All I want for Christmas....

I had a nightmare about going to Macy's to shop on the day before Christmas... Tossed and turned all night, ironically I saw 'A Nightmare Before Christmas" last night! lol!

Wha--In regard to who gets the plants/trees, they were all bought at one of my favorite garden centers during their 50% off Fall sale (in which, once bought, it's yours, no returns)...this woman plans on returning them all? I spoke to the owner(s) and they basically said absolutely not. The kicker, there were just over $450 worth of plants bought, she wants the credit, AND then wants to buy what she wants to plant at full price...so essentially, what I got at 1/2 off, she wants to return for the credit, to BUY full price...just to let everyone know what I've been dealing with! Many people of the congregation love what was done, and have been complementing out the whazoo, which has irritated her to no end :-/ If things are ripped out, I've asked the interim priest if I can have first dibs, and that I would repay the church the $450.

WW2--I've had several nightmares about the night before xmas fiasco...atleast this year my paycheck before xmas is a week away, not the day before :-)

Sorry to hear about what you've been going through, sounds like a horribly, jealous, control freak! Did'nt she see the sign on the door that said 'Church'!? Gezzz!...

Wow! Where's a banana peel when you need one?

Sorry you got into a mess, Thom! I like your garden better than hers---yours is more practical---& if she was so gung-ho, why didn't she get around to it for the last few years? Poor sport! I'm going to FL for 5 weeks---that's our birthday-Christmas-anniversary presents---and on Christmas Morn, the absolute best thing is to see my grandkids. Priceless.

... That sounds nice 'Robin', especially the grandkids on X-mas morning! - very nice, enjoy!☺

Warmth for 5 weeks...I'm jealous already :-)

Thom, If that good "church lady" took 5 years to not do anything to plant her "English Rose Garden", than I doubt that she will pick up a shovel for another 5 or 6 years to remove all your work. By then that nice list of plant material that you so generously planted will have taken good root, both physically and emotionally. Who in there right mind would want to help her rip your garden out? Perhaps someone named Judas.

I am so sorry your good deed has become such a thorn in your side. It is time to tell her to go sit on her imaginary rose bush! Perhaps on a yellow one called Rosa foetida 'Persiana' as in the Victorian era, a yellow rose was a sign of jealousy!

Oh, so sorry about that situation, Thom. Some people Sheesh!

We are going on a cruise with our oldest's family, DIL's parents and her sister's family. Her mother is the godmother of 'Freedom of the Seas' so we are on that ship. sailing out of Port Canaveral to the Bahamas, then on to St. Thomas and St. Marten. Aug 15 . Hopefully we'll get onto the bridge and some other perks - maybe even the captain's table one night. Got word that our tickets have dropped $450. That should pay for the airfare. Yay!

Patti--

I did enjoy that article :-) Thank you very much! I will take pictures when things have leafed out in the Spring, but the two "anchors" at either end of the plantings are the 'Forest Pansy' Redbuds. I wanted something that linked to something biblical, and knew that the Judas tree was a Cercis sp., not specifically 'Forest Pansy,' but in the right ball park :-) This was very well received by everyone...minus one person...lol

I've had numerous conversations with my parents about this, with 2 other members of the vestry, and one nice long conversation with the interim priest of the church. I wish there was a way to make audio files so anyone could listen (if they chose to) to the messages...the one that my parents had left on their voice mail was the most disturbing one...and I feel IMHO that this woman is psychotic, or has some personality disorder...the message she left was just off the wall and awful. I haven't heard the f bomb dropped that much since an Eddie Murphy concert.

If the members of the vestry want me to come back, and oust her, I will definitely be showing them this article, and seeing what they feel about it. I did bring up the idea of "biblical" named/theme plant names, which everyone thought would be great. There are 2 giant Oak trees in front of the parish hall, all shade underneath, and I proposed (at some point) a Hosta and Fern garden (with berms created, due to the roots of the Oaks) and gave them all a list of Hosta with religious themes in their cultivars.

Thank you again for that link, I'm going to put it in my favorites so I don't lose it :-)

Jan that sounds really, really exciting :-)

Thom, She sounds like a ranter, and not a doer. I thought you would enjoy the article. I will look forward to the pictures of "Your" church garden, may it be there for years and years. The only narcissus that I have that are seem to be related to anything biblical are these, but I am sure there are more.

Saint Patrick's Day
Calgary
Easter Bonnet
Billy Graham
Beersheba
Von Sion (Variant of Zion)
Salome
Lucifer


Patti

Lucifer should go over well! ^_^

Ha ha ha, I was thinking the same thing.

Possible Bibical Hosta's:

Bethlehem
Blessings'
Blue Angel
Eternal Father
Eternal Flame
Eternity
Halo
Heaven Scent
Heavenly Beginnings
Holy Grail
Joseph
Paul's Glory
Peace
Peter the Rock
Peter's Passion
Psalms
Promised Land
White Angel
White Dove

beersheba sounds good to me.

picked up my japanese lantern today - will probably not install it until spring - these are $$ - glad i did research on different styles and cost - they were having a sale and the one i chose was slightly better priced although most where much higher even considering shipping - btw these things are HEAVY

Pics?

Of Beersheba, not the rock.

I will post pictures of them all a bit later. Just taking a quick break from planting bulbs. I thought Lucifer was the major reason to have a church. But maybe that is the devil in me. Patti

There is a red daylily named Devil's Deciple' suggest that you skip that one.

Kids are giving the house a flat screen TV for the livingroom.
I will be able to watch TV by a fire.
My TV is in my suite now and there is no fireplace.

GE1836, like your tree. Nice gift.

Here are the narcissus that I have that have a biblical tie in my garden. I left out Lucifer as I don't have a good picture of it alone, but it is lovely thing.

Calgary double white
Easter Bonnet white with peachy pink cup
Beersheba white
Saint Patrick's Day yellow with a greenish tinge
Billy Graham pale yellow with salmon cup
Salome white and salmon yellow cop
Van Sion (Variant of Zion) double yellow

They are all beautiful

I need to clip and paste, and make pages of these things, so I can put on paper the ideas I have streaming, this is all a big huge honkin "IF" also. I think I mentioned Preen about half a dozen of times...no Preen yet. So weeding is going to be fun. I can only assume (and we all know where that gets us) that since she is definitely not a "doer" that this new bed will turn into a weed haven in no time flat. She tried to convince everyone that the mulch will keep down the weeds. Which I told everyone on the vestry, if you want weed proof, plant plastic, put plastic mulch down, and spray round up every couple of weeks. This whole mulch is the one and only thing to stop weeds, I was like, "It will help to deter them, but it's also a giant blank slate for them to grow and develop. No matter what is used, maintenance is and will be required for upkeep." She told me my ideas were delusional. That was probably the nicest thing she said. lol

The church is an Episcopal church, which I always said was kind of a liberal of shoot of Catholicism. (please don't be offended by that, it's just MHO) So any names that are not "typical" like Lucifer, I don't think would really rankle anyone...but, who knows. Time will tell where I stand with this project.

I have St Patrick's Day, just planted it this year, can't wait to see what next year brings. I planted about 20 different types of daffs this year! I hope they all come true to name! I also got a steal on the giant alliums. One of my other favorite garden centers were having the Fall all-bulbs-have-to-go-now-75%-off-sale...and I brought 4 giant allium bulbs up, told the cashier what they were, and she rang them up... .25 each. I was like, WHAT? Put me down for 8 more. lol. So I picked up 12 giant allium bulbs for $3 and change :-)

I guess the moral to this is: Sometimes when you step in it, it's really not bad :-) lol

I wish everyone found little deals like this...it would make buying xmas gifts so much kinder to the wallet/purse :-)

25 cents each???? Wow, how do you always find these amazing deals??

That how I usually describe the Episcopal church.

I think the biblical names are a great idea---we have gardens at our church, but the only name that fit was a rose called Stairway to Heaven. It's climbing on an arbor with clems.

There is a tall bearded iris named 'Stairway to Heaven' as well. Some people on these forums have mentioned corn gluten to prevent weeds. We might try it next yr if we can find it.

I tried corn gluten in the lawn for a few years. Did not work well.

Thanks, maybe grass discourages it. Where did you get it by the way? Garden center or whatever? DH took our Preen back to the gc unopened as he did not like the instructions, so I would like some help against weeds.

Gardens Alive website.

I use Preen all the time, Lucy. I find it causes no problems with anything, plants, or wildlife. I wouldn't use it by a body of water, but in the garden I see no problem with it. I think it's much more benign than a lot of the garden chemicals.

Thom, nice to see you posting and really sorry to hear about the Luciferean Luny's agita-worthy behavior. I've seen it before in a church setting....not pretty and can turn many away from the Church, which is, after all, just a big heaping collection of imperfect people of all types, so you should just suggest a dedicated prayer group for the Procrastinators and Bedeviled WannaBe Gardeners among the parishioners. LOL Sounds like she could use some prayers! And, it sounds like a lovely garden you've planted there!

Dearest DonnieBrook, oh so well penned! I doubt she would last 2 seconds in your presence. Perhaps you could make a pit stop in the spring in Pa. on your way north to give her a piece of all of our minds in honor of Thom's hard work. Patti

I second that motion!

I'm there, Patti!!!! People like that offend my sensibilities. LOL And our Thom should not have to ingest one Tum over such an idiot. We'll get her!!! LOL

Thom's tums for his tummy?

2-5 acres of land in SE Massachusetts that is NOT wetlands so I can move "home" and start a greenhouse/nursery business.

that's great!

Fun times last night...
There is a farm on the other side of town and has a Winter Wonderland festival every year for 2 nights. Kids get to see Santa, there's different characters walking around, a mansion tour and model railroad display.

The place is called Kuser mansion, here's some info-

The "Country Home" of Fred Kuser and his family this beautiful estate has also been a favorite visiting place for many of the area's movers and shakers.

The Kusers themselves have a long and interesting history dating back to Rudolph Kuser who immigrated to the U.S. from Zurich, Switzerland around the early-mid 1800's. He and his wife Rosalie bought and operated a large farm in Hamilton Township, along what is now Kuser Road. It was across the road from this farm that their son, Fred, built the Kuser Farm Mansion as a summer home.

Just to give an idea of how influential the Kusers were, Anthony R. Kuser consolidated all the gas and electric companies in Trenton and became president of the South Jersey Gas and Electric Lighting Company. He served on the staffs of three governors, and his wife's father, John Dryden, was a U.S. senator and founded the Prudential Life Insurance Company. The Fox Film Company, later to merge with 20th Century, was started with a $200,000 loan from Kuser, and family members went on to become major stock holders. The Kuser legacy includes High Point State Park and the New Jersey Audubon Society.

Today visitors can enjoy a tour of the beautiful mansion and accompanying buildings. The period rooms in the mansion include the "Theatre in the Dining Room," with its once state-of-the-art 18-foot curved Cinema-Scope screen.

Other attractions include the Laundry House, Coach House, Barn, Garages, Corn Crib, Chicken House, Gazebo, and Tennis Court. Many famous people played tennis at this court, considered one of the finest clay courts in the state.