A place to show off your new additions, and spring changes!

I have been growing and buying. Had a few very warm days, and then a cold front came in with some rain yesterday and sent me back inside. I'm such a woose!

Here are some pictures!

Primula acaulis Hector Giant mix (I choose the yellow.)

I also found some ruffley pansies! I think I need to plant a few more in this spot. Don't you?

I set out some of my Heliotrope seedlings, they only get 8 to 10 inches. I want a lot of blooms for the fragrance. I'll be keeping an eye on the temps at night my have to cover these a few nights.

Looking good. Thanks for sharing.

Ruby

Chris, I love your beds. I personally think you can't have enough pansies. :D I haven't had any heliotrope. You'll have to let me see them when they get larger & bloom.
I love the looks of your Primula acaulis Hector Giant mix. I choose yellow, too. :D

Keep us posted & Have a great day!
Joey

Chris and music- nice photos!
I have been even more unorganized because of home addition and other stuff in life. Yard is half dirt, back hose shut off so water has to be carried, trees finally leafed out so I have more places for indoor thing ss going out. Saturdya I finally said heckwithit and let myself focus a little on the yard . Am putting trade thigns in one place, potted plants and seedlings another, and got some veg planted. Sat night finally got much needed rain, half of which found its way into the bathroom window frame due to construction! no, not half but a good five-towel leak, ha.

Sunday was gorgeous. although I didn't plan well, managed to have decent dinner for mom and MIL and they enjoy each other's company alot. Managed NOT to think about how sad it will be when only one can come. My darling 13 yr old D gave me a precious little handpicked bouquet and hand made card.

But I digress! Also worked on my journal, updated with some photos. Iris are going to town! Wasn't sure where or if I still had these white ones. They have grown together some an I lose track. Also forget where I got them which is unusual for me. I know they were a share years ago. All my irises have'names' by who I got them from.
Hope all enjoyed the weekend!

Hi! :D
Thanx Sallyg, It was a great week end. Sorry about the "leak". Hope it has dried up today. I absolutely love a white iris! I had a dwarf (no beard) a few years ago & DS mowed it over by accident...needless to say I do all of the yard work now.
After I came home from "work" today ...Look what I Found! :D

Joey

Nice Iris, Sally & Joey.

I spotted a bud pushing out of the leaves of my Iris Sunday when I was weeding my corner bed. The quick grass and the Goose neck plant had gotten out of control last year when I was healing, so I ended up with a garden cart full. Still have more to go but had to quit and rest.

I'll post pictures when the Iris bloom, I used to have a list of the names of my Iris but I think I finally tossed it a few years ago, that was before DG and the journal.

BTW Sally, good job on your journal, I took another peek ; )

Joey, If you can get your hands on just one heliotrope, the smell is out of this world. I like the purple! I usually buy one plant each spring but this year I tried the seeds. If all goes well, I'll grow them from seed from now on.

Ok Ruby, where's your pictures? I'm not going to let you off that easy!

Chris

Thanx, Chris. Do the heliotrope need sun or shade? I love a good scent! And where did you get the seeds?
I have a lot of purple...

Joey

I grow my helitrope in afternoon sun. I used to grow it in a container but had problems with leaves turning brown and falling off. Last year I planted it in the ground and found it grew much better, I think it was a problem of uneven watering.
I got my seeds from Parks, here is the link. It is a shorter verity. I am hoping with the mass planting that the fragrance will be carried in the breeze, if not I'll be down on my hands and knees doing a lot of sniffing.

http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=0980&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=sitemap&SearchText=p16.v230;p16.v226;p10.v50&OfferCode=T1H

Thanx again, Chris. I may give them a try! :D I hope the scent is can be carried in the breeze! Nothing like getting on your knees! ;) I have a clematis that is really fragrant. This fall I want plant some of it near the deck so I won't have to go out into the yard just to smell it. I'd like to build an arbor at the steps for that purpose.
I hope you have a great day!

Joey

Oh, I have got to have a picture of that - Chris down on her hands and knees sniffing the plant. ha-ha Alright Chris, I just made a note to take my camera outside with me this morning. There are a few things that I can take pictures of.

My plan for the day is to get outside and continue planting the bulbs that I bought a couple of months ago. I started working on them on Sunday and then Ben (older son) and his very, very pregnant wife stopped by and I never got back to the planting. All day yesterday was spent at hospital talking with two Neurologists who are going to help me figure out what is happening with my legs. I have several tests that I need to go and have done before I report back to them in a month.

Yesterday I received a mail order shipment of plants. I didn't bother opening it because I will open it this morning when I am ready to plant it. I cannot remember exactly what I ordered, so it will be a surprise. Funny, that I only made the order a few days ago. I should be having those Neurologists see what is wrong with my mind.....ha-ha. I already know. Both are due to age and I hate admitting that. Oh well, wouldn't trade this age for any other, happy to be here. ha-ha

John came home with 41 more pots of day lillies yesterday. He is getting them from his parents place again like he did all last fall. Each pot looks to have two or three plants each. Now, that is a lot of day lilies. ha ha I am planning to bring an assortment of day lilies to the swap, which is right around the corner.

I just checked on the plant shipment. I have Monarda, sedums and hibiscus. I will get those in first today and then tackle the bulbs that I still have. Will have camera handy to take some pics for Chris. ha-ha I guess I should also take some pictures of how the walk way is coming along, or not coming along. John got set back about a month from laying the rock for the walkway. He was doing body work on Tucker's car that he had for about two weeks before he basically totalled it. During those three weeks I finally relented and let him drive my 2006 Subaru Forester. The body damage done to mine isn't as bad as the body damage on his was, but the under carriage to my new one is most likely going to be in the $3,000.00 plus range. It goes to frame shop today.

Evidently Tucker took mine four wheeling or something. I hadn't said anything on here to anyone, because I try not to think too much about the disappointment that this boy is creating within me. Oh well. We just take things one day at a time, incident by incident and life goes on. At least now Tucker is working at a Pizza Hut. I haven't checked with school recently but supposedly he may soon be eligible to take the GED exam and be done for now. It is my hope that after he works a few more Pizza Hut types of jobs that he will see the need for further education and enroll in community college and hopefully go on after that too.

He is going to do, what he is going to do despite what I want and the sooner that I realize and accept that, the better off that I will be. It is summer time and I am going to garden!!! Everyone else go ahead and do whatever it is that they like doing, you will find me in the yard. ha-ha

Alrighty - It is about two hours later now. I have spent the past 2 hours straightening the house and doing clothes. I also wrote a list of all the little things that I need to do today. And.....I am still not outside. It is still a bit cool to go out yet. I do have all the windows and doors open though. Supposed to get in the very high 80's here today, so later on this morning I will close everything and turn the air conditioner on.

Shhot folks, I don't even remember now what the topic here was. So scatter brained. Anyway, so good to have a place to come and gab a bit. I appreciate all who are reading this. You are very special people to me.

i will end with wishing each of you a good day.

Ruby

Beautiful pic Joey. Hey, I didn't know that Clematis had a frangrance. I have two or three of them. Only two blooming at the moment though. When I go out I will get down on my hands and knees and see if there is a frangrance. ha-ha I might have Tucker take a picture of me doing it too. Won't you all be surprised!!!

Ruby

ruby- I wish you peace of mind a day at a time with Tucker.
I was listening to the neighbor preschooly grands with their little tiffs and wish I was back there. My husband had a real rocky adolescense - I don't know how his mom stood it. but eventually grew up as most do.

Hoping for good results from your tests and visits.
Chris- I heard once yellow is the color of health. I do like a shot of yellow - I have a yellow shirt thats not special but seems to make me feel good !
Holly- (if you check in) how is the shoulder?
Good health and weather wishes to all

I haven't gotten anything done in the garden for several days. Been building the fence for my chicken pen. I hope I can finish it today or tomorrow and I'll post a picture.

Ruby, I wish you could get Tucker tested for ADD by someone who really knows what they're doing. He sounds just like my ADDer at that age, right down to the minimum wage job and wrecking every car. (Impulsivity and not being able to see consequences means they're often really lousy drivers.) And, no, he never was able to understand dropping out of school equals bad paying low level jobs. Like I said, their brains don't make that action equals consequences connection very well.

If you'd like some help on how to find a qualified ADD doctor, just dmail me.

I sure do hope the neurologists are able to help. I know you must be very frustrated with all you've been through in the last year.

Awwww.... thanks friends. Back a few months ago Tucker's actions really upset me. I guess at this point I am almost at a point of almost hard heartedness. I have been let down so many times where he is concerned this past year, that I don't want to even set myself up by hoping for any thing much positive.

Hart, your words describe the situation exactly. I will DMail you shortly and ask for some info on professionals in my area. Something has to be done. It sounds like maybe your story turned out okay....I hope at least.

Again, thank you Sally and Hart. It is good to have a place to go where people either understand what you are going through, or want to understand. You folks are the very best.

Ruby

Here's my new addition / spring change. I would have liked to have had it ready a month ago but the weather didn't cooperate. It's supposed to rain cats and dogs tonight, so hopefully it will be settled enough to plant later this week.

The middle of it was stone ledge about a foot deep. I just kept shattering it with a pickaxe. I dumped more than twenty wheelbarrows of stone next to the neighbor's driveway. The whole thing is 40'x5'x2'deep.

A casualty of the trench warfare

Hi everyone, I just got done catching up. Nice thread. Hang in there Ruby. Really looking forward to seeing everyone at the plant swap.
Well I have over worked the arm, maybe a little too much PT and just a little to much kitchen work. I was being pretty careful but I think I over did it on Sat making some food for Grandsons 4th birthday party. I thought Ric would be here but he got pulled away and I thought I could handle it myself. Guess I was wrong. The range of movement is still very good and getting better, just a little inflammation, so I am icing it every 4 hrs and back in the sling 4 hrs on and 4 hrs off plus a little medication.
Wow, there is soooo much going on and I'm not doing any of it. But the immediate projects are:
Josh is finishing up the rather large dirt pile that Ric and I started moving last year. I'm planting about 25 Cannas in that spot this year. The Cannas will be a new addition to my garden. I've only had a couple in pots before.
Josh spent sometime fixing up the old split rail fence and we planted 5 new Climbing Roses on the fence.
I've got about 50 ferns and Heuchera comming next week
They don't look like much yet but here is a shot of one of the new roses and the reinforced fence.

Wow Claypa, That is one huge job. I can't wait to see it planted. What are you planting? Boy that dirt sure looks familiar to me, and so do those rocks. We planted a row of Junipers years ago and they are planted on top of a rock ridge that runs thought the property. You can't dig a hole on this property without a digging iron. Got a whole wheelbarrow full from just one hole large enough to plant a small tree. Here is a shot of Josh moving that dirt pile and behind him is the end of the Juniper hedge.

Yes, the color sure looks familiar! I like all the evergreens in your picture, there are lots around here too. Wish I had one of those yankee carts, whatever they call them.
The lawn side, I'm planting Caryopteris down the whole length, and the taller plants in the middle and lower plants closer to the driveway. I think in the fall I'll do a strip in front of the sidewalk and the beds will be like a giant 'C' shape, not much lawn!

Hi!
Ruby...I'm thinkin' 'bout ya....I got my clematis from a lady in Roanoke & thought it was a jasmine for a couple of years & last year when I joined DG's I found out otherwise. It has a small white bloom. And as you know I lost my pix & can't show you, but I will when it blooms this year, Ok?
Claypa, you did some major digging! (poor shovel). And I had to laugh at the "trench warfare"! :D
Holly, your fence is going to look & smell Great!

I planted it with 3 White Dawn and 2 America.
Joey, Sounds like your Clematis might be a Sweet Autumn. Does it bloom in the fall? The first time I saw one I thought it was a Jasmine too.
Claypa, That Juniper hedge is about 30 years old one of the first things I planted it's close to 150 ft long and a good 12 ft wide and 10 ft high. Boy did we get a lot of rock out of those holes. There is a small stone road on the other side that is used as a driveway by us and 3 other families. Then there is an old farm hedgerow on the other side of the road. Between the Juniper hedge and the hedgerow we have a lot of privacy, nesting and food for the birds and pretty fall color.

Between keeping up with my winter sown seedlings, trying to get the weeds under control, and removing Japanese hollies I have not had much time to make improvements. I did finally get a few plants in the ground yesterday. It does not look like much now but I suspect that it will fill in nicely by fall. The bed has 6 Daylilies, 3 Rudbeckia, 3 Coreopsis, 1 Nepeta (catmint), and a relocated Sedum. I believe that the Japanese maples are 'Crimson Queen'.

- Brent

Purple & blue seems to be a trend in my garden - deck - link to my latest photos for the spring - with all the work I have been doing in my house I haven't finished with annuals yet, but a lot of the perennials have exploded and is taking over! :)

http://beckysobsession.spaces.live.com/

The little gardening/planting I have had time to do has been my only saving grace these last two weeks - brought peace and tranquility!

Bec, that's what I like about gardening. It brings a calm feeling & you can "get away" from it all. And talk about a "green thumb"! I thought that my cousin had lots of plants! Thanx for the link!
Brent your front bed looks Great! I love those little Japanese maples. :)
Holly, that may be it, but mine blooms mid to late summer. Last year I took a chair & sat under it to smell...until I was so rudely interupted! :D

Well, gotta run...
Joey

Claypa, what a lot of rocks to move. I hope you'll keep us posted with photos as it progresses.

Is your whole yard rocky like that? That's some mightly impressive pretty green grass you have there. We have nothing but rocks in some parts of the yard and I have such a time getting any grass to grow there.

I think there was a lot of 'terra-forming' / grading with bulldozers here in the mid seventies. The basements in new houses in the area are dynamited, and dumping the loose rock in the nearest low spot seems to be the practice. Some of it gets trucked off though.
So it's anybody's guess whether a yard will have decent soil, or some engineered, compacted mass that only an oak or maple will have a chance of growing in. I look at the road cuts nearby and there's usually a couple feet of soil on top of this brittle shale ledge stuff. It's a nice color though... lots of Main Line Philly 'burbs have this rock ground up in their driveways.
I'm kind of surprised HollyAnnS's looks so similar, another DG'er who lives much closer has very different stone, from what I could see anyway.
Thanks for the comment about the lawn, but I think it may look better in pictures than real life. I get out there with a knife and remove the perennial weeds as best as I can, and I don't worry too much about the early spring annual weeds. I have lots of violets in the lawn, they really don't bother me.
Here's a new addition almost fully bloomed, Allium schubertii. I thought the Asiatic lily foliage looked really nice.

Claypa, It's all Redstone here, a lot of cut Redstone Farmhouses and walls. Not to mention that all the hedgerows around the fields have redstone stacked walls from years of pulling the rocks from the fields. This came out of the hole we dug for a small tree. My son lives about 3 miles from here and he has Ironstone and they had to blast to get his driveway in.

Now that, Holly, looks exactly like the red sandstone that's all over the place in Manassas, where I grew up and lived again until a few years ago. There are some beautiful old houses built of it around town including Ben Lomond House out in Sudley. It has walls about 2 feet thick of that stone. I'm very proud of the fact that I chaired a committee that saw to it the house and grounds were preserved instead of being used for soccer fields years ago.
http://www.pwcgov.org/print.aspx?topic=030110002840001840 lousy picture here

What a beautiful and interesting old house, how good it must have made you feel to help preserve it. Here is my last rock shot. Can you tell I really like rocks? This is my stone wall it's a raised flower bed right in front of the house. It's about 2 ft high and 25 ft long.

Hi everyone, Just wanted to let you all know I have been reading all the posts, haven't been feeling that great to post. Between the weather (damp and rainy) and the meds I'm taking I ache all over at times.

Claypa, you are going to have one pretty place to plant, well worth all your hard work.

Holly, Love the stone wall and the tulips.

I hope to take pictures as my new fence goes up, waiting for the permit. I have been tackling the weeds what had gotten out of hand last year when I was going through chemo and surgery. I have been doing a little at a time, too cold to really set out too many plants, we may get frost tonight, so I was out covering what I did plant out.

Up here it is not safe to plant till after Memorial day.

Have a good one!

Chris

chris- sorry, looks like the weather won't be cooperating this weekend too much for ya. And we will miss you at swap !! Hope sun shines soon there~~~
Hubby, son and daughter on school trip, other son supposed to go to friend'ss tomorrow, so I was all set to update journal with pics, but...they took the camera on the trip~Bummer!

Hi!
Chris, I hope you feel better Soon. Memorial Day is almost here & you'll be able to take it easy & not have to cover your plants. They are calling for us to have frost, too. Every body has their gardens out. May 10 is the date here.
Clay, it's gonna be Super nice! :D
My Japanese fern...

Joey

We have just had a very nice day long rain fall. The plants will really get going now, along with the grass in yard which we have already mowed several times this year. I haven't taken any of my houseplants out side yet either. Just cannot trust that they won't get bit by the cold at nights. I am aiming at next weekend for taking them outside.

I am realling enjoying seeing some of the magnificent flowers, bushes and trees around the community. It just amazes me how one day it is cold, damp and miserable and the next some of the most glorious beauty that the earth has to offer opens for all to enjoy.

Chris, I am sorry that you are feeling low these days. Sure have been there more than once in my life. I hope that your vacation will revive and rejuvenate every living cell in your body. I know that the ocean has a great healing affect on me, and I am wishing the same for you.

You have done so great with keeping a positive attitude as you face all that is involved in fighting cancer. My hat is off to you honey. I am sure that there are not too many folks out there taking all of this as well as you have. Many folks would be moaning and groaning about how unfair it all is and would have a big case of the "poor me's."

I am glad that you have shared with us how you are feeling. It would most likely be very uncommon for this not to have some negative affects on a person. I am glad that docs are giving you a little time off from the treatments. Hopefully your body will take this time to grow stronger. Please know that I think of you often and will begin adding you to my daily prayers.

Folks, I am going to be blessed very soon. While Chris is traveling on her vacation, she will be traveling by my home. We are planning to meet for lunch at a nearby Cracker Barrel. It is going to be one of the highlights of my year. Aren't I lucky??????

Thanks for sharing the pic of the fern music, really pretty, as always.

I hope that everyone will have a great weekend.

Ruby

My guys just might skin me alive. Dear wonderful parents showed up at my house yesterday with a gazebo for my yard. I've been looking at those metal / canvas gazebos. I mentioned to my parents that I found one that I really liked but since I had unexpectedly had to replace the tires on my car (about $450.00) that I was not even thinking of it now. Not to mention that it is one more project for my guys who are doing double duty digging and planting for me. Oh well it's here now, wait till they find out about the stone patio and landscaping timbers that go down before the gazebos is put up. If you don't hear from me for a while call 911. ;} LOL
Chris, Please take good care of yourself. Just give it a little more time the sun is comming.

Looks like it is going to be a good day, sun is shinning and it feels comfortable to be outside. I'll get some weeding done today for sure!

Last night I covered some red & white geraniums in front of the garage with a small piece of burlap, I guess the curiosity of Fred, my cat got the better of the geraniums as it looks like he may have walked up the burlap and broken a few, there are blooms broken off and one plant snapped off but I think I can root the top piece and the bottom will possably still grow.

My Carol Mackie dephne is in full bloom this spring, I was afraid I lost the blossoms when it was so warm and then got that really cold spell. But all is well.

Holly, that sounds wonderful! Be sure to post pictures after you have your gazebo up.

Chris, I hope you're feeling perkier soon.

Ruby, what fun to get to see Chris! And go to Cracker Barrel too. I love Cracker Barrel. LOL