What's Trying to Bloom in this Blasted Rain!!

Took these pix between downpours. If I waited they would have been too mushed up from the downpours. This poor daylily is almost dead.

Clematis just opened today.

Hibiscus -- so pretty!!

Better shot of the yellow lilies.

That hibiscus is not merely pretty. It's exquisite, ethereal, stunning, and breathtaking. In fact, all of the photos are beautiful. Nothing looks "mushed up" yet.

Zuzu,
Thanks!

Actually that hibiscus came out of a pot of hibiscus I purchased in Walmart last year. It was a hanging pot with pink and peach hibiscus in it. I was going to transplant it and when I went to take it out; everything separated into about 10 plants. So, I planted them in my new garden bed as a backdrop. Don't know if you can see them -- but here is a link to the DG forum where I posted them.

http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/517184/

Your local Walmart sounds a lot more exciting than mine, Zingy. That link leads to some gorgeous pictures. Love that tiered flower bed you made!

Zuzu, Thanks!

Yes our Walmart has a great garden center. They always have great buys on the markdown plant rack. Very dangerous!! Between Walmart and Lowes' "Wounded Plant Racks" I always have bunches of plants waiting to get placed and planted.

We don't have a Lowes, and the only thing I ever found on sale at Walmart was some azaleas. I must admit, though, that was the buy of a lifetime. They were the reblooming variety and they were on sale for 25 cents. I had been buying one a month up to that point, because they cost $6.99 or $7.99 (I can't remember exactly, but I know they were expensive). Then they suddenly were there for a quarter and I bought about 10 of them. That was the one and only time I ever saw anything on sale at Walmart, but the florist shop in our local Safeway puts its discards outside the front door each day at rock-bottom prices and I always get something there: mini-roses, azaleas, mums, kalanchoe, even orchids--usually for only 99 cents or $1.99 at the most. It's very exciting.

Hope your rain stopped. This is the weirdest year I remember. California usually has only light showers (more like fog) between April and November, but this year we've had periods of rain lasting for days and days in May and June so far. Should we start collecting two of each animal?

LOL Zuzu -- two of each animal.

Rain again today -- offshoots from the tropical storm that is hitting Florida's panhandle. In between the rain squalls I WILL get some planting done -- so I can go out and buy more plants. [yes, I am a total sicko]

Wow -- your Safeway sounds like a VERY exciting place to shop -- almost would want to make daily trips there. LOL

Marie

It is tempting to go there every day, but I opted to make friends with the flower shop manager instead. If she has anything really exciting, she saves it behind the counter for me. Her idea of what's exciting sometimes doesn't match mine, but for 99 cents I'm not going to hurt her feelings. I just grab whatever she gives me. It has paid off in other ways too. A friend of mine died last year, and she made me the most incredibly beautiful floral arrangement for his funeral.

I'm glad to hear you're another sicko. I currently have half an acre of flower beds with the narrowest paths imaginable between them. The wheelbarrow can't get through anymore. Almost no weeds, because there's literally no room for them. On top of this, I have what seems like another half-acre in containers, hanging or raised up off the ground on stilts so that shade plants can grow under them. In spite of this, I come home with more plants every time I go anywhere. Where will they all go?

Zuzu,

Great deal on your Safeway plants!! LOL -- no weeds because there are too many plants.

We have an acre+ here. We live here 6 years but it has only been this year I have felt well enough to get back to my "gardening with a vengence". When the summer heat hits I will not be able to do much. The heat flattens me -- I think it is the meds I am on -- or it could be being 67 -- lol!! Hopefully my health will hold out with dips in the pool and I will be able to keep the weeds down in my new flower beds.

I retired a few times and now I don't think I would return to work -- even if someone begs [like the last time] -- for me to "just come in for a few months to straighten out their office and staff". LOL

DH -- HATES gardening -- but loves me enough to help out with the REALLY heavy chores. :-)

Well -- enough of my prattling -- off to the garden for a bit!!

Have a great Sunday!

Marie

Thanks, Marie. I did have a great Sunday, just tinkering with flower beds all day. I'm 62 myself and I know what you mean about the heat getting harder to tolerate, not to mention all of the other aspects of our busy lives, but we have no humidity here so it makes a huge difference. I went to school in New York and thought it was the most horrible weather on earth in the summer until other students from Florida described it as a paradise in comparison with the weather at home.

On the other hand, you get to grow fabulous things outside year-round while the rest of us are shunting them back and forth between garden and greenhouse or sunporch or cobweb-infested garage or what-have-you. I put in a solarium two years ago to house my fragile plants in winter and it is a gorgeous sight during the months when everything else looks dreary. Now if I could only keep the cats from knocking all the small pots over and trying to use the big pots for you-know-what. I've found that large quantities of chopsticks, plunged into the soil close together and pointing upward, are a good deterrent.

Ohhh!! Your solarium sounds heavenly! Yes, it would be a problem with the cats -- god love 'em --lol What about red hot pepers?

I lived in California from 1959 to 1963 [Long Beach]. My daughter Kath was born there. I moved back to be by my family in NY [Long Island] when I left my first husband. BTW -- he retired from LAPD a few years ago and lived in FL for a few years with his third wife. We have a cordial relationship -- actually I like her alot -- he and I tolerate each other - they moved to NC [I think] we will probably see each other Thanx at Kath's. I am a Floridian since 1978 - so every once in a while y'all creeps into my speech.

As far as climate -- here in Titusville we have some frost. Our property is on a slope, so cold pockets settle and damage tender plants. Last year we wrapped xmas lights around the plants and covered them with sheets. They looked very weird to say the least.

Yes, the humidity is a killer combined with the heat. Florida weather vs. NY weather?? Well -- in Florida the air is cleaner than in many parts of NY; so that is a plus. Also when it rains in NY it rains all day and the sun is a "stranger" up there -- Many overcast days. Here in FL it usually pours for about 1/2 an hour and then the sun comes out again. In any event -- the humidity is a killer -- but it is kinder to your skin than the dry heat. Even with that plus -- I think I'll take the dry heat.

The best kind of humidity for your skin, though, is fog. Someone did a study once and found that the best complexions and lowest rates of skin cancer were in London and San Francisco.

You just reminded me of how incredibly dirty New York was. The first time I went there was for summer school in 1967. When I arrived, I couldn't figure out why I was the only person in the airport with a tan. I lived in San Francisco then, and tanning was really a chore. New York was so hot that I thought it would be easy to keep up my tan. I went up on the roof of the place I was staying in a bathing suit, and I could see a tan line within 15 minutes. You've probably already guessed the end of this story. Yep, the tan disappeared as soon as I took a shower. It was all dirt! Everyone in New York City was pale because the sun's tanning rays couldn't penetrate all the dirt in the air.

You two are having such a nice conversation, please don't mind my chuckle at Zuzu's tan story. LOL

You're always welcome to join any of my conversations, Angele.

Thanks Zuzu :-), same to you..
Zingy could we have just a wee bit of your rain, please? Everything is starting to get crunchy around here.

The rain seems to have settled down to the "norm" -- which is once a day. TG for that because many parts of central FL had flooding problems. If we get days of rain again I will remember to send some your way -- LOL!!

My meeser kitty is very clingy today and keeps trying to lie on my laptop as I type. I have to get outdoors and get some work done -- perhaps she will join me?? Actually she follows me around the yard "helping".

I have a kitty that is 19 years old- Polly. Had her since the day she was born- her mama was a pregnant stray that adopted us. Polly has been a super strong cat. The vet said she was the most muscular cat he had ever seen. This past winter she had some sort of major health event- heart attack? stroke? that we didn't think she would survive. Happened on a Friday night and no vets available. Anyway long story short she is well enough to make her rounds in the garden and comes outside with us when she isn't napping. Love this kitty.

What a happy ending to your story, Angele. Why do our kitties persist in getting sick at the start of a weekend, when all the vets are gone?

I love the way cats follow us around the garden, acting hospitable, as if we had come to their house for a change. Marie, your meeser's probably disoriented by all of the rain. What a joy for her that it's over for a while. Imagine if you had no choice but to walk around barefoot after torrential rain. My cats are currently disoriented by the heat. It's ridiculously hot here for June. I'm watering everything daily, and containers twice daily, and still having difficulty keeping all the plants happy.

I love kitty news!! Angele -- so glad your kitty girl recovered!!

Every time Vee goes out in the rain she comes in and stands in front of you -- waiting for you to get the towel and dry her. Yeppers -- she is totally in control of this household.

The weather report is calling for thunderstorms -- like it does almost every day in the summer here. But today I think it will rain quite a bit -- either that or I did too much in the yard yesterday. My "internal barometers" [arthritic joints] are sending out major vibes!! I am going to get in the pool and do some stretches -- as soon as this Alieve kicks in.
Marie

Oh, I want a pool so much! It sounds like heaven. The next time one of my fish ponds springs a leak or does something else stupid, I'm going to convert it into a swimming pool.

Didn't that pill get banned? Actually, you don't know how ironic that question would sound to someone that knows me better. I'm sounding so conscientious about health issues and in the meantime I'm still indulging a bad habit dating back 51 years. (I just had to edit that last sentence by removing the name of my habit. Every time I say anything about this in DG I get an obscenity/vulgarity warning in the "preview" mode, so I have to remove the offending word, but it implies the use of many Pall Malls).

We're supposed to get some rain tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. The temps have been in the 90's for about a week and things are looking parched.

Lol Zuzu I put the word 'smoking' all by itself in a message box and hit preview.. no warning came up. Can't think of anything else. Are you pulling my leg or is there really a obscenity/vulgarity warning?
Crunch crunch indeed.
Old Polly kitty is definitely the queen thing around here. Looked up her age in human years and she is over 90! here's a cute site to make you feel like a kid.. I'm only 8 1/2 in kitty years ROFL I like that!
http://www.miss-kitty.com/cathumor/cat-age.html

Maybe the forbidden word has to be combined with "habit." When I edited, the "s word" was the only one I removed and the message disappeared the next time I hit preview. This has happened to me three times in DG. The first time I used the words sm*king habit, one time when I made a reference to road r*ge, and once when I was telling Jamie about my new Sysirinchium "Quaint and Que*r," which is listed in Plant Files without any disclaimers (or asterisks) whatsoever. There's a peculiar sense of morality on this site.

I am 11 1/2 in kitty years. Somehow, when I look at some of my kitties that are close to that age, it doesn't make me feel better at all. On the other hand, my mother is 98, has the same vulgar and obscene habit, and is still going strong.

No No No Zuzu just remember 11 1/2. It is strange about 'bad' habits isn't it? I mean some people just don't seem to show it and some people start falling apart young even though they walk the straight and narrow. Probably genes. Polly must have had great genes. I never saw her slow down till a couple of years ago. Me, I'll be 50 this month and sometimes am slower than Polly. Don't smoke, don't drink, watch what I eat, walk/hike once or twice almost every day. My dad has real bad RH and I think I may be headed that way but I'm fighting it..
LOL some plant names really just put 'it' out there don't they? I haven't had any trouble with warnings at all.. maybe the list has been modified.
Zingy, are you feeling better after your swim?

Angele, I just got back from a neighbor's house. She and her husband just returned from a trip to New Mexico and she showed me some pictures she had taken of wildflowers there and in Arizona. Totally incredible! I fell irrevocably in love with the Allionia. Do you know that one?

Zingy must be enjoying that pool a lot. She's not even coming inside to check her threads.

I'll have to look up allionia
.. hmmm no picture in PF.
Google has a picture & guess what? I just took a picture of one this morning and needed to id it. Thanks!!! It is so tiny- is that what you liked about it? Here's my picture. This plant was covered in sand but I didn't have a dust buster with me :-)

That's an amazing coincidence, Angele. That's exactly the flower I'm talking about. It seems perfect for an alpine trough. The flower reminds me of a pink hepatica flower. You should see how magnificent it is after it's been dusted.

easiest ID I ever got!!! I was too tired to spell coincidence last night but I was thinking it. There is a web site that says if you look closely it is 3 flowers in one. Can't tell in my picture. I wonder if I can collect seed for you. There were several growing in one spot. One was very compact and another had started to send off runners if I remember right.

I could see the three flowers in your picture and that's what made me positive it was the allionia. After I saw my neighbor's picture, I read up on it a little and learned about the 3-flower thing. I would love to have some seeds if you can find any. That might be the only way I'll be able to grow it. I don't remember ever seeing it for sale on any nursery website. Okay, my turn to get tired. I've been working all night and now it's almost 7:30. Time for bed.

Zuzu, when you wake up http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/520674/
Zingy.. still swimming?

Wow, look what you did while I was sleeping! I told my neighbor about the coincidence and she said the flower and I are obviously meant for each other. I can't believe you walked around for two hours to find it. What a peach you are, Angele! Of course, I guess it's not so amazing for someone who's only 8 1/2 years old.

I try to walk an hour or hour and a half most every day. This was a fun adventure :-)
I'm worried about Zingy.. have you seen a post?

I'm a little worried about Zingy too, but her last message was actually posted yesterday morning, so maybe she's just busy.

I do the same amount of walking each day, but just around the neighborhood. Most of my neighbors are gone all day at work, so I walk four of the neighborhood dogs in the middle of the day, just when they're starting to get bored and lonely. It's a great system: I can spend as much time as I want playing with four dogs, and I don't have to pay their vet bills or traumatize the cats by getting a dog of my own. Also, I don't have a car, so I usually walk into town to buy groceries a couple of times a week. It's only a couple of miles and I never have to carry that much, because I order the cat food and other heavy stuff on-line from Safeway and let them deliver it.

Do you work nights? Is that why you are up at night? I'm out of work & looking....

I only work nights because my office is at home and I wouldn't ever get anything done if I worked days. Too many distractions. I actually have the best job on earth. I translate Russian propaganda for the government. I've been doing it since 1974. I was teaching comparative literature at San Francisco State College (now a university) and had never thought of changing careers, but when Reagan was elected governor of California, he slashed the education budget and my full-time teaching schedule was cut down to half-time. I had to find part-time work to pay the bills. I started typing for some translators and quickly realized that I could speak Russian--and English, for that matter--a lot better than they could. I applied for their job and got it. Eventually, it became so lucrative that I was losing money every time I left the house to teach a class, so I quit my teaching job. In essence, I haven't had to leave the house for 30 years. I don't mean to imply that I'm agoraphobic. I do leave the house frequently. I just don't have to. It's the ideal job. I can do the work whenever I want, I never have to deal with bad-tempered co-workers, and I don't even have to worry about work getting lost in the mail now that everything's been computerized.

How wonderful is that? I am so happy for you. Your job sounds very intriguing. Dumb question; but remember I was in the sun all morning, how does the Russian propaganda get to you?
I gather you are near SF? My son lives there.

I'm 60 miles north of SF and I grew up there. We moved to America in 1953 when I was a few days short of my 10th birthday, landed in San Francisco, and never really strayed very far from there. The rest of my family now lives in Pacifica, about 15-20 miles south of SF. I moved up here 20 years ago because it was a better place to bring up my son.

All of the Russian newspapers and magazines have Websites now. I go to the U.S. government site to find out what they want translated that day, claim the jobs that sound interesting, find the stuff on the Russian sites, download it, translate it, and upload it on the government agency's site. It's amazingly quick. The news used to be very old news in the past because the newspaper had to get to Washington, someone there would process it and photocopy the articles of interest, mail them to me, and then wait until I mailed the translations back to Washington. After that they would get published. Fax machines sped up the process somewhat, but I still had to send the translations back by mail, because they were camera-ready copy and didn't fax well enough for publication. With the advent of computers, everything changed. Now the time-sensitive stuff can get published (or at least posted on the Website) within hours, or even minutes if necessary.

Wow!! I just lost a great big message that I typed. We have our daily thunderstorm approaching rather early today and it makes connection sporadic even with the cable hookup.

All is well here -- I got stuck in the time warp outside my door yesterday. It happens all the time. I step out the door and in the blink of an eye -- 3 or 4 hours pass and I hear the driveway alarm announcing DH is home.

Thanks for the cat age site -- loved it!! Shared it with all my fellow cat-a-holics.

Zu - your job sounds idyllic!!

I better send this before I get blanked out again.

Marie