Oh, Pirlie, thank you. Smitty's welcome to help me eat my birthday cake every year. Such a darling doggie!
Oh, how I miss my magenta tennis shoes! I wore them to shreds.
Ready, set, order!
Happy Birthday Zuzu, i hope you had an amazing day, and may you be Blessed with many happy gardening years. Your garden is gorgeous.
Arlene, Smitty is toooooo adorable.
After spending 10 hours flying, I'm finally back home in GA. The first thing I did this afternoon was do a quick garden tour. Some the clematis pips have leafed out, with Josephine being the furthest along. We have a 30% chance of snow tomorrow, and more cold weather coming next week. I guess these plants want it to be spring already ;~) Annette
Smitty would love it, Zuzu!
I always associate you with your famous pink sneakers. The pain of having to discard a favorite pair of shoes can not be underestimated.
Annette - my daughter and her family were in Oahu for a few days and are now on Hawaii. They're enjoying every minute of it.
Your clematis will survive the snow in fine shape. They are much stronger plants than we regard them to be. We humans and the plants want spring to arrive sooner than it is due.
Even some potted items are perking up already!
Too funny Arlene, too funny, your potted kitty looks well cared for.
I hope your daughter and her family continue to have the best time in Hawaii, I'm sure it's been nice for them to have some fun in the warm weather at this time of year.
That's another of Zuzu's kitties. We have an only child, Smitty.
They have another 6 days of bliss. I hope they don't return to the snow they left behind. Now footprints in the courtyard make it look as though we've been visited by Bigfoot!
Look up Princes Kate Clematis. It is only sold in Europe now. But what a beauty.
Hi you all, I am still building and changing my corner, today I have found a plastic/stucco looking flowerpot, tried it out for the birdbath base. I think it will have to do, when I tried to buy a real birdbath, could not lift it up. What you think of the brick edging, I see I have to straighten it, I just done it in the hurry. I am also sending you some cheer, my pansies are beutifull, hope it cheers you up in the cold north. Tonight it will be possible snow here, but not much usualy, meybe a 1/2" Etelka
It looks great, what kind of bricks did you use, bricks are those actual wall stones?
It looks good, Etelka. Are you planning to step over the brick and stones each time you want to plant or remove weeds or work in the area? You could leave out a few stones in the middle to give you an easier way to get in and out of the area.
Those cement bird bath tops are heavy! With every year that passes they get heavier!
We're due for more snow but the snow we did get today was gone in a flash. It's been too warm for it to stick.
Pretty pansies!
Thanks, Pirl and Mary, I will put some mulch around the flowers so the weeds wont grow, probobly will plant some Million bells petunias, sweetpotato wine on the edge to cascade down. I still have to get some 15 bags of dirt to fill it up. I have put the pots in the back, with tall oriental lillies in them, since nothing will grow there from the roots. these bricks where some that I bought in Lows, wanted something kind of natural looking and cheep, so these where 99 cents. Etelka
Now I get it. You're making a raised bed there in the corner! It will be lovely.
Nice seeing the pansies....I shoveled another 2+" off the drive today....am really sick of this snow.....
It loses the pretty and fun descriptions by this time of the winter. We'll get more from tonight's storm than the city.
Clematis Bijou! Can't wait to try that one. It only grows 1-2 feet tall, so is supposed to be a "breakthrough" as a shrub-like clematis. Looking forward to trying it as a spiller edger over a raised bed.
That is such a pretty one and stays nice and neat. Please post photos for us when it blooms.
The vigor of this clematis is amazing and rabbit manure may be the magic nutrient.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1299236/
Here in Augusta, we have been swimming now for 3 days, I think my clems will turn into waterlillies. I just found out that my John Warren has a bud on it, it is a first one for it, I bought it last year and never bloomed. I had to remind my self how does it look like on the Brushwood website. It is as nice as Omoshiro, but little darker. It is planted next some Lorapetlum (?) bush, it my climb on it this Summer. Hope you all are staying well, I am already restless from being stuck in the house. Etelka
The other name for February is "Restless". We're all so eager to get outside and find anything of value since snow is not a big seller up here in the northeast. Even the deer walk past the gardens and know better than to stop and search for anything.
It's good to hear you have buds on John Warren, Etelka. Up here we have brown stems that will come to life sometime in March and bloom in May. It feels like a very long wait this winter. Even Smitty prefers to sleep through winter.
I have found out I can use the plastic $10.00 kidi pool for mixing my flowerpot soil, it was full of mixed soil but now is full of water too, so I hade to make some holes in it to drain it. I guess it is ok, that is the only use I have for it. I was going to repot some of my hosta, but the rain was faster then I was. My front yard looks like some of the horder peoples yard on TV. I have been collecting pots to do wintersowing, I guess this weekend is the last chance to do it. Got to use up some of my last year seeds, and also I have been ordering some new ones. I am glad Smity is toing good, probobly will be happier in Spring when he and Jack can have they walk. Sendin you a funny dog picture. Etelka
Etelka
Love the picture! Needed a haha this morning.
Carolyn, is it snowing in your area? I remember showeling snow on Easter Sunday in 1983, year before I moved down to Ga. I have not showeled since. I am building a Arc here, my dog house is almost floating, I hope my dog knows how to swim. Etelka
That's a great photo, Etelka!
You've made good use of the little pool...until the rain arrived. I recall that Ark feeling all too well.
You have empty pots while I have the hoarder's look with far too many pots filled with daylilies that I had to dig up to get the evil Houttuynia removed but at least the rotten weed is gone. I'm trying to find places for all the pots until they bloom and I can put some at the end of the driveway for anyone that wants the ones I can't keep.
I just have one daylilli bush, it is a nice salmon color, but I gave away all my daylillies, they where very neglected looking, maybe to much sun. Etelka
Most of them look awful after they bloom. The leaves are in the midst of dying as new leaves are being formed. I just cut them back to the ground and they resprout quickly and look good until frost.
Just look at the difference 14 days can make!
I've never cut back my daylilies....maybe I should.....thanks for the wolfhound photo...I owned a wheaten one, Nora, over 20 years ago....still miss her.
It's just a matter of the looks of a garden with a lot of daylilies. I cut them back after bloom and again in November or December, after frost halts the growth anyhow. It makes for easier spring cleaning outside, for me, and fewer hiding spots for slugs. Just a scissors does the job.
Hello everyone, I put the Wellies on and squished around the garden to take a few pictures today. If there is anymore rain, I may need a row boat to get around outside. I had to clean up the mess of the pine bark mulch off the side walk that had been washed out with the last 3 days of rain. I'm actually happy that we have been getting so much rain to get the garden off to a good start this spring.
I am thrilled to say that clematis armandii never fails to disappoint and has started blooming this week, and has tons on buds yet to open. Now that the Cryptmerias have been limbed up, I will get to enjoy the true beauty of this plant. It usually starts blooming the 2nd to 3rd week of March, but it has been getting more sun and water, which I suspect has caused it to bloom earlier.
Patricia Ann Fretwell, Niobe, Arabella, Mrs. Cholmondeley, and Crystal Fountain are also leafing out. PAF seems to have buds already.
Clematis m. Mayleen, Snow Queen, Josephine, Duchess of Albany, and Ramona don't want to get left out.
The camellias are still blooming. Swan Lake and Carter's Sunburst are still in pots, and need to be planted, Taylor's Perfection has been blooming for weeks.
I have to state that for the clematis, I did not cut the group 2's down as I did is years past, cutting off the old wood, and therefore wating longer to see blooms. I'm looking forward to bloom season this year.
I'm also looking forward to the Brushwood order arriving, and adding the new plants to the garden.
BTW Etelka, your picture of the dogs is too adorable, it took me a minute to get it. My John Warren also appears to have a bud on it.
Arlene, as always, Smitty is too cute. Annette
Your photos are wonderful, Annette, but your entrance belongs on the cover of a magazine! Fantastic.
In my next life I want your house!
Arlene, you are too funny. Thanks for the compliments. Annette
I'm serious, Annette. I have never seen such a beautiful entry as yours.
It's a beautiful place...the camellias are awesome.
Blushing here Arlene, thank you so much, you are too kind.
Here is my John Warren, it has a small bud at the very top. I may have to move it to the right of this post for it to get more sun. It's further behind than the other clematis with it's leaf growth.
I trimmed Pink Champagne by 1/3 when I cut all the clematis back last fall. I checked on it this week, and it has been broken down to < 1ft. It was tied to our fence, with neighbors next door who have 2 small boys, and I wonder if they pulled it down? There is no other reason for this clematis to be this size now, all the other trimmed clematis are fine. I may have to put up landscape mesh along the fence to prevent little fingers from getting through.. The good news is that PC has been a vigorous grower for me so it should come back fine.
Edited to add, thanks Marilyn, I love my camellias.
This message was edited Feb 23, 2013 6:47 PM
Annette - I want your entrance too - so gorgeous and I would love to be able to grow camelias.
Etelka - no, thankfully it is not snowing. Actually today wasn't bad at all- we were in the 40's today. I am hoping it stays there.
Carolyn you are also too kind. Thank you for the compliments.
Today was a great day, it was a balmy 62 degrees, so I spent all day working in the garden, cleaning up and fertilizing the plants. I put composted manure around all the clematis, since many of them are actively growing now. Next weekend, they'll get they first dose of Epsom salt for the year.
I'm happily exhausted, but I'm thankful I was able to get so much done due to our nice weather. We've got another 2 days of rain coming starting tomorrow, and the cold weather is coming back for a few days. Annette
Clematis armandii continues to put out more blooms, but I haven't been able to enjoy it wonderful scent, it's really cold and windy here today. These pictures were taken yesterday, the camellia is J.G. Drayton that is blooming to the right of armandii.
Some of the other clematis continue to leaf out, despite the cold weather. Durandii is the first picture, which is planted on a trellis that also has a viticella noid, which I now believe is Rubra. Mrs. Cholmodeley has also leafed out and has buds, and Ramona is growing back nicely.
Duchess of Albany, Crystal Fountain, John Warren, and the 4 Arabellas (I'm showing only 1 of them) also have leaves. They seem to be tolerating the freezing temps that we've been having. It looks like later this week, we're starting our warm up here, we'll be below freezing tonight and tomorrow night but then the forecast shows daytime temps in the 60's, and night temps no lower than the 40's after that. I hope the warm temps coming are here to stay, so long as it doesn't get too hot too fast like it did last year. Annette
