April rains end the drought???

I couldn't think of anything better. lol.

I forgot for a moment today is April. lol.

Here is a pic I took this day last year. This was down in Olkahoma, Eufala Lake if I remember right, when we went to Texas to suprise some family.

Thanks pepper for starting the April thread! : ) Lake Eufaula is very scenic. I remember that lake well, it appears all red, your photo shows the red well. I remember when I lived in Texas, my Dad wanted to buy and run a marina on Lake Eufaula in about 1985, he never did though. 69 hiway crosses over it, I've gone over that lake about 50 times driving back and forth between Dallas and here. That lake has got to be one of the biggest attractions in OK., it is beautiful. April Fools Day, indeed it is! My paternal grandparents anniversary was on April Fools Day, they always said they weren't really married because it was April Fools Day!

Hehe.. I saw a guy's wheelbarrow blow right out of the back of his truck one time! Boy, I got the stories of stuff falling off trailers! A friend of mine was given a pushmower that had fallen off of a truck or a trailer onto the hiway, he said the axle was bent and it looked like heck but he cut his yard with it! Another time I saw a guy going back to get a dresser that had fallen off his trailer, I bet he wasn't very popular when he got home!

Quick "hello" & off to work. Still fighting a cold. Have a great day!

Hi green! Get well soon! Well, I got a part-time job! Actually, I've worked there before, it's Fedex. It's extremely physical work but it passes the time good, as it is nothing but packages from the start of the shift to the end of the shift but it's only about 3 and a half to 4 hours.

Here is my big SpiderPlant..lol It is getting watered, I just discovered this method of watering this year, it has made a tremendous difference. Now the SpiderPlant has full, arched leaves and babies. Speaking of babies this one has at least 20 it appears! It is more beautiful now than I've ever seen it, not to toot my own horn or anything! I wish I had discovered this method of watering plants earlier. I have 5 SpiderPlants, this one is by far the biggest. Boy, do they ever propagate easy by babies, anybody want any babies?! I'll mail you one or some when it stays warm. Juhur has got a baby from me and I'm sending her more, anybody else want SpiderPlant babies?! All of my SpiderPlants came from this one in the sink. It's already hanging from the ceiling again, (for the cats to look at, they can't reach it..lol), now my friend's English Ivy is in the sink getting it's water on. I made sure to find a ceiling rafter to hang this SpiderPlant from, it is quite heavy! I always use the stud-finder when I hang stuff from the ceilings, you never know when your going to have something really heavy on it.

You know what they say, "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery"! I don't know if a clump of Surprise Lilies can really be pulled off good in a bucket planter, mine do okay but they aren't on display.
I was just looking for something to put in that planter so it wouldn't have to go empty like the other one, but I intend to find something to go in that other one this year. Oh, I bet that black plastic planter you speak of, green, looks fine. I've been eyeballing this black plastic planter, at Walmart I think, that is molded to resemble painted rattan or wicker, it's a neat looking square planter.

I think you'll love your new wheelbarrow, pepper, hey, now you have two of them! The new one from HD looks very handy and sturdy.

Diabetes at such a young age would stink, hope it goes away for her.

Haha.. yeah, unfortunately, everything here is true too, no April Fools jokes I guess!
Will



This message was edited Apr 3, 2013 2:03 AM

Will, thanks but type I diabetes use to be called juvenile. It's caused by an auto immune disorder that could have been triggered when Chloe got her immunization shots to start kindergarten. She got the shots in Aug. & was diagnosed in Oct. Coincidence? It's something researchers are looking into. Congrats on your job. My son-in-law did that type of work during the holidays. I hear that it's physically demanding. I hope that you don't have to do it too long.

Ewww.. what a bummer, possibly caused by immunization shots. In Nov. or Dec. of 2001. I got what was supposed to be a flu vaccine and about Feb. 1st of 2002 I got the flu and felt like I was going to die! Yes, it's physically demanding but they literally never scold you or give you a hard time about anything if you do the work good. This one guy was a real good worker too, I remember, and one time he went to the bathroom for over an hour and they didn't get mad or anything, (I remember that because I helped cover for him..lol). Yeah, I hope I don't have to be there long either. I'm getting a little long in the tooth, it's good exercise anyway, and knock on wood, I don't have anything ailing me right now. I'm going to try to make it there a few months if I can.
Well, I got me some dishes to do before I go to bed! : )

This message was edited Apr 3, 2013 12:03 PM

Boy the nights have been way too cold.
I hate to use sprays and insecticides but I have ended up with iris bores so this year I am pouring tree and shrub bore insecticide on them. That is what they recommend. Had to laugh because they said remove all mulch or anything else from around the plant.....well to a point I can do that but remove all....not possible for me. Then mix and pour this stuff. I didn't realize how many iris I have until I started doing this.

The iris farm up by me they burn the iris fields off every year to get rid of the weeds and anything else, which would work but would probably burn down my house and I have the iris in clumps all in the flower beds. Not sure how the other flowers would feel about it.

Pepper can't you return the wheel barrel if you found your old one? I got a double wheeled wheel barrel for my birthday one year and it is a life saver for a gardener. I also have a real old one I plant flowers in. Sometimes I let the flowers flow over the edge and sometimes I tilt it so it looks like it has fallen over and plant flowers looking like they have spilled out of the wheel barrel.

Suppose to be warm on Saturday....hurray!

hg, I didn't know about iris borers. I've just been growing irises again for the past few years. Maybe that's what happened to my other irises. I've done some research to know what the symptoms are and what the culprit looks like. I'll have to keep an eye on mine. I hope that your treatment works.

Just ran across one of my old favorite pics taken at Missouri Botanical Garden. Springtime in the Japanese Garden. I need to head over there soon!

Nice pic of Mobot, what a nice scene there, green. Eeeek! Happ, we wouldn't want you to burn down your house! Yes, 80° Sat. they say, that is going to be quite warm indeed.
My new part-time job is going good. I'm having a bit of difficulty with my sleep pattern, when you have a shift those hours, sleep isn't easy to get started. Here is my Surprise Lilies in that wooden planter that I mentioned. - I hope some April rains do indeed come in a few days and work on the drought situation, we don't want a repeat of last Summer! It looks like a deal next week on rain. - http://www.kshb.com/subindex/weather/forecast/7_day_forecast

Will, your lilies are getting tall already. I like to outline my beds with rocks too. Hoping that you get the much needed rain which will help you sleep.

My cold is starting to break. Just left with an ugly painful fever blister. Ughhh!

Pepper, I have 2 wheelbarrows. Sometimes, they both come in handy.

I'm keeping the new wheelbarrow because we need another one at my grandma's place. She has one for herself but my dad doesn't so this will probably be his while I keep the old one. If I use the old one I won't feel bad if I dent it. lol

Happ, you can also dip your irises in bleach. I know you have too many to do that but that is another solution.

Pepper, I was reading that you can dig and separate your iris tubers in July/Aug. Is that when you should dip the tubers in bleach?

Pepper, now any iris I receive are soaked in bleach and rinsed before planting, and any I send out (which I haven't done since I figured out I have bores) will be bleached and rinsed before going out. I am pretty sure how I got them. My cousin dug up some old iris from a farm and gave them to me. I wasn't in the habit of bleaching before and I am sure that is how I got them. Last year I tried digging and bleaching but like you said I have too many to do that to. So I am using chemicals altho I don't particular like to use chemicals.

Greeny, the way I figured out I had bores were mushie smelly rhizones and you can cut it open and see the fat ugly worm in it ......You can also open the leaves early enough you will catch the bore inside the leaf eating away and then they move down to the rhizone and can hollow out the whole thing... Looks to me like they could destroy an entire iris bed in nothing flat.

My surprise lilies are up all over the place and I am so glad. Actually lots of things are coming up or waking up. Fingers crossed I didn't lose to much due to the drought.

Our Master Gardener plant sale is May 18, hope we have alot of good stuff. Has anyone been to the kansas city master gardeners sale? It is huge but not sure what the prices are like.

I got my irises from a friend who sold her home to move into senior housing. The buyer told her that she was going to level the entire backyard for lawn only. My friend had me over to dig up whatever I could on one May evening during a cold steady rain. This was 2 years ago. Unfortunately, her favorite rosebushes didn't make it through the summer drought. They were pretty old & passed on from her mom. I know that she was sad when I told her that they died. Her peony survived and the irises. I also have 2 Fairy rosebushes that are still thriving. She also gave me quite a few large decorative rocks. They haven't died. lol

Only lurking and reading , I see things are looking up and everyone seems a better humor .. Better weather and good stories do that for you! Me too ,lol

Green, you can do it anytime but I would wait on digging til after they are done blooming for the season. Doc Henderson, hybridizer of Kansas City Iris, always does it in August. But I find anytime after blooming works just fine and its better if you don't have labels because you will remember what colors are where. lol

I have some daffodils blooming and tulips with buds on the south side of the house but on the north side they are still at the stage of getting some green above ground. Roses have buds and that reminds me to remind my dad to build trellis for roses on side of shed. lol. Westmoreland and something Penny together with salvia around them.

I am slowly making progress at my friend's house on digging up her garden area. I have 1 long row dug up and sod turned over to die. Hoping next week to get over there to do some more but weather looks to interfere. Today I got blisters on my right foot while watering at work so I didn't go dig.

Pepper, that's what I'm thinking late July thru mid Aug. They look pretty healthy & have only been growing a few years, so I'll probably wait until next summer before I divide them. However, if I do see any signs of borers, I'll dig & bleach 'em. Getting some good advice here. : )

I'm getting up early tomorrow to plant peas, onion sets, and whatever else I can get planted before I collapse from exhaustion. 8 P

I've been cleaning up my garden now for a few hours & came in to rest. The weeds tell me that my garden soil is fertile, so that's the good news. I'm heading back out while the weather is nice. According to my soil thermometer, the soil temp is 50 F. Happy gardening everyone!

Pepper, a tulip that you gave me 5 years ago (Spring 2008) has come up again. I almost cut it down, but it's ok. I need to relocate the bulb after it finishes blooming.

Hello again fellow Midwest gardeners. I'm back indoors from working in the garden for a quick lunch break. This is the best gardening day ever for a Saturday! I am wearing my brown Powell Garden cap with a sunflower on the front. Yes, I still have it. I'll have to provide a pic. I really look like a dork right now with extremely baggy melon colored capris, an oversized olive green St. Louis Zoo shirt with a tiger on the front, black "Happy Holiday" socks with red hearts (lol), and black water shoes. Oh, I'm also wearing dark sunglasses & white gloves with purple flowers. I could be a living scarecrow. I'm going back outside. I'll be checking in later; if I can crawl back into the house. 8>D

P.S. I know why my crocus didn't come up. I just found the bag of bulbs in the frig. Oops!

Everybody seems to be pretty busy with the nice weather. Haha, that's funny green, your Crocus bulbs were in the fridge! I did something like that once only it was a big bowl of all different kind of seeds. After about 3 years I threw them out in the yard, I had the best Hollyhocks that year! The rest of the flowers kinda came up here and there. I think the Hollyhocks were so happy to be out of the fridge they grew like a house-a-fire!
Boy, this pic looks drastically from a pic last month! - It's hard to believe this was a mere 13 days ago here, less than 2 weeks! I was out spreading out a trailer load of topsoil to help build up a little out in the front yard. Here is a pic of MY trusty Harborfreight wheelbarrow with a bright yellow tire, (actually that was the only color available in solid tires or maybe that was why it was so cheap, I suppose I need to be easy to see also!)! lol
That's funny, a fat, ugly worm! It sounds like a grubworm description too! Here is my little Japanese Maple 'Ornatum' from EBay, it is plugging right along. I am a little impressed that it's already leafed out, what to expect from a tree from Oregon I guess! I need to get it outside so it doesn't get too used to my shoplites, in leaf.
Hi ju, getting any Midwest warmth over there in IN.?

60 TODAY !!!^_^ Sunshine ,hardening off plants , making concrete poles , goofing off , !!
Nice pics always just love them.Not busy only staying occupied . lots to do ..
Back in while , if I get the system ..

My youngest daughter came out and helped me with the weeding. I was able to plant onion sets and sugar snap peas. Now I'm waiting for the rain. The soil temp was 50 F all day no matter where I checked it. The air temp topped 70 F. The wind was gusting and suddenly I heard a loud racket. I looked up and the wind had lifted my neighbor's guttering away from her house. That was some strong wind! I noticed that my periwinkle has bloomed. I didn't realize that it blooms this early. So pretty.

We saw pelicans yesterday at Horseshoe Lake on my way home from work. I picked up my daughter and we went back to the lake and there they were -- a huge flock. That made our day!

Will, I like the comparison pics. Let's hope that we keep the Spring like weather from here on out.

Juhur, I need to start hardening off my plants too. Thanks for reminding me. : )

I forgot to hit send before looking at Will's pics and green posted also. lol

Busy day at work today with Black Friday sales going on. Mulch, soild and stone were flying out the doors today. Great day for it too weather wise!!

Will, under that big tree you should try ajuga to plant. It should do ok I would think and will grow under the tree.

Hehe..well, I guess Indiana IS the midwest, sorry bout' that. : )
Yes, 60° will work, we got up to 82° in KC I believe, here is what the thermometer on the deck said at 3:30 this afternoon. - I raked my little shade garden and got most of those leaves out of there, and got the planted Hostas and everything uncovered, that had all those pots on top of them. - Today, my friend and me got a cubic yard of topsoil distributed in the front yard, hopefully they built up the soil a little. - The little kids across the street were spraying each other with the hose this afternoon! -
Hope you get the system up and running, ju! Those comparison pics are a bit stunning, who'd have thunk the weather change! By the way that should read, "drastically different" up there..lol
I sure hope the nice weather is here to stay too, they are forecasting some pretty cold lows for next week unfortunately. - http://www.kshb.com/subindex/weather/forecast/7_day_forecast
You guys like photos eh?! Hehe.. here's some more!

Ajuga eh? Thanks pepper! I'll ask my friend here what she thinks about that. In those bare spots around the Pin Oaks, hostas, Coral Bells and some ferns should be popping up soon. We were kinda concerned about how little soil there was anymore around the trees and their root flares, (about 1 inch of soil there before today), so hopefully what we did today with the topsoil will help the shade plants a little.

Pelicans in Missouri are good! I got the parts to the 4' x 4' raised garden all ready for assembly, now I just have to assemble it! lol I'm thinking I'll crowd it full of several vegetables like sugar-snap peas, tomatoes, onions and maybe even peppers and lettuce!
Will



This message was edited Apr 6, 2013 9:19 PM

Your soil may be washing away. See if your friend will be willing to maybe get those pavestones and do a small raised area there. I'm thinking 2 stones high should do it. Just enough to catch the dirt and hold it.

Good idea, we may do that next year about this time, I'll mention that to the boss here and see what she says.

pepper, I must have done the same thing -- forgot to hit send. Because my last post is missing. I know. My pc asked to update my antivirus software.

Will, Horseshoe Lake is in IL. Here's a few interesting facts about it that you may have not read. 1.) It's an ancient oxbow lake left behind by the meandering Mississippi River. Since I live between HS Lake & the current MS River bed, I guess my house and yard sit on ancient river bed? 2.) 1920s gangster unfound buried treasure. Here's the link. http://voices.yahoo.com/illinois-horseshoe-lake-largemouth-bass-indian-mound-1452885.html?cat=8
and this link confirms the buried treasure: http://www.metal-detecting-ghost-towns-of-the-east.com/buried-treasure-in-illinois.html

Will, the 3 young Nanking cherry bushes are in bloom right now. I'm hoping to harvest some seed later on. I'll keep you informed. Also, while I was in the garden yesterday, a pair of mourning doves were sitting in the maple tree in my backyard looking toward me. They could have been looking at the fake birds saying "are they real?" Maybe I should move them? I wouldn't want to discourage the doves from nesting here. Seriously, what do you think?

After taking flower/veggie seed inventory last night and dividing into early, mid, late Spring planting, I have much more that I can plant right now. I'm hoping to get some more done after church today & before the rain moves in. I guess the heat build up is suppose to trigger some evening t-storms. The temps will remain warm thru mid-week with continued rain, so that should warm the soil more and get these seeds sprouting.

I'm fighting whether to plant before church since I'm already showered & cleaned up. I have a couple of hours before we leave. Hmmm?

edited for not making sense. lol

This message was edited Apr 7, 2013 8:09 AM

Horseshoe lake would be nice to have close. And all that buried treasure around there, I think I'd be on the lookout for gangster Sam Anatuna's metal box containing $400,000 in paper currency somewhere near Route 66, a few miles south of Braidwood that he buried. And Horseshoe Lake is the second largest natural lake in Illinois after Lake Michigan. Oxbow lakes are neat, there is at least one recreational one in this region that I know of, at Big Lake state park in Northwest Missouri, my friend and me rented a cabin there a few years ago. - http://mostateparks.com/page/54944/general-information Now, it's closed because of some major flooding in 2011 that tore the park up and the houses around it.
I'd love to have some Nankings, green. When the seeds are ready I'd love to have some. When your ready, just dmail me and I'll give you my address. Can I interest you in any seeds or cuttings or anything that I have? Those fake doves? Oh, I doubt that they fool other birds, just people on the internet like me! I say leave them, I don't know how other birds see them I guess, maybe they are fooled too!
Edited for not making sense huh?! Well, bless your heart! lol I'm just kidding you, so don't get all medieval on my backside! : )
I just edit when I'm name-calling, then I think, "whoa, I better not say that!"! Just kidding again, I'd never name-call! : )
Eeek, a whole bunch was edited out on my backside, I guess for sounding pol itical. I was just saying that is the Truman statue at the Independence, Missouri (or Jackson County, Missouri) courthouse where a couple friends and me saw GI Joe 2 today, it's only about 5 minutes or so from where I live.
Will


This message was edited Apr 7, 2013 8:46 PM

Will, it's so good reading your post; ironic humor & all. When you're not that way, I worry about you, so inject all you want. Your oxbow lake is much like HS Lake -- shallow and home to many waterfowl. I will keep a close eye on the cherry bushes and harvest as much seed as possible just for you. : )

We just had a thunderstorm pass over providing a torrential downpour. I wanted my garden watered, but I hope that the seeds didn't get washed away!

I hope that everyone fairs well through these storms and gets the much needed rain without any damage. At least, it's rain and not the "s" word; though I am concerned about the "h" word; esp. after what last April delivered here.

Awww.. thanks green, your very nice to say, but really, I am an odd duck! You lucky people, (or unlucky people) are the chosen recipients to absorb my spewn rhetoric! And you as well, you know, I love it when others are odd too, then I don't feel so, well, odd! I like being odd, if one has to be anything, why not be odd?!
Thanks! Inject, interject, digress, or sidetrack, I do all those, so look out! lol Thanks, I look forward to the seeds, green.
Yes, our oxbows are similar but yours is bigger in acreage, but we've got you beat in depth, we come in at 5 feet deep, yours is only 3 feet deep, so there!
Let's say a short prayer for your seeds, I want your seeds to thrive! I hope it rains like this in July, several times!
This rain is torrential, it is now letting up but it came down in torrents for about 3 hours, other times not torrential, but still heavy, even now. I'll go out and inspect all that topsoil tomorrow that we used to fill in in the front yard, hopefully it's mostly still there. My friend kinda aerated with a solid metal rake, (before we did the topsoil) so hopefully that'll help a little, and then we walked on it after it was down, (I am no lightweight..lol).
April 7th, what a day! I remember this day in 2007, it brought an abrupt end to the blooming of all my pretty tulips! - That was a year I lost out to a late freeze! Although, now I kinda learned my lesson on that, don't put marginal anything out until mid-April at least, some say May 1st! I go with mid April usually myself. Possibly, if I had covered the tulips up with a bucket or plastic or something I mighta been able to save the blooms, it got down to I think 29°.
Ok, now where is happ?!

Will, I am sooo jealous of the 5 foot depth; though I'm not much more that 5 ft. tall. At least, it would be more difficult for me to drown at HS Lake. (lol) I try very hard to appear normal, but you see right through me. Drats!!!! I give up. It's all goofiness from here on out. HA! (We're all "mad" in Madison.)



This message was edited Apr 8, 2013 5:38 AM

Cybrczch? If your out there, let's see those pretty pictures of flowers! You always have such nice flowers and garden stuff in Spring too.
I am up late because I don't go to work in the morning, I go to work Tuesday at 3am..lol
Will

Hi Betty, you are up late! Hehe.. that reminds me of OZ where the guy is splashing all around and he's yelling, "Help!"! Mila Kunis says "stand up!", oh it was funny!
Oh, I see! Really, it's alright, you are among friends! I've heard about those Illinoisans when you get below about Springfield!

Wow, they are forecasting 27° for a low Friday of this week, in Kansas City, Mo.! The keyword being, "forecasting", haha! That could very likely change, but if it happens, my guess is it will freeze an icecube! - http://www.kshb.com/subindex/weather/forecast/7_day_forecast

Here is one of my SpiderPlants, Hawaiian Center SpiderPlants, getting a drink of water tonite. The amount of light really makes a big difference in the lighter, "Hawaiian Center" part apparently. This one is directly below a shoplite in the garage while the big mother one is in the window in the living room where there isn't much if any direct sunlight and it appears a lot to be green, but their related actually, I've only ever had one. Can you say babies?! Anybody want a baby? I think I'm going to start selling my SpiderPlant babies on Ebay like this chap. - http://www.ebay.com/itm/House-Plant-HAWAIIAN-SPIDER-PLANT-Cleans-the-Air-Rare-/140943117238?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20d0dd4bb6 I'm not really about cleaning the air like this cuss says in the web address, I say just turn on the attic fan and open the windows! Their shipping itself is nearly 2 times that amount.

This message was edited Apr 8, 2013 1:52 PM

I'm back up getting ready for work. I've got to turn on my grow lights because the timer doesn't like me. I'm usually in bed by 10, but my oldest daughter picked up Chloe about 10:30 and hung around for a while. I went to sleep right after I posted and woke up a few minutes before the alarm went off. I have to go to work because my plants there need watered! lol

Happy Monday everyone. : )

They are lucky that you have plants up there! : ) I've been out dillydallying around, doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a whole lot of nothing! Hehe.. seriously, I did some important stuff! First, I took my friend here to work because she didn't feel like driving then I went shopping for some essentials and some not so essentials, but mostly essentials.
Now this right here is your big daddy Elephant Ear bulb, well, I've seen bigger but this one was the biggest in the box at Walmart. - That's a bag of 10 roots of strawberries that I think I'll plant.
Man, the employees at Walmart didn't even know their own return policy on stuff or where peeled grapefruit was at, it was a mess. I asked I think 4 employees a question and none of them knew anything, I think 2 of them said they were new. I didn't get nasty or roll my eyes or anything, they have a better job than I do!

I looked at the topsoil that we put down yesterday, it appears to have stayed put in large part see?! -

Oh, I better back up on something, I DON'T INJECT, (but I do INTERJECT, but not really)! Don't anybody run with that now! I pass right out when it comes to needles, the last time was when I was getting treatment for a kidney stone in 2008. I know I sometimes have energy and I have trouble sleeping sometimes but I don't take drugs. I am high on life, brothers and sisters!

A dreary windy Monday , still no system to call my own , A little gray bubble envy went to Will today , Maybe feel better about a few things when it get there for a few minutes anyway .
My flowers are starting to sprout and the daffodils are blooming today .Makes me feel a little better ..