She's about to...61... Summer is upon us!

yes she is i Have her right by my back door where i can see her every min :0

Susie, I'm so glad your Angel showed her true color. Actually, all my Angels start out yellow.. I have several Angels now that are hanging with bloom pods, now waiting to see if the spider mites will let me see the beauty of a full opened bloom. Went out AGAIN this morning and pulled off spider mite infested leaves, bagged them, sprayed good (watering can with sprinkler spout) using soap & water. do not know what else I can do for them other than give up, and that ain't gonna happen. Just love my Angels and wish they didn't work me so hard.
Stay cool everyone, and that means do not go outside!

Sure do wish I could get them looking like this again.

Oh Faye, those are so pretty! Bet that smelled so good at night?

I FOUND THIS ON MY K-Harris this morning well on the stalk going up it . as i took it off & SNAPPED THE Picture Sweet pea came up & snatched the bug she is a bug eater.
My brother was telling me about a product that he sells called Melalauca Sol-u-mel that will keep bugs off the plants I have not tried it but he is going to bring me some to try, as of yet I do not have much problem with bugs .

I was also told that possible VINEGAR & Water will keep the bugs off but not tried that either. Has anyone else tried it ????
Faye How Beautyful I do wish i could get mine to grow like that . With this heat Kay is drooping I gave her some more to drink & she is perking up a bite.
back later

Susie, make a solution of one cup each, vinegar, dawn dish soap, and ammonia. The dawn, can be the cheap brand, as long as it is the anti bacterial kind. Mix with 1 cup of this solutions with 1 gallon of water, and spray your plants. I did that a few years ago when I had aphids real bad. It got rid of the aphids, but don't spray it in the heat of the day. Spray it at night, or early morning.
That grub is nasty looking. Glad you found him.

Any of you with buds rejoice. My brugs are so pitiful this year that I may not get to see a bloom. I think my original plant (Xena) has some smallish buds. But they rest are just not getting there at all. Not even growing and now it is 100 degrees out there so they can just curl up and wither away with everything else. My moonvines are still trying to take over the house, but the buds keep falling off and even the 4'oclocks don't open because it is too hot. Not even August yet. Although the way things are going in the govt. I hope next month this time the only thing we have to worry about is the heat. That would be a blessing.

I hear you Nita. I too am concerned about what we are in for. All the cuts are really going to hurt those of us who are to old to even try and get jobs. We are living on the same amount of $ that we did 5 yrs.ago, only thing is, everything except our income has gone up and believe me, lifestyle has and will continue to change. We are going backwards instead of enjoying the retirement we worked all our life for. What are we expected to do with everything increasing in cost when our S.S. & Medicare are messed up? What is going to happen when our retirement is taxed again? Don't forget to vote!!!

Love & hugs to all.
Faye

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1198044/

PJ/night gown swap. Come on over and check it out!

Faye, most companies are not giving raises either, at least not to the majority so we are all in the same boat when it comes to income, cost of living, and taxes.

Love the bruggies they are fantastic! So pretty.

Congrats Susie on the new bloom, be sure and smell it in the evening..wowzer. When they bloom in my solar room the house smells so wonderful!

Don't use vinegar Susie:
Spray Weeds With Vinegar?
By Don Comis
May 15, 2002
Some home gardeners already use vinegar as a herbicide, and some garden stores sell vinegar pesticides. But no one has tested it scientifically until now.
Agricultural Research Service scientists offer the first scientific evidence that it may be a potent weedkiller that is inexpensive and environmentally safe--perfect for organic farmers.
ARS researchers Jay Radhakrishnan, John R. Teasdale and Ben Coffman in Beltsville, Md., tested vinegar on major weeds--common lamb’s-quarters, giant foxtail, velvetleaf, smooth pigweed and Canada thistle--in greenhouse and field studies. They hand-sprayed the weeds with various solutions of vinegar, uniformly coating the leaves. The researchers found that 5- and 10-percent concentrations killed the weeds during their first two weeks of life. Older plants required higher concentrations of vinegar to kill them. At the higher concentrations, vinegar had an 85- to 100-percent kill rate at all growth stages. A bottle of household vinegar is about a 5-percent concentration. Canada thistle, one of the most tenacious weeds in the world, proved the most susceptible; the 5-percent concentration had a 100-percent kill rate of the perennial’s top growth. The 20-percent concentration can do this in about 2 hours. Spot spraying of cornfields with 20 percent vinegar killed 80 to 100 percent of weeds without harming the corn, but the scientists stress the need for more research. If the vinegar were sprayed over an entire field, it would cost about $65 per acre. If applied to local weed infestations only, such as may occur in the crop row after cultivation, it may only cost about $20 to $30. The researchers use only vinegar made from fruits or grains, to conform to organic farming standards.
ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific research agency.

Boy that is probably more information than anyone wanted... ;)

well as of yet I HAVE No white flies or mites on the plants that i can see anyway just had that one crawly bug till sweet pea took care of it :) I WILL JUST KEEP WATERING MORNINGS .
ya all have a great day & Thanks for the tips .

happ I know things are bad everywhere. Our problem is spending it out without earnings coming in. Our earning days are over.

Susie, how is momma duck doing with the eggs?

Aw dj, your KHarris is lovely. Does she smell good?

Faye, I used Windex (or a store brand), the old fashioned kind with ammonia in it, and sprayed for them this winter. It works like a charm and if any drips down it won't hurt the plants at all. Maybe even help a lil. Get the cheapest you can. I know your brugs are big, but it sure did the trick on the ones I had. Had them on my scheffelera too and took care of them there.

As of October 1 I will be out of a job. The state agency that I work for is closing down our facility, and transferring all the juveniles to the other 2 facilities. They said our buildings were run down and in need of too much repair, but we are the NEWEST of the 3. Go figure. And we are the only one with the Intensive Treatment Program and set up. Don't know how they are going to handle those boys without it. They are already wanting to send 2 back to us that they cannot handle, but, excuse me ...... we are CLOSING and shipping everyone OUT! LOL They just don't get it! So, I'm going to take my severance package, draw my unemployment and relax for a while before I seriously look for a job. At 54 it is going to be tough to find something. I thought that 6 years ago at 48 that it was going to be tough. UGH!

Has anyone seen nettie? (littlenettie) I haven't seen her on for a while. I didn't realize it until a couple of days ago. Unless I have lost the thread she was on. I can't find my seed swap thread, but I know it is out there somewhere!!!! Rick_Corey took it over and it disappeared after a short while. OK....who stole my thread? lol

More threads to read, see u lovelies later

Crit, where do you work, and what do you do?

I work at a juvenile treatment facility for juvenile offenders. I am the Records Department Supervisor. We house and treat juvenile criminals (sex offenders, assault & battery, shooting w/intent to kill, murder, etc) and are the only one of the 3 in the state that have the set up for the Intensive Treatment of the worst offenders. Closing us is just another one of the decisions in government that makes no sense! We are a state facility.

Just wanted to give you an update on my Brother.
He has been in contact with an old hunting buddy of his back home, and he knew what was going on. Well, he convinced Jimbo to go to the hospital to get some help, so his daughter called the cops last night, and they showed up with an ambulance and took him off. he will spend at least the next 3 days in a mental institution for evaluation and go from there. So it is a big relief to everyone, and for him. Praying he gets the help the needs!

I will be gone be for most of the day. Going to San Antonio for Dr. appointment, and to get the two grandsons for a week.

Later

Not sure if you all heard on the news here about 2 wks ago a guy killed 2 x girlfriends 7 people total within a mater of a few hours then killed hisself any more it is hard to know when someone is a ticking time bomb.

little rain last night not much but it coold down just a bit but going to get hot once again later.
so off to get a few things done .
chat later
susie

Two more days of heat warning,

Today Saturday Sunday Monday going to need a coat!
Humidity: 54% 100° 81° 100° 80° 92° 77° 89° 75°

Oh Crit, hate to hear anyone losing their job, I have a friend here in Missouri that works for dept of transportation and they are letting almost everyone go! She is lucky and has been there long enough to draw a pension, and be able to keep her health insurance. Course the only pension I have is my 401k and what I can save. Really bumber is health insurance, I can't take my company insurance when I retire...I know alot of people that would retire if they had some form of health insurance they could afford. That would open up alot of jobs for people. I can count 11 people that said they would retire in a second if it wasn't for health insurance.

Course my other problem is buying flowers, swaps, postage, yard stuff, and still wanting a greenhouse..rofl.

I know happ, it is tough. I'd like to find another job with the state, but they are cutting budgets everywhere. I could transfer to one of the other facilities but they are too far away and I'm NOT moving! I will be able to get insurance through my DH work. Problem is, the state gives us a benefit allowance to pay for the whole families health, dental, vision, etc. So, not only am I losing that and am going to have to start paying it all ourselves, his is about twice the cost of mine per month!

YES ...... have to be able to support our habit!

Well I saw a temp post in town at 4:30 104, gosh Crit I can't stop whining about it and feel bad knowing you have been going thru this so long. Miss my pine trees on the west side, I can't hardly go out there except from 6am to about 10 so that rules out Monday thru Friday. I hear these temps are going east, sorry guys.

Yup .... still in the oven here.................

MEET LUCIFER I recieved from TATTERS I think in the RMB swap My mind is so bad lately with this heat wave but hope to get back to normal Here soon :)

Good morning everybody. So pretty Susie. I have one too that Susan gave me. Never thought I liked then until I saw this one.

Well thanks to the spider mites, my Angels are naked again. Went out this morning and stripped them, bagged all their leaves and then soaked them in ammonia & water mix. If they die, they were going to anyway. At least I'm trying. Several had blooming buds on them and several had dropped the buds.

So sorry about your brugs faye. So disappointing. I'm pretty dis-enchanted with the brugs at this point. They looked so pretty this spring when I potted them all up and put them out. Now with this awful heat they look terrible. Not growing and many of them have lost their leaves in defense. ~sigh~ Will just keep watering them and maybe they will do better next summer.

Pretty canna though. I love canna's.

Faye have you sprayed anything in the soil around your brugs. They might keep coming back unless you treat the soil also. If they are in pots, maybe change the soil and pots?

I think spider mites are having a field day with this heat, some brugs, some elephant ears, I hate them in the winter but never fought them in the summer until this year!

Linda I have Angels both in ground(about 45-50) and in pots(7) can see no difference. When I saturated them this morning, I also wet the ground under all of them. Also picked up all leaves. I love the Angels but they are working me so hard that I hardly have time for any other plants.
happ, I think you are right. I didn't have spider mite trouble as long as it was cold.

I know I have never had spider mites in the summer before, but about 3 days into the 100+ degrees I started seeing them! I spent earlier this morning moving all the tropicals in pots from the west side of the house to the east side and part shade. I agree the things potted up on the west side were working me way to hard to try to keep up. We are going to have at least another week of this heat, but we will be into August so I don't see it cooling down alot. Tmorrow I am going to drag a soaker hose over for the hostas and give them a good drink. It is going to be hot again so I think I will spend time repotting a few things in the shade and take some cuttings and get some things going.

I soaked everything down good this morning too. This having to water deep every day is killing me. After $190 water bill last month, I hate to see the next one!

I'm not happy at all with the common Taro EE's I bought in bags of bulbs last Spring at a big box store. Height wise, they're growing OK, but every one of the leaves that rolls out either looks like it's deformed or ends up with brown splotches. Part of the problem might have been they were in full sun and moved the planter last week to a spot where it gets a little shade, such as it is. Knock on wood...some of unusual EE's I just knew were goners have several leaves that look healthy. I remember fighting spider mites on them at the end of the Season last year and how it killed my soul to cut off their big leaves before putting them to rest for the Winter.

I feel for you, Faye, and know how much your Angels mean to you.

Anyone Know what this plant is

I know it is beautiful, but don't know the name.

I have been looking in catalogs or sale books can't find it yet

Susie that is houttuynia. I have tons of it if you want some. Most people consider it very invasive. I love it. It grows in the shade or the sun. It needs some sun to get the red color. In straight shade it will stay green or green and white. It is easy to control.

Got purple "radar dishes" this morning.

Cannas

pretty flower pictures, everyone..
my sister and I

Morning everyone! Love those blooms!
Debra, how is your Sister doing with her treatments?

Deb, I know you treasure that picture of the two of you together. Seeing it made me want to cry. My baby Sister has cancer and 3 weeks ago, I took her back to Duke Hosp. Cancer Clinic where another body scan was done and the results weren't good. All the lesions had increased in size. It was recommended that she begin some injection treatment that she had refused before because of cost involved. At that time her cost would have been $800. every 3 weeks. Now she is on Medicare and depending on cost now will determine if she does the treatment.
Love & Hugs to all
Faye

My GIRLS are so sloppy & show no gratitude at all! They just don't listen to me and I know it's the "company they keep"!
I went to see everyone of them Sat. and picked up after them and even bagged the mess I picked up. I even gave them different bath water, and cautioned them about the "company they were keeping". WELL! I went back to see them this morning, now mind you, this is just Monday, and they had not listened to a word I said. They had dropped their clothes exactly where they were standing! So I get on my soapbox again and here I go, picking up after them again, cleaning the floor, then after giving them a deep drink, I Sevin-5 dusted them good. I have told them over and over to stay out of the company of Spider Mites. Just think, I use to call them "ANGELS', now they are working the devil out of me.
Do wish this was the end of the story, but I spent 2 1/2 hrs this morning with just those girls in the front of the house. Got to hot so will visit my backyard girls tomorrow...early am.
Love & hugs