I had an awesome Mother's Day! Leigh bought me some edging for the foundation planting that I am trying to do at the front of our house, and my kids and my future DIL bought me a beautiful charm bracelet. The old fashioned kind that the charms hang from! I have wanted one most of my life and this is the first one I have ever had! It was a wonderful surprise. I have a heart and watering can on it from the kids, and a camera on it from Natalie - who insisted it needed three charms on it to make it look better - so she bought one herself to put on it. :) (I think I am going to like having her in the family!!! ^_^ )
Had to make a small passport holder for Kyle - it is basically a pocket that hangs around his neck. He is to keep his passport on him at all times. Ya'll please keep him in your prayers..... he is headed out today at noon for the middle east. I can't say which country he is headed into - but it is a closed one...... They will return on May 23. So I need some extra prayer between now and then. I had been doing better about him going in until I read several pages of material last night about what all they can't say or do while they are there..... and how the bus drivers and tour guides etc are all spies and that they have to be very mindful of ANYTHING that is said by anyone in the group!! I about broke completely down after reading those 7-8 pages of reminders......
We surprised Jessica pretty good I think with the car.............. and I managed to get my Lowe's plants in the ground. Although the ground is rock hard! Everything is so bone dry............... as I was planting, I was praying it wasn't all in vain. I hate to think if it is this dry now that if we don't get some rain, I KNOW there is no way that most of this stuff will make it thru the summer. I am already watering like crazy and they just don't seem to like the water like they do rain!! I figured our best chance of rain would be this week since graduation is Thursday. Ours is on the football field and in the event of rain it has to be moved into the auditorium which will not begin to seat everyone....but according to the forecast last night - there is no chance of rain this week !! Which is good for graduation - but NOT good for my plants!!
Have two aprons that I need to make and monogram tonight....... doubt I manage to get that accomplished, but it is what is on my to do list for the evening! :)
Hope everyone has a great day!
May 2012...Let Us See Those Flowers!
Hello everyone. I love garden season and seeing everyones garden. I am trying to catch up on all the threads... it's taking a while. I still am in love with Tropicals. Here are a few of my Orchid Cactus blooms from this past week. (The RicRac was about a month ago.) Another beautiful white opened this morning. Pictures later if the rain doesn't destroy it.
those are some beautiful blooms!! Good to see you posting with us again!!
If I can get these photos to load, I wonder if anyone can tell me what they think this might be. It is in the flower bed in front of Alex's house - but they had taken a weedeater or lawn mower to everything in there so it is a little hard to identify things. I thought at one point it was another bradford pear sucker..... but the leaves seem different to me. I don't know whether to dig it up or leave it.................
Here are a couple of my DLs. These cool nights are making them not look so good..... The first is perseus sandals (going from memory so I may not have that spelled correctly) and the second is an unknown Dan Hanson that I purchased and lost the tag to..... :( I have about 5 or 6 of his that were some of the first DLs I purchased and the tags faded so bad they are not legible.
Edited to say - please excuse all the grass! These are both in beds that haven't been touched yet!!
This message was edited May 14, 2012 2:13 PM
Wow, Picabo!! Great to hear from you! Such beauties you have posted too. I didn't even know ric-rac bloomed. Mine hasn't ever bloomed, but I keep it inside; maybe that's why. Hope you are doing well.
Hi Elaine, The RicRac is beautiful, one of my favorites. Keep it rootbound, in the early Spring they like lots of light and they will set buds and bloom Usually in April or May here.. They sunburn with too much light. I let mine get sunburned last year and think that is why I go so few flowers this year. It is the one on the right red and white. I hang mine in trees all Summer. I always feed all the eppies banana peels. Don't know if it helps but I do get beautiful blooms.
I am staying busy, like everyone else. We are all fine, Lyn and Mother are doing well. I lost the real "Picabo" and "Doodle" at 16 and 17. I said No more dogs. I have already found a new "Doggie" love of my life, we call her "Maggie".
I put mine on the back porch this year but I'll try not to let it get sunburned! It is getting light but I may have put it out too late for blooms. With the crazy weather we had in the spring, I never knew what it was going to do next. It probably is potbound as I've had it several years. Thanks for the tips. Glad to hear Lyn and your Mom are doing well!
I know Maggie is one lucky doggie !
Genna, I don't know what that is, but it does look like a tree sapling to me.
My daylilies are not opening up good either, and I had an oriental lily bloom today that was not even colored, it was very pale looking, it should have Ben orange. I wonder if it just did not have enough time to develop its color, since things are running early here ?
Genna it's hard to tell just from the picture but I keep having little tree things that look a lot like that come up in my beds. I don't have any idea what it is. Does it look like it's coming up from the roots of the shrub that was cut down. Doesn't look much like a shrub.
I have a ric rack too. Mine has never bloomed and it's in a small pot so maybe it's root bound. I put it outside pretty early this year. Maybe I'll get blooms one of these days!!! Thanks for the infor - didn't know all that.
One more to show you. This is one of the RicRac baskets in bloom. This picture was made May 29 last year. I need to go check for buds again. Forgot how late they bloomed last year. The second picture is a new bud showing where they develop. It's easy to miss and let them get knocked off. The next two were made a week apart. The last one was made a month from the time the first picture was made.
By the way....I am the Lucky one, "Maggie" is a wonderful addition. "Picabo" and "Doodle" would approve. "Maggie" was a rescue from a Puppy mill.
So glad I checked. There are new buds on the RicRac. Never had them start this late. This will be June blooms.
I'd say Miss Maggie is a very lucky girl! Thanks for the pictures!
That ric rac is lovely....... In those first pictures you posted....what is the second bloom the light pink? it has a really pretty shape. I know nothing about epis! I have one that my MIL gave me about 3 yrs ago now. The woman who gave it to her said it would take at least 5 years for it to bloom! I had thought it was going to bloom last year, but it turned out to be new growth instead of blooms...... I had sure wanted it to bloom before my MIL passed. I keep it in the house during the winter so it may not get enough light.
Genna
Thank You Genna, I don't know the name of that one. It was probably my first Epie. It is always that beautiful soft color. Here are a couple more views of that one. I like the first picture I posted because it shows that dark center so well. These other two show the shape so well.
I am going to LA Thursday to see my Son and his family. There is a wonderful nursery not far from their home. hope I get a chance to find some treasures to bring home..
Well, we have recruited another member, my friend Holly joined today. She has the name Hollyhoho. I hope to see her post soon...Welcome Holly!!!!
Welcome HollyHoHo!!!! So glad to have you here!!
Kim how are you feeling????? Hope you are much better!!
Really good to have you back with us Betty and I'm so glad that everyone is doing good in your family!!! Yours plants are beautiful as usual and I'm glad that you changed your mind and Maggie joined your family!!!!
Waving Kim!!! Glad all that is over!! Now to concentrate on the right #'s!!!!! You NEED to get regulated so we can have another get together. You still have to make it to Forrest Hill!!!
Hello Holly!!! Welcome to Mid South!!! We are so glad that you have joined our group!!! Tell us about you and what you like as a gardener!!!
The Central Bloomer's Annual plant sale is coming along nicely at my house!!!! Some great deals if anyone is in the area Sat.!!!!
Good to have you here holly!!
Hello Holly and welcome!
Do y'all seem to have bugs on everything already? Good grief, I found aphids on my iris yesterday! Little suckers were everywhere so I had to drag out the spray, which I have never had to do that I can remember. I think some of my DL's have rust also. I also think some slugs have gotten to a couple of mine. Got to look up rust symptoms and see if that's what it is. I had already lost nearly a whole tray of tomato seedlings back in early April before planting time to aphids or something...never figured that one out but think it was aphids. Really made me mad that I didn't catch it. Seems like I have to go on insect patrol every day in the yard and search for bugs on plants.
They say all insects are going to be rough this year around here because of the mild winter! I had some type of caterpillar eating one of my plants that was still potted - the little rascal almost ate the entire thing! Not sure it will survive...... mosquitoes are unreal! but haven't noticed any aphids - yet anyway.......
Kim, hope you are feeling much better!!
Holly - glad you decided to join us on here! You know what a rowdy bunch we are! :)
Jeri, you are going to feel odd when you open the door Saturday morning if we are all standing there! ^_^ Of course, we ALL know where I will be on Saturday - last weekend for house work at Alex's before the wedding! But I would much prefer to be at the plant sale!!
Hope everyone has a blessed day!
Hi Holly, we really need your help to keep Kim straight, so glad we have help now !!!!!!!
Yall know where your beds are!!!! Just saying....
Welcome Holly!
I have a problem with something eating ferns. Stripping every plant just leaving the bare stems. I have tried to find the "beast" but so far nothing. So far It is leaving everything else alone....... Any ideas? I thought if it keeps up or spreads to other plants I'll take it to the ag center when I get home from Calif. next week.
Think I'll try posting a picture on the pest forum.
Can't imagine!! I've never had anything bother my ferns.
1.Onoclea, Sensitive Fern, before and after the bug/whatever started to eat it. 2. The only bug I could find on any of the plants. (Think I'll enter that in the photo contest, LOL) 3. Big Leaf magnolia bud. The leaves are 24" long. This is the only bud that was low enough to photograph and I won't be here when it opens. This is such a beautiful tree. 4. My new baby "Maggie"
Maggie is adorable, Betty, is she going on the trip with you?
Wish she could, I am just flying out for the weekend. Roy will stay home and "Babysit"
That is good ! That is what keeps me from a house pet, I want to be free to go somewhere if I want for a few days. I have always told my family when I get to old to drive, I am going to get a lap dog !
Lyn is getting married in Montana in October. Roy, "Maggie" and I are driving to Montana and then on to Calif. We just have to decide who is going to babysit the horse and Cats. Several people have offered to stay here, just have to see what works out. That is the hard part of pets, leaving them is so hard.
It's hard to take lap dogs with you if you fly but I've found they are easy to travel with by car. Mine are actually better behaved when they travel than they are at home!
I finally got all the plants in the ground I bought when Kathy Ann and I went shopping last Fri. My impatiens are alive and well!!! Crazy things are coming up everywhere again. In the front yard I have a trench around the rocks and they are coming up in there like I sowed a bunch of seed!! Going to have a bunch to give away again this year!!!
I had bought a pine cone ginger toward the end of the summer last year and thought for sure I had lost it over the winter. Nothing sticking out of the pot. I hadn't gotten around to throwing the pot away and just happened to notice that it had spouted from the root and is about 7 inches tall!! Yeah!! Sure glad I didn't dump the pot! Something to be said for procrastination!!
Maggie is so cute!! Glad you found each other! And congrats to Lyn! That will be wonderful to go to Montana in Oct.
Don't have a clue what could be after your fern. I don't have that many ferns (deer) but never had a problem with something else chewing on them. But then bugs are everywhere this year.
Sandra, DL's are beginning to be in full bloom! Yeah!!! I bought some new ones, but they probably won't do much this year. I've decided I don't have rust, it's something else...a combination of aphids and slugs on a few I think. May be some other leaf split problem too but nothing as serious as rust. I didn't know aphids could cause these bumpy spots on buds (they look like warts), but I have 1-2 plants with that exact symptom on some of the buds. What do you spray with, if anything?
Well, I went back to work today but boy did I over do! So I will not be attending the MG state meeting which take place the rest of the week. I certainly would hate to be away from home and start bleeding or having pain or both! I still have tons of flowers that need to be planted in pots, weeding, etc. which will keep me busy but I can take frequent breaks. I am such a sissy these days ;o) Thanks for all of the prayers and concerns. Hopefully I will be good as gold by Monday!
Holly is thinking about having a plant swap. She does not live that far from me. Google Toltec Mounds in Scott, AR and she lives almost on top of one of the mounds ;o)) It will probably be in a few weeks which does not give everyone tons of time but it is better to have it before it gets waaaaay too hot. Of course, with gas prices so high, she will certainly understand that it may be too costly for a lot of you. I am just so thrilled that we have rubbed our garden magic on to (yet) another person!
Kim don't overdo! Kidney stones are sure nasty little buggers that want to hang around!!
Know the exact area Holly lives! Took the grandsons to the Toltec Mounds one summer and we walked all over the mounds, trails, etc.
I have always wondered why nurses think they can't be sick? Even nurses need time to heal, the healing time for everything has been cut short by money hungry insurance companies, but the body needs time to heal. Kim, I saw on FB you got brownies, we're you able to only eat one? I know it is very hard. I am going to get Charity and Faith today to stay till next Wed, and they love junk food, makes it hard on me too.
I don't spray my daylilies, but yes, thrips can cause bumps on blooms, they can also cause the buds to fall off. I am sure if you google you could find what to spray them with. I am having lots of blooms now, I am expecting peak bloom the first week of June here instead of the second the way they are going now.
Yeah, I am gonna take it easy for the next few days. I only worked 6 hours yesterday and really thought I would be fine...the last hour was tough. Sandra, luckily when I looked in the container of warm brownies, each one had a walnut on top, so I pulled one and it had a tiny bit of brownie. That was all I ate!
You are right, Sandra. My DD had rotator cuff surgery yesterday. Had a small tear and bursa plus bone spurs fixed. Fortunately they did it all arthroscopically so no big incisions, but she will be off for a week. She self-schedules her ER rotations, so she really is only missing about a day or 2 of work the way she is scheduling herself. She also won the Memorial Day off lottery, so that was another bonus day off for her. The doc said she can't swim for 3 weeks but she can resume biking and light jogging in a week if her therapist says it's ok. She's training for a sprint tri that is in late August.
Tell her Dr. Sandra said to give herself time to heal ! LOL !
I got Charity and Faith today, they finished up school yesterday and Amanda has to work through next Wed. We are all excited for some summer laziness!
Kim, you did great !
Jake my oldest grandson got his first job this week! He is going to be a cashier at Wal Mart this summer. My son called to tell me about it. He said he and Kristi were laughing about how excited they all were over a Wal Mart job!! LOL. They were expecting that he would be put in the stockroom and were surprised when they decided to put him as a cashier. It seems that just about all the summer jobs in their town are retail. He had applied a lot of places and they were all looking for someone with experience. The Wal Mart job will give him the experience he needs to work at some of the other places in town. Should be quite an experience for him!
Got a really busy long day tomorrow!! I'm ready for the weekend!! Next week will be much slower. Ready to catch up on some things!
Kim you really did do good!!
I will Dr. Sandra! She will take it easy!! I promise you that.
Genna, I saw Jessica's picture on FB this morning! Congrats to her on being Valedictorian and know you must have been busting your buttons!! Glad y'all made it thru graduation and all that this week. Wedding coming up so we know y'all are super busy. Stay calm and enjoy it!