June 2013 - Starting out wet and cool; ending?

Hello all. We survived the merry month of May. Time for wedding bells and bbq smells!

Well I put the Nigella in the plant photo review , they are pending , I keep forgetting what size the pic's are suppose to be , in the crashed computer , the info went ,,
Still raining here , have no plans for weddings or anyone getting married .. Only hope to stay dry and well . lol

I will have go back and see if I really survived May or if it is only my imagination .. he , he What a month though .. anything everything and more ...

Enjoy the dry spell while it lasts. Starting Tues we will be going thru this again. Grrr....

Hehe.. wedding bells and bbq smells eh?! My oldest Sister had her 10 year anniversary last month, she got a good husband, he's a decent guy.
Bbq smells, I don't even want to go there because my neighbors cook out all the freaking time, it's some kind of meat! As an unemployed person I can attest that it does smell good!
I go outside sometimes and walk around and smell what's cooking! I'm thinking about going over there after dark someday and licking their grill! lol

Thanks Betty for starting the June thread. : ) I don't think we've ever had a month thread started lately actually on the first!

I've seen a bunch of movies lately, Star Trek, Ironman 3, Fast and Furious 29 and today we saw Now You See Me. They were all good movies, I don't think there was a bummer in the bunch.
My friend is on vacation and she loves the movies and so do I. This has been all in the last 4 days, we've been quite the movie-goers, I told my friend, "I think they recognize us now!"!

Yeah, no marrying for me either, I believe I am destined to be a bachelor without kids! My friend says I'd be a good Father and I think I would too, but I think I might need to do like David Letterman or Larry King, (have kids when your kinda old)! Altho, not having kids isn't so bad.

More rain?! The plants are really shooting up, so not complaining, but it gets a little muddy and soggy out there! I'm sure the tornado victims are tired of it!

Yes, beautiful Nigella there, ju. I'm looking forward to seeing them in Plantfiles.
Now where'd that happ and joeswife go?

This message was edited Jun 2, 2013 8:55 PM

I misspelled saving seed in the entry , and DG put them there this morning .
I am going to though save some seeds(try to a) to send with the little trees to jw and you Will if you want to try a few , Seeing then as to how it goes , I tried another 19 pics to the plant files three of the files had no photo's at all ..those are pending .
I started the Sandbar willow (salix interior ) today .. we will see if I get better roots this time ..
You know , only having some fun lightly ,, keepin on ,, keepin on ,,
Things like these here ,,
.

#2 Above was the wrong pic , got to be able to read the dime lol Yes I am still having some fun ,

I can't find your entry for Nigella, ju, could you link here to it in Plantfiles? Sure, Nigella looks nice, I'd love to have some! I have several little dishes like yours, ju, that don't have anything in them unfortunately, except soil. The only things growing in one is a Willow cutting you sent me, it still has little puffs of cream or white on it. Those cuttings all seem to be in a sort of pause or something, maybe they are creating real roots now.

Oh, I see, the clearness on the dime is much more evident on the second photo. That's how I do, I take 2 or 3 photos of the same thing to make sure I have at least 1 clear one.
Lighting is usually the culprit, if it's not daytime, my photos are likely going to be questionable..lol

Mine also about the willows , The ground hog chewed on mine , The ones I had sent you were taken before . Mine are sitting there with little puff blooms doing nothing more ..
I will get the red stem to you when I am sure mine are okay ,, I am not sure these natives are going make it .

Okay the link ; http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/359738/

This should be the photo source , and scroll down through the pic's Those seeds with the dime are are Striped Klondike watermelon No photo's of any kind in the files .. Here's one of my little plants ,just getting settled in the garden



This message was edited Jun 1, 2013 11:37 PM

Yeah well this way ..1 &2 Striped Klondike watermelon
3 Korean Mint
4 red Amaranth
5 Moon&Stars watermelon

Oh, I see it, good link, good photos of Nigella. Ok, no hurry on the Red Stem.

I've only got 4 photos in there. - http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/imagesbyuser.php?user=shortleaf

Nice seedlings there, ju. Boy, that Red Amaranth is really red.

This message was edited Jun 1, 2013 10:50 PM

You photo' pic;s are Gorgeous !!!

Not always as easy it seems .is it ? A nice clear photo and a really nice plant ,. lol
We put about a dozen of those Amaranth in front of the red runner beans ,, should look nice on the viewable side of the garden to passer by ,, as though anyone is looking ,, lol
Hopi Red Dye Amaranth (purpurea) if they all get 3 to 5 ft tall . that would be outstanding ,,

As to previous , I do not always see as well as I might either ,, still learning how to use the Nikon ,, it has lots of features .. I love all the gardens , pic's and plants , and every ones here are Beautiful ..
This thread, this site, and all , I miss it when it's not ,, all of it !

Thanks! I probably shoulda dug up that Crepe Myrtle 'Dynamite' when I moved, (in my Plantfiles entry), it was a neat plant, even if it was only a shrub. I was looking at some of them tonite, some I hadn't seen in awhile, man, I am quite the nasty cuss. I was reading my negative review on that 'Purple Prince' Lily Tree by Brecks. It really isn't so bad I guess, it's not close to being purple which was and still is a bummer, but it is kinda okay I suppose in it's "real, other color". I started out with 3 bulbs of it and I believe I now have 7 of them. I ought to change that to neutral I suppose, if I can, but I wanted purple and I got like a blend of white and dark red or something! - http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/169090/
I found a photo of it from 2011, that's "purple". It's like tonite when we had a sitdown dinner at Logans Roadhouse, it's good food but they never grill the meat how you ask.
I'll eat anything, I don't care how it looks, but they ask, so I say, "medium is fine", it was "well done" but I don't care, it tasted good. My friend always wants rare. She knows it likely won't be rare, it never is, she doesn't send them back though or raise a stink. It's funny, they come around and ask, "was your steak cooked how you wanted it?"? And my friend says, "no, but it's fine, I'll eat it anyway", she cuts open her steak and asks the guy, "does that look rare to you?", he says "no, I can send it back, it's no problem". But, we'd already waited 30 minutes, there just comes a time when you want to eat! I'll get out and get some pics tomorrow, today was all taken up, first I put front brake pads on my car, then we had dinner and a movie. Actually, I had a family reunion today, but I didn't go, I'm getting tired of talking about my unemployment with my relatives. Last year, a cousin, who is an engineer and 5 years younger than me, asks, "so, what are you going to do when your unemployment runs out?". I wanted to tell him, "you know what I'm going to do?, maybe I'll throttle you around the neck and ears, how's that for what I'm going to do?!"?

I planted my Elephant Ears about 3 weeks ago and I'm still waiting on them to break the surface still, they are starting to worry me! I love my Elephant Ears!
My Tropicannas were planted at the same time and they've already came up an inch or two. That one Tropicanna bulb that I wanted to experiment with and leave outside for the Winter has decided it was too cold apparently. I planted it a foot or so from the foundation so I was hoping it would make it, but I don't think it did, but, maybe it will surprise me yet!

This message was edited Jun 2, 2013 12:08 AM

The past 2 years, I've had a wedding to attend in June & both days were so unbearably hot! I got married in April. We are grilling beer brats and making s'mores today at my gr-d's request since last weekend was too cool & rainy.

With all the rain, my garden is growing in leaps & bounds, but so are the weeds & grass! The bamboo is the tallest ever & seems very happy with all this rain. : )

I've gotta get crackin'. We were gone yesterday taking a relative (Vietnam Vet) whose in a nursing home, wheelchair bound, & on oxygen for a ride up the river road. It was a lot of work, but he enjoyed it so much! He wanted to listen to the oldies on the radio. I suddenly noticed that "the oldies" are now the music that I listened to in my youth! lol We saw many turtles along the roadside. We stopped & flipped over a snapper on his back that had been injured & maybe too badly to survive. I need a bumper sticker that reads, "I brake for turtles"! LOL

That's nice of you to take that guy for a ride, green. I stop for reptiles too. I remember one time I stopped for a snake. Snakes are likely to get hit if they're on the road, so I stopped and backed up traffic for a minute while it slithered to the other side..lol

My Bamboo is happy too, even in the kitty litter buckets..lol I need to trim them to keep them from getting too tall, the roots in those jugs I'm pretty sure won't like to support a big plant.

Here are better pics of my 'Royal America' Rose in bloom. - The red one is the dark red Rose I got from happ, it is doing very well too. -
The 'Royal America' is 3 to 4 inches in diameter and the red one is 2 and a half to 3 inches in diameter. The tape measure appears off but it was close.
Will

I hope I don't bum anybody out talking about my unemployment, everything here is fine, unemployment isn't the end of the world. Check this out though, I can't figure this Baltimore Oriole out!
Is it sizing up my Spiderplant outside to build a nest in it?! I've seen it in there several times already. Should I be looking for a nest and babies?!
Between Hummingbirds and now Baltimore Orioles, on occasion, we have quite a show just outside the living room window!

Will, those are some fun pics! You have a spider plant hanging outside the window, correct? What's the plant hanging on? Is there a porch outside the window?

Thanks Betty! Yes, there is a little porch out there. It isn't hanging from the eave, it is hanging from the board on the outside of the eave, it's solid, the eave itself is much too thin. The board isn't very thick so I was real careful where I drilled but I drilled a hole right in the middle of it, then threaded a big heavy-duty hook or eyelet in the hole. I've been reading how to get and make Baltimore Oriole food, now I believe that thief was stealing the coco fiber off my planter! Hehe.. I'm not really mad, he can have some for a nest somewhere. I read on what they use to build a nest and it's fibers, hair and all kinds of crazy stuff. Apparently, they may have taken a shine to my planter's fibers! I put a few things in this bowl for the Baltimore Oriole. - I tried to get a grapefruit for them but my friend said she doesn't want to give up any grapefruit! Here is the Spiderplant on the outside. The front door didn't make the photo but it's just a bit further on the left of the pic. See the bowl of food out there for the Oriole? I'm going to relocate it, all that stuff looks kinda cheesy being close together and right in front of the window.
Like my latest addition to the backyard, it's a trellis for a Porcelain Berry vine! The Porcelain Berry vine is in that tomato planter and that's the triangular trellis made out of 1 x 1's for it to climb on hopefully, I screwed it to the fence so it doesn't move. I put all my Walking Onions in this big, black pot. - I'm trying to consolidate and generally put all my pots and plants to use this year.
Here is another view of the garden area. Boy, that Hall's Honeysuckle is really aromatic. If there is a breeze you can smell it about 50 feet away! It's on an arbor so people can walk thru it if they want their clothes to smell like Honeysuckle!
Will

My garden looks like it's on steroids right now. lol. Tons of tall greenery just filling in all the holes. I will try to get some updated pics but with the rain coming in it's gonna be awhile again. Grrr....

As for me... I am just watching lol



Here is an Amethyst basil sprout in the middle of the pot ,, Let your eyes scan that baby ,,, if they can ,, he, he,

Yeah, the plants are really liking this weather here too. That Colorado Blue Spruce 'Globosa' is really happy I bet. It was balking pretty good last year at the extreme heat and dryness. I think the only thing that saved it was my watering it all the time. I think the zone max on those is only 7 or so for a reason - they don't like much heat! That plant was losing needles last year, much more heat and I think I woulda had me another dead plant.

It is hard to see your Amethyst basil sprout in the middle of the pot. I don't see it, maybe someone else does. : )
On another look, I see it, it's the only thing that makes a shadow, it's got a bit of growing to do but it has the time.

Has anybody else gotten any ticks? I've pulled 2 of them off my waistline lately, first one on one side, then one on the other side! I want to lose weight on my waistline but not from ticks!

Here is the latest addition to my concrete succulent and cactus planter, it's part of my former Iceplant combination plant, I think it was called 'Queen of the Desert'.
I want to put some Mezoo in it soon.



This message was edited Jun 4, 2013 10:46 AM

I see the basil sprout. Looks like the ones coming up on the edge of my tomato bed.

I've had ticks already and my cats have had more than I can count. Little Guy had 3 on his butthole at one point. Not fun pulling those off.

My truck is back in the shop again today. I went to leave work and I couldn't get it to run. It would start but not run. So called my dad for a ride and he called a tow truck to have it hauled to the shop. Tow truck driver had no problem moving it and my mechanic had no problems with it starting. But he took it for a drive and it started just throwing a fit and he didn't think he would make it back to shop. So now I'm driving big truck again til mine is fixed.

Oh, that's funny, poor cat! There are some pretty bad places for ticks, I can attest to that! lol
Here are my Tropicannas coming up, this photo is a couple days old, those sprouts are a little bit bigger now. -
Here is one of my whiter Spiderplants. - It's next to my Cholla cactus. They're both in former popcorn Christmas cans. Those cans are just so pretty AND they're free!

Eeeek, it's broke down, I tell you pepper, I know your in denial but it's time for you to get an old import!

How are those Spiderplant babies and Wondering Jew cuttings coming along, ju? Are the babies in water or soil?

The Babies are in soil and doing nicely ,, The tick question from the other night was , about a week ago I pecked one off of me ,, That's all of those I have seen and that's all right by me!!

I like Basil it has a good effect on my digestion , really helps ,, Difficult with seed collecting for me so far though .

Will, it's Ford and Ford only here in my house. lol

Great, glad to hear it, ju.

I see. Some people are loyal to their brands, Ford would be my first choice too. If you do swing that little Ford car later you oughta consider a Ford Fusion, I think that car looks so cool!

A new car would be a big cost, I'm just dreaming about it is all. - http://www.ford.com/cars/fusion/gallery/photos/exterior/

I'm so excited! A Tropicanna that I planted OUTSIDE has came back about 6 inches from the foundation hehe! This Winter wasn't too unusually mild, I thik it may have got down to 10° F.
It wasn't like the Winter before that where it only got down to about 29°. I'm not so sure a Tropicanna bulb would survive a quite normal Winter here with a low of -5° or thereabouts, so this may be a one and done kind of deal! But, wouldn't that be cool to have Tropicannas all along the foundation, in the ground! This is them in a big pot and then the one coming up out of the ground. -
The one in the ground came up about 3 weeks after the ones in the planter, but it was planted about 8 or 10 inches deep. The ones in the planter are right by the surface.

That is exciting! I had a red canna come back 2 years later. Weird, huh?

Will, the Fusion is actually what I have my eye on. lol. I am in the window shopping and drooling stage right now but eventually I'll get there.

I've had cannas come back and others not. Don't worry Will, it will multiply. lol.

A red Canna, that sounds a little exotic! I'd like to have Tropicannas growing everywhere outside. I love them, thanks pepper! They don't look exactly like the ones you see at the store, the ones there must come from a different climate or they paint the leaves or something!

Great, multiplying Tropicannas! I'd love to have them everywhere. I might dig up that newest foundation one, I might be planting my Lilac shrub right there.

What a coincidence, the Fusion is an awesome car. It's easy to dream about that car and get really interested more after seeing those prices. I believe those are like teaser prices, (they call them "cash purchase" prices on the site). - http://www.ford.com/cars/fusion/pricing/ I like the Fusion Hybrid SE myself. In the end I bet it's still pretty affordable, I'm sure it would compare good up against other cars in that class.

I found out after I gave you the cannas they have a different name but I can't remember what it is. lol. I want to say Mr President or something like that. Tropicannas have striped leaves and orange flowers. But I actually like the purple leaves and red flowers best. lol

Yes, I like this color too, I don't think that Tropicanna would be as hardy. Here's one called 'President' but it appears to have more greenish leaves but the flower is about the same red.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/37506

pepper, those cannas are nice. I didn't know what they were called. I have a bunch of bulbs to plant for summer. I need to get busy once we dry out a bit. : )

I aslo have to get busy. I need to get rid of my bittersweet and plant my clematis combo pot there. I got $25 worth of clems for $7 on clearance at work yesterday. I also need to get some containers going with annuals. I have my nephew Sat so will take him shopping with me to get stuff then.

I get my truck back tomorrow. It still isn't fixed but they can't figure out what's wrong and it hasn't acted up since it died on my mechanic that one day. So now I will drive it and he will be on call in case it dies again.

Meanwhile today I took advantage of the nice weather to chop down my bittersweet vine. It was too big and too invasive for the spot I have it in so it has to go. I chopped it down to about 2 feet of trunk on the ground and the upper part of the stump still has to be cleared but it's looking great now!! Once all that is done I will plant a trio of clematis there. I got a big 3 gallon container of 3 clematis for $7 the other day. It was the last one we had and our vendor clearanced it. I waited a day then snagged it. lol

I have pics but I'm just too lazy at night to mess with them and during the day I forget. lol. I'll get back to it eventually especially since my garden looks like it's on steroids. lol

Maybe your truck will work right and everything will be fixed by the time winter comes back ,.Takes a while when machines get finicky or strange ..
Here's a wildflower takeover and some mulching going on ,, takes this turtle speed a while to go ...pher... it

The last is my first Coneflower of the season

One more week to go & I'm off work for a week to bring in the first day of summer. Gorgeous weather here. No complaints. A busy day ahead just doing chores; inside & out. I'll check back later. Happy Saturday, June 8!

I still have to get latest pics put on computer. I've been busy all day. Watching nephew this weekend and we just got home from a birthday party. They had a big water balloon fight and he got all muddy. lol. I'm waiting on him to finish bath so I can get ready for bed and crash. We have him for awhile tomorrow too so another day of craziness!! lol

I got truck back today but still not sure of problem so now it's wait and see and try to narrow it down from here.

Nothing is better than a paid vacation, I have a recollection of them, they were nice! Tomorrow, I got some pushmowing to do, about 90 miles away in East-Central Kansas.

My nephews are bigger than me so they can go ahead and play in the mud if they want! lol

My cannas change from that reddish color they are now to a green when they get bigger. I ran across a photo of them last year about 5 feet tall and they are indeed green on the leaves. -
The 'President's have some red flowers. I saw in DG's reviews that somebody else calls them, "Mr. President" too, so it must be another name for them. - http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/37506/ It even says "aka Mr. President" there.

Sounds like some nice Clematis, pepper, can't wait to see photos of them.

Pretty flowers there and you've done some work on landscaping and mulching I see there, ju. The first Coneflowers are a little pale here too.

Ju, those are some nice & neat flower beds. I like the look of stone & mulch as much as I like the flowers.

Pepper, I had Chloe on Tue., Thu., Fri. & again today. At least she's 8 years old now & turns 9 on 8/4. Chloe has become grandma's helper in the kitchen and garden. Does your nephew enjoy his visits? It sounds like he's having some fun playtime. I would have hosed him off first before bringing him into the house! LOL

My two "The Fairy" rose bushes are in bloom. They started blooming later than the other roses. I am having a difficult time getting the warm season crop seeds to start. The cukes & zucchini have done well, but my KY Blue & Christmas lima pole beans, & vining squash (Trombone & Spaghetti) are slow to germinate. Maybe it's all the cold rain? The cool season crops; such as lettuce & peas are still thriving. I may have to replant the squash & beans again! It seems that I get only 2 to 4 seeds to germinate per sowing. Since it's more than one variety, I'm thinking that the ground has been too cool & wet. I'm still holding my peppers and eggplants in the south facing sun porch window until the weather warms and settles. This has been a wet cool Spring -- one for the records.

I planted the hollyhock seeds yesterday. Let's seem how they do. I have so many more flowers to sow & summer bulbs to get planted. We've been extra busy trying to keep up with the lawn; mowing twice a week now! I don't ever recall seeing a lawn grow this fast. lol Will (sl), have fun mowing your land & be careful. I hope that there's not a manhunt this weekend. LOL

Yesterday's weather was near perfect for working outdoors! I can't believe that it's already June 9. Father's Day will be hear soon & the church picnic. My coneflowers have buds, but haven't opened yet. The blackberries have tiny green berries.

By the way Will (sl), I have Nanking bush cherry seeds saved for you; enough to start a small nursery. : )