July 2015-Booms, Blooms and Heat

I have been extremely busy and still have no time to read what I've missed. I hope everyone is OK!

I was having computer problems, but it is working today. I am going to limit the boys as to what they can do on my computer. It seems to act up after they have been on and I never know if the games they play are safe. They don't need to be on so much anyway. I am not starting the twins.

I have to hit the ground running today. I need to walk, drop the sewer and garbage payment off uptown, fold two baskets of laundry and weed before it rains this afternoon.

Have a great day!

Gb. I love my hybiscus too. Mine is a real deep red raspberry something.... very lovely in the summer. I have never had homemade jalapeño poppers. Sounds good. We just buy the frozen ones.
Billy you are one busy lady. After ALL My Doubles are Done at my job. I have big remodeling plans for my front yard.... hopefully it all works out. I ordered an oblisk from amazon today will be nice with my maratagon lilies sticking out from it. I think that's what it's called any way. The flowers hang upside down. I have a flowering dogwood shrub out there now. That is going away. It is just way to big for the space. Don't tell my husband tho. Ssshhh. Lol.

Ronna,
Your hibiscus sounds gorgeous!

The popper recipe came from an Asian family who won an Emeril recipe contest. I never could make those you split, fill with cheese, bread and fry. Mine are made in egg-roll wrappers after the peppers are cut and stirred into a cream cheese and shredded cheddar base. Plop on a log shaped chunk, roll up like a diaper and fry.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/jalapeno-spring-rolls-recipe.html

Love the Martagon lilies. There are some growing wild in the ditches around DD's gravel road. They are also called Turk's Cap, I believe.
Smiling, my small mock orange is going away too. Smells so good in the spring, but it's never developed into an attractive bush. They still sell them if I want another.

It rained all morning. In fact it started while I was in the Post Office so I walked home in it. It was warm and wonderful! I never had a chance to weed tho. It rained till noon. NO WAY am I going out in the mosquitoes now!!!

So, I made potato salad instead :o)

Have a great evening!

To make poppers, I 1st put on gloves. Split lengthwise and remove seeds. Fill halves with cream cheese and top with shredded colby-jack cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and place in 350° oven until cheese topping starts to brown. It's a simple no carb recipe.

By the way, I'm on the bus using the free wifi. Kind of a bumpy ride. Had some rain about mid day. Skies gray, but rain moved on. Here's an upside down pic. lol

Tornados everywhere. Quick pop ups but they are everywhere. May be in basement soon but waiting because it has so far spit around me.

Betty,
I have a box full of gloves, LOL! I've not tried it without breading. It sounds good! I still have leftover filling and peppers big enough to pick again.
Laughing over the upside down picture!

Pepper!
Be safe!!

It's pouring here again. I walked earlier this afternoon while it was nice.

So far, no wind or hail for us. Just a downpour.

Pepper, I saw a tornado icon near KC on the interactive radar when I was riding home on the bus. Stay safe.

Our rain is coming up from the gulf and not as severe. I'm hoping that the storms moving in from the NW weaken before reaching the St. Louis area. I barely got the blackberries picked this evening before an isolated thunder shower rolled by.

Watching Tiny Houses which makes me wonder if it wouldn't be scary and dangerous during high winds.

Does anyone have chiggers? I only remember them being a problem picking blackberries on my great grandparent's farm in NW Tennessee when I was a kid. My gr-grandma would dip a rag in coal oil (like kerosene) and tie a rag around each ankle before going outside. They've never been a problem for me this far north and I've been in some overgrown areas on fishing trips.

Hi Billy. I started typing my post before yours was sent. My daughter Nicole recently learned the hard way to wear gloves when handling jalapeños as did her former dorm room mate. We have our box of gloves too now. lol

My hand is going numb, so I'm going to give it a rest and take a walk outside between showers. Wish I had a rain barrel.

The tornadic weather weakened before making it to me so only dealing with heavy rain and winds everywhere now. Flash flooding is a major issue in the city right now since some places got about 6 inches of rain in about an hour or so.

hi everyone, it rained so hard and so fast at work in Wichita that the back lot flooded to the doors of cars and water got in to a lot of them. there were wrecks and flooding everywhere, but in Derby we had high winds and then the rain it laid down most of the tall plants.
Betty you talk of chiggers, Joe got a chigger on his armpit while trimming the edge of the flower beds, and one on his leg from picking greenbeans, I however am covered from heat to tow and sprayed before I even venture outside, so far, no chiggers.
Got my box of gloves at the first of the year so I could cut the peppers I grew in winter. I use them while spreading grass hopper bait and sluggo, too.
You all have a nice evening..

Betty,
I would be scared to be in a tiny house in just a severe thunderstorm!
I remember getting chiggers in the waistband area when I was a kid and it came from sitting in the grass. I kneel in the grass all the time now and never seem to get them anymore. I never gave them a thought till you said something, LOL!
A friend of mine did too. Dipping in cream didn't help. They were with friends, fishing, and he told her to grab mud from the riverbank. It helped a lot. She just kept re-applying.

Pepper,
I'm so glad you only got storms. Flash flooding was for here too. We got 4'' of rain yesterday.

Wow Debra,
Flooded cars are bad! It's a shame the wind got thew plants. We were spared any wind. All straight down, downpours.

I love how we all have a box of gloves!

I saved a bat on my walk a couple of days ago. This was on the gravel down by the church at the edge of town. I saw it laying there on the edge of the road and touched it with my shoe. It moved. Knowing they can't fly when on the ground, I had to get him in the tree. There was a perfect large stick in the ditch right there where we were and I ran it under him till he gripped it. I lifted him up and went straight to the tree in the churchyard. I got him to climb off the stick and cling to the tree. It was so perfect. The stick, the tree. I think I was meant to find him and it was my choice to save him or walk away. It's the road I pray on so I think God was telling me my prayers are heard.

Also day before yesterday, three baby wrens left the nest so the outdoor cat stayed in most of the day. I've never seen baby wrens leave. SO CUTE!!

I'm asking for prayers for my neighbor's husband. He thought he threw his back out, but was miserable and developed a fever and chills last night. They took him to the emergency room and the x-rays show a mass on his lungs and a hole in the lining. The lobe with the hole in it collapsed. It's most likely infection, but they can't rule out cancer either.
He is extremely healthy otherwise.

oh dear, praying for your neighbors husband. How scared his wife must be. I'd be scared.
Cute wrens! I have never seen baby wrens, thanks for posting.

We got so much rain yesterday....omg! Luckily no terrible winds or tornadoes up here. We were in St Joseph and it hit there first and we raced home cause we had all kinds of things outside! Got home in the nic of time and got stuff put up when the wind started and the rain hit. I had my voodoo lily outside and they don't do well in high winds so I was glad to get it in.

Oh you guys the poppers sound great. billyp be careful with those bats, we went thru a series last year of rabid bats down in the city.

Omg chiggers, one time as a teenager I laid out in the grass and was reading a book, then that night (we didn't have air conditioning) I woke up and my arm pit must of had a million chiggers embedded in it....horrible. Texas the chiggers were horrible and the guys in the military that had to go out in the fields would get eaten up with them. Then someone told them panty hose would keep the chiggers from embedding so all us wives were out buying extremely large panty hose for the guys...rofl.

Debra,
When it's a huge problem she keeps her calm, and falls apart with the little things. Thankfully she will have a son a week to give support. She has 4 boys.

Happ,
I took a good long look and this bat looked ok. He'll eat many mosquitoes now :o) We haven't had a rabies scare since I was a kid and it was mostly cats and an occasional skunk. I remember having to go in the house when a rabid cat was across the alley from us. I remember a bunch of townsmen hunting it down and shooting it. I was in school when a skunk got into someone's garage across from the school. Again, townsmen shot it.
Laughing, we've been kneeling in the grass all summer and no problems. I stopped at my SIL's last night and her son had chigger bites from sitting at the neighbor's. So, he's miserable!
I have heard about panyhose!

It's cloudy, we are out of mosquito fog and I need to check the broccoli. We have had way too much ''window weather'' this year. It kills me to not get to go out.

Have a wonderful day!

Pepper, Nicole just reminded me of something that I honestly forgot all about. Did you find anything unusual in the back of your truck? Did you really think that I was that sappy about saying good bye to the plants? Anyway, if you found "it", I hope that you had some fun with "it" too. It came from Chloe, of course. lol

I just read an article about a guy running barefoot from LA to NYC who has done pretty well; until he got to Missouri. Now his foot is sore from stepping on barbwire and he's covered with chigger bites! After the desert and mountains, watch out for Missouri! Here's the article; if you're interested. I wonder if someone could run him out some panty hose? He could cut them off at the feet and still be barefooted.

http://www.ksdk.com/longform/sports/outdoors/2015/07/07/runner-passes-missouri-epic-shoeless-adventure/29834379/

I've been picking a quart of blackberries every day this week. I love this time of year!

BP, I love that you prayer walk. I've very spiritual too. I often pray while in the garden. I will pray for your neighbor's husband too. Wow! A bat. Guano is suppose to be a great fertilizer. I would keep a bat for it's poo. (Just kidding! lol)

My broccoli is growing well. The warm season crops are kind of sulking like "Is it summer yet?" I did pick some tomatoes, peppers, and a cuke. I believe that summer returns this weekend.

I'm watching Rehab Addict and it's time for my ice cream fix, so got to go now. A pic of my Pink Double Knockout. The Sunny Knockout and Iceberg are blooming again too.

Pepper, do you know what color the hibiscus bloom that you gave me?

Your hibiscus has big red blooms. It's either Lord or Lady Baltimore cultivar.

I don't remember finding anything back there. lol. What was it? Maybe it'll jog my memory.

Happ i read on another thread about your arbor you are going to build. I forgot to mentionit. I love the idea. Sound so cool. Pics when it is done.. i am taking down a shrub in my front yard. It just is taking over my yard. Way to big for my space. It looks so much better. Happy it is going. Not gone yet. Digging out the roots will take a while.

Pepper, That sounds like the blooms will really stand out. I can't wait until next summer. Did you find any fake cat poo? I was placing it in your truck bed when I told you that I was saying good bye to the plants. Pretty sneaky, huh?

LOL!! I think I remember seeing that now. I didn't think anything of it. I'm used to seeing weird things in my truck.

Lord Baltimore: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/40923/

Lady Baltimore: http://www.perennialresource.com/encyclopedia/view/?plant=423

Now having seen the pics of Lady I know it's Lord Baltimore. A friend gave it to me to hold until she made room for it then forgot about it. lol. I don't have a great place for it so passed it on to you.

Lost day yesterday due to dentist and errands and I have no idea why I am up at 4am!! Least it is quiet...rofl. Met friends for combined birthdays and out to dinner. I got more plants, gotta love friends they know what you like. One friend was at home depot when they had the Asiatic lilies for 2.00 and I had her pick me up 8 pots of them. There are 3 bulbs in each pot. Then she gave me a plastic shopping bag full of sedums she pulled out of her garden so I can get mine started. Got two really nice planters, one is a hen and chick planter which is perfect I bought a huge thing of hen and chicks and didn't have anything to plant them in. I don't know why but my hen and chicks just don't survive very well.

Thanks Gardenlady on the comments. I will be happy when the wisteria takes it over. A little naked right now. I want to build a small round deck around the pole with two small chairs and a tiny table. Then make a path to connect it to the pergola and the small koi pond. Grand ideas I have.

Oh Betty I love my hardy hibiscus they are always blooming later than everything which is great and such huge blooms. I bought another on clearance. I am planting them around the pergola for a tropical affect. Really late this year with the mild temps and the rain. It was 57 yesterday morning when I got up. Suppose to turn into summer saturday and then thru next week.

It is amazing we aren't having more flooding than we are with all the rain. I think every time it rains I dump 3 inch out of the rain gauges. I am with you BillyP spending way too much time inside due to rain.

Betty,
That cracked me up!! Those pantyhose sure make the rounds! What an awesome guy tho.
I pray while mowing, weeding, walking, or to just talk to God.
Such a beautiful color on your rose!

Ronna,
I remember deciding to take out the lilacs that I had for years. They were under the walnut trees and never did very well. We had to buy a chain to pull them out!

Betty,
ROTFL!!! How did you happen to have fake cat poo?

Happ,
4:00 am is a great time to be up. I find I prefer 3:00 am tho.
Oh WOW! What a nice haul on plants!
What's neat is your grand ideas seem to happen :o)

It felt good to mow yesterday, but the mosquitoes are still in the flower beds so I spend time walking or riding my bike right now.

I have one more small cherry tomato that's ripe. Really? That's it? I cut the first one in half so we could both taste it.

My cousin in law had one of these. We went by their Kum and Go so DH ran in and got me one. 100oz and I drank that much water yesterday!

Have a fabulous day!!

The hibiscus isn't a Rose of Sharon. I had this plant confused with the ones that my dad loved so much, but they are similar in appearance. After reading about it's moisture and light needs, I believe that I planted them in a good place. I also wanted it to be showy from the library entrance, and that it'll be. People entering the library already comment on my hydrangeas, crabapple tree, and bridal wreath when they're in bloom. Now they'll have the beautiful red hibiscus blooms as eye candy.

Oops, got to get dressed for work. Bye!

Chloe brought the fake cat poo over & it's been lying around my house for a while, so I decided to pass it on! lol

Morning or night everyone , raining here still third morning in a row ,
Hope everyone is doing better , the neighbor and others ,

GB Some days working outside , getting all soggy ,, I feel like Fake Cat Poo ,,

Nice plant , pics and deals folks ,, back to the day ,,

We have been running around looking at junkie garage sales. man nothing good at all. Bummed. We stopped at goodwill and looked around. I got a pretty cute dress. But I am kinda weird about wearing sleeveless arms. So.....
I got the shrub out of the space and am going to move my ruby red slippers hydrangea into the spot. It will look fabulous there for sure.

Gl, I also do not feel comfortable out in public wearing sleeveless anything. Right now I am sitting on the back porch wearing shorts, flip flops, and a tank top which feels pretty good with the warmer temps.

Ruby red slippers hydrangeas! Picks please.

Learned today that one of my bus buddies is an avid gardener. His wife is always coming up gardening projects that he ends up finishing and maintaining. Anyone else have that problem?

Betty,
I can almost see your library. Good for you!
I think the fake cat poo is hilarious and what better to add to Pepper's collection!

Ju,
It's pouring here right now and we have a day full of rain to come.
Awww, feel better.

Ronna,
I've hit the age of, ''Ok, I'm old, but I like this." But, I have so many varicose veins I won't wear shorts to town very often.
With a name like Ruby Red Slippers, how could it NOT look gorgeous!

I think we are all like that, LOL!!!

My ant hill predicts a heavy rain today, check, and a hard snowy winter. My Dad predicted a snowy winter too yesterday. I believe it. Of course, now we know about the el nino's and ninas.

Here is the Canadian smoke north of us, last week.

Have a great day!

Your ant hill is tiny compared to the one that's at the edge of my iris bed. lol. I swear we breed ants here. Drives me nuts. lol

Spent the day catching up on mowing the lawn, raked up the pears knocked down by squirrels and storms, trimmed the low branches on the silver maples, and cut back the bamboo. I am so beat, but looking at how nice the backyard looks makes me feel better. Had a hummer hanging around the lemon balm and blackberries. Picking at least 2 quarts per day now.

Hello all!

Yes, I'm still around. :) June turned out to be a beast. In the midst of one particularly nasty storm, my internet modem blew out. The good news is that since it's "owned" by AT&T, it was their problem to replace. The bad news is that I was off both computer and tv from Thursday until Sunday. Then, as if that wasn't enough, I no sooner got service back than my computer monitor died. Okay, to be fair, it was getting a little old and I had a feeling that it was dying. Still, it was a bit of a shock to find one morning that it simply refused to turn on. So I was down another few days until I got to the store for a new one.

Oh and the rain. Sigh.......

You may remember my sad tale of the two yarrow plants that were simply beat down by all the rain. Well, they are still alive. I found some plant supports (my brother laughed because I guess what I used is usually for tomato plants; I don't care as long as it kept them somewhat upright.). One looks like pretty good. Not so good that I'm going to remove the support, but it's green and has lots of blooms that actually point up towards where the sun should be. The other is still struggling, BUT it's also still green and trying to produce blooms. I'll take whatever I can get at this point.

I've lost most fully half of the new plants that I put in last spring. grrrrr

On the other hand, I'm seeing what I should do differently next year. Where I put my succulents was dumb, so they'll get moved. And maybe because of the kind of soil that I have (or maybe all the extra rain), I should have put in plant supports much earlier in the growing season. Things like my yarrows and Russian sages got too big to support themselves, and trying to put them back into an upright position is pretty hard. I think it was Billyporter that pointed out that once a plant splits (which is what happened to my sages and my mature catmint), there's not much hope of propping it back up. And I'm finding that the same is true for when a plant is beaten down from rain. BUT I wonder if I had used supports earlier, maybe they wouldn't have split or flopped over in the first place.

Anyway....... hello all! I'm damp, but still here!

This message was edited Jul 12, 2015 3:13 AM

"Tiny parrot " is the name of the Asiatic Lilly, tango series, posted on July 3. What a beautiful little Lily.

Dyan, I was wondering today why you hadn't posted. Computer problems – Blech!

It sounds like you have an awesome brother. I'm glad you were able to stake your plants, even if he did laugh at you. Laughter in the family is a good thing.

Being a newbie to gardening myself, I find myself hovering over my tomatoes and the few other plants I have. At my age, I feel somewhat silly. Then the kid part of me kicks in and thinks, "this is really cool!". I like being in awe of nature.

Patti

Pepper,
What's different about this hill is, I think they are the sidewalk crack, small ants. I've never seen such thick walls before.

Betty,
I'll bet everything looks nice, and I am envious of your berries! I have got to get mosquito net clothing. We can't walk outside.

~ to Dyan,
We're used to someone going missing for a while. Just makes us extra happy to see them back :o)
Oh, huge sympathy for your internet woes! I hate to admit I go nuts without it even tho I have plenty to do.
You are now a one season gardener, but you have learned much Grasshopper, LOL! I have lost more plants than I care to admit, but, there is always seed, shared plants and my favorite mantra. "They still sell 'em.'' You did good, saving your yarrow. It will survive and spread next year. I planted some from seed. Then, almost pulled them because they were pastel, meaning almost no color. But the insects on them told me to let them be. Now I like them.
I'm going to have to watch my sages next year. They did well this year, but they grew! I have a catmint 5' across! It is going to have to be dug and a small chunk replanted. Same for the geraniums. They got big too.

Patti,
Thanks for the lily name. It was gorgeous!
Oh we all hover, over everything! I am re-amazed every year over my garden and flowers. I walk the beds every day with a notebook and write down what bloomed that day. I keep track in a big notebook each year.

Today we may have more rain, maybe heavy tonight. So far, me being on the high end of town, all is soaking in.
I am so glad I got green beans in late. The little bunnies chewed on some of them so there aren't any blooms yet. I only have tomatillos to pick up after they fall off. I picked two more cherry tomatoes, and broccoli. Cukes are just blooming too. Dad dug a few of his potatoes and shared. He's on the low end of town and more heavy rain may just rot his potatoes.

Have a good day and don't overheat!

Hi friends! I had the hernia surgery July 8th, hopefully I'll be on the mend.
Here's a shot of my boast band!
Will

Bet you are glad that's over. Are you feeling better now? It might be a little soon for you to really know how you feel. Take it easy and don't overdo.

Thanks Patti, yeah, really glad the surgery part is behind me. I feel quite a bit different such as my stomach isn't "rumbling" anymore in my lower abdomen. I won't really know about how much better I'm feeling until the pain from the cut goes away (which is sizeable for a hernia) and the bandage comes off and all that. Generally, hernias aren't real serious unless you ignore them forever. Some people choose to let them go untreated, which isn't recommended. There are many different kinds of hernias though, some needing more urgent care than others. But in my opinion all hernias should be repaired in this day and age. Being a pincushion for needles sure is no fun. Some people have a reduced view of hernias but when the intestines are in the pelvic area it isn't a laughing matter.

Pepper gave me a Rose Tree a month or so ago (after the ru). At first it wasn't looking good, altho I knew it was alive. Now, it has buds and will be flowering in a few days. -

Hi Will , from previous condition of same ,, Because most lower Hernia are an intestinal hole ,,
And a case of constipation can cause the intestine to explode or rupture (basically what male hernia are , most of the time)
I share the feeling of it all being better done and past , as being behind one ,, he , he ,,

Get well Bud ,, Hopefully you won't have to worry about more ,, yikes ,,

I guess I will end my hopes to you will and my joking a little with a concrete pot and a get well bloom , (bloom and sitting in your rocker with a lap blanket covering you . thought for tomorrow ,,

Rose tree looks great!! My hydrangea tree looks good too but I don't have it in a good pot. lol. The upper part of it is a lot narrower than the rest of the part so to replant it I will have to cut roots just to get it out of the pot. l should have known better than to use that pot. lol

Good news is one of my squash plants has a bloom on it!! Hopefully my big climbing one starts working on blooms too here pretty quick.

Pepper, visited my mom and Kenny today since my mom's 78th birthday is Wed., 7/15. Mom showed me the viburnums planted in the backyard and wanted you to know that they are thriving. She wants the day lilies still in the bucket in my driveway. If I'm not going to visit for a week or more, should I just continue to water them in the bucket or should I add some soil? Thanks!

Thanks James. That's a nice sunflower there. Hehe.. lap blankets are cool as heck aren't they?!
No rocker here, I'll have to settle for a recliner.

Thanks pepper! I looked again at that rose tree tonite to see if I can see what color the roses are gonna be. They appear to mostly be pink but not entirely sure right now. Here's what it looked like when I got it, a pretty big change. - But even then it had a few green leaves and the trunk was green too.