Wow....that's wonderful....my stepdaughter just sent me a photo of a 'rug' in Belgium made of begonias....lovely....
Summer clematis chat
We could use your jig and your rain dance up here, Etelka. I'd love a good soaking rain. That's a lovely tribute to the man's wife and I only hope he treated her well while he had her.
That was my hope too, about the man. I think we will have some more rain today and tomorow, gives me a break to pull some of the front flowers that did not make it. Got some more to plant, will be blooming till frost. Etelka
We could sure use it here. Last "good" rain here was May 26th.
Arlene how bout naming you new family member Shep or Rin tin tin?
I'd love a few days of slow and steady rain. Had the hose on low for 8 hours (without a sprinkler) to saturate the ground and that did work but all of the gardens need it.
John - he doesn't answer to any name we've selected so far. I'll let you know how he reacts to Shep and Rin Tin Tin. He does react to the refrigerator so maybe his name should be Amana.
"Whirlpool! Heeeeere, Whirlpooool!!!"
Funny! I'll try it out on him! At first I thought you had a lot of rain but now I get it.
What a sweet puppy! Congratulations on finding whatzizname!
Thanks, Pam. He's so adorable and so happy.
Cane? Wasn't sugar cane a crop in Cuba?
Yes, it was. We've already had another rescue beagle, Suga (no "r"). He's been responding to Lefty this morning.
So do I!
Funny! So does my son!
Cute!
Around 5pm we got 2-3 inches of rain in one hour. It was done quickly. Everything got a good soaking, and it dried up. And our water storage cisterns are full. I just went outdoors to find it raining again. We are never satisfied....
Thanks, Pam.
Marcia - we got the noise but not the amount of rain you did. We gardeners are seldom satisfied. We want Camelot and that is just fantasy.
Well, our boy finally has a name. He was doing something adorable today and we were both commenting on how smitten we were. His name is Smitty. Here he is with Jack, who has always said he did not want a lap dog. Don't tell Smitty!
Oh, I like that name. He's such a cute boy.
Thanks, Celia. He does know he's cute since he's told about 50 times a day.
Tonight I checked up on a Pinky and the Franziska Maria clematises that I potted up when I was trying to save them. They both have had Epsom Salts and were planted with all the usual amendments but there is no sign of growth on either of them while a newer arrival has grown two feet. Hard to understand them sometimes.
Clems are unique, aren't they? Smitty fits the little guy....nice that he has bonded so well with both of you......
They can be a challenge. One stem (of possibly 50 stems) of Ernest Markham has all brown crispy leaves. All other stems are fine and it's in minor bloom again. Dr. Ruppel is blooming and so is Henryi, who has climbed a hickory tree that must have been planted by squirrels. Another one keeps looking ready to bloom but hasn't done so yet. It's either the old Anna Louise, which I had given up as dead, or an escaped piece of Henryi.
Earlier in July I did cut back Candida. I still can't get up the entire 20' to get the rest of it but I did get most of it out, leaving just about a foot. Never again will I allow it to grow up into the magnolia that far.
So many lilies are in such beautiful bloom now.
Arlene, I have definitely been on Facebook too much. Kept looking for the "like" button under your cute puppy's photo. He is precious!
Funny! The tilt of the head is so charming.
He loves his new toys and is very possessive about them.
Look at the new growth on this new arrival (as of mid June). It's even a few inches taller today!
It looks wonderful.....did you get the torrential rain my stepdaughter did on LI? Her basement flooded......
No, we didn't, Marilyn. We got enough rain that it filled all the plant saucers but the birdbaths were not overflowing. Good luck to your stepdaughter!
We have rain right now but it won't last long. Storm clouds are doing touch-and-gos.
This morning I heard a good quote on radio: Climate is what we expect; weather is what we get.
And we're getting more of it tomorrow! Ugh, so difficult to be outside.
We just had a good old Summer gulywasher, it rained cars and dogs for 30 minutes and now it is quiet. I will be good enough for few day. I just firtilized my flowers this morning, so this came handy. Etelka
just a little funny picture from back home, first picture means a single person, then a married person and the last is a divorced person. Very true.
Just came in from outdoors where the humidity is awful and it's still over 80 at after 8 PM. I couldn't resist spraying myself with the hose water.
Sounds like you had a good hard rain, Etelka.
Just came in from the garden. I need to take some pictures and send them along, bu t am just too tired to do so.
Susan's garden club is coming on Thursday so we have been really stretching ourselves. She has really been a trooper.
Arlene....Smitty is really smart. He has already trained Jack to provide him with a lap to sit on. Susan and Daisy were at agility trials last week. She only qu alified in 2 of 8 events.
Dahlias are blooming . Daylilies are finishing. Roses are doing pretty good this year. A few small blooms on a couple of clems.
There is much angst when garden club members visit. I've only been through it twice and it was fun but the preparation for it is daunting.
Smitty is also very funny. Tonight I was outside the living room French doors watering a hanging plant with the hose. When the water hit the closed door poor Smitty must have flown about a foot in the air and we finally heard some real barks. They wouldn't fool a pit bull but it was fun to hear him (and even funnier to see his reaction).
Some dahlias are at a standstill here while others are in full bloom. I cut off 90% of the roses so the Japanese beetles would go elsewhere but left the blooms on Julia Child. The JB's found them. Nelly has a few more blooms and Ashva is winding down.
Look at the bud that's on my new arrival from June! I'm more excited than Smitty!
I wanted to say that my struggle with Advant Garde is paying off. She is doing so well in the pot and is now about 15 inches tall. Still pinching because I really want to growth to go to the roots not the plant. Not bad for a plug 2 years old I guess. 1 out of 2 still living. Yippee......
Good work! We have to celebrate all of our successes.
Cute Smitty story! My dahlias are either just standing still, or some have a few buds....
I do wonder what the issue is with the dahlias, Marilyn. One has been the same height (8"...maybe) for over a month now. Then I found one that I was sure didn't make it over winter and had it in the pile for trash when I spotted some growth. Now it's planted and I wonder if I'll get to see anything from it. Others are in flower and of normal height.
Earlier I mentioned Ashva is still in bloom. Today I noticed how nice and dark the flowers are despite the full sun and the heat we've had. It came from Brushwood last year and it's a real winner for our gardens. In 2011 it went from newly planted on 5/28 to 5' tall by fall and it's already at the 5' mark for this year.
That's a lovely clem! Will have to remember it......dahlias do not overwinter here, they turn to mush, so I buy new every year because I just can't store them......not a good year for mine.....
Normally the dahlias left in the ground turn to mush so I only dug the ones I wanted to save and only a few survived. All that were in the ground survived - the unwanted ones!
I prefer buying new each spring rather than the trouble of digging (always a nasty day), washing, cutting back, storing, etc. It's just easier.
I tried everything for storage....vermiculite, peat, wax, basement, garage....they either turned to mush or shriveled.....my DH didn't help...said his Grandma stored hers in an unheated shed in VT....but she must have protected them somehow!
Robin -
I store mine in vermiculite in the attic at the top of the stairs to the attic. If I am on top of things and do my misting of the dahlia tubers, they do fine. My attic is not heated, but I think there is enough heat with the attic steps. I also store my callas with my dahlias. I am zone 5 - what is your zone?
I'm also a zone 5.....I've never been in my attic! It has a pull down ladder, & my late DH rigged an extra heavy hatch with lots of insulation...I can't push it open....my son checks up there occasionally....