What's Happening in Your neighborhood-visit with friends #18

Moved us over from here...

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/976168/

Here I thought I said good morning to you all, started a new thread..
Felt badly for those of you out west, heard the weather hasn't been kind to you all and where is it???? must not have pressed 'send'

Had high winds and heavy rains last night and this morning..not but 1/2 hr. ago I looked out and all was dark/rain..now, trees are dancing from side to side, blue sky and fluffy white clouds...

Know Saturday they are calling for rain, so, might as well enjoy today and tomorrow...

How are your gardens...hope no loss to plants/shrubs...

This message was edited May 14, 2009 12:54 PM

'Bout time I got in here. Not nice outside for gardening. I played a concert on Monday evening which kept me busy through the weekend with rehearsals.

Since then I've been digging and dividing hostas. Not because most of then 'need' to be divided but because they are large enough that I can and then peddle them to friends. I done maybe 80 pots so far and still have a few to dig. Will make enough to cover the cost of my Hostapedia and the new hostas I've ordered. DH is happy when I can cover a large chunk of the cost of my addiction.

I think I might also make enough that I can donate some to my church's revitalization fund - renovation of a structure that's nearly 50 years old (CE wing) and needs to be virtually gutted with all new electrical, plumbing, heating, insulation - the works. It's a big project to do when the economy's not doing well but it's costing a small fortune to keep patching the old building up.

Am about to head out to the bank and grocery store. Have handbells later this evening, followed by a rehearsal for a group that is playing a Corelli Concerto Grosso in mid-June.

Ann

Boy I wish someone here would 'peddle' their hostas. There isn't much of a selection at the garden centres. I'm so excited about my Floral and Hardy order hosta order I can't wait!

80 pots Ann, omg I'm whith dahlianut, wish I lived closer..now our church plant sale has a lot of hosta's for sale - that's May 30th but many are the same old/same old...silly me, if I had some to divide they wouldn't be peddled I'd be digging me up another garden..lol

Churches sure are having a time of it aren't they..most in disrepair..2 of our town churches have been sold...a few are banding together and doing services at different times as they just can't afford to be functional...

As usual Ann, you are a busy lady..handbell practice and a rehearsal...my goodness when do you get to see DH????

Yesterday was sunny all day but there had been abit of frost and it was darn chilly; today is overcast but raining off and on , didnt freeze last night although I have everything protected - brought a lot of stuff back into the porch from the shed just in case. Both the tomatoes I have were on the floor in the shed and both were touched a bit but looking OK today. They say it will be nice the first 2 days of the weekend but I suspect it wont be really warm - I better start checking the weather forecasts for frost warnings!

I am very excited that we have probably got a forever home for my sweet senior foster Trouper. Just waiting for the last bit of paperwork/approval but I am 99.9% it is a go - expect to be taking him up to Innisfail next week.

Les I can probably let you have some hosts from my old timers if you are interested. I wonder howFloral and Hardys hostas are this year . I ordered some Heucheras from her and 3 did not survive. She told me they lost thousands of plants this past winter. She will replace them but I also lost a few more than usual and I am thinking that a lot of these newer lovely colored foliage plants just are not very hardy here. So I may stop wasting my $$. and only buy the ones with darker leaves.

Stopped at Plantation Garden Centre this morning. Les...get this, 1-gallon Hostas are $25 each. 6" Wave petunias are $9 each. WOW are they ever expensive. Glad I went on the Garden Centre Bus tour.

Thanks everso carol. I'm really in need of minis and smalls for my new path borders. So many paths; so few hostas ^_^ I think it was you that told me about the article stating that alot of the new heucheras may revert back to the parents or croak? I did order one new heuchera (dolce mocha mint) and a heucherella (sunspot) from Betty. I haven't heard from her so hopefully they are ok. I lost one heuchera (marmalade) this winter. The rest (even the seedlings) are fine. I doubt I'll replace the marmalade because I wanted that one for full shade and it didn't do well there.

Sorry Les my old timers are all big ones!

WHOooooooooooooooooosh !!! WIndy day in Thunder Bay and dontcha know it .. THIS was the day we went up in the Scissor Lift for the United Way .. so .. instead of 6 stories up .. we went 2 .. SCARY enough for me !!!!
We did get over $300. in pledges though .. we had to sit up there and phone friends and family .. up there for 20 minutes .. will post a pic or 2 in a bit ..

My gardens are poking along .. near freezing temps at night are keeping things slow growing ...

Thanks for shufflin us Betty ^_^

~M~

Zeeeeeeeeee pics ^-^

Getting up into the lift was a bit 'trippy' .. but tful heavy equip guy was helpful .. held purses etc LoL

~M~

Gearing up .. had to put these harnesses on , just in case !!!!!

~M~

And .. we are UP !!!!!!

LOTSA fun .. even though the wind was brisk and temps were chilly ...


~M~

Yikes, it would of been too much for me ~M~. Terrified of heights!

We have had a pretty soggy week here, and now that the forecast is for clearing...I am watching for Frost.

Wanted to mention that here in our community, we have lots of Deer that can cause problems. What has worked for many is Blood Meal. My neighbor swears by it. Mixes the Blood Meal and some Bone Meal in a jar, punches a few holes in the aluminum jar top, and sprinkles it on top of the ground around his plants. He had pots of Geraniums all last summer, out in the open, and the deer stayed away. I am trying it this year. Normally I only have hanging plants, out of their reach, but I am trying an ornamental grass (Mexican Feather) in an urn pot on my front walk this year, so we'll see how it works. The rest of my flower beds are surrounded by wire fence.

Darn chilly here too. Can't yet tell which Huchera's have really made it yet. I have a couple orangey ones, Peach Melba and Creme Brule. My Hosta's aren't even showing their heads yet so everything is very late.
Les if you are looking for Mini Hosta's I got Tiny Tears at Rundlewood in Calgary two years ago. Also if you come up to Edmonton Holes had Pandora's Box last year and I have a small one if you can wait a year or two I will have a "little" to share.
DonM47 I will wait to see if you are offering a buffet for the deer or if your concoction works. My sister has a nasty time with feeding deer.
Looking forward to some warm weather outside of the greenhouses.
Ann

Morning .... TGIF and a LOooooooooooong weekend as well ^_^

We have FROST on the ground BIGTIME here this morning, anyone who was kooky enough to plant slips etc is gonna hang their head ...
I have peeked at my perennials near the house .. they are OK ... whew !!

The deer have taken a small hiatus (I think) from the corn .. perhaps the Does have mozied off to drop their Fawns, hard to say.
Have yet to sprinkle the 'Deer Scram' .. it's basically the mix Don spoke of.

ENjoy your weekend .. stay warm !!!

On with VCARS today .. hoping it's quiet

~M~

We managed to avoid Jack Frost this morning...but just. Clear sailing for the next several days. Highs in the mid 20's with minimums far from freezing. Yay!

Have a wonderful Long Weekend Everyone! ^_^

Morning all, sunshine here this morning but on the COLD side..imagine, calling for rain and chances of flurries for tomorrow...do you think all those garden perrenials now up after a hard winter still need covering??? wow, hate to think where I'll get that many sheets, tarps etc.

Got my Birds and Blooms book last night, have it here in the office, they are talking about a Choclate plant nursery near Seattle Washington..very interesting..guess one could order some of the plants..chocolate cosmos, chocolate sunflower, chocolate viola, chocolate pincushion flower and chocolate smoke nicotiana and chocolate tomatoes...yummy....would look pretty in a garden of their own...

$25. for a gal. hosta...omg, that's highway robbery isn't it...they must be specialy hosta's right?

"M" can just see you calling friends, trying to reach your goal while freezing in the chair...

Don, do you think it's been a much colder spring this year or are we just too anxious after the winter we've had for warm weather to appear...

Gardens are flurishing (up to today) so whatever is happening the plants seem to like it..

Sun is shining - I think there might have been a touch of frost in my area last night - car windows are wet and I uncovered the containers and there was a bit of 'snow' on top. They have been covered for 2 days now!

Supposed to be reasonably nice the next 3 days and then downhill again early next week. It is so frustrating. Well I can plant the perennials but am going to be really conservative about the annuals this year things are so unpredictable. Usually I just put them in and put a large pot beside and pop it over at night if there is a risk of frost. Part of the problem this year is it is simply to cold or wet for me to work outside!

Betty I think a chocolate garden is a great idea. I have been playing with the idea of a Raspberry garden as I already have a lot of 'Raspberry' plants. I was working on a Food and Drink Heuchera bed but think I might have to give up as so many of the newer colored leaf plants dont seem to be very hardy here.

annabell you're on! I'm trying to choose fast growing ones so we can trade mini/small hostas in a couple of years ^_^ We had f*r*o*s*t carol :( I'm going to plant out the larger rooted hardy perennial seedlings this weekend. Everything else will have to wait.

Happy Endangered Species Day everyone!

Betty, without doubt it has been a VERY cold and unusual Spring so far. That following a cold winter is really taking it's toll on our poor plants. All we need is lots of Sun now and lots of HEAT.

Little frosty this morning, but I had frost blankets on the annuals outside, so it was ok. Ran out of room in the greenhouse & hope next week's forecast changes. These are all annuals & 36 milk jugs that have become chia pets

Tomatoes are huge & budding

Wave petunias are now budding

Les another order of Hostas came today. I inadvertantly ordered 2 called Faithful Heart so if you want one it is yours for a few bucks ( but you will probably faint when I tell you the price! It is about 8"high and 18" wide at maturity. Pretty.

Pic is from Budds Gardens in Ottawa

Canadian Tire has 1 gallon Hostas advertised for $8.19 in this weeks flyer. Don't know what varieties, but that's a good price!

fancyvan - with all that mulch, that Faithful Heart is likely growing in Don Budd's own back yard garden. He takes customers there quite regularly and one summer three of us from DG went and explored it w/o his evening being home. His daughter who was minding the nursery sent us over. You'll find pics of that excursion at http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/639312/

I remember looking at those pics a while back. Gorgeous! Makes me want ti rip out everything and do a host gaden - almost!

I still have an order coming from Budds.

Hi all. It was SO cold this morning here that the hail/snow kept me inside, on my day off! Unheard of! But it warmed up and I spent six hours digging and hauling compost. I created a new bed in front, almost grass free out there.

Any Calgarians who read the Herald, there was a nice article about my son in Neighbors Thursday. He is a pretty talented fiddler. Do you mind saving me the article if you have copies?

I keep seeing great deals on hosta but am too nervous about the hosta virus to buy from anywhere but the garden centers, is this right, hosta experts?

I intend to make the most of the next few days until winter returns. My greenhouse is getting really over full though......When will spring arrive permanently?

Theresa

Mines out in the Blue Bin but I will get it tomorrow.

I think the problem wih buying Hostas even at the garden centres is you dont know where they get their plants. Wonder if you asked the staff at Greengate or Sunnyside about Hosta X what the response would be?

I am monitor for the Lets Go Shopping workshop next Wed - we will be at Greengate - maybe I will ask somebody!

GADZOOKS!!!!

Is this MAY ?? It has been snowing off and on since about 6am .. and an INCREDIBLE WIND!!!

My lawn furniture is topsy turvy .. will have to tarp the stuff we are taking to the dump ..
Poor Lilly ... I'm sure she's going to blow away !!!

Take care all

~M~

I looked for the article on your son, but didn't see it, Theresa.
"Neighbours" is the one brought to those who don't take the paper, right?
Is each "Neighbours" specific to the actual neighbourhood you live in?

Carol - I hope you have one that has her son's article :-)

Well, I have a new deck project! I have one of those old farm kitchen tables (with the drawer in the side) and I'm going to extend the back legs to about 4' above the tabletop, then add some shelves to it. I'm using green-treated wood to withstand the elements, and putting 13" tiles on the top of the table.
I'd put tiles on the tabletop last year, but hadn't grouted it. Water inevitably got in between the tiles and warped the laminate. I took off the tiles and tore off the warped wood. Now to wait for DH to come home & cut a proper size of new tabletop so I can nail it down and put the tiles on again (this time grouting it with silicone - weatherproof it)

I'll use it for plant staging, potting, storage of tools (I'll put some cup hooks, etc on the side) and the back will have another bonus - it'll be an additional privacy screen (above my deck fence) for my neighbours (albeit a small screen lol)
The debris on the deck is the laminate I pulled off - it was so warped and wet, that I thought I'd better let it dry off early in the day (22c today!!).

-Susan-

Good luck with your project Susan .. by the sounds of it the finished product will be quite nice.

The windchimes are still banging around .. this wind is so discouraging. Did lots of INSIDE house stuff today.

I see a Thunder Bay author has written a book about 'Northen Gardening' .. have included the link ..

http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/Default.aspx?cid=8531
I'll peruse it the next time I am in Chapters....


A question .. has anyone ever had one of the keys on your keyboard start to work only intermittently?
My 'r' is sticking .. I have checked for crumbs etc .. nadda .. very frustrating !!

Hope all of you are doing well

~M~

M: Yes but I cant remember if I ever knew why - it was a key I needed a lot ( dont remember now which one probably a vowel ) and eventually I just went and got a new keyboard - which was my excuse to get a wireless keyboard/mouse!

This is on my laptop unfortunately.

I Googled "cleaning keyboards" .. but the articles seem to refer to 'detached' keyboards .. still lookin.

I want to take the 'key' off and look under it.. and I may .. sooooooooo .. if my messages have no 'r's you know why

~M~

M: http://www.computing.net/howto/simple/keyboard/

I have had that happen, and the problem was a broken letter key. They replaced it and all was well again. Good luck with yours ~M~.

Sunshine, Lollipops :-) Thunder Bay is looking a bit more 'normal' this morning!! I do believe we will be able to play outside without getting blown away !!!

I did flip the 'r' key covering off .. and cleaned underneath .. thought I had 'cured the prob .. seems my happiness was displaced as the key is again NON functioning about 60 pecent of the time ... YOIKES, just noticed my 'five' key is also acting up :-(
May have to take the laptop in and have someone look at it .. LOVELY !!!

Have a nice day .. enjoy

~M~

A lovely day yesterday = I wanted to be outside so badly I didnt even walk the dogs! Dont think they cared uch either.
Started to get perennials in their places. Sometimes I just walk around with the pots and plunk them down and leave for a few days to be siure its the right spot, if not I move it somewhere else.
I dug up and split some plants for a neighbor and got them potted up for the plant share next Sat.
One of our rescue volunteers who , although holding a full time accounting job, is a photographer at heart. dropped by and took pics of Trouper, Bailey and Fancy - I think she got some pretty fantastic shots but have not seen them yet.
We 'pulled' a sheltie from Animal Control a week ago - the dog turned out to be one I knew and had actually looked after about 5 years ago for a short time ( helping out the breeder, not a rescue) AC wont turn dogs over to us so one of us goes in and adopts the dog and turns it over to rescue. Well within 24 hours this family said they wanted to keep him. His coat had been shaved for unknown reasons and he looks so silly I just had to keep laughing when I saw him yesterday. He is now 7 yrs old and a really great dog and when his cpoat grows back him he will look great. I actually had a couple of pics that I took when I 'dog sat' him!
A week ago we had 6 dogs available now all are spoken for but one.

Supposed to go to -4 tonight with snow/rain!

This message was edited May 17, 2009 8:49 PM

Have you all warmed up..think our long weekend was 1 weekend too early (at least by me) have you seen the temps we should get to this coming week?

Torrential rains almost all day Saturday..Sunday, could have been picked up and set down somewhere else, omg the winds were strong..Sunday, light winds and sunny...

Didn't do a whole lot, not feeling that well...tingly fingers, headache, nausea so spend much of the 3 day weekend laying around..felt nice although wasteful..could have done a lot in the house...

Loved your photo's..Ann, hope you find the article to post for us...

Rain most of the day yesterday, has stopped now but cool and windy.
Big snow storm up north I gather but the worst seems to have missed most of below Red Deer which is good because I have to drive up to Innisfail ( just south of Red Deer) to deliver foster Trouper to his new home. Reports of freezing drizzle early this morning but I hope will be better by the time I am up there. Driving carefully!