Apropos of Nothing v.15

I don't often post but do read to keep on what going on with you guys. Wow, Gwen, that house and yard is amazing. Is the yellow conifer perhaps a chamycyparis, (sp), maybe one called something like Gold Thread? If so I have some and will do a grouping with that ceanothus. And the house, geeze the chicken coop.

Sofer your place is just stunning. I loved the photos and how lucky you people that got to go and see it in person.

I am back to lurking, oh, one more comment. Pony, love the dahlia and the gun. I had a .22 pistol that I loved but lost it, I normally don't care much for pink, but I like that. Right now I need a gun, I had a .22 rifle but my daughter moved here and had never shot a gun. My uncle set up a shooting range at his place for her and I fear she has stolen it for good. Occasionally I would borrow it back to shoot gophers but then she came quick and got it so now I just gave up. She lives with her daughter so she needs it more than I do, she is closer to the highway, not that a .22 would do much damage, but like Sofer stated, you mostly need the noise.

Thanks, rebeccanne. :) Honestly, I think we're going to sell the pink .380 and get me something else- it's really too small for my hands. I have long fingers and I felt like I was having trouble holding the pistol securely as I was firing because there just isn't enough of it to hold on to. I'd like to try a Glock 19 9mm, which is supposed to have less recoil than a .380 and has a bigger grip.

It's not actually a conifer. I can find out what is is. It has very small yellow leaves. It may be evergreen.

She uses half that studio as a garden shed - shovels and tools and such are in there. The other half is where the chickens roost and lay eggs.

It is the sunroom wing that I am drooling over in the pictures of the beautiful house, and the chicken coop also, and the neatly edged garden beds.....but Sofer's are better in that regard.

The lilies are lovely. I have some new trumpet lilies which are about 3 feet tall now (after having been mauled by a slug earlier in the year), but no buds yet formed. I do hope the slug damage was not enough to affect bloom too much.

Gwen if that is not a confer, I have to have it. Yellow and black foliage plants are my currrent obsession. I have so many and cannot believe I somehow missed this one, and its big!
If its evergreen...you must find a name.

Pony I have very long fingers, really hard to find gloves. Most of my garden gloves are blue or black, mens sized, the cute flower ones won't fit my fingers.

I also discovered this plant that I think I really need. Its an australian mint bush, evergreen and the deer won't eat it. If anyone knows I can get one, I would be thrilled.

Prosanthera cuneata (common name Alpine Mint Bush)

I always get the rubber-dipped gloves, I tear through the plain fabric ones in a day. heh.

So apparently I am growing Mimulus cardinalis now- though where it came from is a mystery to me... it turned up in a container on the deck. Cute little thing, though.

Closer look at the bloom:

The Vermeers are popping! The Vermeers are popping! *happy dance*

Gwen, Sounds like your day yesterday should have been great. What a gorgeous home!

Ladybug, Sounds like you need to be gardening with a big dog to let you know when it is time to go inside for a minute or two! We have had all those critters here every once and a wile, but fortunately they are playing somewhere else this spring (knocking on wood.....).

Holly, Hope your lilies bloom well. The trumpet lilies are so cool and they smell sooooo good!

And speaking of lilies, Pony, yours are very very pretty! How quickly they popped with a couple of days of sunshine!

I swear I had the perfect summer day yesterday...... Out in the garden extra early, spent the full day in the sunshine cleaning up beds and actually have a couple that are finally looking "finished" rather than like flowers peeking through the weeds. Ended the day with a harley ride with Don and Mom to a restaurant in Orting where we had dinner and wine on the patio. Does it get any better than that?

Sounds like totally the perfect day. :)

Hey look- the little baby fuchsia you sent me is already getting ready to bloom! :)

It looks very happy! Willow set aside that fuchsia for you from her greenshed party. Now I am going to have to go out and see how mine is doing... :)

Thanks, Willow! I wasn't sure who that one was from. ;)

Don't think that came from me. I don't have a pink fuchsia. I have a hardy one I gave starts of but it is red and purple and has small leaves.

I have had Australian Bush Mints and I love them but always lose them to the last hard frost of the year.

Willow, It was one of the "gift" ones that you gave all of us.

Wow, I swear the weeds appear overnight during what little dark time we have and multiply quickly...think I should buy a propane weed cooker! Would get more done, faster... just not thrilled with the use of propane. Must work faster.

Pony, the lilies are beautiful. You will like the G 9mm, good size, nice weight, easy clip exchange.

Julie, If I could find a "tame" tiger then I'd have a zoo! We currently have 3 big dogs, one that would want to be friends and play, one that would want me to protect him - at 200 lbs he's too much to carry to the garage, and one that would want to "eat" anything that moves including the bear. No good at true dog jobs other than loving their people. The boys (dogs) are out with me when I'm here, the female is only out supervised due to her personality disorder.

dinner and wine on any patio with a bike ride are a wonderful way to end any day that doesn't rain.

OH, Thanks Julie I forgot about those.^_^

I too like the end of your day Julie.
Wished I could get fuchsia to take the low humidity here.

You should be able to install a mister for them, in a shady spot.

Ladybug, sounds like you have a zoo similar to mine! And isn't the only truly important true dog job loving their people? All else is secondary IMO. I did snicker at the visual of someone picking up a 200 pound pup and running for shelter though! I know that all of mine would protect me with their lives, but I wouldn't give them the chance if I can help it. People have heard it from me before.... if the dogs bark and chase, it is a racoon, deer, etc. If they bark and growl and stand right by momma, it's time to get everybody inside for a while! They are my "early warning system".

So most everyone here knows by now that I am a daylily addict... in fact, I have been hybridizing my own for a few years now. Last spring, I had run out of room for new babies, so Mom and I decided to start a couple of seedling rows down in our vegie garden, wich is about 3/4 of a mile by road from my front door. I planted at least a couple hundred babies down there last year, and last night I had my very first blooms! This area gets more sunlight than my yard, so is a bit earlier in bloom than the seedlings that are on my property. I was bursting with excitement when I went down to see the new babies, and had to share. First blooms (even first year for that matter) are never at their true potential, but I was thrilled with the babies that I found and wanted to show them off........

Can't wait to see all of the new faces.....

Gorgeous!

Could you explain how that is done, please?

Great daylillies can't wait to see more!!

Congratulations, new Mama~~, Beautiful.

Jan, Why.... by flower sex of course! (Sorry, couldn't resist ^_^ ). Daylily breeding is actually very simple, but not a process for impatient people. You select two plants that have characteristics that you feel would make a good combination, and then collect pollen from the pistil of one plant, and put it on the stamen of the other. Then you cross your fingers that rain doesn't wash away the polen and the cross takes. If the cross takes, plant the seeds, wait two + years, and see the results. I am on my my fourth year of seedling blooms now, so it is much less agonizing to wait for new blooms than it was the first couple of years. I have my hands full now with new kids from the last several years.

Thanks Deb , Linda and Lynn... I am afraid I would be proud of my little babies even if they were really ugly, and will probably subject you all to many more photos.



This message was edited Jun 29, 2010 11:00 AM

You have a lot of patience, and now you are being rewarded for your dedication. That is so exciting. Please post more pictures!

Got a coupla scapes on Bill's Hugs can't wait for them to bloom!

Julie, that area will be amazing when everything is in bloom! (The blooms now are very pretty too.)

Beautiful new babies! Congratulations! *hands out bubblegum cigars*

LOL flower sex

Soooooo.... when you get the seeds, do you plant them right away or wait til next spring? I am very patient. Maybe it will work.

I am SO mad. My new 'Pooh' dahlia was doing so nicely, two feet tall already, and *something* broke it off at the ground sometime last night or this morning. I'm betting it was a raccoon, because I saw one running around out there last night. Gaaaaaah! :(

Jan, Seeds are harvested when pod splits at the top and air dryed for at least a couple of days (I dry mine for a week as we are so wet here) and then popped in the fridge for a minimum of two weeks. Anytime after that, soak for a couple of days and they are ready to plant. If you have the facility to start them inside, you can start them in the fall and then plant out the following spring for a tiny posibility of first year blooms. Now that I have a few seasons under my belt and am not so antsy for instant gratification from my new seeds, I start mine inside in the early spring, and they are ready to go into the garden right about now.

Pony, we crossed. Nasty bummer about your dahliah.... I remember seeing Mary's pics of Pooh last year and it was really pretty. Maybe it will just think that it has been pinched back and come back bushier with more blooms :{ ....

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Nice Julie! You are so talented! Very beautiful.

I hope so, Julie. I was so excited to have these. I had two of them, and one got eaten down to nothing by slugs. It's just starting to re-sprout now.

Congrats on the new babies, nice. All the seeds you gave me came up. I planted several in my beds, gave one each to my DS and Ruth. I have two left to give to Micheal this fall.

This frog has moved to another pot and has grown quite a bit. It's a 4" pot.

Another angle.

That's quite the frog, Willow. Where is his home pot?