B&D 'scratch and dent sale'

For those who haven't gotten the email, B&D lilies is having a scratch and dent sale; meaning bulbs they over harvested. Six for the price of three. Here is the url

http://www.bdlilies.com/salebulb.html

I got six wonderful Sorbonnes at the last "scratch and dent" that bloomed their brains out!

Ohhhh. I really had to exert will power. I planted about 20 lilies and was looking for space for them much less ordering more. But I figured others might have just the right spot for some of these. Sorbonne is a beauty.

I was tempted too. Hiawatha, amogst others, but I have it and it did well.

I had to really restrain myself in terms of the Old House Gardens sale. 20% off yesterday, 25% today (goes to 30% tomorrow). Lilium Auratum platyphyllum! Lilium candidum! MartagoN! Martagon album!

Screaming internally!

Yah. I saw that one too. Wonder what they will have left by Friday when it is 50%. Are you going to look?? lol

Oh yes!

I took the specisum alba a certain person gave me, put them in pots in the garage, and they bloomed beautifully (as you know).

So I have that option (screaming internally even louder).

ROTFL. Oh we are such weak creatures. :)

Would you like two koi that are between 2.5 and 3' long? Someone is shutting down their tank or pond and a local fish store had my name as a possible home. No way my little pond could handle that and dumping them into 40F would probably kill them. I get the impression they are indoor in a tank or something. Would cost more to ship them than they are worth I guess. I don't know what they look like. Who knows? Maybe they are prize winners. Not likely.

You are really funny!!!

Well, we hit 28F this morning. Frost on the pumpkin --- well, on the grass, and the pond has a nice ice cap on it. So no question about lilies now. Would need an ice pick to plant them.

This message was edited Nov 7, 2013 8:25 AM

Yes, it's really cold! We have frost everywhere! I put my lilies in pots in the garage last night, as well as the one rose I have in a pot. I had some plants on my enclosed patio, but it's getting cold there too, so I moved them into a sunny alcove indoors - stuff like heliotrope and scented geraniums and pelargoniums, as well as an abuliton.

Last week I realized that the pear that is in front of the house is a Bradford. I contacted the former owner. It has that classic " hi, I'm going to split in two and some point and fall on your house" structure, and it was growing into the power lines and needed to be pruned. When I realized that it would have to be pruned every few years, and that it was eventually going to split, I decided to pull it out. So on November 14th a company I hired is going to call Commonwealth Edison, disconnect the power line for a bit, and cut it down and grind the stump 18 inches deep, so that I can then install a tree that was one of my favorite from old house - an acer griseum - a paperbark maple. When I asked the arborist for a recommendation and he suggested it, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. He told me where to find a good one, and I purchased it the next day (call me nuts and you're right!)

I have a lot of neighbors with dead or dying trees that drop debris and branches into my yard. So I am having two other trees pruned. Once you bring them out for one thing the incremental costs are not so bad. There is going to be the removal of the pear, and extensive pruning on three different maples. It will give a section of my yard more light, so that the hydrangeas will bloom more.

Given that I just bought a tree, I am having less difficulty restraining myself on Scott's lilies. The cost of the tree, transportation and planting has more than blown the budget.

Oh dear, I made the mistake of looking. The platyphyllums and candidums were gone, but 40% off on 5 white martagons (for which I have two perfect locations and which I had to leave behind at my former home) made me bite!

I established this lovely little spot outside my door with bergenia Winterglut I grew from seed, mertensia, trillium, hardy geraniums, wintergreen and ornigothalem nutans. A year ago there were only the hostas that were there previously, as well as the bergenias.

I don't remember Scott ever having a sale. I have notices sales from a lot of vendors who did not have them previously. I don't know whether this is a good or bad sign. It is indeed hard on the wallet!

MY heavens. You are still going strong. Most of what's left isn't tempting especially as we know that I can't seem to bring to bloom many of their lilies. Just too short a season I guess. I will go look again just to be tempted.

Congrats on getting the tree you wanted and getting rid of an potential hazard. You would think that the people with the trees that are overhanging your yard would take some responsibility for them. I have a maple bush that I prune on the back side where it hangs over a 5' fence in the neighbor's yard. And I prune an crabapple tree that hangs over in my yard on the other side. After harvesting lots of apples of course. lol. I got rid of several birch in the back yard because all they did was drop stuff in the garden and make an ugly mess. Hated to lose them but my garden was more important. I got three white lilac, one "Thunderchild" and an apple tree to replace. Actually harvested some apples this fall and made apple pear jam from them. They were around 12' tall when I got them so they cost an arm and a leg but I wanted something that would mature fast. The ones the landscaper put in in 2007 all died as they just dumped them in the ground from rubber tubs and they were root bound. Idiots. I lost five years of tree growth before digging them up. They tried to tell me they were okay when I questioned them in 2011. Really? No appreciable growth in four years?

A pox on "landscapers!" At my former home I lost 2 trees planted in the wire bags (strangled). 7 shrubs and a tree planted too low (drowned). 1 planted too high (tilted and came out of the ground). Planted in the wrong place (wind tunnel). Planted too close together (one shrub kills another). Now I buy my own, plant my own, or supervise tree planting and am batting 1000.

All three of my neighbors have lots of dead and rotting trees in their yards. There is a 25 foot completely dead river birch next to my yard. The poor things pumps out suckers that I keep pruning. Never mind that river birches require moisture and acid soil, and that people here don't water and our soil is close to neutral. Another neighbor has two leaf spotted and rotting silver maples that dump debris and dead limbs as long as 20 feet into my yard - sometimes in places where I was standing 10 minutes before. Fortunately, I have the right to prune anything over my property line. You just have to make sure that you don't kill the tree, which is why you hire a professional to do it. On the other side I have a neighbor with a walnut that at one point had branches on my house (I shared with him the cost of pruning it) but that didn't keep it from raining, literally, approximately 100 walnuts a day into my yard and onto my driveway, where he could see them and had access to them but didn't remove them - he would just make himself scarce when I went out to clean them up. Now all the leaves are coming off. I have to keep them out of other parts of my yard because I have peonies and tomatoes, and the walnuts poison them. It was fun watching him when the very expert arborist spent an hour in the yard with me. He came out on his riding mower. He cuts the grass evey other day (go figure) and had just cut it the day before, but the sprirt moved him to bring out the big Bertha mower and drive in circles nearest my property where we were standing, evidently trying to figure out what was going on.

But there is hope. He is putting all of his yard debris under the walnut. The base of the tree is buried two feet deep. That means that he is slowly killing it. Yes, I could tell him, but why? Once the tree, which I shared the cost of pruning, dies I will no longer have walnuts and leaves. And I'll have more sunlight on that side too.

The great thing about coming right out and telling garden specialists that you are a Master Gardener is that they don't try to tell you nonsense, and you can actually ask them the kinds of questions that make clear their expertise or lack thereof. In this area, we have a lot of untrained landscapers and unlicensed tree cutters (I can't call them arborists) who bring "helpers" with them that are muscle only and want to quit before the job is done. The amazing thing is that the companies with expertise and good reputations, the latter because they do quality work, are actually less expensive. My neighbors went straight to the unlicensed sources and actually paid far more than he would have paid a legitimate, licensed, insured service because he assumed that the fly by nighters were cheaper and never call a quality company for an estimate.

How ironic.

Boy do you have a load of inconsiderate neighbors. Really aggravating -- like way past annoying. I only have one tree in a neighbors yard that spreads leaves, stems and berries on my driveway and the asphalted storage area next to the garage. But now that I have been converted to mulching and spreading leaves I don't mind so much. Except for the berries that, if you are not careful, will stain anything they come in contact with. Can't you gather the walnuts or are they not the edible kind. Somewhere I heard that crushing them makes good path cover but if they are poisonous to your plants then I guess not. Rain would leach it out into the surrounding areas.

I think after I finish folding and ironing clothes I will haul the long extension cord out to the mailbox and lilac bush. This will, I hope, inspire Damien to help me put lights on both. I have always wanted to do that, especially the mailbox and its pole. We also have a 9' pole with a birdhouse between the lilac and mail box. Would love the run lights up it and decorate the house. And me, a died in the wool humbug. lol

The walnuts are the edible kind, but they stain everything. The squirrels love them, but they sit on my property and crack them open, leaving the staining outsides everywhere. Better yet, if you leave your car in the driveway, the falling walnuts will dent it. And I was collecting and disposing of a good hundred a day. Altogether, there must have been about 2,000 of them - not collectors' items.

Actually, I am going to take the chips from the pear and lay a fresh path. I got a phenomenal detailed quote that specified that they would talke them away or leave them.

Now I'm going to write a nce note to my neighbors informing them to expect that their trees over my property line are going to be pruned. Did I mention that they also have an oak that drops acorns into my yard by the thousands?

I think running those lights would be gorgeous!

Oh, I hadn't thought about running lights. I am behind the times. And Damien is a bit frugal about this sort of thing. But he is mellowing with age

Yup; Possibly aggravated isn't quite strong enough. I would prune those suckers straight up vertical dead on my property line. And if they die, oh well. It's your property. If they were just regular trees it wouldn't be so bad but they are causing 'damage' to your property and your chosen life style. And they don't even take responsibility. I would be mortified if anything in my yard caused a neighbor such trouble.

What about solar lights? All of my security lights are solar. They go on at dusk. And they store up enough energy even in the winter to operate properly.

Wait a minute - you're in Alaska.

LOL. Uh, yeah. Land of the midnight sun which reverses in December when we have no sun. Well, not quite that bad but only four or five hours of actual sunlight; the rest is more like dusk. And it wasn't so much the electricity as just the cost for new lights. I love those 'chasers' and the ones that look like hanging icicles. We have the same old red ones around the roof we always have.

Oh my goodness. I could no longer resist and ordered five martagon albas from Old House Gardens at 40% off. He noted that he sent me 7. It's really 8. With shipping, it was $38.00. This is a picture of them on a ten inch terra cotta pot bottom.

The amazing thing about this is that I ordered three of them, as well as 3 martagons (the red ones) many years ago. He was out of the white ones, so I happily grew the red ones but lost them when I moved to my new house. I can't believe I have these. There is a place in my yard where there was only hostas left by the previous dwellers because they said that nothing would grow there. Thrilled by the challenge, I installed mature bergenia plants I'd grown from seed, mertensia, geranium Bevan's variety (gifts), wintergreen (a fun experiment in soil prep that worked), and ornithogalem nutans nutans.

I think these will go there, but nicely away from the wintergreen, since I had to lower the ph where they are, and martagons, I understand, prefer alkaline soil.

Whoo hoo! I feel like a kid in a candy store. I should probably wish for a pot of gold, because I might get it. With the kindness and generosity of a number of people, my garden has undergone a huge transformation in less than two years.

Oh my. Those are huge. Has it been two years already? I probably should test my PH also but never seem to get around to it. I guess if stuff grows then great, if not then it probably doesn't belong here . lazy gardener

I cheat. I use soil conditioner and acid loving fertilizer where I need a lower ph. It's really easy. You just use it when you plant, and then toss it some compost from time to time. A year later a little soil conditioner again.

I haven't tested my ph on years. I guess by what certain plants do. There was a hydrangea in my new yard that bloomed pink, blue and mauve - at the same time. OK, so the soil must be close to neutral.

You're not lazy. You're just not obsessed. I'm obsessed. You have a much more balanced attitide toward gardening than I do. I'm one of those - oh, little plant, what do you want? Ideally? OK, here you go.

I have the same twisted attitude toward my cats. But they are very happy.

With that attitude they (the cats) must think they have died and gone to heaven. I am the same way with Woody my little dog. I love him to pieces. And I do try (in my own haphazard way) to put the right fertilizer on plants. And now am actually grinding and mulching. I took all the needles from my weeping larch that look like pine needles and spread them around the peonies away from the stems. So who knows what beauty will unfold in in say, 10 or 20 years. lol

DonnaMack, do you belong to your local garden club? If so do they have a plant exchange, that is how I really grew my new garden when I lived up north. And the club had an annual plant sale that didn't have much over 5.00 so I spent most of my garden money with the club and then the free plant exchange. If you don't belong look into one and should they not have a club members plant exchange, suggest it.....

Mary, "lazy gardener" that is my outlook as well, if the plants have to be babied so much they really don't work in my garden.

Jan

Mary, I should have known. I took the cats that came with house (I had actually known them for years) and the older one was a little freaked out because he had not only lost the cat his was acqired with (16 years together) but now Mommy and Daddy were gone.

Talk about spoiled:
2 litter boxes (new ones)
A 2:15 p.m. treat (organic chicken baked by Donna)
Extra scratching posts.
A heating pad (one really prefers my back-up hard drive)
A furminator pet brush.
And a lap that no longer belongs to me

The younger one loves my backup hard drive.
And anywhere near me where she doesn't belong.
And wants to be nearby, no matter how inconvenient.
And she loves to be with her much older pal (they took over my seed mat).
And despite a ten year age difference, they sometimes do the same thing at the same time.

Jam, I am lucky enough to get plants from several sources. Proven winners gives Master Gardeners a choice of shrubs here every year. And I am a sponsor member at Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina. They feel guilty about the fact that I can't participate in things like their plant grab, so they send me several shrubs a year, like a variegated Japanese Kerria, Deutzia Chardonnay, and abelia "Lynn" Pinky Bells.

Okay. Not feeling sorry for you. All those wonderful plants you get. All I get is 10% off of plants from several of the local nurseries (not including one of the biggest that is too stingy to join) courtesy of being a member of the local botanical garden.

I love your kitties. My daughter has two who were flown to Texas at much expense when she left by car. lol. I think that one of the cat on the hard drive is hystical. But then she is a Siamese so what can you expect. I can see the see mat in the 4th one. Never thought of that. I found a night stand for cheap (assemble it yourself) at Fred Meyers and with a chair cushion or two and some polar fleece blankeys makes a perfect perch for Woody. Talk about a king on his throne surveying all his domain. :) plus since in is right in front of a window it is also above the base board heat register. And you are right. My lap is not my own. And why the fascination when I go to the loo; who knows?? It's enough to constipate you. Opppsss. Maybe I stepped over the line there. Oh well.

I love cats and had a great fat Russian Blue in Fairbanks, then D got allergic. I had to leave him with my X who was gone before we (kids and I) even acquired him. He was my buddy; cat not X. Grumble Grumble.

I went to look and sign up and they came back and said I needed to send a scanned image of my drivers license. So won't be checking anything out with them. The problem arised from the fact that we just had moved and our new drivers license hadn't come yet with our new address.
Then they wanted me to send a copy of a utility bill showing this address. They had to confirm that I was real. What. Then they said I could have someone vouch for me. again What.

so not worth it to me.

So I will be content to enjoy what others here have gotten.

Jan

It is unfortunate that those of us who are honest have to pay the price for those who aren't. What you went through is a case in point. All that security to try to prevent allowing dishonest people to have the benefit of inkdnesses they have extended to certain groups of people whey have chosen to reward, in this case MG's. Earning the MG designation takes effort and commitment and is deserving of some extras.

How odd. I still have my old driver's license. I never got around to changing it despite the fact that I have been at my new address for almost two years I moved here in December of 2011.

It was never an issue.

They just look at your face and know you are pure as the driven snow. ROTFL

LOL!

2nd DonnaMack....LOL

Thank you so much for the heads up! I just had to go check. Needless to say I had to order.

This is what I got

sweet surrender
tiger babies
pearl melanie
pearl loraine
pearl jennifer
night flyer
leichtlinii
lankon
l. lankongense

My husband also thanks you (he looks as if he's having a gas pain as he says this).

Now where can I put them?

Thanks

Yehudith

ROTFL.... Oh, have I ever seen THAT expression before. He is quite welcome.

Oh, Pearl Lorraine!

You're going to LOVE it! My first year bulb blooming July 5th.

That is lovely. I don't have any quite that color. Maybe I should relook... :)

I was so glad to see all the downward and out facing ones. I really don't like the upfacing. To me they look so stiff and artificially and just don't look like "lilies".

I'm starting to scatter them around the yard in groups. This way I can sorta protect them from marauding deer. I hate those critters more with each passing year!

I can't wait to put up the electronic fence next year for the dogs. They leave my back garden alone because the corgis go after them. They've got ears like bats and can be upstairs with me and hear them when they cross the fenceline and are down stairs and out the door before the deer can get their first bite. I'm not allowed to have a fence in the front yard so I have to put an electronic one out front so the dogs can be out there and scare them away. I have a neighbor who uses her pugs as an early warning system out front and you wouldn't believe the hostas she has.

You have to just love our doggies. I have an 'early warning system also.' He is a Pommerwauwau.

yehudith

with a herding breed, corgis, when there is something to herd a lot of time that alarm that they are close to the perimeter isn't always a deterrent to not cross over and continue chasing the prey.

As someone who has/is owned by collies, a few of mine where so prey driven that the system meant nothing to being able to continue to chase deer.

So if you have a busy front road, please be careful.

Jan

A pommerwhat?

I had a hilarious experience with a GORGEOUS long haired collie the other day. I hadn't seen one since childhood, when my mother owned one.

We have alleys around here that are gorgeous. If I didn't know better I would think the owners of the homes were in a competition - the alleys are landscaped, I swear. So people take walks in them to admire the plants, and I run in them.

Here comes a beautiful long haired collie. I expect him to start "herding" me. No. He wants a rub. I stop. He walks up to me with those gorgeous eyes.We bond. No collar. Clean as a whistle, with all that fur. I realize that he must belong to someone nearby. After getting what he felt was sufficient love from me, he tries to go through a wooden fence, but doesn't fit. One of the pieces of wood is misaligned. He could get out on his own, but not in. Crossing my fingers that it was home, I pulled the piece of wood aside and he goes through.

A few days later I see him in the yard, with a woman. Turns out I know her from the library, and yes, it's her dog. NOW he barks.

I got Pearl Lorraine from Faraway Flowers a couple of years back. I actually had to store it during my move, and planted it late, and it came up very well, so it's strong. They had it this past year. I thought it was pinker, but I was not disappointed when it bloomed. And look at the way it "pops" in dimmer light!



This message was edited Nov 23, 2013 7:06 AM

lol. A pomeranian/chichuachua mix. My husband came up with that name Pomerhuahua. Not too sure on the 'correct' spelling.

Yes, it does indeed pop. Maybe will put it on next year's list. I don't know where I would put it but you never know what spring will bring, or more to the point, not bring.