Come on over and sit a spell.. .. Here is my May so far - after Frostweed came this way and saw my sorry berm I have worked on taking it out. So today at long last for the last week I have been taking it out and now I am done! Everything is once again flatish in the area.... flatish... Not 100% flat but getting there. I am working on getting a new big bed ready on the right side of the yard - from the new Iris area to the old beds.. one big curve! with all the plants fro the RU I was sent up I sould have some stunning plants to fill everything in. So thank you to everyone who did send things with Frostweed - they all looked sooo big and soo lush! Wow... Just stunning and a great way to add to the garden.
So what do you have going in the garden right now?
Come Sit A Spell - Early May
Well Mitch, I got all my plants from the R.U. taken care of, and I was able to use all the Iris that I got from Bob, the names were so intriguing that I just have to see them bloom and check them out myself.
When they multiply I will be sure to share some with you, so you can have them too.
Josephine.
What bed did you plant them in? it is going to be one of the best beds there next spring (or the year after that depending on growth rate and if they bloomed this year or not yet... ) Cannot wait to come over and see it!
I put them in back of the bearded iris, and some in the back by the fence, I hope they will do well.
Are they all LA Iris? They are going to need a ton of water...
Yes,they are all LA iris, Bob said that they can be grown with just regular watering, we shall see, right?
With just reg water? That sounds great ... hope it works! Love the way they look...
My La iris' are definitely not in the wettest bed there is....I think (my opinion and from my experience) they like to be "flooded" 2 or 3 times a winter (their most active growth season)--this consists of me standing over the bed with a hose pointed down at them, while I eat a PBJ sandwich if we have no good rainy spells. The more sun they get in the winter, the better they will bloom...can handle shade in summer (mine are all under a deciduous tree).
Debbie
Debbie, thank you for the info on the Iris, I think mine will do fine where I put them.
Josephine.
That bed is going to look too good over there - cannot wait to see the pics you are going to post!
Debbie, your La iris are under a tree? I thought they needed full sun. I did have some in bright shade. They bloomed, but I always thought they would do better in more sun. Are yours under a pecan tree, by any chance? I have a huge one in the front and it needs plants under it. If it only needs sun in the winter that opens up lotsof possibe places for La iris. Especially if it doesn't have to have so much water. The spot I had mine in got only rain. This is good news!
I have some LA irises under live oaks, not a good choice. I will be moving them. I see a bog garden like the one at Hodges Gardens in LA in my dreams (and my dreams are very ambitious), full of LA irises and cinnamon ferns. And my next dream is .....
I have been dreaming of cinnamon ferns for some time now and can't find any locally. I can find them in catalogues, but they are in tiny pots with big prices. Where is Hoddges Gardens Patricia? Do they sell cinnamon fern? I'm also looking for ghost fern, lady in red fern (I think) and one other one.
Mine are under a shumard red oak that looses its leaves in winter/late fall (about Thanksgiving). I have been growing the one variety I have (picture on the "what's this plant from the RU thread") for 12 years...I also have one or two unknown pale pinks.I have a large number of the one variety (15-20). I keep them mulched (good 3-4") with hardwood mulch in a fairly, but not overly rich bed mixed in with the one heirloom daylilly variety I own. Louisiana irises will begin to go dormant for me from about now until late Aug when they will look rather yellow (thus why I have them mixed with the daylillies) and somewhat "ratty" (this is their normal dormat season) and start growing like gangbusters in Nov and then bloom about Spring Solstice (the bloom is definately daylength not temperature related). They definitely don't need to be in a bog location (Bob mentioned that he had some in beds that got no water or attention in the height of summer) but they definitely will like alot of extra water in the winter. They are used in ponds also...they are a native plant and kinda adaptive to our conditions. This is just how they grow for me and how I have always grown them.
Debbie
Mary Lee, I went to a GardenWeb get-together some years back at Hodges Gardens in Many, LA. It had been raining here, but I had already taken the day off from school. I discovered at the last minute that the event had been cancelled due to very heavy rains. We went on by ourselves just for the trip. Spent the night at the campground at Hodges Gardens, then went on to Forest Hill, LA. Then the rain REALLY started! Agony is being in a town absolutely FULL of nurseries and the rain so heavy that you can't even get out and buy a plant! I was grumpy all the way home.
I hear you patrob--I would have been beyond grouchy! :) Debbie
My La irises are in my rock garden where they get rain water and normal watering from my irrigation system. And they are stunning! I think the culture should read, "can take lots of water, even boggy conditions (but not required), unlike the bearded iris which requires well-drained conditions".
CJ
Ok, well I'm very glad to hear this about La iris. It opens up lots of possible places to plant them. But then that also means I'll be needing more of them.:) I'll plant some of these under the redbud near my patio door. I'll see them from the table where I eat.
Patricia, I don't know what I would do in that situation, but I know I wouldn't be much fun to be around. I don't have much patience for sitting in a car in the first place, but to go all that way and then not even be able to get out! I think I probably would have to find a catalogue somehow and order half of it.lol And then have a beer.
Sure does open more place - I was thinking bog type of place... I just might put mine over to under the Red Bud too. .. .
I just need to get out there and water my RU plants....got a big wind awhile ago...teased rain but not a drop. I'll I've planted are the LA irises.
Debbie
ain't life grand?
Yes it is Debbie, especially where God's creation is concerned.
Repeat after me Debbie...I will not buy/trade/obtain any more plants until I deal with the ones I have....I will not buy/trade/obtain any more plants until I deal with the ones I have....
I still have 3 onions, a mountain spinich, 3 kinds of onions, a ginger, one pot of remaining La iris, 3 chrysathemums, 4 mints, a perilla magialla, an amaryllis, an ox-eye daisy, a fern, and a desrt willow to plant left from the RU.
Somehow, I still felt the need to buy 9 new echinaceas, 4 rudbeckias, yet another mint and another sage, and an annual (it was irresistable--a calibrachoa--million bells), and 3 bee balms (monarda didyma) at the nursery yesterday. Hey, the were a steal at $21.95!
Anyone else suffering from this affliction? Repeat after me Debbie...I will not buy/trade/obtain any more plants until I deal with the ones I have....I will not buy/trade/obtain any more plants until I deal with the ones I have....
:) Debbie
Oh yes, Debbie! I've told people lots of times that I'd be a rich woman today if I wasn't a gardener... but I'd be much poorer in spirit!
I was so glad for the opportunity to swap plants at the RU. With my ever-shrinking budget it was great to add to my plant collection without having to buy anything. Then I stop "just to look" in a nursery or garden center, and the itch starts, with a vengence. I'm afraid I've gotten my friend down the street hooked as well. Her husband is going to kill me, lol!!
You have the disease too??? I don't have a clue where to put anything I brought home, but I know I have room for them because I still see grass!! I was loaded to the gills when we left the RU. But when we stopped at Martha's Bloomers, I went out and rearranged the car and found room for me and Adeline to buy more! How could I pass up a 3 foot tall 'Silky Gold' Butterfly Weed for $12.95?? LOL!
but I know I have room for them because I still see grass!!
That's the way to think Sheila!
It's time to start thinking about a fall RU, don't ya'll think? My vote's for the same location...loved the huge pavillion! LOL
Debbie
I feel so much more sane after reading this stuff. I still have a lot to plant too. Everything is so chaotic on my patio. To people driving by it must look really crazy with so many little pots of things in no particular order. But I'm slowly whittling away at it. I decided to plant atleast 2 things every day. Many days I only get one done, but I keep telling myself that is still progress forward. I figure slow is sometimes better, because I'm less likely to have to dig it up later.
Anyone up for some fresh festina bush beans from the garden? LOL
Those sure look good Debbie.
Let me tell you they were delicious....it was just a small patch, but got enough for me and Robin for 3 or 4 meals. Now I have room for some of my RU plants!
Thanks for this thread Mitch! I've just had the most horrid day at work...the kids were awful and the adults were even worse. Are we in a full moon or some sort of increased solar flare activity and no one told me?
I don't know, but we have a customer who is being affected by the same thing, whatever it is. She keeps changing her mind and asking for the most rediculous things. Her husband is ready to string her up I think.
The kids at my school had that look in their eyes.. they are ready for summer and we still have 3 weeks... going to get hard to keep them in line.. all our testing is done and they pick up books this week!
Good luck, Mitch. I remember being in that spot as a kid. I was difficult to control anyway, and the closer it got to any vacation, the worse I was. I had 3 older brothers who were worse than I was though. Sometimes I had the same teacher they had and the beginning of school was always interesting because they would see my last name, clench their teeth and get that "not another one" look in their eye.:)
Yep . . I have already had brothers - I know I had my eyes roll - tried not to but sure did.
I don't know why they bother having school after TAKS, the kids know they've done their work for the year...and they are taking books up here to on Friday. Basically, we are just keeping them off the street and safe at this point......guess they feel we need to earn our money now (as if we don't the rest of the year).
Taking up books this early? That's ridiculous, in my opinion. Of course, I am used to small schools, and we collect books on the day of the final exam.
I'm not a teacher, but it depresses me the way they run the schools now.
It is sad the way things are run... at this point it is centers and movies - oh and Field Day... cannot forget that one. But you are right after ITBS and TAKS here everything is picked up and the school shuts down, we turn from school to daycare for the last few weeks.
The kids are crazy, and I'm still exhausted. I actually fell asleep while sitting at the computer yesterday evening! It's been a tough week getting ready for a conference Thurs & Fri, I thought I'd just "unwind" a little and play a game of solitaire before mowing the lawn (Long overdue). Next thing you know, I'm waking up, sitting upright and hand on the mouse, lol! It was a good 45 minutes. I crept into bed and took a good nap.
Okay, now to the lawn...