It's 4 minutes after midnight, so I get to start the July 2014 thread. It's the birthday month in my family with more days in the month that our family celebrates a birthday than any other month of the year! No kidding. : )
July 2014 Hotter than a firecracker!
Our family is full of july birthdays, sister; brother, niece, now great niece! All in the first 2 weeks. Hope eveyon survived the storms without damage.
Yes man oh man did we get the storms... several blew thru wimdy massive rain, lightening and thunder. Lots of folks have no power. So glad... knock on wood we did not lose power.
No damage here. All the super cells merged before hitting here.
Green, the blueberries are hardy to zone 4. They just like acid soil more than anything which also makes the berries sweet. I've had mine in pots the whole time. I bought 2 new ones last year but I must have gone too big on the pots too soon because they didn't make it. I have 2 others in pots that I've had for several years. Yields small for the most part but that has been lack of knowledge on my part. This year I bought Espoma Soil Acidifier and it made the berries very sweet according to my mom. I will put it in the ground when I manage to get them planted.
Well, hot, but I don't know about a firecracker, firecrackers are hot! Maybe it'll get that hot later this month, I'd like to go swimming sometime this Summer! It got stormy here for a little while too last evening. Gary Lezak, the Kshb chief meteorologist said there was an EF-1 tornado in Liberty, Mo., (about 15 mi. north of here). - http://www.kshb.com/weather (it's the first thing he talks about in the video). EF-1 is weak as far as tornadoes go but it'll still muss your hair, break tree branches and tear up your shed or lose you power.
I got that Thornless Honeylocust ready to go with pepper tomorrow.
A piece of my dead Bamboo made a good stake for the tree. - pic #1
Does anyone know what this is? I planted it with what was Purple Coneflower seeds. I mean that's what it came from was a Purple Coneflower but I'm quite sure that is yellow! - pics #2 and #3
All the babies, makes me want to be a baby again!
Will
This message was edited Jul 1, 2014 9:52 PM
Storms bypassed us and we didn't even get any rain! I was hoping for a nice shower. I was out until dark removing suckers from the tomato vines and tying them to the trellis. The lightning bugs were out and I've been seeing more damsel flies. Also, the cicadas in the maple tree grew quite loud. At sundown, the button bush goes from being covered with butterflies and bees to moths. Anytime of night that I turn on the back porch flood light to let the dogs out, the button bush flowers are covered with moths. Here's what the button bush looks like just in case you've never seen one.
Morning all, Will I believe that is a wild yellow coneflower. http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/prairie/plantx/yl_coneflowerx.htm
Well yesterday was quite fun! My niece had a baby girl on her birthday no less...LOL The baby came at 12:14 in the morning, barely made it to the 1st but she did. I maybe prejudice but I think she is a beautiful baby girl.
Then I went shopping at Heartland, gosh that is great place which I could afford it more often. I bought a couple of succulents one named Stepelia variegate, the other I will have to wait until it blooms to know which won't be long it has buds, a hardy hibiscus called Fleming eruption with 10-11" hot pink very overlapping flowers can't wait until it blooms, a great daylily called primal scream LOVE it, a white dautra to put in my barrel in the city planter cause my other plant got broken off, and a small rake on sale for 3.00, didn't think you could buy anything for 3.oo at the nursery...rofl
Yeah, that definitely looks like it. Wow, a yellow Coneflower, how cool is that?!
I love Heartland Nursery too. I go all the way out to Suburban Lawn and Garden for the little cactuses, they have an awesome selection too. I think it was February or March I got a small variegated Shefflera at Heartland and a Creeping Wire Plant there, I still have those two I love them. I potted the Wire Plant into a clay pot just yesterday, it has probably doubled in size since I got it. - That's a Ponytail Palm on the right and that Anthurium I was asking about on the left.
Oh, I got both those plants for 3 something there. For the big bucks (when I get them..lol) I go somewhere that the profit margin isn't known to be too big, but even alot of nurseries are generally close enuff on price with the big boys anymore. Some nurseries can be funny on a nice dead plant return policy and genuinely grafted Japanese Maples is still a crapshoot at some nurseries.
Congrats to your niece Joyce, pretty baby there. Sideways picture like that you just want to put hamburger buns on it like on Jack The Giant Slayer..jk..lol!
Will
Had to laugh hotter than a firecracker, last check at 4 it was 63! Will you could almost join the polar bear club jumping in the pool today...rofl.
Plants look good Will. The nursery had several different color Anthurium s there.
Geehz moved everything under the pergola and mowed. Then start going wacko rearranging things. Plants back there are looking pretty good tho.
I dug up about 40 purple coneflowers and stuck them in 2 huge pots. Need to get the broke down to sell at the plant sale or give away, or swap. They were spreading into areas I didn't want them.
Oh I don't know if I told you all I scored 2 reblooming lilacs for 3.00 each! One of them is blooming. Got them at shopco our little walmart type store.
That's an awesome deal on the lilac! We had ours for half off and they flew outta here at that price. lol
Hehe! Definitely not pool weather! The Polar Bear Club doesn't appeal to me! What I heard is it takes about 2 weeks for a sizeable pool's water to warm up. It's probably warm IN the pool but who wants to get in a pool when it's this cool in July?!
Thanks happ. Yeah, that's a good deal on reblooming Lilacs.
I'm finally finishing repairing this red shed. I need to get that done, it's holding up an incredible lot of stuff. After I repair the shed then I need to paint it. I got an old window to put in it. Bushes, flowers and Hostas and Coral Bells to plant all around it. Today I went a bit crazy on sweeping and hosing back there, just trying to do some manual labor, it's free so why not do it I guess?!
The first pic is a clearance plant I got at Home Depot yesterday. That is what I'm repairing the shed with underneath it, half inch treated plywood. The plant was $5 on clearance, it looked neat and had a cool pot.
You have a calla lily. Bring in before frost. lol
happ, beautiful gr-d and this is only the 2nd day of July. It will get hotter.
This was a perfect day weather wise. Cool, sunny, and a gentle breeze. I love this time of year! I came home from work and went straight to the garden picking cukes, blackberries, and pole beans.
One more day and the 3 day holiday weekend begins. Woohoo! I had to help my mom find homes for 5 roosters and Saturday I'm helping to deliver them to their new homes. Should be interesting.
Shortleaf - try this link to find out more about your yellow coneflower
http://thewildflowersanctuary.com/Wildflower_Sanctuary/Yellow_Coneflower.html
happ - Found out via FB that my mom is a great great grandmother again, I think this is the fifth one now. A lot of July births in my family also (including me).
My snap peas are putting on blossoms again - they're just going to tease me until the heat finally arrives to kill them. Harvesting broccoli, kohlrabi, and onions, cucumbers blooming but no little cukes yet, same with winter squash, got my first tomato (and first BLT of the season) but none bigger than a golf ball on the other plants. Peppers and eggplant blooming. Pole beans are growing, but that's about it. I always have better luck with bush beans, but thought I'd try the pole beans one more time this year.
It's the Thursday that feels like Friday since I'm off tomorrow. The air is nice and cool for a July 3. I did pick 3 ripe cherry tomatoes, but the Amish Paste and Mortgage Lifters haven't ripened yet. I did set them out late because of the unseasonable cool wet weather we had this Spring.
I'm still harvesting kale and collards, so have some type of fresh greens to cook up.
I have to go & put on my pot of coffee and let JoJo outside. He's wimpering & nudging my arm while I'm trying to type. LOL
If I don't get back on by tomorrow, Happy Independence Day!
Gosh Cyb, I can almost taste that ripe tomato, lol....mine aren't that far yet, I planted late. May have to buy one. Well sadly the only thing I got planted was cantaloupes and tomatoes, and just a couple of peppers. I am going to do a fall garden tho. This will be my first try.
Will it seems all I do is clean up one mess or another everyday. Feels good to look back and see it nice, but if I look forward I find another mess..rofl Still have gardens that need to be weeded but going to help dh with his project today, well atleast 1/2 the day. Should be a good day for hard labor tho.
See ya all later!
A Calla Lily eh? I was hoping it was some kind of Arrowleaf Plant. The lady at HD said Calla Lily too, (the tag was covered up by the clearance sticker). Just what I need to add onto the 40 or so houseplants that I already have! lol
Thanks Cyb! I was trying to deduce where that Wildflower Sanctuary comes from, it's Batavia, Illinois., interesting site though. I was looking at volunteering there but I'm not going to Chicago to volunteer unless it's a hotdog stand! I'm still puzzled how a Yellow Coneflower got in my Purple Coneflowers. I've never had Yellow Coneflowers and I've never got any seed for them. It's happened to me before in with my Purple Coneflowers but I thought it might be a weed then, I pulled it before it got flowers then.
Yeah, that's how it is here too happ, everything will be covered by dead Mimosa flowers again in 1 day! Labor planned again here today too, dangit! lol
This message was edited Jul 3, 2014 8:21 PM
well, I was lost, but now I am found! You all have been busy with plants. Your little niece is adorable, Joyce. I am at work, so sneaking in to wave..
Well hello Debra. Nice to see you hope your day at work is going well. Where do you work?
I work at Scholfield Honda ( it is a car dealership)
I can't wait until my button bush finally blooms, it is just a baby, maybe next year.
I almost thought your wild coneflower was a mexican hat, Will.
Counting down the minutes til closing, thought I'd announce I have picked almost a bushel of greenbeans, about a sack of yukon gold taters, and 5 large maters, but lost all my snap peas, and the squash, dang it.
I get 3 whold days off this weekend, so I am going to be pulling weeds, babysitting my 3 weekold granddaughter while momma and sisters swim, and eating BBQ. Looking forward to it.
Oh Debra sounds like you are going to have a great 4th weekend. all be safe!
Will look at this odd plant I picked up, don't think I showed it to you before.
Like you Debra I will be playing in my garden it was a beautiful day today to play. I am seeing baby grasshoppers, yuck.
After running errands today I went outside and planted 2 of my older blueberries. My new ones are all in pots still and will be til next year.
My maters are looking good, including the ones I got from the RU. They have exploded in growth and are catching up with the big ones pretty quick. I have several pepper plants working on some peppers for me too. Those I can't wait for!!
I'll get pics as soon as I get done eating my corn here. lol
Blueberries newly planted and super fragrant Red Dutch lilies. I need more lilies like these.
Hi Debra, Amazing Grace lyrics there. Haha! A Mexican hat! I have one of those, I wear it on sunny days, a sombrero!
Yeah, those leaves are funny shaped, happ, I got something like that at the RU, Debra said it's a Cutleaf Coneflower. - pic #1
Pretty Lilies, pepper. I like going down the Lily aisle at Home Depot, the Lily fragrance is strong!
It's mostly Asiatic Lilies there.
The backyard here is fragrant and I only have about 11 Tree Lilies flowers, the fragrance is strong though, a Tree Lily's flower is huge.
I am alot closer to finishing repairing the old red shed here. You know that old saying "measure twice and cut once"? Well, I "measured once and cut once"! For the first time in my life I messed up bad, by 2 inches bad! When they say you "measure twice and cut once" they mean it! lol
You see the left end where the short one is? That was supposed to go all the way to the top but no I had to cut it wrong! Now, instead of only 2 pieces of plywood to do that side, I may have 4 pieces to patch in there (I may fill in that rectangular gap up in that corner). I thought you were supposed to get smarter with age?! Here it is now. -
Will
Hay! Now I know what my lilly is that someone sent me in a group swap.... fragrant dutch lilly, yay!
Gosh Will, that shed is adorable.
First banana pepper and the lima and pole beans have topped their teepees and are wrapping around it now. A bumper crop of blackberries already & the cukes are coming in fast, so I'm going to be making pickles and relish this week. It's amazing how fast plants grow outside this time of year! The trombone squash has really taken off.
JW, you must have an amazing veggie garden. Maybe you could find time to post some pics of the garden & baby?
I got this idea to do something tomorrow for the first time. I'm going to grill shish kabobs. I hope that they turn out ok.
Weather has been gorgeous here and suppose to be nice all weekend with storms possible Sunday night. These pics are from last summer.
mmmmm kabobs! we are having lamb burgers and some kind of brats...
cool beetle pic and what kind of flutterby is that? we been trapping bunnies, and releasing them in the park..
Just a bean patch, and tater patch, maters n peppers is all we have here..
Those Dutch Lilies ARE pretty.
Thanks Debra, it's a good shed but it was rotted in some places, (I'll post an old photo of it, it looked BAD). - pic #1 Stray cats have been getting in it recently and eating wildlife in there. I've seen stray cats a couple times go under a wall or under the door. They won't be able to get in it when I'm done. I'm tired of finding squirrel tails and smelling decomposing something or others, (probably a squirrel, I don't see them). I've never seen a cat actually catch a squirrel but maybe they get lucky sometimes! Debra, you should see the Pink Coneflower seeds sprouting! - pic #2 You gave me some seeds of them at the RU and I put them in this one pot. I've never heard of a Pink Coneflower, (that doesn't mean there isn't one). Could it be Pale Purple Coneflower (Echinacea pallida)? - http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=pale+purple+coneflower&FORM=HDRSC2
If it is pink or Pale Purple, I have really scored on Coneflowers. I would have 4 different types of coneflowers. Before the Roundup I only had one type, the regular Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea). I have Purple, Pink, Yellow and Cutleaf Coneflowers. That's them on the left in the pic.
On the right in the pic is the American Cranapple seeds you gave me, they aren't being as vigorous yet. A White Coneflower, how pretty too. I've never seen rabbits around here, the stray cats musta ate them years ago.
Nothing to compare to all the flowers here , posting so I can read and watch along ! lol
Here's a few so far here .
All very pretty ju! Is that a Pale Purple Coneflower on the end?
I lost a lot of Magnus coneflowers due to the astersyellows virus, but my new crop consists of natives, picked from the country here, and purchased very small plants elsewhere.
I'm glad your seeds germinated, look at kansasnativeplants flower gallery..I have some dark reds now out front, and a pale pink which is very large.
Last pic is a dead and put in trash kind of sick plant with astersyellows..r
Hi ya Will Hardly compares to most everyones here previous , Wow ! do you all get the blooms ! That is the seeds that it came from , only it has looked as it does now for nearly two weeks ,
If it does not change it is a mutant of Purple ..
First two White Echinacea seedlings .
3 The Purples are Back ,,
Oh ,my your yellow lilly is to die for. And I love your zinnias. Mine are puny this year.
you need a small clump of these to put with your singles..here is my daughter and my new grandaughter a few weeks ago, her name is Emma Sue. She is my favorite flower right now.
whats wrong with my zinnia? It looks burned or something.. too much rain? last pic is the double orange day lilly.. you need a clump of these.. LOL anyone? I am thinning out..
Today my little brother turned 61. I havn't seen him for about 8 years now. He sounds like he is fine, tho, on the phone.
Joyce, the two tomatoes from you are getting huge and we can't wait! Most of the things I got from you are still in their pots except the pg onions. They are kinda together in a larger pot.
I brought home some sedums from her, and have no clue what to do, afraid to move them out of their pots..
I moved the quince to the front. I may need to move it out away from the house a bit, yet. I will wait until fall, it is about to turn hot and dry here. Betty, I love the little bird shot you got up there. I like to see wildlife around us, like you do.
I brought home some hostas, and some other things from Bonnie's ( AuntB).Sedums , and cool suculents,from her, and have no clue what to do, afraid to move them out of their pots..
She has lost a lot of plants, and has sold a heck of alot more of her plants. I helped her transplant some things she is keeping. I will miss her place up there, she is moving north to Kansas City.
She is leaving her beautiful hydrangeas in ground, it is killing me..
Still in the hospital there I see, glad to hear they're doing well, cute kids. Here I was a while back, (this was BEFORE I was dropped on my head..lol That was when my mom actually liked me!).
I was 5 months old there and I think my mom was 20 or 21.
Thanks for the offer on the Lily's Jw.
Did you try the Black Hollyhock seeds ju?
JW thank you about the Daylily only it does not compare to your blooms still , really ,,
The little one in th pic Emma Sue Walks away with the pretty though Awwww ,, sooo cute
I don't know about the Zinnia , it does look like sun scald , I don't know how that is possible though ,, sun and heat lovers those are .
I have more than I can handle JW . I will get a few to you shortly ,, your are a very generous Granny Ma !!!
Will I have two in a pot , I missed them is why they are there. possibly one in the garden , last falls did not survive .. how are yours ?
Here is the pink one , what else ? right ? lol
Will, you were a cute little baby boy and your mom is beautiful. Emma Sue was Born on June 10th. They are home and doing fine, but Momma misses her lake time. I volunteered to babysit for an hour or so while she goes swimming at my sons place. Hope that works out.. kinda nervous..
Thanks Ju, I am thinning out, so really I have more than I can handle, and Joe certainly reminds me of that everyday. LOL
I hafta move the cut-leafs out front, will put them on the south east corner, maybe the southwest corner, just gotta get them out from in front of my daises. poor things. everything behind the cut-leafs are stretching out to get a dab of sun out there. moving them to the corners with the Jerusalem artichokes.
Thanks Debra.
ALL the foliage for some reason on my Black Hollyhocks has turned crispy and shriveled away.
I never did know what caused it but they are growing new leaves from the ground so the show might still be on for August or Sept. I may have posted this pic but now there are no leaves on that one, I think some new little green leaves are coming though. I'm wondering when the black is gonna wear off of them. Hollyhock seeds have always been one of the most reliable seeds that I've ever grown.
That's a pretty pink Hollyhock there too. I bought 2 Yellow Hollyhock roots a few months ago and the suckers haven't even broke the surface of the dirt (I planted them in April)!
Here is some of my 'Satisfaction' Lily Trees. This is them at the Brecks website, I think the satisfactions are bottom right in their pic. - http://www.brecks.com/fullsize/664/113
Just fyi, I have 'Purple Prince's and they don't look like their photos of it..lol
Will
JW Yes indeed, a clump of the Cutleaf over ran one of my rows of Zinnia .. You do though , lol The Artichoke Sunchoke and Cutleaf Coneflowers , Get to big For Their Spaces and Neighbors !!!lol
They make pretty good mulch when other plants fail though ,, I eat the roots of some of the Sunchokes (I take that to mean it looks like their going to live ,lol )?
These are possibly Ironweed , not an easy plant to manipulate , late from wintersow
