Will

Hello, this is old Rusty56 and I got new usename is JuJu55...

I has no power for 30 min... that happen I was at Walmart and got power went off...

Here's the newspaper said:

http://www.joplinglobe.com/topstories/x426444997/Empire-Outages-due-to-transmission-line-failure

Like the new name. :~)

61°/80°/60°
Through 10am: Scattered showers and thunderstorms developing by 7am. Mostly cloudy with temperatures steady or slowly warming to the low 60s. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 45%.
Today: Showers and a few thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. Winds SSE at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Sorry to get so far behind lately. I read everything, but need to keep moving.

It's been busy here. I get out and walk early, then I get right to weeding. I've spent all day outside this week and am loving it! I've never seen so much chickweed tho! It's just everywhere! Dandelions too, but that's every year. I've about got all the small beds done. Just have the three largest to do.

I've also got the asparagus beds cleaned off and weeded. Since we aren't getting much rain we've started to water it and the rhubarb.

I've been reading the ''Farmers Almanac'' predictions for March and April. I think we're going to slide into spring without a hard freeze.

Will.
Love all the pictures! The peach is gorgeous!
When everything blooms, bring your friend to the yard and sit down with her. Slowly point out how pretty the flowers are and how nice the pond sounds. She will come around.

Ju,
I like the new name too, but I will never forget Rusty.

Well, I have more catching up to do and since we ate all the leftovers, I need to clean vegetables for a week of salads :o)

Have a wonderful day everyone!!

Here is a Dieffenbachia, I hope that planter isn't too big, it was free!

Hi JuJu, cool name. I'll never forget Rusty either, I think I even gave him a pet at the RU in Fall 2009. A while back I changed my name too, from Shortleaf2005 to my current one shortleaf, it was shorter, easier for me to remember at login time..lol
If one was to do an "advanced" search of that name a few old time threads even come up. - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/search.php?st=Adv&forum=&q=&forum_ids%5B%5D=0&limit_poster=Shortleaf2005&dl=0&dl-rel=0&sort-type=0&sort-order=0&Search=Search+Forums
I even see a few old friends were in those posts.

Here is that Ligularia 'Midnight Lady', it has sprang up fast, as alot of plants have with the recent warm temperatures and now rain.
The last time the Speedwell Veronica bloomed was the best, unfortunately, that was about twice as good as the last photo up there, I didn't get a photo, and the rain I think helped them stop blooming nice. It bloomed real nice for about 3 days then flowers drooped and gone..boohoo!
Boy, this rain is really piling up! Here is my waterpond taking in a bunch of water and letting it out the back, about like I wanted. I still need to dig a better "trench" for a stream of water to drain out the back. I got photos this morning while there was a lull in the raining, even at the end of my picture taking the rain had picked up and I couldn't keep the camera out much longer. The 2 Water Irises are really growing in the pond, there is a hardy waterlily plant down there in the pond, I'm still waiting on it, I hope it's alive! I looked at some "feeder goldfish" at the pet store last night when I was getting my lizard some crickets. Feeders are cheap and they get BIG, there is no guarantee on them, but they are dirt cheap. They eat mosquitos, that is another big reason I want them, my friend here loathes mosquitos. Speaking of Lennie the Lizard, here he is in all his glory! He appears to be watching some crickets that have gathered on top of the little cactus in there. That cactus is incredibly needley, I can't believe the quickness and ease everything crawls on it, even the lizard runs right over it unscathed seemingly, and he/she sits on it. Maybe the crickets think they're safe up there but not from Lennie! I just dump all 30 or so crickets in there at the same time, I think they live longer in there with potatoes cut in half for food and moisture, they love that, and Lennie has to eat too! There is usually a gang of crickets sitting on the cut potatoes at all times!

Speaking of Asparagas, ever seen an Asparagas Fern about 4 feet long, (it's on the top left)? Eeek, weeds, dangit, I hope they aren't worse than normal! I too, foresee a lot of weeding!
I've put down 4 rolls of weed fabric so far.

I couldn't believe how fast the seeds in my pellet starter sprouted. I wanted to take those Peas out of there before they sprouted but I was too late. I wanted to get them out because they roll off the pellets too easily, but roots will definitely hold them in!
Will

This message was edited Mar 20, 2012 10:37 AM

I need to check on my liguaria. I hope it has come back this year. I know my Sweet Tea huechera is springing back to life and my other 2 look good too. I need to get a Japanese Maple in there soon so I can have some shade. Just might have to get a few medium height grasses to plant around the maple to help shade til it gets a bit bigger.

The creeks around me haven't flooded yet but probably will by morning. The creek down the road from me has only flooded once I think since we have lived here and that was years ago. Comes close though.

Will, for your trench do like a rain garden thing. Make a trench, cover it with rocks then put plants in there that can handle both wet and dry conditions. They did that behind the Visitor's Center at Powell Gardens. Works great!! It absorbs the water instead of it running off into a stream or someone's yard.

Thanks Pepper, I was thinking about some kind of a raingarden too. Now is a pretty good time to make one, I am kinda torn on how to do it though. Do I put down weedblock or some kind of barrier to control weeds thru there, or do I let more rainwater soak in? You can see how marshy it gets in that Mar. 11th post ending in post #..67 up there - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9038667&extraimg=2 . During a steady rain, (like now), it is inundated with rainwater in that area. I'll prolly get carried away and dig another pond! It might be getting so saturated right there that the runoff is slowing way down and still collecting some on the driveway, which is far from ideal. I would love to get the water down and out.
I would love to do some kind of raingarden, my roommate homeowner would just love that. I should read up on how to make a raingarden lest I end up with a watery, weedy mess!

3 of my purple Coral Bells are awaiting planting soon! That's the big Rose-Of-Sharon cutting to the left of a Coral Bells (lower left corner), it doesn't show any signs of life.

I'm still waiting on that MDC Dogwood bundle, they should be getting here soon.

I remember one year, I was trapped in by 3 small flooded creeks on all roads from my house. I drove up to one but I had a small car and just turned around, the water was rushing and I didn't want to look like a numbskull if my car got swept into the ditch. This big pickup went on thru after I turned around, I was like, "well, aren't you something?", I guess they showed me! Flooded creeks can be dangerous. I'll turn around if there's a few inches of rushing water on the street. They say 6" of rushing water can sweep you off your feet and 2 feet of rushing water can sweep away your car! My days of curiousity of swimming in deep, rushing water are over!

They were showing the Japanese Cherry Trees in Wash. D.C. 100th anniversary and how quite a few of the trees are the original ones and have outlived their lifespan by 50-75 years - http://voices.yahoo.com/historic-cherry-trees-bloom-washington-5771622.html . I'd love to see the 3,750 Cherry Trees in blossom there someday at the Cherry Blossom Festival.





This message was edited Mar 20, 2012 10:12 PM

Will,
Nice diffenbachia!
It's fun to look at old posts. I saw a few of my old friends in your posts too. Frostweed sent me seed and I sent her seed too. Equilibrium and RCN is still on threads I'm on. Most of those I know were on the "My it's Sort of Dead'' thread.
Wow, things are growing alright!
Lenny has it made! Love the cricket group, LOL!
Your outdoor pots look good too!

Pepper,
I wish I had a place for a rain garden. It's nice to see features like that at places of business.

Maybe rain today, if it would quit drying up before it gets here!

Thanks! That Dieffenbachia is all tied up with white string because it was leaning over. I think the stems of Dieffenbachia are made of green toilet paper, very rubbery!

Yeah, some old friends of mine there too.

I was up at 4am, not because I couldn't sleep, but because the doorbell rang! I don't know what their deal was, when we went to the door, (not opening it), there was nobody there! We weren't about to open the door but I guess they didn't even need help.
Thanks for the compliments, Sally, I hope everything keeps growing.

Lennie DOES have it made, he/she likes having crickets at his/her disposal!

More rain dangit! I found out one thing this morning, Big Brothers and Big Sisters picks up stuff when there's a big chance of rain, but it never rained on the stuff.

Will,
Cracking up! I sure wouldn't substitute it for toilet paper!!

Scary to have the doorbell ring that early. I would not have answered either!

We didn't answer the door when Jehovah Witness and Baptist people were handing out fliers yesterday. No need to since we aren't interested in their Churches.

Forgot to totally agree with you on not driving thru rushing water. Big truck, so what? He was lucky. Many ''big'' people get swept away. They endanger the lives of those trying to save them.

What stuff are you setting out for the Sisters and Brothers?

I'm not substituting the stems for toilet paper! lol

Yeah, who rings a doorbell at 4 in the morning? People up at 4 in the morning can't be up to any good. Actually, it was a man's voice outside that woke me up, not the doorbell.
I told my friend, I just heard a man's voice outside?! I'm the only man around here and it wasn't me! My friend says, "who is it?" Maybe they heard that and figured, "nobody's opening the door here" and just left quickly. I'm not sure if they were prowlers though because a prowler wouldn't talk so loud I wouldn't think.

In 1998, 11 people got swept away to their deaths in Kansas City from swollen creeks. One guy was standing on the top of his car talking to his wife on the phone when he got swept away, it was sad.
You don't have to agree with me you silly! I never thought about it until you mentioned it. I just blab, if people hear that's a bonus! I'm a pretty even-keel guy, I would likely agree on stuff my friends say, even if I don't say, I just forget or overlook it. lol

It was just knick-knacks that we're donating. I found out that they won't take a Christmas tree unless it's that season, (Dec. or so). And it was a new tree still in the box.
We've been donating stuff about once a month or going to the store to dropoff donated stuff where they sell it.

I did a little planting of a Coral Bells 'Plum Pudding' today, I'm trying to get more in my little shade garden. A Junebug got dug up for his trouble, so did a grubworm, but I stepped on it. I was wrong about the second Ligularia, it is also sprouting a little behind the schedule of the other one, it is also in the shade garden, bringing up the back, left corner. I'm trying to determine if I have enuff room to put another Coral Bells in the shade garden, the shade garden is only 7' x 3.5' rectangular. I was thinking in the back in the middle maybe, it is a chartreuse one, I don't recall the name right now, I think 'Citrus' or something. The reason that I'm not sure that there's room is because the 2 Hostas in there are very big at maturity. I know for sure that one Hosta is a 'Francee' and the other one is either a 'Sum And Substance' or a 'Blue Angel' (I can't find the label on that one and the leaves haven't came out yet).

Will,
It's still scary to thinnk someone was outside that early. Maybe it was your neighbor that thinks your yard is messy. I'm glad you woke up. Maybe they now know you're a light sleeper.

:o)

I just took a few things to Goodwill, then realized there is a Salvation Army closer.

I'd wait to see how big the Hosta get. If they are happy they will get huge! I made the mistake of planting things in my hosta bed, LOL!

Well, we get the Grandkids today. It sure was a quiet week without them, LOL!

Haha.. the neighbor was out there cleaning my yard?! I don't know! Yeah, kinda surprising that people are so bold as to come right in your yard and ring the doorbell at that time of nite.
Our yard is fenced all the way around. They woulda had to open the gate and come up the porch to ring the doorbell. What if we hadn't gone to the door so quick? What were they going to break a window and come on in, thinking we weren't home, or a classic home invasion?

I'm not worried much about the 'Francee' getting too big but the other Hosta is very large, whether it's a 'Sum And Substance' or a 'Blue Angel' either one is very big. I'd rather them be big and happy than not so big and sickly, I'll move that Heuchera if I must.

I need to get out and take pics. My garden is just going nuts now with all the rain we've had. I still have alot of cleanup to do but hopefully I can get to it next week. I need to finish cutting back my mums and other plants, and pruning my roses. I also need to pull my red twig dogwood since only one stem is alive. Not worth keeping. It's going out and when I get a rose in so is my butterfly bush. I just may move it. Will see how the blooms look.

Cameras, rain and planting just should go better together! I am always handling my camera with wet hands, dirty hands or fingertips! lol The Dogwoods just got here so I will get a nice one in the mail to you, Pepper. I hope they are going to be alright, the roots looked unusually dry for shipment from them, I don't think they were too dry though. Was you going to throw away your Red-Twig Dogwood, Pepper? I was reading it is a good plant for a raingarden. Remember this site you sent me? - http://greenwichct.virtualtownhall.net/Public_Documents/GreenwichCT_Wetland/forms/iwwaWetlandPlantings.pdf Is Red Osier and Red Twig Dogwoods the same? Red Osier is on the list of wetland small trees.

I was thinking about our 4am visitor, the other nite, we may have been targeted because there's a disabled ramp here, but there isn't any disabled people here anymore, disabled in the mind maybe, but for petes sake I can swing one of those plastic toy bats like nobody's business!

Here is my little shade garden coming along. It has a 'Francee' Hosta, a 'Sum And Substance' Hosta or a 'Blue Angel', a Heuchera 'Plum Pudding', a Heuchera 'Citronelle', a 'Ghost' Fern and 2 Ligularias 'Midnight Lady' in all 7 feet of it. I guess I'll be finding out if anything is crowded in it.

I was wrong about the Speedwell Veronica 'Georgia Blue', it isn't done blooming, it's still blooming, it just looks bad in the rain, like all the flowers drop off or something.

How about Lennie the Lizard, he has crickets all over him/her, even on his head. I think they are trying to hold him/her down so they don't get eaten, there is crickets on his feet! He/she just shakes them off when he is tired of them. I keep him in crickets, look how big around he is! There's like 9 crickets in that photo! Crickets are only a dollar a dozen, but I think they give me extra crickets for the dirty hair discount!
That cactus will be a year old in May, it is wet because I had just watered it. How about my little bridge thing in there? It don't really look right, but neither does the little owl that is with it, but it's out of that photo, I think it's in a photo up there, to the left of it. That stuff isn't really your desert terrarium stuff but oh well!
Will

Hi folks. Haven't been around a while. Had my DGD's here for their spring break. 5 & 7. Even though it rained EVERY day (I had 5" at my house, not complaining!) some days it was off and on so we still had a good time. The pics are of them in their new Cowgirl hats and the mini burro Jake. They just love him!
Also including a pic of my little tulip garden by the driveway.

Will, if there was never a reply to your mini green house with the pellets, you are suppose to soak the pellets first and let them swell, then plant the seeds. lol

I have lived in the counrty sooooooooooo much. I would hate someone telling me when I had to mow my grass, too much "trash" around, etc., etc., etc. I'm afraid I might tell someone off.

Will, you need to be careful of "only 2" of water" over a road. You never know, in the middle of it could be a big washout and the road gone!

What happened to the old lady that lived with you?

Oh, I see, I didn't know you soak the pellets first, thanks I'll do that next time. That little donkey looks like a Shetland Pony! I heard an old western funny saying about some bank-robbers on Shetland Ponies. The bank teller says, "shoot low Sheriff, they're riding Shetlands!"

The elderly, disabled lady passed away in December.

That's a nice bed of Tulips there, Crit. Yeah, conforming to city standards on yard appearance is pretty frustrating, when you're slowly working on it already, and people just don't know the progress already underway.

Yeah, I agree, I don't fool around with floodwaters, I turn around. Unless the water is clear and I see a bicycle go thru it I am turning around! lol

52°/75°/49°
Areas of patchy fog early. Partly cloudy skies. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.

Good morning all! It's pretty foggy out there today, but it counts as rain so I don't mind. We have been struggling to get even 1/10th in the guage. At least with the sprinkles the iris borer control is wet, and hopefully the iris are taking it up.

Will,
They had to be drunk. Hopefully they were drunk. It's the not knowing that's scary.
Nice thing about moving Heuchera is, if they are big, it's a good time to make a few from one.

Pepper,
Yep, pull the dogwood and set it somewhere else. Will it sucker and form a patch? The rose and BFB will be much prettier!
I am so hoping all the weeding I've done, stays done. I fear the chickweed will grow back from roots I didn't get. At least I got it before it put out seeds! Some of it anyway. It's too wet to finish weeding now.

Will,
I'll bet you're a madman with a plastic bat, LOL! We keep a golf club in the closet since I gave all the bats to Goodwill.
Feeding the crickets and letting Lennie eat when he wants to is a good idea. He looks pretty healthy!
Nice Heuchera and nice bed :o)
Pretty blooms. Blue is just right for spring. I see my Jacob's Ladder is going to bloom soon.
It's all decor and looks fine. I'm sure lennie doesn't mind.

Crit,
Smiling. I have GS's, 7 and 5. They still need playing with at that age so I can see how busy you've been!
The tulips are gorgeous! My tulips, when closed are red and yellow striped. They are a species tulip. They are almost ready to open!
Oh, they are sooooo adorable!!! So is Jake! How llong have you had him?

Will, grinning over the joke! We had a regular shetland pony and someone else had a miniture.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Last year's bloom.

The dogwood will probably be tossed. It only has one live stem and it is barely alive. The switchgrass will hopefully get divided and moved here pretty soon. I need something to shade my shade bed til I get another tree in. Plus the stump won't be burned anytime soon so need something temporary and tall. Give my butterfly bush to a friend who loves them and put a big rose there. I need something to give us more privacy. I think a rose will be a good choice.

Billy, we have had Jake for 2 years. The grandkids just think he is GREAT! Wish I knew how old he was. Hmmm

It's hard to get a good shot of the tulips because they are in doppled sun/shade all the time. But they sure are pretty in person. Best part of it is, most of them I got from Wal-Mart for $1 a pot after Easter. Didn't know what color they would be but heck, who cares! lol There were 4-6 bulbs in each one. I have others scattered around in a group of 4 or 5.

Well, I think I've stayed up as late as I can!

Thanks Sally. I hope everything in the landscaping looks nice enuff when it's done.

There is a good chance that the would-be burglar was drunk or something. Not far from here is a pretty good population of homeless people, they panhandle about a mile from here, where 24 hwy. meets I-435 interstate, I'm sure they walk where-ever they want. I don't just mean people down on their luck, there is likely drunks, drug addicts and mentally ill people in that group too. Another thing to consider is unemployment and poverty level wages around here and just quite a bit of crime. It's like any other place you have to be alert.
I'm on unemployment myself but I don't feel the need to rob anybody! I'm not addicted to anything but pop! I'm not about to break in anybody's house for a Pepsi!
Haha! Yes I can swing a plastic bat! I'll just get out my time machine and send them to the 1850's!

Not to sound all odd, but look at all the 5's and 7's in the posts above including the post times, just a coincidence but still funny!

Your high billyp today of 75° is nice, tomorrow here is supposed to be 82°! I wonder how many people are giving in to the unusually warm temperatures and going ahead and putting tomatoes and houseplants etc. out?! I'm gonna try to wait until mid April myself!

Eek, yeah Pepper, if the RedTwig Dogwood is barely alive I think I'd toss it too, altho maybe it'll come back in a few years if you planted it on the edge of some woods.

Speaking of Butterfly Bushes, Pepper, the 'Blue Nanho' from you is doing fine but the 'Black Knight' I think is kaput, something uprooted it long before I saw it. Although I immediately replanted it, it doesn't show any signs of life.

The last time I had Tulips there was a surprise freak of a cold snap! See them here all drooped over, I was so mad! lol
Will


This message was edited Mar 26, 2012 3:28 AM

I finally got that big birdbath assembled and put in place with the help of a neighbor, I'm glad to get that done, that thing is a monster! It wobbles more than I hoped but I'll work on that later.
I didn't want to wrestle it myself and end up with it on my foot! With 2 people it was no problem.

I had a big second thought on the placement of that purple Coral Bells, ('Plum Pudding') in the shade garden, it is only down about 4 inches and over towards the smaller of the 2 monster Hostas, ('Francee') now. I'm starting to think that big Hosta on the right is a 'Blue Angel', I think it'll need plenty of room to spread out.

The hardy waterlily is going to sprout afterall! I pulled it up and had a look and it indeed has small lilies coming in! It wasn't even in the deep part of the pond I found out.

The Speedwell Veronica is still going strong.

That monster fountain looks very much like the one I have. It takes 2 people too. I have a picture but it doesn't show the pedastal. I was taking pictures of the fence as we were taking down the old one and selling off the slats. lol

I did a little more outside today, not much. I just can't seem to commit to big jobs that I know need to be done! I'm so lazy, I'd rather sit and watch tv than get the landscaping done, which I really want to get done this year. I started big projects in the yard and I just have to finish them! My friend here thinks I'm crazy for bringing all these rocks in the yard, I just don't say anything, except, I tell her, "you'll thank me later!", I hope I'm right! Speaking of those rocks, I put down a few more by the big birdbath/fountain. I am still deciding what to do with that big Dwarf Eastern White Pine, Pinus Strobus 'Nana'. I've had it since 2004, it is big. It is surprisingly light for a big plant and planter, it's in Pine Bark, no soil. I've seen it's rootball about 4 years ago, it is getting within about 4 or 5 inches of the inside of the planter, so it should be about ready to be planted.

Your birdbath fountain is big like mine, it is similar to mine, Crit. I like the color on yours, mine needs color like that or just all spray painted gray like the color of concrete. It's kinda mismatched on colors the way it is. My Dad kinda fancied painting their statuaries, which is fine, but it wears off and looks like poo years later. The top part was painted in many different colors, even the childrens' faces are tan, it's wore bad and doesn't look like art at all. I'm not familiar with statuaries, your concrete coulda been mixed to look like that maybe, which isn't paint.

I got down and cut one Water Iris's pot with scissors so not so much black plastic shows above the water. The other Water Iris got a thick plastic pot that seems to be ideal for water plants.
I just had to drill big drain holes in the bottom because the water level can get kinda low at times. I don't want them out of a pot of some kind though because the roots go everywhere! And the Iris itself would just always be tipping over if not in a pot.

I tried to straighten up that Colorado Blue Spruce 'Globosa' but I don't think I did it good enuff to suit me! I may just need to dig it up and replant it.

I just can't quit looking at my little shade garden! Maybe there's enuff room in the middle and a little left for a smallish Hosta like 'June' or 'Patriot'. I don't know, maybe I should wait a while to see how big stuff gets there.

This blue ceramic fish has my other Speedwell Veronica 'Georgia Blue' in it. That Dwarf Alberta Spruce by it started out in 2004 as a Living Christmas tree, it has grown alot, it finally got big enuff to plant! lol That other pot behind it has what appears to be a now defunct Pennisetum alopecuroides (straight Fountain Grass), it was 3 "plugs". That was the last mail order item in a $66 order from Bluestem nursery in Canada, not Bluestone Perennials. I have a bunch of what appears now to just be pots of dirt to empty out, unfortunately.

Will, you seem to know a lot of Hosta names. There was one here when we moved here and I do not know the name of it. I keep thinking Sum and Substance, but most definately could be wrong. The leaves grow up and it gets quite big. Here is a picture of a leaf from where I divided it earlier. Any idea? It has deep veined leaves and the leaves get large also.

Thanks, I do have quite a few of the more common, cheaper ones. It looks like 'Sum And Substance' to me too, it's a common one. Like you said, the leaves are like S&S. Size I think would be real telling, S&S gets real big. Here's a Youtube video of a young one though with larger leaves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smGzf5y0eBo I don't know what stage of growth your Hosta is in, for ex. April or August. Here is a photo of one of mine last year. I had just cut some scorched leaves with scissors in this photo. I set it under a tree before that and apparently it didn't like even that much sun. But, yours looks similar to mine in all those characteristics you mentioned. I don't mean to suggest that S&S is a cheaper Hosta but it's pretty common and deservedly so, it's big and it's nice. There is just so many Hostas, I wish I knew more about them than I do. I think the Chartreuse color is a good clue on yours, I think regular Hostas are a more ordinary green, not chartreuse like yours. But, from what I read Hostas from seeds don't have to be a regular green, they coulda been pollinated from other Hostas nearby and could be yellow even but likely not like a named Hosta. Definitely the size, if the parent gets 5 feet or so in diameter, I'd think much more of a chance it's S&S. I wish I could be more helpful. There was a member here who has many big, nice Hostas, lkozarksgarden, here is one of his pictures - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7825574 I think he said in his Hosta prime he had over a hundred of them.
In this photo of a younger S&S of mine a while back, it looked like yours a bit but mine seemed to have a little pointier leaves, might be nothing - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7818090

This is a photo of one of 3 S&S that I have now, none of them are as small as yours.
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Will

Eeek, I see it posted twice, sorry about that!

This message was edited Mar 28, 2012 8:38 PM

Thanks, I do have quite a few of the more common, cheaper ones. It looks like 'Sum And Substance' to me too, it's a common one. Like you said, the leaves are like S&S. Size I think would be real telling, S&S gets real big. Here's a Youtube video of a young one though with larger leaves. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smGzf5y0eBo I don't know what stage of growth your Hosta is in, for ex. April or August. Here is a photo of one of mine last year. I had just cut some scorched leaves with scissors in this photo. I set it under a tree before that and apparently it didn't like even that much sun. But, yours looks similar to mine in all those characteristics you mentioned. I don't mean to suggest that S&S is a cheaper Hosta but it's pretty common and deservedly so, it's big and it's nice. There is just so many Hostas, I wish I knew more about them than I do. I think the Chartreuse color is a good clue on yours, I think regular Hostas are a more ordinary green, not chartreuse like yours. But, from what I read Hostas from seeds don't have to be a regular green, they coulda been pollinated from other Hostas nearby and could be yellow even but likely not like a named Hosta. Definitely the size, if the parent gets 5 feet or so in diameter, I'd think much more of a chance it's S&S. I wish I could be more helpful. There was a member here who has many big, nice Hostas, lkozarksgarden, here is one of his pictures - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7825574 I think he said in his Hosta prime he had over a hundred of them.
In this photo of a younger S&S of mine a while back, it looked like yours a bit but mine seemed to have a little pointier leaves, might be nothing - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7818090

This is a photo of one of 3 S&S that I have now, none of them are as small as yours.
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
Will

lkozarksgarden has some nice beds of Hostas - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7639542 and
- http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7639555

Thanks Will. That pretty much confirms it is an S&S. The pic I showed is of a new one that I dug and potted up just a couple weeks ago. I have 9 starts off of it because I try to keep it contained to a certain area, and it does spread a lot. I don't believe I have a pic of it when it was full size. It is in a spot that gets light morning sun, then shade the rest of the day and loves it's location! I have moved starts of it around the yard and they are doing great also.