Your Neck of the Woods 2015 Part 4

Pat (encalg) is responsible for the choice of cache pots as well as their arrangement, all the credit is hers

Good work, Pat! I was so focused on the pots when I first looked at the photos that I didn't notice all of the flowers. You've got quite a lot of nice blooms in spite of all that rain!

Thank you. What an awesome shot of your daughter. I'd find it hard to watch where I was going with such a beautiful view to the right and all the flowers to the left.

The new buckeye is looking great with its flower spike. David completed the shade bog garden construction while I was away, so it will soon get in the ground. Without his hard work growing the plants and keeping the deck garden supplied with ones about to bloom, all we'd have up there would be empty but color-coordinated pots. The rain really messed up the mass of Nigella blooms.

Pat--I see my little Fig plant in picture #4 above.

If you pot it in a bit bigger pot--it will grow bigger....so I have found out...
g.

Boy am I pissed....
I have had sometime almost every day this week and today I have nothing scheduled and had a whole list of garden chores to do. First thing I did was go out side and pick up a heavier than I thought pot and threw out my back. GRRRRR

Oh, Holly, I'm sorry! I've had more "down time" than I'd like this week also, thought I'd get so much done while Joyanna was away... it is what it is. I sure hope your back gets better quickly and that you can find a pain-free position to rest while you heal!

Oh Holly, that sucks :( Hope it gets better quickly.

Oh no, Holly, hope you recover quickly.

Lots of DG folks come to mind as we look at our garden. Beautiful blooming plant from Donner in photo 2, lower right.

This message was edited Jul 3, 2015 8:50 PM

Sorry to hear that Holly!!

Ric's meds to the rescue. I took one of his pain pills and was out working all afternoon. Not what I had planned, easier work but got a lot of work done in the secret garden. I weeded the Nursery Bed in the Secret Garden and moved some potted plants over from the utility area. Separated out and potted up Baby Voodoo Lilies. Potted up some of the self sowed Corydalis lutea to give to a friend. Weeded one side of the bed at the side of the house and planted a few coleus and mulched. This was an area that had been ignored since earlier this spring when it was cleaned up for the iris bloom. All the blue and white garden art was still sitting in a crate waiting to be put out in the bed.

Talk about bouncing back! Very nice. Glad you got to enjoy the day.

Got DS to trim the euonymus hedge (needs a major whack back soon but it is blooming and smells nice). I dug around some more where the gutter's been flooding and need to rein in the Campanula 'Elizabeth' (good luck, right?)

Seems like with all the rain, someone within a couple blocks is always mowing their lawn. Lot of firecrackers right now.

My youngest Niece (Silvia) and fam. from NJ is traveling home from the BEACH in SC
9 hours just to get to my place! They wanted to sleep over here to take a break.
Silvia and Hubby, Kurt and their 3 children. Not tiny ones--

I have been fussing and straightening my house a bit. fixing all the beds for 5 people
prepare something for breakfast--they will eat and run.

Been tiring. That is what happens when you do not keep a clean, straight house.
Visitors come--and it is crazy-busy.

Their GPS says they should arrive shortly after midnight. it is now 10: 15 PM.
Waiting.....waiting.....trying to keep my eyes open....G.

Some ditsy lady t-boned me today as she was backing out of her parking space at the Meadows Farms. She was in a huge Ford Expedition and destroyed the whole passenger side of my car. What a pita.

AWWW--Terri! Seems when it rains.....it pours.

Hope you get a good "FIX" or reimbursement from your insurance Co.
Is it just the doors?
...what is a "pita"....? never heard that term before.
G.

Gita, Your house is lovely, bet your guests are going to be weary and very happy for clean beds when they get there.
Teri, Hope you were not hurt, sounds like it was car damage, some of those big vehicles can really do some damage. Ric got hit by a Hummer a few years ago, came real close to totaling my car. Ric was lucky other than being a bit sore from getting jerked around a bit he was fine.

Acronym - pain in the ....

Pain
In
The
A....

I am fine, just in a foul mood. Saying pita is as close as I can come to swearing on DG LOL.

Tomorrow has got to be a better day. My SIL is here spending the night, and she will be helping me out in the garden most of the day tomorrow. At least I got the shrubs I went to the nursery for in the first place and will get them planted. The mature shrubs I had in the front of the house didn't make it through last winter, and it sure is a big empty spot now. I got a rhododendron 'P.J.M' and an Exbury Azalea 'Western Lights' - both pretty nice size and 25% off.

I love your secret garden decor, Holly. Your grandkids must have lots of fun in there!

Aspen, so sorry to hear about your accident, but I'm glad you're okay.

Well--"PITA" is also a bread--right?

Yes! Holly--your little "secret garden" looks like Faeries should live there...

Re my house--I am letting my Niece and her DH sleep in my bed--use my bathroom.
and one of the things I had to do was remove anything I will need as i am sleeping
downstairs and using the bathroom there..
from hair stuff, toothbrush, hair spray, need clean underwear, an alarm clock, etc..
Lots of little things you would never think of.

MAN! They better get here soon! I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open.
You all know--I DO NOT usually post this late.....

I'm hanging in...hanging in....G.

Oh man, Terri that's bound to put anyone in a bad mood! The shrubs sound like good therapy.

I read something interesting about how few accidents the Google cars have compared to the average when people drive.

I'm spooked about pulling in next to someone else when we all arrive to work in the morning. One pulls in, gathers stuff and opens the car door just as the next pulls in on her driver's side... eek

It's raining here, but AccuWeather says it's supposed to stop in 5 minutes. I hope it does so that we can all get outside - especially you, Aspen, so you can get your digging therapy!

Haha Muddy, I am watching the same rain shower an hour later! I was about to suggest to Mark that we take the dog and plant a couple more things in the field. Only trouble is, the existing growth is getting so high, its hard to plow through it to places that are thin enough to plant in.

Sally, you need a weed whacker like the cordless one Gita scored for me! I've been using it like a power machete. At Jim's suggestion, i rigged a strap for it, so I can use it easily. Thanks, Gita!

Raining here also, we are headed to a picnic later this afternoon.....I think???
Terri, sounds like great plants we have a PJM Rodie and just love it.
The Secret Garden is getting to be a fun spot. The joke for years was the secret of the Secret Garden was that there was no garden there. LOL I have been working on it for the last couple of years and it is starting to come together.
You walk thru the clipped yew to get in from the front and everyone just loves this entrance. It is a small area at the side of the house. North wall is the clipped yew East wall is the side of the house South wall is the fenced/gated dog yard and the west wall is a variegated box wood hedge with arbor to the Veggie Garden and GH.
The variegated boxwood isn't quite filled in and tall enough to quite call it a hedge but it is getting close. I think it is about 3ft and when it gets to 4ft we will keep it at that level, so you get the feeling of a solid wall but with a view into the Veggie garden. There are lilac bushes, large trellis with climbing hydrangea, iris, pot grouping, small trellis with variegated euonymus, English boxwood in the bed at the side of the house. The raised nursery bed is a work in progress when the rest of the blue bottle and bricks get put in I want to put a topiary in there. I also have more stepping stones to make for that area. When it is done I want a small formal garden feel.

that would do it critter! but we went and found a small place along the path to wedge in a Rudbeckia and a New England aster. The small fine sedge that invaded my garden in one area, and looked interesting until it started to spread, got flung into the drainage area, where I'm sure it will enjoy good moisture. And it was full of seeds. Thanks Mark for the softball throws of muddy-rootballed sedge.

Holly your secret garden will be wonderful, it's already getting wonderful.

This five minute shower turned into an hour and a half of steady rain so far, here.

boy am I whipped, two wheelbarrow loads of dirt out of the front to the back, and some roots from the holly that was hear here, and now we will never get another gutter overflow to test my drainage plan.
I found two pieces of brick which reminded me, I have battled this many years ago too.

My goodness you guys, there's all sorts of things going on here!! Holly, I'm hoping that your back is feeling better, but if I had to guess I'd say it is just from reading about what you got done in your Secret (there is no garden) Garden. Hahahahaa, that's a funny secret!! It sure looks great!

Terri, how are you feeling? Yikes that sure is scary! I'm so sorry to hear that your car took such a hit, but was glad to see you say that you're fine. I tell ya, when I go shopping anywhere, this is the reason why I park faarrr away from anyone and I back my truck into the parking space; no chance of accidentally backing into someone that way.

Sally, moving dirt from front to back? And, why will you never get another gutter overflow to test your drainage plan? Did you get those gutters cleaned out too? WOW, I'd be pooped too!

I got the lawn mowed this morning 'cause I'd been anticipating this rain that you guys got. Never got the rain, but it sure is nice that the grass is mowed. :) I also got the tomato plants out front cleaned up a bit, so the sunlight can get to the fruits better... did a little weed-pulling out back, pinched off the blooms from the Coleus out back also. Came in and after showering I decided that I just HAD to test out a new-to-me bread recipe from King Arthur. It sure looks great, just gotta wait 'til it's cool enough before I can slice it.. ooohhh it's so hard to wait, it smells soooo good!! =D

I'd tried to take some pics of the Miss Manners (thank you David and Pat!!) that are blooming, YAY!!! But, my iPod was doing something really stupid and I couldn't get it working right until after I'd come in and was no longer "presentable for human viewing". ;) The Day Lilies are blooming like mad out there, and my rescues from work are really taking off.. pics tomorrow!! :)

Went out today to a picnic with friends and family. Had a really nice time despite the not so nice weather. Ric on the other hand stayed home wasn't up to a picnic today but I did bring him home a nice big plate of food.

The rain didn't stop in 5 minutes as predicted (of course), but it didn't last too much longer...and tomorrow's supposed to be sunny. Yay!

Wow, that view out there in Utah is amazing...just catching up here. Seems like a lot going on with everyone. Glad Holly was able to get back out there in the garden. This rain killed the whole day for getting outside in the yard. Every time I thought it'd stopped, it started misting again. I did get a coat of paint on the outside door trim painted though and a small shelf put up in the garage.

WOW!!! Beautiful pic, Muddy, of your daughter.

Holly, hoping and praying your back is feeling better

Aspen hill, I'm so sorry about your vehicle, but very thankful you weren't hurt.

Thursday was a horrific day traveling. First the left front tire exploded and shredded on a section of road where Jeff only had a small area to work. No where for approaching vehicles to steer clear of him. I walked up the highway motioning for people to slow down. It was a construction zone, too, and the speed limit was 65. For the most part they did slow down. So he put the spare on and we headed down the road. Within 200 miles the spare exploded, so a very nice couple pulled over with smart phones and we were able to get a tire service to come out to mount a new tire for us. We only went 40 miles to a campground for the night and went to the tire place in the morning to get a match for the new one. After finding out that there had been a recall on those tires back in 08 and knowing that the back four tires were from that same batch, we decided to have some peace of mind and ended up putting five more of the new tire. YIKES!!! Weren't expecting that. Our son's family ended up staying the night in a motel till we caught up with them on Friday. The tire place gave us a volume discount. We pulled it in to their garage bay and four guys jumped on it. They only had four tires in stock, so one guy drove and picked another one up and they had us on the road within an hour. We were so very thankful they decided to open up yesterday. They had considered closing for the holiday.

Our granddaughter picked some wildflowers at our campsite yesterday and made a centerpiece for the picnic table. Very sweet.

Wow Jan, what a day! So thankful for the silver lining, as it were, that they guys were so accommodating, and especially that you all arrived safe.

Jan, the pray-er is working over-time for you guys to have a safe and trouble-free remainder of your journey!!! Yikes is right; I can't imagine the "$urprise" of having to do 5 tires!! Thank the Lord He was looking out for you and had those guys keep the tire place open for you!!
Did you by chance get a pic of the wildflower bouquet that your granddaughter picked for you? ;)

We finally did end up getting rain down here - about 45 minutes' worth of a nice steady gentle rain. Nice. I'd headed out to take some pics and only realized after I got out there that it had started... figures. ;P Oh well, took some pics anyway!

1- A pretty rain-covered bloom from Mini Pearl DL.
2- Black-Eyed Susan DL close-up.
3- Every one of my Hostas out back is blooming profusely. The big Blue Angel was a gift from Gita year before last, at Sally's plant swap. Every time I see her I say a prayer of thanks for you G.!
4- Please forgive the ugly surroundings, but the Echinacea in the driveway-side bed are really taking off like gang busters this year!
5- Last but not least, one of the Coleus out back. I do love this colour!!

Terri, so sorry about your car... grateful you didn't get t-boned with it. Hope they don't declare it "totaled" -- we have lots of great road trip memories with that vehicle!

Jan, also thankful you all stayed safe even with the exploding tires and narrow roadside. I wonder if you could contact the company that recalled those tires in '08 and get any compensation from them... worth sending a letter, anyway, and be sure to emphasize the two tires exploding while underway and the additional hazard of the narrow road.

We have our nephew here for a week of "cousin camp," and we're off to a good start! He & Joyanna are both still asleep (good)... she was with my brother's family last week... she must be exhausted!

Wow Jan so glad you guys are okay and we're able to get back on the road!

Beautiful gardens speedie! I was sure you couldn't NOT get some of the rain. I would have given you more but Mother Nature didn't agree.

Thank you Sally, for sending some of it my way, it was the perfect amount! =)

All the rain of late has fostered the growth of mushrooms in our yard. Here are a few types I saw today just in our "front" yard: