Here is my first perennial bloom, I am so excited about it. Silly, I guess but this is my first year gardening at all, and even though I bought this as a 2 yr old plant, I had to share this bloom.
A question tho, this is supposed to be an Artic Ice Dianthus, and have white blooms with a red center, will the next blooms be different?
I know the soil looks horrid, it is terrible, and we are composting and working it as much as possible.
Thanks
Janis
Congratulations Woofens!!! Nothing silly about it at all, I'm like it over every first few blooms on each plant.
The next blooms are unlikely to be different but who knows, anything could happen.
Show me a gardener who is constantly happy with his soil and I'll show you my large collection of hens teeth :-D Our garden is a bit like the proverbial mechanics car. Don't worry about it, enjoy it!
Thanks for sharing your first bloom, Woofens. I think your plant looks great. It still counts as a success even if it was 2 years old when you bought it!
Gardening is so much fun. I am like a little kid every spring when things start blooming. Ooohh, look! A bud. . .a flower. . . two new flowers, and so on. LOL
This message was edited Jun 28, 2005 7:33 PM
Congratulations woofens: now you know the thrill of gardening. It's to your credit that your plant lived and improving the soil is always worth the work.
The excitement doesn't decrease when you past 60 either! I still watch every bloom and still get excited at each new plant when I get the first blossom. Today was "Opening Day" for my new Japanese iris, 'Pinwheel' - take a look with me. I just love it.
Oh wow, that is beautiful! I just got back from a local farmers market, I bought a new dianthus, can't wait to see it bloom, its a vanilla scented white. I also bought 2 new coleus, a succulent I have to post to the ID forum, a varigated impatien and a vinca vine LOL
Thanks so much to every one for the welcomes!
Janis
Janis - Enjoy it! After over 20 years of gardening, I still get excited when something blooms. I walk my flower beds early almost every morning with my coffee, usually in my ugly fuzzy bathrobe. (I get up disgustingly early, so the neighbors aren't awake yet to see me)
It makes my whole day when I'm greeted with a new bloom, expecially when it's a "first". The first of the season, a first on a new plant, the first pink, blue, whatever.
Hi, woofens, Welcome to Dave's garden. (and another Buckeye!) You'll love it here and learn lots about gardening and make lots of new friends.
I'm (sort of) a newbie gardener, too, so I learning to know how much fun it is to have one of your perennials resurrect and rebloom the first summer too. Lots of fun! Thanks for posting. t.
It's the most amazing thing I can think of, that your plant will come up again and again, every year. I still feel shock when things that slept all winter suddenly sprout green and new in the spring. Congratulations,Woofens! Welcome to a life filled with wonder.
Thanks so much Guys!!!!!
That plant has another bloom on it, and my 6 yerar old spotted a couple more.
My first MG's are in bloom, and I'm excited about that too :)
I bought another dianthus the other night and got it planted, and I really need to get to my GM's to get the bleeding heart babies, and dig her daffodills.
Thanks again, I am so glad I found this site!!!!
Janis
Welcome Janis and I too enjoy every bloom as well. Don't overlook new foliage on plants - it can be almost as nice as flowers. Glad to see you are involving your child. I have three and six year old boys and one of the great joys of gardening for me is sharing it with them and introducing them to all the wonder and beauty nature has to offer. Happy gardening!
Regards,
Victor
Hello there, Janis,
Like everyone else has said, it's a new joy each day to see what's in bloom. Sometimes the walk-through (before the kids are up) is the only chance I'll have in a day to see the blooms. Still, it holds me through until the next day;) To me, it's sorta like opening a present! (And, OH HOW I MISS IT IN THE WINTERTIME!)
Diane/Mtnmama
Victor,
Thanks for the welcome, and its fun to have the kids involved, isn't it? I have boys 3 and 14, and girls 6 and 8, and they all go out and help me. The kids are so excited about the blooms too. They love seeing how fast the morning glories can climb, and our sunflower house is getting taller each day.
Diane,
It is alot like opening a present..... especially when ya never know what is gonna open up next (or you mislabel you pots, and a pretty blue MG pops up where a white one should be LOL)
I am trying house plants too..... I am hoping they hold me through the winter.... them and the coleus babies I hope I can over winter here in the house :)
Thanks everyone!
Janis
OH, JANIS!
Houseplants:) Trade something for a hoya or an epiphyllum if you want to spice up wintertime:) It's still not as much fun as summertime in the garden, but it helps to stem the addiction;)
Diane
I will defunately check into those Diane..... although I have to admit I have to look both of the up... don't think I have ever seen either one LOL
Janis
I hadn't either but got them in trades. They are not like your typical houseplants...one of my epi's puts on new leaves in the most unusual places! The blooms are supposed to be gorgeous but I haven't seen one, yet (except on the hoyas). These are just plain fun for wintertime growing in the house.
I started trading about 5 or 6 yrs. ago and all I had was obedient plant. If you have anything in abundance, folks will trade (some will even send a "starter package" for postage to help you out). You'll see....
Diane
Congratulations! I am pretty new to gardening, and I still get giddy over new blooms! My dianthus barbatus bloomed this year, and I love it so much that I ordered another packet of seeds. :-) Tamara
Welcome, Woofens! Even if you've gardened for a long time, the excitement is still there and there is always something new to learn. My favorite time is spring, when new things keep popping up. It's like a treasure hunt to see what made it through the winter, what the birds planted for me and how some of the more assertive plants have decided to reseed or rearrange themselves. You're going to love perennial gardening!
Thanks so much everyone. I have always been wary of planting perrenials here, since I wasn't sure if we were gonna stay or not, but I was tired of not having flowers.
Annuals are nice too, but I wanted stuff I would see come back, and make it through the winter.
Janis
I'm very dissappointed in my annuals this year. I went crazy with annuals for the first time, but they are not living up to my expectations. I prefer perennials, after all.
Ivy,
I planted a bunch of annuals from seed, bought very few.... a couple coleus, and an impatien, but that was it. The only annual I have had bloom so far is a Morning Glory, so I'm pretty disappointed too, but I think I started the seed too late. Next year I hope to start seeds in Febuary or March.
Janis
I started mine in March, and they were very, very slow this year. Didn't bloom till last week. But our weather has been awful too, Cold and grey most of the time, interspersed with 2 unbearably hot weeks. Plus, some of the seeds weren't the right colors. sigh.
On a happier note, Woofens- how are your perennials? Did you get anything else? Do you have pics? I'd love to see your sumflower house!
It has been HOT HOT HOT here......and dry... out well about went dry a week ago. I think part of my problem is that I have to be so careful with the water, I am probably under watering stuff, but we have to have water in the house :(
I have the Artic Ice dianthus, a Cheddar Pink, and at the farmers market last week I got a Istual white dianthus that is supposed to smell like vanilla. I have a Red bleeding heart that is still alive (my white one didn't make it) That is really about all... I am still not wanting to spend a whole.... and I plan on doing a bunch of perennials from seed next year.
The sunflower house is coming along...LOL I had "help" planting it from my kids and the neighborhood kids, so it isn't quite what I had hoped for, but the kids are still happy with it. I'll post some pictures tomorrow :)
I'm still hitting the farmers markets, I'm so addicted now my DH is cringing everytime I leave the house .... he knows I'll probably come home with a plant, or something to put plants in LOL I bought a HUGE Rose Kong Coleus today..... hid the price sticker and the receipt :)
Janis
Oh, you made me chuckle, Janis!
My 90 yr. old grandmother loves to tell the story about a world-famous art collector whose wife would be furious when he spent alot of money on MORE paintings. He began to employ a new method of shopping: he'd buy the art, store it in the trunk, and when she wasn't home, he'd bring in his newly acquired pieces and immediately hang them. Because there were so many (much like a garden..lol), she'd rarely notice. When she did spot a newer painting and comment, he'd merely say, "Oh, Dear, I bought that ages ago........."
Needless to say, Grannie has saved my caboose many a time w/that story........."Oh, Dear, that vine's been there for ages!"
Now, I'm sure the Hollywood collector & I have differing versions from what constitues "ages," as that defined by the spouses............;-)
MKJ
p.s. I love the perennials too..........."Yahoo! They DO like me!"
I often walk through my garden beds and "greet" the new blooms as if they could hear me! Silly old lady. Over several years I have collected perennials by being in the right place at the right time, in other words, available to help people with established gardens thin out overgrown perennials. Now I'm sharing them with other people because they are overgrown in my garden. It's a method that doesn't cost money, and we all need that! Of course I don't always know what they are but that's ok.
LOL, mjk and Woofens! I was straightening out my garden folders, reciepts, tags, etc yesterday afternoon (it rained), and about fell out of my chair when I saw what it all tallied up to. Then I went to the garden center b/c I remembered they were having a sale. I try to get the larger plants when I can, and if He Who Shall Be Obeyed notices them, I just tell him I put that in last year. If it has a blue bloom, I tell him I put it there last year "for you, honey, since I know you love blue flowers". Besides, he spends more money on fishing, hunting, and dog training stuff than I could ever spend on my little plants.
We figured out one year that over a five year period, new camo, a new gun, a used gun, all his little "goodies", permits, classes, and a new tree stand that the "free" venison was costing us about $135 average per pound. That doesn't even count the truck that he absolutely had to have because he won't drive his Impala through corn fields, and he won't drive my Jeep because it's red. And, oh by the way, I LIKE deer, and I love it when I get up in the morning and they're out in the yard (as long as they don't eat my plants).
Stepping off my little soap box now....
Stacy
Woofens, Glad to hear you're not letting the possibility of moving keep you from planting now. Just remember that one of the great things about perennials is the ability to move them or divide them and take some with you. I allowed temporariness to hamper me for a long time; now I'm making up for lost time! :) Good luck and Happy Fourth.
Oh, Stacy--you cracked me up too! I've used that very approach, "But, Dear, I KNOW how you love foliage plants........I bought them for YOU!" ;-) And, it does usually get an eyebrow's consideration, doesn't it??
Oh, and I hear you.........my husband is a huge do-it-yourself'er around the house, because you know, it "saves money!" Uh-huh.......that's why Lowe's smiles at the month's financials every time Mr. Do-It-Himself'er strolls in to buy what he "needs" in order to do the job!
We have a vicious cycle around here. I buy the plant, then must have the book to study more up on it........he starts the project, then must buy the tool to do it properly.........or is it all backwards, the other way around?? lol
MKJ
p.s. Happy 4th to you too, Mickgene!
LOL at all of you :)
DH doesn't really care for plants, except when I scream... DON'T MOW THAT!! Then he grumbles a bit. When we moved in here, there were 4 rose bushes, an azalea, and something else I didn't know the name if. The azalea is the only thing left...... he used the weed eater on the roses EVERY time, and I'd go outside after and say, Jeff, the roses, again. "Oh, I forgot" was what I would hear in return.
I have threatened divorce and dismemberment this year LOL He asks before he mows now, and I'm out there with an eagle eye when he weed eats.
Jeff isn't a home improvement kind of guy, he doesn't hunt anymore, (his job makes it really hard for him to do anything) so the only thing he spends money on really is keeping his vehicles running and gas for work, and a beer a day LOL
I guess I could start keeping Auto Zone and Advance Auto receipts.... but the only time he really complains is when I buy a new planter or a plant and we really could have spent the money elsewhere. (I really try to be good LOL)
Happy 4th to all..... we aren't doing anything really, he is working on a car, and I have 4 planters, and 8 hanging baskets to decide what to do with :)
Janis
My DH tells me to put a stake by anything not to get whacked. (He's a woodworker, so a stake is his kind of thing.) I go one better and put a cage around lots of shrubs and treelings. Doesn't matter. My Aesculus pavia, in a staked-down cage, with rocks at the border to be sure the cage is noticed, was whacked a few weeks ago. Claimed he didn't see it.
But he's been making me a potting bench for the last few days, so who am I to complain?
LOL Will he make me a potting bench??
*smiles*
Janis
Know what you mean - my honey loves his weed-whacker. I started putting the little plastic dayglo orange surveyer flags in plants that I don't want him to whack down. Silly me, I fugured there was no way he could possibly miss those. This spring and summer so far he has cut down daisies IN BLOOM, dumped 5 yards of gravel on my baptisia before it could bloom, cut down the new columbines that I actually did plant for him by his fishing spot, and he dug out an azalea because it looked "like a weed" - it was new. Two weeks ago I bought a lighter weed-whacker that I can handle, and it is now my job. Skip has been limited to the mower unless I ask for help. He cooks most of our meals, and does all the laundry, not to mention being handsome, smart, and funny. I'll keep him and buy more plants.
Woofens, He'll make just about anything for anybody. Loves those projects, especially the ones that give him an excuse to buy new tools. I didn't know there were more tools than what he already has. He's been known to tell me he'd like something tool-wise, I buy it as a present, and 2 years later that had-to-have-it thing is still unused.
LOL I bought Jeff a really nice charcoal grill last year for fathers day.... he refuses to grill over gas.... so now anytime I have to buy him gifts, he gets something for the grill, cause I know he'll use it. He grills probably on the average a couple times a week. He has a rotissery, a smoker box, really nice grill tools, and next is a new pair of mitts for it.
Then I"m running out of ideas LOL I guess I'll start buying different marinades and stuff then :)
Janis
Wow! I am so happy somebody wrote about this! I was about to write a Dear Abby letter- "Why does my DH sabotage my garden?" My problem is that when he whacks a plant, he will then say "I didn't do it."! Then I say, "But I SAW you!" and no matter what, he sticks by his story! ! I swear sometimes I think I'm going out of my mind!
It's worse when he tries to help me. He got a load of dirt last week (after 2 years of me asking him to) to fill in behind a stone wall we put in. I had just finished making the path, planting the beds, and generally finishing up the project because I couldn't stand waiting anymore.When I found out he was finally getting the dirt, I carefully weeded the area I thought he would be dumping in. Instead, he ripped up the path area, dumped the dirt on top of my flowers and some of the weeds I hadn't gotten to yet, and left big lumps of dirt at the back corner. I don't understand this, because he is usually a very fastidious person.
I guess I should be happy that he got the dirt at all, but it is frustrating when you go to all that work and it gets ruined. Now I can't get the weed roots out because they are buried in 4 inches of dirt. My flowers I have uncovered and replanted. I'm beginning to think he does it on purpose!
I hear you, Ivy. Makes me wonder every time.
Woofens, you could start adding stations to go with the grill. Lowes has a wet sink that can be hooked up to the hose that I've looked at; but when the grill is only about 20 feet from the kitchen, I have to do a reality check. I've been tempted to create a grill/dining/patio area in the orchard just to give me an excuse. Now who's the toy fiend? :)
ROFL.
Our grill is only about 2 feet from the kitchen door :) We have a spot on the other side of the house that is flattened out, the years ago had a picnic table and such... we keep saying we are going to clear it back off and use it.
I'd also like a fire pit someday. The problem here is that the yard is long and narrow, right up against a hillside and the road :( Its a county road, but there is still a fair amount of traffic.
I post pics of the yard here. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/525311/
Janis
Woofens- An entire outdoor kitchen! How about a stone pizza oven?
We put in a fire pit this year, but I've always wanted an outdoor kitchen. If we had that and a hammock for two we could pretty much just live outside all summer long.
That would really be cool :)
I would like a couple hammocks too, but would have to have them in frames, we have no trees we could hook it too
Oh my gosh, I laughed out loud reading all the DH stories, and then didn't tell the truth when he asked what was so funny. My husband is into Roundup, which he tries (so he says) to spray only at the very edge of the gardens to make a strip for the mower wheel. I can't tell if he has a bad aim or if the plants had roots in the strip--my guess is the former--but the front edge of a six-foot strip of sundrops is totally dead. Last summer he had a bad batch of weed killer and killed about a dozen big patches of lawn while trying to eliminate a few dandelions. He also likes his leaf blower, which is used mostly to blow sidewalks and driveway clear. The result: hundreds of unwelcome seedlings, mostly grass, in the flower beds. Then there's the yarrow, which was flattened by a storm and was mowed into submission before I could get it staked. I must admit he tries to miss the overhanging plants and actually carries a stick to lift them up, but I think the number down after that storm must have gotten to him. I suggested that maybe we could widen the beds, so this weekend he dug out the sod and reinstalled the metal edge on the biggest problem areas. He won't be happy when I put plants in that new space--I'll pick short ones! He, too, cooks, runs errands and does all of our laundry, including my mother's from her care facility, so he's a keeper. He's been retired for eight years and I still work, so we sort of changed roles, but I know lots of retired guys who spend their lives in front of the TV, and I'm grateful for what he does...except when Roundup is involved!
