Coffee break 99

Will be praying for Joe, RD. Big hugs!!

Prayers, definitely, for Joe and family.

My garden design ideas are tending toward Dr. Suess-land as I search blogs and U tubes, and start to think it would be cool to grow a weeping redwood and a baldcypress over a pergola--too much! This after a long week at work, so I'm heading out to Tower Hill to see the camellias. At 2 pm today there's a talk about the camellias at the Isabella Steward Gardener museum. Wish I'd planned this. Anyone else going?

My real plan will be to grow some patio pot collections, replant a tree, add some ilex opaca and hope to get stone work done this summer.

Prayers Robin

Sending prayers along for your brother too, Marilyn! Hugs!

Marilyn hope your brother gets through this soon.

Marilyn sending positive thoughts and prayers for your brother Joe.

Thank you all for your prayers & well wishes.....The doctors decided not to operate at this time & my brother may be coming home today.....he will have to go back to the surgeon in 2 weeks for another check, but they seemed pretty sure there was no arterial bleeding! One weight lifted off my chest!

Glad that there is a positive situation.

Good news, dear!!

Great news. Hope the worst is now over.

I spent much of the weekend in design heaven, looking up ideas, googling photos etc. I clearly MUST have picea abies 'Gold Drift, ' after reading about conifers.

I must have looked at hundreds of water features in garden photos, too. Result is to be able to criticize my plans and hopefully improve them. One conclusion is that there should be a planting area around a small pool at the very bottom for dwarf conifers and to ground it there at the patio level with transitional stone pieces so all the patio stones aren't overpowering. Fountain effect in the bottom level if I can convince the stone mason to leave an opening in the wall for the fountain to pop through.

Rosemary - i am sorry to hear you are looking for a gold drift - it is one that patti and i ordered from stanley & sons - obviously I will have to watch you closely when you pick up your conifers to make sure that one is not missing by accident!

do you want to knock one off your list and add a gold drift? I can see if that is possible if you want.

funny you mention the draft conifer's at the bottom of the pond for dwarf conifers - that is what I have done with a few dwarf jm's included. i just thought it would look good - still waiting for them to grow in - this will be the third year for some so hoping for good growth this year.

picked up a walk-by colorful water lily (pink/lavender) today at HD - supposed to be non-invasive - had been shying away from them as thought they were aggressive - for $10 i will take a chance.

This message was edited Mar 3, 2014 7:56 PM

You're funny, Bill. Looks like I can add it to my Kigi's order priced at $15 so you and Patti are safe from my sneaky fingers. Are you planning to prune or let it fully mature? Ever tempted to join the American Conifer society? Members get special buying opportunities. Currently they are bubbling about Abies koreana 'Kohut's Icebreaker'--a miniature Horstman's Silberlockt. I am content just reading their blogs for now.

I don't plan to buy JMs until the space gets ready. Somehow conifers and hollys seem to find a spot no matter what and a four inch pot is really tiny!

I am trying to find a way to get to see the famous Hunnewell Pineum in Wellseley. Pretty sure it is closed to the general public these days. Anyone got any suggestions? I'm open to a Dmail (hint hint)

i have a icebreaker on order for this spring :)

i do only slight touch up pruning to keep them getting fuller

Gee, any other new cultivars to report?

I am investigating something that is open, dark, short needles, pyramidal. Perhaps cryptomeria japonica 'Black dragon.' Also, a miniature dawn redwood 'Miss Grace' seems hard to resist for different reasons.

Any suggestions for something to intertwine with a weeping blue atlas cedar? I did see a pic of a nice looking arch with a weeping picea abies glauca on the other side, so it would have to top that. Using two different trees makes the form of the tree stand out a bit more in the arch, but I'm not sold on making a big color contrast there. And to think, last fall the plan was some blue lawsons by the gate.

well rosemary you can investigate both the black dragon and miss grace when you stop by here for your conifers

I picked up the black dragon at Mahoney's in Winchester a couple years back. miss grace I paid the freight on and got a large one at the end of a season sale at 50% off - it is nice.

What a nice list of conifers.....can't wait to see them growing for you folks!

What doesn't Bill have? Spring better get here. Thanks, by the way for offering to switch the order for me :) I bet Gold Drift will be around here too, but for how many hundreds of dollars? I've pledged not to spend much more on plants, but oh, the things there are to discover.

My DH wonders why I am always looking for garden pots on sale. Maybe he doesn't remember what I've planned. This is when I frequent Mahoneys to rumage around their pots for bargains. The color ranges of the pots are usually displayed together at home, as in the store. Tonight I came home from TJs with a modern tall cream enameled one that has grey stripes on the raised parts. We're going to need the conservatory DH promises, which would be really inviting this time of year.

We're doing a bathroom remodel currently, but that's the wrong word because there never was a bathroom there before. Another regret for DH. He took me to work when they were dumping old carts and stainless steel conveyor belts into the trash. With only a little cutting and welding, the Jacuzzi drops right in. It isn't all that hard to get a proper polish on stainess steel either. The hardest part was the cutting.

Wow, Rosemary, you've got some exciting plans that all sound spectacular. I'm seeing a RU in your future......😃. And to answer your question about what DOESN't Bill have?......as you will soon see, the answer is, "Not much, and the best part is he knows how to put everything together with the eye of an artist. Really.

Marilyn, I'm glad to hear good news about your brother!

We've moved an hour north inching our way back to New England. It is really cold here today, but I know none of you wants to hear it! I'm on day 6 of a cold, and I am ready to shake it and move on!

You're coming north, I'm headed South! Hope the cold gets better, Louise......Rosemary, your DH sounds inventive....good luck with the new bath.....

bluestone had a shrub sale - had to compare the prices to Lazy s & s and they are about the same - will wait it out to see what/where I have already ordered will go this spring.

Personally, although I order from both, I am truly amazed by the Lazy S plants.

So, I ordered Mss Grace and Gold Drift, another weeping nootska, and a Wiethorst hybrid pine all in a 1 year size but thought I'd try Conifer Kingdom this time. I have truly reached my limit for catalogs this year now. Some of the chamaecyparis are going tinto a planter together, so probably not overwhelming.

got a few coming from conifer kingdom myself this spring - it is the retail outlet for rare tree wholesale.

You have been on a mission with purchases this spring!

All 3 of you ( Rosemary-Bill-Patti) have been putting the rest of us to shame!

I don't plan to work terribly hard in the garden this year if I can affort not to...

Weeds appear anyway.

Sadly, yes. So to me it means plant a little closer and hope the weeds come out of the prepared soil without a fight. It's an annual ritual to pull the yellow mustard from the wooded area too. They have free range outside two corners of our fence, so that is where some low growing conifers and holly babies will be nice. Houses on two sides of us are for sale, which almost never happens in this neighborhood.

Hope you get some new gardening neighbors......always nice to share plants with them.

or vice versa ☺

what did you do to make them put there houses up for sale? :)

Planted too much stuff?

Hehehe

he he he. Maybe they thought we put something in the water to result in triplets.

Two of my amaryllis blooming now....a third is budded....

PURTY!!!

Very pretty, Marilyn! What is the second one?

I think it's Charisma, but I'm not 100% sure.....

Nice amaryllis!
This warms my heart.

Rightfully so!!

AAAWWWWW!!!!

So cute, Debi!