May 2012-Plants done Blooming?

I need to get my planters going and need to throw out some zinna seed too. That way I still have blooms this summer!! I know my salvia will keep blooming and so will my coneflowers. I guess I'm good to go after all!! LOL

Nice blooms on that Clematis, Pepper, and I love that trellis. Thanks for starting a new thread, Pepper.

I'm gonna be lining and stacking pretty soon, and, a lot of taking to the landfill..lol A lot of the miscellaneous stuff is decent materials and stuff that might come in use someday but unfortunately, have no place for it now.
I remember last year I was all excited for the first Lily Trees, Purple Prince, to bloom and they were a big disappointment, I wanted them to bloom like the photos - all purple, but it turned out they were mostly white.
The newest ones, Satisfaction, looks nice in the photos but I'm not getting my hopes up again! I guess I can't really expect much, I used a completely $25 free (with no other purchase) on both Lily Tree orders, they were $2.97 ea. order of 3 bulbs each.

Yeah, mulch volcanos are as bad as planting a big tree under a power line or under a window next to the house! Actually, I have some finishing touches to do on the mulch that I've already put down, it looks kinda wavy by the Persimmon but I plan to build a raingarden in that area because the runoff runs thru that area. "Covering their costs"! Isn't that an owners way of saying I want to eat out one more day a week?! lol
Actually, I think it was maybe a matter of being helped by the greediest of the two family mulch members the last time.

I forgot to say that's my big pot of hardy Mums left of the Persimmon tree in that second photo in the April 30th post. It already has blooms coming on, I've never had hardy Mums before.

Here's my lavender 'Munstead' with some little flowers. I'm not seeing the edible part, I wouldn't eat it, but the label says Mable on the Table!

Thanks, oh I got time to let stuff get big, that's like the motivation of the inexpensive gardener! lol

That mulch is really aromatic, I don't know how they were able to keep it dry, I guess with tarps or it was just delivered that day, but this load smells divine!
Thanks for the words of encouragement, back at you Sister!

I got some "rabbit fence", I'll try to get some cut and fitted over that rectangular planter. A couple more Liatris bulbs have sprang up, I counted 16 today. I can see where they just helped themselves to the other 9 or so bulbs, there is just voids all over the place. I shoulda had some wire fence ready to go when I planted them, but I didn't think they'd be so popular with squirrels, I wonder if squirrels can fit thru rabbit fence.
Hope you find your camera, happ. I wish I had a dollar for every time I lost mine. I learned a long time ago to keep it in a waterproof container in case I leave it outside, (which I've done several times..lol) The container is in alot of my photos I see, it's the blue "Maxwell House" thing, haha, like this one - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9099375 from a few days ago.
Hehe.. "a bean island"! Years ago, in another place in East Independence, MO., I took this photo of a stand of trees that was strategically placed in this soybean field/ cornfield, they rotated crops. But I think that Summer I went over there with a bag of seeds and I sprinkled them everywhere, I haven't been back since, it could be full of Baldcypress trees, Sycamore trees, Redbud trees, Ginkgo trees, any kind of tree seed that I could grow! I know that sounds scandalous, planting on somebody else's property, but I rented from my Grandma and she said she didn't want me to plant anything, so I had to plant my seeds somewhere! I did that kinda stuff more than I care to admit! lol I once threw a handful of Tree of Heaven seeds in the mayor's yard, under cover of darkness! Just kidding, I only thought about it!
When your yard looks like this, you plant seeds! lol Recognize the Dwarf Eastern White Pine 'Nana' from that photo, (in the back of it), it's the one in this photo now - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9104762&extraimg=1 . I didn't grow it from a seed, it's a grafted money plant.
Will

All my roses and peonies are blooming like crazy! The iris just finished. Garden peas, orange day lilies, & blackberries are just starting to bloom. I let some kale and collards go to seed & the yellow blooms have been covered with bees. The volunteer purple spiderworts that I've left to grow along the fence are blooming.

this morning, but the majority went north of us. The weather alert went off for the northern counties about 2:30 am.

Happ,
Grinning over the camera. Mine is never out of my sight because it hangs around my neck till I put it away :o)

Pepper,
Thanks for the new thread :o)
I was happy to find the Sundown and Sun-up coneflowers that almost dried up last year are growing fine. I had moved them too and that was iffy.
I have Salvia carradonna and May Night blooming already. All I need is a hummingbird. I haven't seen any yet and there is plenty for them to eat. The columbine have been over a week or so.
LOVE the color of the clematis!

Will,
Nothing is more disappointing than not getting what you ordered. At least you paid little for them.
That's too bad they ate so many bulbs. I hope the wire works. Once they grow thru it, it should look fine.
Good plan for your camera!
Smiling. I tend to throw seeds around too....
I believe the blooms of the lavender are the edible part. I have a recipe for lavender cookies and my neighbor has the plant. It only takes like 2 T. of the buds. This year I'm going to try them.

Greenbrain,
No wonder you are ahead of me. You're way south. My iris, are early and are starting now. The peonies are getting ready to open. The columbine was way early and my Yellow Rose of Texas is blooming!

Wow greenbrain, I bet it is beautiful!

I have iris blooming like crazy, some of the early peonies are done for, and some are just now opening, but I won't have any for decoration day.....they will all be gone by then. I also have roses blooming, I need to get out and fertilize them, dang work just gets in my way...rofl.. Gonna warm up this week, then I thought they said on Monday highs would be in the 60's....hummmm.

Went to the iris farm last night and it was beautiful, acres of bloom iris. wowzer.

I have one peony bloom right now. Haven't checked on the others to see if I have anymore buds yet. Been running around trying to get stuff done!!

My blooms are really appreciated because they survived a beating from golf ball to baseball size hail last Saturday afternoon!

71°/80°/61°
Partial cloudiness early, with scattered showers and thunderstorms during the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%

It's a gorgeous morning. That one perfect temp after a long chilly spring. It's balmy. I see June bugs, a crane fly, a few sizes of moths and last night there was a very persistent and a very reluctent red admiral both determined. They must have flown all day barely, staying where they lit. I'm sure I saw a wren altho he's not singing yet and I did have a bluebird :o)

DH mowed for me yesterday. I'm still tired and fighting sinus. Not 100% like I hoped :o(

Happ,
We will drop to 60° on Monday too. but meanwhile....

Pepper,
My pink peonies want to burst open! I still haven't staked the one that really fals over. I better do that today while I can push fencing in.

Greenbrain,
I can't even imagine golf ball sized hail. The largest we'ver ever had, in my whole life was maybe a half inch. Usually it's pea size. But I'm not complaining!

Hail is bad bad stuff, hail is one of my big fears since the front of our house is glass for solar gain. Even itty bitty hail sounds horrible on our glass. I probably wouldn't be able to watch my poor plants get beat by golf ball size hail.....wowzer. Did it get your car? You probably have a garage which I do to, but can't get a car in it...rofl, and it is not my stuff that is in the way.....LOL

I'll never forget this hail in the swimming pool, I've never had hail very big either. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFv2W7Duqiw
Poor patio tree, you can see the leaves coming off of it.

Ack! Happ, a glass side in your house would be cool most of the time, except like hail and tornados! But man, the natural light and of course the savings on the light bill would be real nice.

I did a little more mulching in the backyard, I am all mulched out, my back is smarting! But, I still need about a yard of mulch to finish yet. Here's a couple photos. I'm not that tall, I was standing in the trailer!
I don't wanna seem braggadocio, but maybe the yard will go from worst to first on my street, haha! I'm sure there are better landscaped yards, but it's okay to think your #1!
I think some homeowners can afford the real landscaping rocks! lol

I hope that sickness clears up for you billyp. I feel good now, knock on wood, but I've felt like poo before too, it's no fun for sure.

Many of the Liatris bulbs have sprouted and grown some, I don't know if I can get the fence around them reasonably at this point.
If it gets bad I'll have to this year. Today they dug up a couple more Liatris bulbs, I replant them right away, but there's a squirrel digging in it regularly. I took a couple photos of them dug up. -
They didn't eat any today, there is also more than I thought. They musta left part of the Liatris bulbs in the planter because little leaves are sprouting up, it looks like 19 of the 25 bulbs might sprout in some form.



This message was edited May 3, 2012 11:18 PM

billyp....you mentioned 'the columbine have been done over a week'. Do they only bloom in the spring? I just have one, the prettiest purple and white. I thought they bloomed all summer. booooo

Will..... did you try putting the hair clippings all over where you planted your bulbs? I tell you, it really works. They don't like the human smell. I put hair on my tomato plants too. I just save it out of my brush or if I need a bunch, my hairdresser saves clippings for me.

My peony never did bloom. I know it bloomed before, this is only our 3rd spring here, so I don't know why it hasn't. I still need to move the ones from under the tree. When is a good time to move them? I'm wondering if the one that has bloomed is maybe planted too deep? I could dig it up and reset it. Any thoughts?

Greenbrain...... now THAT is some BIG HAIL!!!!

DH is working on a new flowerbed for me in the back yard. I have pictures but I think someone hid happ and my camera's! Will????? Give them back. I think I know where mine is as I was going to download the pics, then didn't. It's probably at the other spot I set with my laptop.

Well, back outside to repot some of my winter sowing. They are getting big and thick and I don't want them dying off. Later............

Wow, as luck would have it, my procrastinating to get rid of my old hair has paid off! I have hair from my custom haircuts still awaiting my disposal I see! I had forgot you said, Crit, you put hair clippings in the beds,
I'll try that tomorrow. Right now, the neighbors are enjoying some alcoholic beverages and profanity, so I'll wait till tomorrow morning to take it out there, when hangovers likely abound. A baby bath thing doubles nicely as a haircutting station. I don't know where it came from, there's no babies around here! I think it had a popular, alternate use with the elderly lady many years ago, maybe SHE cut HER hair in it too!
Actually, that might be 2 haircuts worth of hair, that looks like more than I'd cut off in one sitting. The last time, I went to Snip & Clip and got me a professional job. One can only cut their own hair for so long before it gets all out of whack and has to be fixed by a real haircutter, I figure they earn their 2 or 3 dollar tip then! The oldest hair in that blue tub thing is prolly near 2 years old. Hey, after you cut the hair then you just hide the clippings!

Haha! Your cameras?! Check the pawn shops, that's where I take stuff..lol Believe you me, I've lost mine plenty too!

Happ, when you get to Independence, I have a Spiderplant and a striped Wandering Jew here for you.

The water isn't green anymore, it is black! I think I like the new color better. When it rains heavy, like it has, it washes the old water out the back of the pond I think, I hope the mosquito larvae went with it! The pond is on the list of things to do back there, I need to do some digging around the edges, (before the rocks fall in too), and try to get rid of all that liner that shows up there on the right of the photo.

How about these hardy Mums already getting buds?

Here's your Mable's Table 'Munstead' Lavender. I can see where a whole bunch of those plants would be incredible in bloom. Is that 2 tablespoons or 2 teaspoons? I don't know the spoon abbreviations.
All I know is a tablespoon is like 3 times as much as a teaspoon.

My Hall's Honeysuckle is sure going for the sky fast. I've only had this thing for 2 years and it has already reached the top of my clothesline-post trellis thing I made and is blooming white.

I need to get a Hummingbird feeder out there, I saw one today looking for regular birdseed in the empty feeders. I usually have birdseed out there but the squirrels gobble it all up!

At least the birds are getting a good bath in the birdbath in the front yard.

happgarden: About the hail -- thank you for asking. My car was under the carport on the east side and the hail came from the west (probably from Kansas City, thank you very much! lol) My daughter & son-in-law are without their 2 cars due to shattered windows, so we're sharing my car. It has been a hectic week just scheduling the auto use to get everyone to work, dr. appts., grocery shopping, church, etc..., but it's working out. At least, I already use public transportation, so that helps. We still have a bucket full of stones in the freezer & if I wasn't so lazy, I'd post some photos. Maybe I'll get around to it later. Driving thru my neighborhood, you see battered awnings;including ours; cars & roofs covered with tarps, and big holes in windows. My gr-d just pointed out 2 holes in her playhouse roof. I remember such a hail storm & similiar damage about 50 years ago when I was a kid, so I figure that it's a 1 in 50 years event that I probably won't live to see again. : )

Will, spread your honeysuckle out some more there on the bottom as it grows so that the whole trellis will get covered.

For teaspoon and tablespoon: t is teaspoon and T is tablespoon. tsp, tble, those are some more.

Greenbrain, how is everyone doing? Miss seeing you guys!!

Okay I'll try that with the Honeysuckle, thanks Pepper. I see, T is a tablespoon. I might do that, I like cookies of all flavors.

I got my hair down, I hope my hair doesn't take root in the planters! I wonder what the squirrels will think now?! See where those little green leaves are coming up? That must be where a squirrel took a big bite out of a bulb but left enuff to grow some leaves perhaps.

I got me some free rocks! Like the Wisteria by the fence that I grew from a seed from the former Stephenson's Restaurant? That restaurant was razed about a month or so ago, it is gonna be a QuikTrip gas station. Anyway, I got a couple cups of Wisteria seedpods off the mature vine that was on their old arbor in the back before the demolition.
Will

This message was edited May 6, 2012 4:46 PM

Will, you are so lucky to have gotten that!! Those plants there were priceless. Powell Gardens has some of their fruit trees in front of their Barn.

These storms tonight are crazy!! The tornado in Raymore was 3 miles south of some family of mine, a bit more than a mile south from a guy my dad does work from and very near my mom's boss. The guy my dad does work for sometimes has major hail damage. Just saturated here. Some minor hail, nothing big yet. Too far east I think.

Let me know if the squirrels stay away now Will. It sure keeps critters away for me!

We started a new project yesterday that turned into 2 new projects. We (DH) decided he was ready to start on the fish pond for me in the back yard. We (DH) still needs to finish the flowerbed along the deck railing and back fence, rock pathway from front door around to the gate in the privacy fence, raised flowerbed along the road on the south side of the house, and then he went an bought some sod to put down in some low places and places he had spread some of the good dirt that was coming out of the flowerbed. LMBO!!!!! We have tons of sandstone around here, so we just go out to the pastures and dig up big ones as well as the pasture where I keep my horses across the path in the back. We are doing the pond by liner at the base of an old Mimosa tree that he cut down last year. He washed all the dirt out from the roots then took the chainsaw and cut them out. It was quite an ordeal. It is on a slope so we are making a retaining wall of about 18" at one end and the other end is at the tree. I have lots of pictures as we go, but haven't downloaded them yet. Digging out the pond was a major undertaking with all the tree roots he had to chop out with an axe. The old tree was 3 trees grown together so the stump is probably over 2' across. I'll start adding pics after I get them downloaded and edited.

I LOVE wisteria!!!! I planted 5 pods but did not get any of them to grow. May have to try it again. Another one of those flowers my mom had when I was a little girl.

Happ,
I think I'd find a way to move the ''stuff.'' A garage sure is a lifesaver.

Will,
Pop an aspirin. It will relieve the swelling in your back.
The mulch looks fabulous!!
That's not a bad yield on the liatris. I sure didn't know squirrels would be a problem. I'd see how they multipy before trying to move or add more.

Crit,
Columbine are an early spring bloomer and also the hybrids only last a few years. So, it is a boo hoo. I have a lot of wild and they bloom about the time the hummingbirds need them. I have a lot so I don't put out feeders anymore. Later the penstemons and cardinal flowers serve as food. I never did like having to fill feeders.
If it bloomed before it is possible it sunk a little. I think you deal with peonies in the fall, around the time you clip them back. August or September here. If they are old and established, they can develop a very long main taproot, so dig a large hole around them as the side roots can really spread out, and then dig deep. You may have quite a heavy root ball to deal with but peonies are tough and can be out of the ground for a while. MY SIL gave me three that wintered bare root in her garage. The buds were even red and ready to go. I planted them and they grew.

Will,
Cracking up over the profane neighbors! I'd wait too!
Now, how did that work out so nicely? LOL! (Hair clippings)
If it's capital, it's a Tablespoon.
Nice pictures! Everything looks good mulched! You will love the lavender. I always pluck one of my neighbors and smell it as I walk around her yard. It smells sooo good and is therapudic.

Green,
How fortunate to evn have one car between all of you. What a shame their windows shattered. What a mess.
One in fifty. I like those odds!

Will,
Very nice wisteria!

Crit,
Yowza!! Big changed coming for you! How exciting!
Maybe you need to soak the seeds in very warm ater overnight?

I mowed yesterday and am glad I did. We got rain in the night. My iris are opening daily and it's all I can do to walk around daily, smelling those that are scented, LOL!

Something that I may have learned about Wisterias from seeds was that Wisteria seedlings come up late, like June late. The Wisterias that I planted from seeds over the Winter are just now coming up and I don't expect all that are going to come up, to come up until this Summer sometime. The big ones were started as seedlings from the old Stephenson's Restaurant last year, existing Wisteria seedlings leaf out about a month or more earlier here. I think seeds need some time to soften the seedcoat if you don't soak them. - http://www.ehow.com/how_2214274_grow-wisteria-seeds.html They have just taken their time to sprout for me I think, which is fine, I'm a patient sort.
Thanks Pepper, I feel lucky to get even these few Wisterias, I have I think 30 or 40 Wisteria seeds in there to come up eventually. What a shame for Stephenson's though, all those mature Apple trees for pies, I forget what all mature fruit trees they had, all that history tore down for the money. I wasn't going to sit up in an Apple tree when the bulldozers came or anything, a gas station is better than a vacant restaurant I guess, it is all flat now I saw it weekend before last. I remember thinking when they were open, that Stephenson's Restaurant was a perfect example of an overpriced place to eat, this is Independence, Missouri not Beverly Hills, Ca.!
There is only so many rich people here and that isn't many!
I have a couple photos of my chainlink fencerow of Wisteria's, the first one is just a cluster of 6 or 7 Wisteria's and then it show's the fencerow. I am hoping that twice as many will pop up in the coming months, last Fall or Winter I planted a boatload of Wisteria seeds.
Here is a photo of that fence last year when I first started the project. Those were potted Wisteria's from Stephenson's that I'd got the previous year.

How about this TropiCanna, it has 4 stems so far. I saw the bulb from that thing, it is huge, it must weigh about a pound! That shed is getting painted hopefully soon, I just measured it today, I want to cut that landscape edging (also in the photo..lol) to go at the bottoms of the shed, to help slow the deterioration of the bottoms of the wafer-board hopefully.

Okay Crit, the hair got a good watering in yesterday. No squirrels have dug in it yet. Those Liatris are really coming along now.

Yeah, all this rain is crazy, on the news they said we got around 5 inches. Raymore is certainly too close for comfort! Yeah, just lots of water around here, they showed people's basements flooded and everything ruined, they say sewage is on everything that got wet, everything stinks.

Thanks billyp, my back is okay now. It was just like 2 days after I did all the mulching, I straightened up in notches it seemed, like go up 2 inches, stop, go up 2 more inches until I was vertical. It just took me longer to straighten up than it normally would. I'm definitely not young anymore!

That Rose-Of-Sharon cutting is really taking off.

I wanted to add some white Liatris to that rectangular planter-box eventually, maybe next year.

Haha! Yeah, I was glad to find a use for my old hair clippings!
Will

Just edited to say I did a search and found where I mention Wisteria seeds a couple years ago..lol - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=7626934

This message was edited May 7, 2012 9:46 PM

Just be careful with a wisteria, I have/had one. The first one litterly ripped my front porch to shreds! Good thing I got a bigger better front porch. The porch had a 6 inch corner post and a lattice top, the wisteria litterly crushed the 6 inch corner post by strangling it like a boa constrictor....strangest thing I had ever seen, then it went up and crushed the lattice work. DH cut out the wisteria and poured concrete over it...rofl, then built a bigger porch. I now have a container of it, but I am going to build a rebar trellis for it....rofl. On the water garden tour a guy has a beautiful one and it is growing on steel pipe…..LOL
This is may and I have latter part of June flowers blooming, I am going to have to buy more annuals because all of the perennials will be thru blooming my Memorial Day at this rate….my red hot pokers are blooming…very strange and like you Will I have buds on the mums.

Green, that is alot of damage and it sure takes a long time to get everything fixed after that.....wow. Oh your poor DGD and the holes in her roof, did you tell her now she had sky lights.... ;) Poor thing.

Oh Crit how exciting all the projects going on at your house. So much fun. You will love the water garden, mine is itty bitty but I love it.

Dang I have a friend visiting overnight next Monday so I am going to have to clean house, yuck! I don’t have time, I have grass to mow, flowers to get ready for the sale, weeds to pull, pergola to work on, flowers to plant, tags to be made, and way too much stuff to do, to be about cleaning… excited about seeing her but I hate cleaning especially if the weather is nice.

Ewww.. that sounds pretty destructive there happ! Mine is on a metal fence, so I hope it behaves for awhile. I'd also like to create somewhat of a barrier there from the neighbor's lawnmower to our cars in the driveway.
We've never had a problem or anything, he mows away from our cars, but still stuff can come out from under a mower, it's not their fault, there is grass there.

That rectangular planter of the 25 Liatris bulbs is really coming along, I took a photo of it today. No squirrels yet, note the salt and pepper hair clippings scattered through-out it?!

Hehe.. your pond is itty bitty eh happ?! Didn't you say it's 4 feet deep?! Mine is itty bitty, it's like 10 inches deep with a big hole that is 24 inches deep! Yesterday, I was dipping my hand in the deep hole part and getting out all these smelly, rotten leaves!
Will

46°/66°/42°
Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.

The plants look good Will!

Happ,
Grinning over the image of Wisteria as some huge snake!

Yesterday was the first day I had any energy and I stayed out till 5:30 weeding in all the beds. I'm no where near done, but got the worst in all of them. I potted up plants and set up the free pile. A few pots are missing already.

Out to DD's today so I better start gathering. Have a good day everyone!

The spiderworts have come up volunteer again & are so pretty that I've left them alone. They're between the fence and alley, so it's not like they're on the street. I didn't work in the veggie garden yesterday because the soil was pretty wet from the rain. My hubby & I worked on the lawn instead. With the heat & rain, the grass had grown pretty tall. After work today, I'll venture out into the garden. I did pick a pocket full of golden colored snowpeas yesterday. Now that I'm growing the tall varietes of peas on the lima bean teepee & squash/tomato trellises, I don't have to bend over to pick 'em. The English peas (tall telephone pole) will need to be picked today. The sugar snaps are developing slowly. The only weeding is pulling up all the silver maple tree seedlings for the 10th time. I'm off to the concrete jungle. At least, I have my houseplants there to tend to. Have a great day in the garden everyone!

Well, we have started to build a pond in our back yard. My DH is handling most of the work. Eventually there will be a 2 tier waterfall rocked in off of the top of the stump. First picture is that real men DO read directions first! lol My anguish over this is getting the liner in when it is ready! lol

This is round 1 of the pictures.

Round 2

Hope I didn't duplicate anything. LOL The pond is 3'x6'x26''

OOPS. Did duplicate and missed the one where he was reading directions! lol

The last picture is where he was measuring (yes, he is very anal about things being level, straight, exact, etc. lol) and we are now ready to mortor in the back of the rock so the weight of the water doesn't push it over. There will be about 12-16" of water up on the rock wall.

Congrats Crit. A nice pond is alot of work, you guys should be proud, looks like it's coming along nicely. Oh yeah, I learned a long time ago myself to read instructions thoroughly, not just skim over them! lol
I don't think I'd do this! - http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/gps-tracking-disaster-japanese-tourists-drive-straight-into-the-pacific/ I don't want to get into genders or anything! lol
Taking time on a pond's construction is important. Are you going to have fish? That is some hard work, hope there is plenty of water to drink. Maybe you can show us some more photos when it's all done too.
When I clean the pond pretty soon, I plan to make some big changes. Glad to see you found your camera!

Thanks billyp, the plants are coming along slowly. Even that Hyssop you suggested is growing great guns! Time has been good to most of my plants. I get all excited when I find a place for one and plant it, like a jeweler putting a jewel in a ring or something!
Will

Yes Will I did get a little over zealous when I was digging my pond but I wanted fish so that was a big reason it is so deep. But my pond other than deep isn't very big width and lenght wise.

Crit you will be thrilled that he is so anal about level cause it does make a big difference in a pond. Wow that is a big ole cool stump. Your rocks are beautiful. You are just going to love it.

Green I didn't know there were peas on vines, that probably sounds stupid but I have only had the short ones....hummm, gonna have to look into that. I am not much of a vegatible gardener but doing more this year. Is it too late to plant peas now? Seems in the back of my mind they are "cool" crop?

Well wish I had some weeding done, and I must pull up 10,000,000 maple sprouts a summer, they are prolific trees that is for sure!

I've seen pictures of your pond happ, it is nice, all your plants and everything look real good. Today, I started setting the border rocks back so I can do some digging and get to the liner.
I know about Silver Maple seedlings myself, I musta pulled 20 today out of pots and stuff.

In the front yard in that area with all the Hostas, today there I dug up another Hosta that was languishing, 'Krossa Regal', I replaced it with my newest Coral Bells 'Birkin'. Maybe a different plant will act differently there than a Hosta. Somethings going on there with the soil or something, I don't know what it is exactly, maybe more sun than I think hits that area, I might be investing in one of those soil testers, this is the third Hosta that I've dug up there. I took a couple photos of the job when I did it earlier.

I am putting yet more rocks next to the driveway to border the Wisterias. I intend to put more mulch in there after it looks like all the Wisteria seedlings have sprouted, so they don't have any trouble getting thru the mulch, altho they probably wouldn't anyway..lol I need to straighten up my new and glorious Hummingbird feeder I see. I even took a photo of making the sugar water by gosh! 4 parts water to 1 part sugar, really simple! - http://howtoenjoyhummingbirds.com/hummingbird%20nectar%20recipe%206.htm You don't need the pretty plants and trees Hummingbirds like!

44°/71°/49°
Sunny. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph.

Our weather doesn't get any better than this :o)

Green,
I think today my dirt will be dried out enough to work. I had a pretty muddy shovel the other day and should have dug with a fork. I only have three to chose from :o)
Are your spiderwort the blue? I have white which are better behaved. My neighbor ordered them and shared.
I grew the Tall Telephone a few years ago. It's how I got a taller pea fence. They grew and flopped over the side, LOL!
Oh do I hear you on the Maple seeds and I raise you Chinese Elm seeds :o)

Crit,
I LOVE that stump!
Real men get down in the dirt! Oooh, handsome too!
I have one of those anal hubbies, but things are perfect when they are done!
Wow, sure didn't seem like it took him long to get that far! I can't wait to see it finished!

Will,
Those pictures sort of outlined all the work you did on your pond!
Laughing over the car, but it really wasn't their fault.
Good. I hope you like the Hyssop. Yeah, I hear you on finding the right plant for the right place. It is pretty neat!

Happ,
I think it is too late. Peas will come up in the snow, so early April, or as soon as the ground can be worked is best.

Will,
Yep, sometimes you have to switch a plant out. I've done that with many that languish. They just seem to know you're helping, when they flourish.
First picture, very nice! The mulch really makes it seem finished.
The rocks around the ramp look really good! They are the perfect color.
Even simpler is growing Columbine, LOL! But yes, it is an easy recipe.

Today will be spent outside! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Had to laugh about 2 hostas not doing good in the same spot. One of the MG's said one time that she had planted and replanted 4 times a plant in the same spot, until the light bulb came on and said hummmm that plant must not like it there and moved it...rofl. That is the great thing about plants, they are moveable except for those big all maples trees...rofl.

I'm anal about stuff too! I have a measuring tape or a level out all the time, I hate doing something twice. Like my paternal Grandfather told me many, many years ago, "if you do it right the first time you don't have to do it twice"! I like that one almost as much as, "nice guys finish last"! AND, I like it better than what my Dad used to say, "money makes the world go round", maybe it does because I don't have much and the world isn't going around much! He never had much either but he was always trying to get some!

I saw your flowers over on the Weather forum and all I can say is wow billyp! - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=9116747 I usually don't have time to look over there but I did today and I'm glad I did. It must smell real nice by your flowers.

Today, I brushed most of the splashed up dirt off the ramp's side.

Crit, was that stump going to be used as a kind of ramp for the waterfall? If you said, I missed it. The dimensions and photos of it are very nice, can't wait to see more.

Columbine eh billy? I looked for it tonite at HomeDepot when I got a lawnmower blade, I can't find it there. I hafta tell what happened to my lawnmower blade! I hit something and the mower stopped, I looked and the blade was bent so bad it was dragging on the ground! When I was parking it, the blade was lightly scraping the concrete. I hit a stump of a big old bush that I removed a little over 2 years ago. I hit it with a sledgehammer until it came out, it was dead.

Haha! That would be funny happ! But, I'd hafta refrain from telling if I replanted a Hosta that much! Actually, I replaced 3 out of the 6 in that bed 1 time each, so far! That could go up as I predict more bummers, the leaves on one that I just planted there seem to be curling, so not sure yet.

Here that 'Blue Fortune' Hyssop, it's doing well. I plan to plant it next to the red shed after I paint the shed. I want to plant by the shed like you have yours planted by your shed, billyp.

Well, I did a little more toward getting my pond's liner out, I pulled all the rocks back a bit. I might drain the pond tomorrow if replacing the lawnmower blade doesn't give me any grief. I gotta cut the grass tho, no bent blade is holding me back! My big pot of Blue Flag Iris from Imames is bursting with the Iris and is ready to be planted, where, is the question, I want to put it by my little BigLots wooden bridge. Actually, I have 2 pots of the Iris from Imames, the other one is a little smaller, I want to plant it too.

Thanks billyp on the color of those rocks. I drove a long way today to get more of them, they are a nice yellow, I ran out of them on the right side of that ramp's rocks earlier. I musta looked comical in my sombrero and orange vest, out there today! Fortunately, I have an economical car..lol I even have a big old rock in the trunk!


This message was edited May 11, 2012 12:27 AM

52°/80°/54°
Sunshine and a few afternoon clouds. Warm. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph

Will,
I like your mantras, LOL!
Thanks! I do have quite a few iris that scent the air, but most, you have to get close to smell. A lot are licorace :o)
''Weather'' became a fast favorite of mine after I joined and it's always my first stop. We've lost a lot of people, but, old friends still write and we make new friends.
Oh dear! I hit a rock once and bent my blade. Luckily DH could pound it out. I've never hit anything since. It made such a horrendous noise when I did it.
The hosta will look great by the shed! It will also keep water from splashing up and ruining the wood over the years. Make sure to keep it from actually touching the shed at full growth. My shed is vinyl sided. Not painted so it won't rot.
YES, I'll bet you did look comical!!
How will you drain the pond?
Pictures look good!

It's Friday! I think I need to mow. Hang clothes for sure, and hopefully pot up more plants for the free pile. I've already walked around making notes of changes I want to make with the iris. The Pallidas, that smell like purple koolaid are really nice in a big area. I'm going to line the back of the South Peony with them. It should be a wonderful scented walk next year!

Have a carefree day!

Billy that is a beautiful picture.....
I feel like I am behind again already...oh well. Lots to do this weekend as usual. I just don't have time to work...rofl.

I have to get my plants ready for the plant sale, we will stage them on Saturday, get them all priced, then I make informational tags for all of our plants, has the growing conditions, bloom times, propagation information, height, rather it spreads, watering and a picture of the plant in bloom. So I need to get all of those done and printed off. I want to this year attach the paper tag to that white plastic kind of honey comb stuff like some garage sale signs are made of. Does anyone know where I can get that? It has a solid white plastic front and back and then honeycomb in between the layers. The paper tags I attach to wooden shims and we push those in the pots but they flop around, if I could find some stiff backing to attach the sign to it would look alot nicer and easier to read and they would probably last more than a year.

I still have some iris blooming but I am toward the end. My spuria iris are blooming and they are doing great and my lilies are opening. I have about a million vines to rip out of the flower beds, the birds have been way to kind to me planting things...rofl.

Yeah, the mantras is good to know, I am honored that they thought to tell me such important stuff. I don't have any kids but I'd have a couple to tell my kids, if I had some, or just anybody that wants to listen. It would be, "don't tell anything to anybody" and, "honesty is not the best policy!" Haha! That's just me! I wouldn't really tell my kids those things, I'd let them find it out on their own!
Actually, I'd prolly tell my kids, (if I had any), "just talk to people, let them know who you are, if you have nothing to hide, don't worry about it"!

Well, I finally got the pond drained, the mosquito larvae was none too pleased. The Snapping Turtle that had taken up residence at the bottom wasn't amused either! Just kidding! There was no Snapping Turtle!
How am I going to drain it billyp? I put my cheap but trusty Harbor Freight $9.99 pump in the water and about 2 hours later, the pond was empty, of course, I had it discharge out of the pond! I filled up 2 big cans for the waterplants to be in, in the meantime. Man, I got lucky with that pump, it says, "clean water only", I've had it in that pond where the water is filthy! I can store it indoors though so maybe that helps. It has a pretty decent lift of 4 and a half feet, here it is. - http://www.harborfreight.com/200-gph-miniature-submersible-fountain-pump-68372.html I got it on sale, I buy everything on sale..lol

Haha, yeah, I think I was a funny looking sort when I was getting rocks yesterday! I even got a honk from a passer-by! It's prolly entertaining for somebody in their rush-hour to see somebody that looks like a clown, getting rocks! I think I'm going to wear my Jason hockey mask next time, the one I wear in the car when I'm driving. A hockey mask, an orange vest and a sombrero! Then, when the cops come I'll be long gone!

Pretty flowers happ, now I want some Spuria Iris! You are pretty busy I'd say. When you come to Independence I have a striped Wandering Jew and a SpiderPlant for you.
I know what kind of Honeycomb stuff your talking about, I've seen it but I don't know where to get it.

I forgot to show my big pots of Iris. That's the other Iris pot in the spare tire to my big trailer. -
Will

Here is my bent lawnmower blade!

56°/73°/47°
Some clouds this morning will give way to generally sunny skies for the afternoon. High 73F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Happ,
There is a LOT of work involving a plant sale!!
Love the spuria iris!

Will,
Cracking up! That ''turtle'' had me worried about how you found him and kept your fingers!
Oh yeah, your pump! I hope you killed a million mosquito larve!
Great pictures of the big drain :o) Nice iris and bent blade. You really bent it!! A new one will be nice and sharp, so good came from bad.

I cut my seed potatoes into 30 pieces and have them drying before I plant. I need to check them today and will set them out Tuesday. Monday I go to DD's for the day.

It's cooled off, but still beautiful days here! I spent all afternoon yesterday, tagging plants, and all morning cleaning my garage and shed.

DH said a long dry spell coming. No rain till maybe next Saturday. I guess I'll be watering garden today. I broke down and set the tomatoes and peppers out. I never set them out till the first week in June.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

It was rainy and cold in Plattsburg, but went to the city yesterday earaly, was there by 5:30am, stopped by the office worked for an hour and then off to the farmers market....got some beautiful stuff....and we left right as it got really crowded about 9am....

Going this am to plant at the city barrels, hope everything turns out ok. I have several options and haven't decided for sure which way I am going. We staged out plants yesterday but only about 5 of us showed up. I hope the rest show up with plants, geehz we have about 1/2 as much as we usually do. This plant sale worries me to death, it has always turned out ok, but I can't help but worry. Did anyone of you to go to KC mg plant sale at bass pro?

Haha! Yeah, I think that mosquito larvae met it's match, - no water to swim in! I worked some more on it this afternoon, I just got the liner out and brushed and hosed it off, I even took a photo when my hands got dry enuff. - There was about 6 handfuls of smelly mud and leaves for me to scoop out, the liner wouldn't come out until I did, it was too heavy. Now, since I pulled the liner to a big flat spot in the driveway that was kinda in front of the pond, the pond is half full of hose water from hosing the liner!
Haha! Not really a Snapping Turtle! That has occurred to me though, I've seen those big Alligator Snapping Turtles walking the streets. What would stop them from sliding down into a water-pond somewhere, then there'd be trouble! And, if you had fish it would eat all the fish up. I remember once when I was a boy, fishing, I pulled up my stringer of one fish to leave and the fish was ate up, all but the head! I saw a turtle swim away right before that, then it hit me, that so and so turtle!

I'm gonna hafta return the new blade to HD because it's the wrong one. I better just get it at Walmart, that's where I bought the mower back in 2008. I've thought about bending the old blade back but my Mom says that might compromise it's integrity. One thing about doing all that mulching and stuff, there isn't that much grass, there never was but now there's even less.

At Lowes I bought a couple little cheap succulents to do up a concrete planter, maybe, here it is complete with sand and rocks..lol That 'Krossa Regal' Hosta already looks better since I dug it up by the ramp where it was languishing. Here is a closer up photo of the newest succulent addition. -

Bass Pro, not me, the one in Independence, MO. or Olathe, KS.? The last plant sale I was at was in Fall 04' at Powell Gardens, the only thing left from it is the big Persimmon in the backyard now.
Here's a photo of that plant sale back in Sept. 04'.





This message was edited May 14, 2012 11:07 AM

Here is that Persimmon, the Spring after my friend bought it, it spent 1 Winter in a pot. This before and after photo has a not-so-recent after photo, but it shows the nice Fall color.
Will

This message was edited May 13, 2012 3:55 PM