SPRING WEATHER IN YOUR GARDEN

It is trying to rain here but they are only calling for 20% today but it goes to 50% and then 60% for the weekend. Of course as I am off this weekend but will play outside in betweenrain showers. Kathy

Genna they look like BES for sure. I have scapes on my BES also. Look at what greeted me this morning. Going to post the poppy in the poppy forum. Going up to near eighty today and the rest of the weekend with scattered rain off and on. Have a great weekend everyone.

That is a really bright and cheerful poppy for sure Mike! What is the purple in the next to the last photo?

More rain predicted here for the weekend as well and the river is already well above flood stage.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

To me it is amazing how those red poppies look like red paper that is wrinkled. lol.

Mike I love the tall purple plant and the pretty Iris and Baptisia. Is that Purple Smoke?

Yesterday was actually 68 for a high it was so chilly in the morning I turned the heat on. lol. Today was in the 70's.

More Iris blooming, these are RING AROUND ROSY, CLEAR MORNING SKY, Belgian Princess, HARVEST OF MEMORIES, Awesome Alex.


This message was edited May 16, 2015 11:48 PM

Beautiful Iris!!!

Cloudy and rain forecast today again.

Raining here right now also, sure hope that it gets out of here soon as there are things that I need to do outside.

Gorgeous Iris indeed...... need that Awesome Alex - that is my oldest son's name! :)

Sprinkling here off and on with humidity thru the roof! But, I am trying to work outside because the chance of real rain increases as the day goes on. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Genna

Thank you Cindy!


Genna, for that I must break off a piece for you, it really is awesome!


Kathy, I need about a whole week outside!


I left out one of the name above so I will fix that one.

I actually could probably use 2 weeks outside but as we received more rain over night, I wont' get much done except maybe pull a few weeds. I did manage to get 4 planters fixed yesterday, done them in the house and put them outside in between rain showers.
Everyone have a great Sunday.

Kathy

It's been a rainy weekend. Which is fine with me. It was my working weekend. I have to work every other weekend. Supposed to go down into the 30's on Tuesday, I'm not thrilled about that.No scapes yet.

Gary

Ouch, the 30's?

I feel like I do nothing but pull weeds, I was out last time I was off, pulling weeds all day and barely put a dent into this mess!! Every year a new weed shows up and my DH mows them down and seeds go everywhere, like that Dead Nettle it has 23,000 seeds in each flower! I still deal with Oxalis and there is a weird white lily type flowers in the back and a new clump grows where ever a seed falls, also a purple ginger looking clump with purple flowers and a clump grows every where a seed falls. So roundup is no good I need to pick the flowers and make sure they do not sow their selves? All these are very invasive, what ever they are. The more it rains the more weeds I have. I think I will get more preen because I cannot do this full time. LOL.

Susan

Wow - 30....... that doesn't sound good for mid May. Is that normal in your area?

Susan, I can SOOOO totally relate to the weeds and grasses battle. I am way ahead on getting things cleaned up this year, but I can't hit my nutsedge or Bermuda stragglers with RU because of all the rain. It is either raining or the wind is blowing every time I have a chance to spray. I know that if I don't get them knocked back soon I will be starting all over....and I can't do that!

I weeded quite a big of my foundation bed over the weekend, but I got stung by a yellow jacket on the hand on Friday afternoon (right hand of course because I am right handed) and then was stung by an unknown something on Saturday on my right thigh. I didn't think that sting was going to be as bad as the yellow jacket sting but I was really wrong on that one. By the end of the day I had an enflamed area probably 3" across and swollen. Yesterday, even after taking liquid benedryl and being out for almost 12 hours, the enflamed area was about 7" and 3 times as swollen.

It rained here off and on most of the weekend, but Saturday morning I worked in light showers or between showers. It was fairly late in the day before the bottom fell out. Then yesterday I just worked in between rain showers but didn't accomplish nearly as much. I didn't feel good from the two stings and the humidity was thru the roof. Then when the sun would pop out between rain showers it was like being in a steam room. Did manage to dig up some daffodils planted several years ago beside our drive that have never done well there - so I dug them up and moved them to the front edge of a section of my foundation planting. Hopefully this fall, I can get some more ordered to take them the rest of the way.

Our normal last frost date is May 15.

Genna,
I am so very sorry to hear about you getting stung and twice at that. What a horrid thing to go through. I wish I knew of some good home remedies. Are you allergic? Sounds a lot worst than what I usually hear about. :( I do not like yellow jackets, do you have a lot of them? I saw on Pinterest that you can make traps out of soda bottles. I will try to find it for you, hopefully you can get rid of them mean ugly things.

http://www.prairiestory.com/2010/09/homemade-wasp-trap.html

I was lucky I got a chance two weeks ago to go out and spray but the clumps in the beds I have had to hand pull and there is lots more to do. Argh!

We also have had a lot of rain and wind off and on. Today was 92 and very humid, felt like 102. lol. I like to get out early when I am off and stay inside during the heat of the day and cook dinner, then all goes into the frig and I go back outside when things cool off. I must remember to be careful this year of the mosquitoes, they love me so much but the diseases they carry has gotten crazy and a new one just emerging from the Caribbean has mutated (Chikungunya virus) so I am doomed to live my life covered in bug spray. lol.

Has anyone else ever used moistened baking SODA to neutralize bee stings? It works great.

Now that you mention it, my Grandmother use to do that!


Genna, did you remove all of the stinger? I hope you are feeling better. :)


87° for today with a 60% chance of thunderstorms tonight.

I did use moistened baking soda on my hand - and it obviously did help a lot. I SHOULD have gone in immediately and attempted the same thing on my leg - but I was busy and it didn't seem nearly as bad as the other sting as far as pain initially ....so I didn't. I did use baking soda much later, but by then I think the poison or whatever you would call it had already spread way too much. I am MUCH better today thank goodness. Yesterday my thigh was so swollen I could barely get my jeans on for work - then every time I moved it was very painful. That entire area is still very tender, but it was only pink this morning instead of beet red and the swelling is down about half so I think I have finally turned the corner. I have never had this type of reaction - and since I am not exactly sure what stung me it is going to be difficult to know. Whatever it was - possibly a red wasp - had a large stinger because the initial hole was fairly good size and bleeding as soon as I looked at it. But, my husband and daughter both think I might need an epi pen if it happens again. I sure hope they are wrong because I live out in the country and we seem to have LOTS of wasps, hornets, yellow jackets etc. Then we also have lots of bumble bees and some honey bees as well....... could have been almost anything I guess. The good thing is that because I have been taking allergy shots since last July, I do at least have an epi pen in the house. The first sting was thru my glove so maybe that accounted for the extreme difference. The other one I bent over and probably "smashed" him against me. I thought because of that I would see it laying on the ground and could identify at least what it was - but I never saw anything.

More light rain last night and very foggy here this morning. They said we have a high likelihood of rain EVERY day this week. The river is already about 9' above flood stage already so we could really use a few days of drying out. But at least I don't think it is supposed to be heavy rains.......

Spotted another DL blooming as I was leaving for work this morning - look liked it had been rained on pretty hard, but I didn't have time to go see which one it was. Won't be long and they will be busting forth everywhere......

Hope everyone has a great day!
Genna

It was in the low 30's last two nights. Everything looks good though. Seedlings from last year have really bulked up. I expect to see a lot of new blooms this year.Most are 2 years old.

Has been in the 30's the last 2 nights here. Glad I don't have my garden planted yet.

Genna, it is good that you thought of the baking soda.


I have only been partially sting one time in my whole life. I remember stepping on a wasp when I was a child and I saw it trying to drive a stinger into my arch and I pulled him off my foot. I did not seem to have any problems, my mother did something to it. I have always been afraid of them ever since.


We are having some unexpected cool weather and got down to 60° (sorry, to the 30's people.) I had to put on a hoodie (don't laugh.) It is raining a little but I do not think it will last long, such a nice breeze and the cooler temps make me want to do some real work... well almost.

Well, I was stung a few years ago because the wasps were building nests in our porch posts - going underneath because we had them on a little aluminum platform to help prevent water wicking into the posts causing them to rot faster. Sounded like a great idea at the time until the wasp started going under the little stands and building HUGE nests inside the hollow part of the posts and there was NO way to get to them to kill them. But, year before last when we were preparing to move and painting the porch posts, we added some pvc molding at the bottoms of the porch post that cover the little stand and blocked out the wasps. Made them VERY mad to say the least. But, when they were still in the posts, I was walking down the porch one afternoon with shorts on and I had one sting me on the back of my calf. Guess he thought I got too close. :( But, other than that time, I probably had not been stung in 20+ yrs, maybe longer........ and to get stung twice in two days was a bit much!

It was sunshiny and VERY warm here yesterday. We have gotten used to the over cast skies I guess and real sunshine heated things up quickly! LOL..... today it has been raining all day.

Genna,

You sure have your share of bug problems. Thank goodness you got the PVC pipe, I know what you mean about them getting mad. We had one that thought this was his territory when I put up a fake nest he was buzzing and crawling all over it. He would not go away so I use that stuff you can spray from 16 feet away and put him out of his misery. lol. You are right, that has got to be it! They are protecting their eggs. That is a bit much getting stung twice in one day!

I had a female wood-bore lay eggs in my fence post last year so I went on line and read about their behavior. Then I went out at night and sprayed her and her nest real good. The following day I sprayed that foam stuff into the holes and the crevice between the fence post. Never saw her again, but her husband showed up in the spring looking for her. He ( the male) is the bully, he will fly into you to scare you but cannot bite you or sting you. The female can, she does it to protect her eggs. I hope I do not run into any this year.

We did have downpour yesterday afternoon, I forgot about the Hibiscus and the tender shoots got beat down, not as bad as last year but I pruned it some this morning, hope it does ok.

It is very nice day today, started off a little chilly at 55 but warmed up real nice to 73°.

We are going up in the seventies today. Getting some trees cut down today.
Genna, Susan was right it is Purple Smoke.
Time to go outside and get started. Ohhh, got my first bloom a couple days ago. Like Genna it was Black Eyed Stella. Will post some pics soon. Mike
P.S. Happy Memorial Day everyone. Genna be very careful outside.

What does a scape look like? LOL It has been glorious here the last two days. Daylilies are looking lush and happy.Not much besides annuals blooming now.Supposed to rain tomorrow and Monday which will make everything happy. Haven't had to water anything besides newly planted plants.

It was a beautiful day today, in the 70's and such a nice breeze!


Mike, what was the tall purple plant in your photo shoot, #4, maybe a tall phlox, it was almost as tall as your house. lol.
I am glad to hear you are getting some trees cut down, you can make room for more daylilies and they will get lots more sun!

OH!! I went shopping at Lowe's and got some knockout roses on sale and I saw these beautiful dahlia's so I HAD to get a few, eye candy for sure.


Have a nice Memorial Day everyone!

Susan, I would have brought that one home too. That tall plant was started from a seed mix. Comes back every year. Taylordaylily gave me a possible name last year. Some kind of Phlox I believe. I will look into it. It look taller than it is because of the spring in my legs (LMAO) as I got down to take the pic.
Can anyone tell me how many individual flowers are in the second pic? Wegelia Variegated. Pestasite Japonicus Variegated with hosta. Lady's Mantle soaking up the rain.
Gary it's only a matter of time before your scapes start to show. Susan a couple of the trees were cut down yesterday, mainly the one that I was most concern about. The light coming in now is something else. They will finish up on Tuesday if all goes well.

My first daylily bloom a few days ago.
Black Eyed Stella
Iris
Honeysuckle
Iris
Clematis

GENNA~ HOPE YOU ARE OK!!

Texas, eastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas and northern Louisiana. LOTS OF FLOODING!!


http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/flooding-hits-oklahoma-texas-more-bad-weather-way-n363871

I am ok! Thank you...... Lots of rain in our area, but thankfully no tornadoes or flooding - well, flooding, but not the flash flooding type!

My daughter and I were in Dallas for Saturday and Sunday and got into some torrential rainfall on Saturday evening. People on the expressway were driving 40 top speed - speed limit was 75, so that tells you there was a lot of water falling and on the road! But, thankfully we were headed to the hotel and made it in safely. Then later that night they had a LOT of water that fell and flash flood warnings went off on my phone all night - and we were under a tornado watch but thankfully no tornados there either! The next day we only had a few short showers to contend with and our drive home was dry which was very nice! The rain that had been in Dallas on Saturday night was falling at home on Sunday and they got a lot of water, but thankfully we were behind the storm enough that we had dry roads coming home. We had more storms and rain last night.......... they were calling for areas having 70 mph winds - we didn't have those where we live, but I can almost guarantee there was a LOT of damage and a lot of people without electricity where they did have that. We have had so much rain the past two months that it wouldn't take much wind to blow down a LOT of trees. Everyone is past ready to dry out a little...... then I overheard a woman from Barstow, CA in the elevator telling someone they have only had .19 of rain since the first of the year. I know she was wishing she could take a load of water back home with her! Too bad we can't just pipe some to them! I am sure we will be wishing for rain in a few months - but at the moment everything is waterlogged.

Sounds like a lot going on for you but I am glad everyone is ok and everything turned out good.

I know what you mean about being waterlogged, it rained her for two solid weeks before hurricane Isabel hit a few years back. The trees were water logged and had nothing to hold on to so they just blew over. Trees were everywhere!

*~*
We have been dry all week and no chance of rain till Sunday, I am using sprinkler for stuff I planted. lol. Been in the upper 70's lower 80's, nice week, I have enjoyed the breeze too. I have buds on some of the daylilies, SONG WRITER looks like it is about to bust! Here are some pics:

1- a container garden made out of sedums and yucca 'colorguard'.
2- a big hosta I transplanted. 'Victory"
3- Blanket Flower~Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun'

I need to get back outside, just waiting for this Tylenol to kick in because my back is killing me. I dug about 30 holes the day before and dug up 25 daylily clumps. Yesterday, I could barely walk and my ankles were swollen. Still swollen now but not hurting, just my back. Argh!

Have a great Tuesday!

That variegated Weigela is absolutely breathtaking Mike! I have never seen one so loaded. I bought one back in March while I was in Louisiana - sure hope it looks like that someday! Love that purple phlox too! Mine won't be blooming for probably at least a month so that one must be a really early phlox. Do you know the name of that blue clematis? It is such a dark blue.....

Susan, I can NEVER go to Lowe's without coming home with something!! It is a good thing the closest one is an hour and a half away! :) Love that dahlia as well. My knockout roses have been loaded this spring, I guess they love all this rain. I want to add some of the smaller trailing roses in some places but haven't gotten that done. I did add a few climbers this year and hope they eventually get large enough to bloom. Right now they are tiny.

I had planned to pick up a Major Wheeler honeysuckle while in Dallas!! There was a nursery there that had it and another one that I was interested in. We found it on Saturday evening and the plan was to get back there Sunday before they closed but we didn't make it. :( No one around here carries it - Susan, does yours bloom all summer? or just in the spring? I have been told they bloom all summer which I thought would be a nice addition.

I have several DLs blooming and others about to bust...... the rain is messing up some of the blooms but here are a few I took yesterday evening.
Zinfandel FFO, New Ways to Dream, Warriors Spear FFO (and first bloom on this one for me); Web of Intrigue FFO, Harvest Sky

Genna nice blooms. The Clematis is Multi Blue. Major Wheeler blooms till the frost get here.
Susan, Pestasite Japonicus is a fast spreader with roots running to and fro. LOL! It need it's own large area. I would say at least a 5x5 foot area.

Last two days have been glorious here. Near 80 and sunny supposed to cool down friday though. About an inch of rain fell Tuesday and watered in all of my new plants really well. No new daylilies yet this year.

Thanks Mike, it should bloom similarly here.... I do NOT understand why the nurseries in this area don't carry it. I can't even find one in Little Rock - which seems crazy to me for something that blooms all summer! I will have to add that multi blue clematis to my list - I really like that color!


I knew I should have put out my Roundup last night - the skies were mostly clear and there wasn't a wind. But my husband kept telling me that it was going to rain, so I didn't put it out. It didn't rain - and didn't rain during the night but now the sky is black and it is POURING......
:( I REALLY need to do some spraying!

Hi, all! Just getting back to DG after a chaotic almost two years... we've had nothing but rain, storms, tornado weather, flooding, & more rain... we lost a gazebo and suffered a number of broken pots... it's rained enough that it's killed my hollyhocks, which makes me sad bc they were just like the ones my great grandmother had outsize her kitchen window when I was a child. :( I'm pretty sure se is my irises are hating it, too. However, several sAlvaged daylilies are showing buds, one (any ideas on ID in pic?) is blooming... lantana & jasmine & hostas are doing pretty well...

It was great reading how different everyone's weather was!

Mike, the variegated Weigela is beautiful, reminds me of one I planted at the old house, I used one to replace a very old boxwood that we had to dig up, well actually we did the rope and bumper thing. lol. I do not think mine was variegated, but it did have pink flowers but only lasted one week, no matter it was only 5.00. :( To me a variegated shrub looks great even with no flowers at all. lol. I think I will pass on the Pestasite Japonicus, If it is vigorous there in your zone then it will be crazy here!

*~*
Genna, I only live 5 minutes from Lowe's and Walmart and 10 minutes from Home Depot. lol. So much for city life.
My Major Wheeler does seem to fizzle out when summer gets here. I moved mine to part shade and I did not have as many flowers, also the flowers were not red. I remember before they started off red and then changed to orange shades. I planted it for the hummers. I just happened to have the lattice there, it was to block some of the sun off the porch, I also wanted a vine one day and ended up choosing this one after reading about many. I cannot have anything invasive, too much work!


*~*
hostages, I was hoping for some rain this evening, we have been all week with no rain and I planted a lot of stuff. I must use the sprinkler everyday because it has been in the 80's everyday. Hopefully soon!

Susan I understand.
Elsieme, glad to have you back. Sorry to hear about the bad weather in your side of the country. I heard that your drought is officially over. Not sure what you plant is but it is a nice one. Kinda remind me of Border Music
http://allthingsplants.com/plants/photo/137543/

Another inch of rain today. A neighbors tree came down on the power lines. I was without power for about three hours The crew who checked on me had to tighten up the line going into my house. The guy on the ladder could see the whole backyard. He told the guy that was with him "you should see all of the hostas!" Everything is looking really lush so far this year.