Yippee Skippy, Ready for the flowers of summer!!!
We came from here:http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1390777/#new
Your Neck of the Woods 2015 Part 4
Hello! Marigolds I started from seed are starting to bloom, feels summery to me!
Spent the day with a friend, had a lovely time while Ric slaved away all day working on the patio. Really looking good. Oh I was slightly productive I came home with a new Water Lily......
That counts doesn't it I am improving the box pond. LOL
I have many things I planted from seed-that are growing well and are
in dire need to be planted in a bed. Baby steps...........Baby steps.............
I am really trying...So much else to do.
Spent 7 hours in my garden today---mowed..edged...swept everything up---
brought more things outside and put them on racks....Weeded as I went...
The whole thing is getting overwhelming....
Had the installers here yesterday (Thurs.) at 7:30AM to put in my storm door and
the 2 kitchen windows. That took 3 hours.
The couple days before this--I had to remove a lot of things so they could get to the windows-
including my big TV. Remove curtains..wash them, etc..Put them back...
Now they don't look right.....Need to get new kitchen curtains....
Yesterday and today--besides all the yard work--I was trying to put most things back
to bring things back to "normal"...Lots more to re-organize.....
Next Thursday--I will have 2 sleepover guests. Need to clean a bit and put a lot of stuff away
that I have tossed on the extra beds. Lots of winter clothes, for example...
And--so it goes......never an idle moment.....a lot to do all by myself.
Getting too old for all this....I can feel a level of indifference seeping into my gardening...
Mind over matter....Mind over matter.....I think i can.....I think i can...... :o..
G.
A couple years ago, Mike read me the riot act when I ran over a low profile cast iron urn at the edge of one of the gardens and did some damage to my car. He couldn't understand why I didn't see it, or remember that it was there. After all it had been in the same place for years, so what kind of non driving fool would do something like that??? Well, guess what... today he ran over the water garden container that holds my lotus. I jokingly read him the riot act, throwing out all the same things he said to me. Heck, the water garden container isn't even low profile... His response - he isn't the non driving fool that I am. Reason - he damaged the container, not the truck. Big difference in $s. I say hmphhhhhhhhhhh.
G, we cross posted. I always seem to be behind in all that I want to do too. The constant clutter control is overwhelming. I feel like I go, go, go until I finally am spent. I also say to myself that I am too old for this stuff, but I know I will be at it forever. At least we can say we are never bored LOL
Aspen, ROFLOL
Gita, Sounds like you have been very busy, how much work it is for you to have someone else come in and do work for you. I am sure it will all be lovely when it is done.
Holly-I would never trust anyone else....as i am still semi-able to do
for myself. Would you?
If I cannot continue--my garden will just revert to nature...such as it will be.
I have enough perennials that will keep it looking semi-decent--but also a lot of weeds
Gonna cross that bridge when I get to it....just hanging in......losing interst a bit in all
this plant stuff and gardening too. I have too much of everything....
Hmmm--wonder if i could ever live to see the day that i will stop propagating
everything--and collecting seeds from everything?
I wanted some tropical Milkweed this summer--but none of my seeds of it sprouted.
Bummer! They were pretty! I liked them! Even had a couple Monarchs come
and visit last year.... Gita
haha aspenhill!!.....reminds, me, was thinking of getting a couple of those reflective thin poles for my driveway. My driveway has an angle at the house, and if I don't hit it right, at night, it is dark father down and really hard for me to see where I am backing. Then I start into the grass, or...skkkritttcchhhh..into the Forsythia.
Gita, I share some of your feelings of "whelming" I just don't have the time for the same kind of garden nonsense I used to. Spinach is bolting, Do I spend an hour today trimming all those little leaves to salvage one pound of garden spinach? don't think so.
Gita, just a reminder for you that I will have Tropical Milkweed plants frm the cuttings I took last fall and this Spring by our Garden Party at Yehudiths! I'm glad you enjoyed yours last year. Your pics were great of that full container.
Sally, my middle of the night 5-6 hour paper route 7 days a week whelms the get up and go right out of me! Sure, I have all of the daylight hours in which to garden, yet accomplish little in my sleep deprived state. Most of what I am doing I guess could be called "sanity gardening". Don't know what the future holds...under someone else my yarden would change drastically! There are times when I could definitely use outside help. Would be great to get things done in one fell swoop rather than inch by inch or 'next year'. Sigh.
Sigh indeed!!!!!!!!!
I'm happy to report, my tropical milkweed that overwintered and looked sad, is bouncing back, planted in my most tropical bed along the driveway.
I found a must have plant; Geranium × oxonianum ‘Katherine Adele’. If anyone has one, I want a starter. They have a lot in BC Canada, but don't ship to the US.
Hmmm? I'm wandering if I can ship myself a Pringles can when we are in Vancouver. LOL
Confession---
I shipped plants to Canada once by declaring something else.
Someone on DG HAD TO have some cuttings of my camellia.
SO--I shipped a shirt-box-full of the cuttings and declared it as a shirt/blouse.
The box had almost no weight--as a shirt would have.
Glad it went w/o a glitch--or both of us could have been in deep trouble.
G.
Maybe ADR can get katherine Adele next spring... that's one Aspenhill & Yehudith & I want, also!
I'm digging up my hosta 'Francee' and replacing it with something blue and/or yellow. Please pm me if you're interested and I can bring it to yehudith's garden party.
Edit: Already taken! Yay!
Here's the thread to sign up to Yehudith's: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1395072/
She's about 45 minutes from Baltimore/Frederick, and right near me! :)
This message was edited Jun 6, 2015 3:28 PM
I have something else that I'll be bringing to yehudith's.
I have a 3 small all-green Japanese forest grass that I ordered from Santa Rosa. I don't know what I was thinking when I placed the order, because I only wanted the yellow variegated variety.
Edit: They've been claimed!
This message was edited Jun 6, 2015 9:20 PM
What a nice day. We took our necks to Great Falls Park in MD. Nice, clean and well used park. Mark got his Senior pass today.
There was music on the back porch of the historic inn/visitor center.
The locks were very leaky. I guess when I am that old I will be leaky too. Ceased operation in the 1920s. The canal was named Park property in 1961. That makes me older than the park!
Little red specks are kayakers. What a rush that must be!
This message was edited Jun 7, 2015 7:24 PM
I've always wanted to visit Great Falls. I can't imagine kayaking in those waters.
Sally, Looks like a lovely day and a great park. WOW on the Kayakers.
I would rather jump out of another airplane than be in one of those kayaks.
haha Robin! I would choose the kayak- NOT that I am considering it. I'd take my kayak to the canal. LOL.
There was a stand by the inn letting people borrow free donated bikes to ride on the towpath. Kind of good concept, but with so many pedestrians, we thought that was a bit risky. None of the bike riders were ringing their bells, they were frequently coming up alongside from behind....
There is a food concession and really nice picnic areas along the canal, lovely international crowd of visitors like many big national attractions I guess.
I'm with you Robin. No way you'd get me into one of those little boats going down those falls. The alternative of jumping from a plane is also terrifying but at least I wouldn't feel the splat if all went south.
Sally, if you get old and leaky, make sure to bring extra depends to the swaps.
David and I were on the VA side of the falls and saw at least 3 very experienced kayakers do the falls. Cannot imagine how one can control a kayak in that sort of situation and it was most impressive to watch. We go on ours in the Potomac, but not down there!
I would choose "none of the above", I like to keep my feet planted (heh heh) in the goodl ol' terra firma. I see no reason to be jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. ;)
My neck o' the woods has been in complete upheaval. Day after tomorrow DH and I hit the road (ROAD TRIP!!) to Michigan to see Mama and Grammy-in-law, so the last week and a half has been all sorts of prep. Took his truck to the mechanic for a check-up, took it to a car-audio place for a new sound system. I'm ASTOUNDED at how reasonably priced that stuff is now-a-days!! The installer mentioned a leak, so back to the mechanic it had to go... only to find out that differential fluid stuff has a "normal" over-flow thingamajig... nothing to worry about. Pheewww!!! Packing, prep, etc all day today. Sheeesh! I will work tomorrow and then hit the road early Friday. Wheeeeee!!!!! Really looking forward to seeing The Ladies... Grammy ain't kickin' as high as she used to (heck, at 95 years old it's no wonder!), and recurrent bouts with bladder cancer have hit her pretty hard. Wanna make sure to get all those hugs and kisses in while we still can.
Meanwhile, on the plant front; I've got 12 little baby tomatoes in various stages of maturity on my cherry tomato plant on the deck, and the blooms on the "regular" tomatoes out front are finally just starting to dry up. Gotta make sure to give 'em all a gooood loonnng soak before I hit the road.
Finally got buds on the Miss Manners Obedient plant - thank you again Pat and David!! I can't WAIT to see them fully bloomed!! The yarrows are really filling out beautifully (Hmmm, was it Robin or Terry I have to thank for those?). Got TONS of buds all over my Black Eyed Susan Day Lily; should be blooming wonderfully when we get home. Now, I just gotta pray for lots of rain while I'm gone. ;)
Speedie--Safe trip to you both! How many hours is it to Michigan? Never been there..
It is so nice--and so important, to see your Grammy before she "takes the trip"...
You won't regret it....
I hope you arranged for someone to check on, and water your plants?
Be safe! Love, Gita ♥
Speedie, Have a great time.
So we have a new neighbor, or maybe he hasn't moved in just moving thru. I my neighbor across the street got a good look and picture of the new neighbor yesterday morning on his way to work. Just 2 miles from our house, he is a big guy kind of dark and furry and cute. We've never had "his kind" in the neighborhood and I'm not too sure if I really want him moving in, hope he was just moving thru. You may have guessed it by now, Black Bear less then 2 miles from the house.
Thank you G and Holly. =) Ummm... no, I don't have any plans for anyone to check on/water the babies, but I'm hoping they'll be ok for just the handful of days I'll be out of state. I see quite a bit of rain in the forecast for while I'm gone, that makes me happy.
Holly, YIPES!! At first I was wondering how on earth your neighbor got the guts to take a pic of a potential new neighbor, I'd not be brave enough, they might think I was a weirdo! Now I understand... pretty sure a black bear won't mind a photo shoot. But still... YIPES! You be careful Young Lady!
Time for a ditty---it has been a while-hasn't it?
Holly's new Neighbor.
A BIG black bear!!
Oh my, Oh my!
Furry and scary
Please be wary
So close to home
You better take care!
Lots of goodies abound
With all the birds around
A feeder here--a feeder there
There's plenty of seeds to share!
Before you Guys know it
A Bed and Breakfast you'll be
A munch and a crunch
Will be the bear's lunch
And no more birds you will see....
G.
I was looking for a picture of my Schefflera Arboricola all cut back last fall.
All the way to the nubs. Maybe i did not take one?
Wanted to show you what it looks like right now. It re-grew in a blink of the eye.
1--By mistake--I clicked "print" on this beautiful Cleome bloom. It is totally ELEGANT!
2--Here is the Scheff. now.
3--Here is where my beautiful Hibiscus is at right now.Busy re-growing leaves...
Hoping i will see some blooms as well....soon?
ROFLOL Gita, how great love it.
Safe travels, speedie dear!!! Hugs and kisses galore.
Holly, maybe your new neighbor checked out realtor.com and decided it was a nice neighborhood.
Speedie, have a great trip! Get those hugs in :-) Mike's grandmother recently passed away at 103. There were summer family reunions and birthday celebrations, and we were lucky to have so many years with her and able to get those visits in. Have fun!!!
Sounds like a fun trip, speedie!
Gita, that cleome is fabulous!
That was a self-seeded one from the previous year.
I love the way the flowers always have different colors..
I am letting a bunch of the grow this year. Oh, woe be me next year!
Mostly in my raised bed and in that lost, forlorn bed by the fence.
Look at my picture again. Each of those slim pods holds 30-40 seeds.
the flowers keep traveling upward--and the pods form at the previous bloom site.
There are zillions of them as the plant gets taller and taller.
When the pods ripen--they turn a dull green. If you just touch it, they pop open
spilling all the seeds. I try to remove them in the palm of my hand.
I wonder if PREEN would keep them from germinating? Hmmm --it is not a weed...
but still a seed...
G.
Yes Gita, Preen stops pretty much everything from germinating. I don't use it in beds were I want plants to self sow.
Holly, thank you for mentioning that; I'd been considering Preening my Big Bed, but now I won't 'cause there are some things in there that I'd like to self-sow, if they can/will. Thank you! =)
Aspen, it is so important to have as many of those treasured memories as we can, huh? Funny, when Grammy wears her shades, she looks JUST like Maxine!! I'm really gonna have to get her a pair of bunny slippers and then take a pic! < =D
HUGS to you all!!
Hehehehe. Maxine. What a character!! Again, safe travels!
I was out in the yard early this morning and feared for my life!!! No it wasn't the new neighbor Black Bear it was Momma Wren. She has set up nest in my light post, where the light is attached it came a bit loose at the top and hangs down just enough for her to get inside and nest. This morning I started cleaning up all the daff foliage in that bed and she was not a happy Mother. She has been chattering at me for most of the last 1/2 hour and I was really wondering if she might just dive bomb me.
I can see the headline now....Gardener Flees For Life with a picture of the presumed perpetrator divebombing you. Hehehehe
Preen is almost a waste of time for me. I usually preen the Pyracantha hedge every spring but there are still a bunch of weeds that come up. I wonder if it'd be even worse if I didn't do it. Hmm..food for thought I guess. I have to go through it and RU all the weeds several times a season.