I want to introduce my friend....

I talk to myself all the time. Except after a dispute. Then we don't talk.

chuckle....

No I didn't know the skunk was there. I was filling up holes where woodchucks were going in and out from under the storage shed. So I thought I was burying a woodchuck but I guess you can't do that cause they can dig their way out. I was trying to make it an unfriendly environment for them so they would move out!!

Oops... I guess I just "imagined" that I read and paid attention!!!

I talk to my plants.... can't help it... sometimes I think they bloom on purpose... so I can call them beautiful!!!!

I laugh at myself all the time... can't help being so silly... and latelly I am singing a lot too.... well I guess I an becoming excentric!!!!

Kass, I know I'm at my happiest when I find myself singing or talking to myself. I think the plants enjoy being spoken to and praised. Good for you! Now I'm looking forward to meeting you all the more.

My female plants and I speak all the time.

poor little skunk. Well such is life.

Do you think introverts talk to themselves? Cos if extroverts don't then that would explain a lot.

Victor, how can you tell which ones are female?

They initiate.

so the female plants are extroverts?

Mine are.

do they have big hair?

No - just enough.

for what?

I think Victor has finally lost that screw that's been loose for so long.

Now you're getting too personal.

suit yourself!

That was in response to the previous 'hair' post.

aw he's just kidding around. Anybody who has that much orange in the garden is ok

Actually that's just about the ONLY orange in my garden. I'm not big on hot colors. Or hot on big hair.

don't turn on me while I'm defending you!
those weren't really hot oranges anyway - more like tangerine

True - that's why I have them. More like sherbet colored. Thanks for your defense. Are you an extrovert??

Harper - here's a link on Bindweed that was just posted on another forum.


http://www.ksda.gov/plant_protection/content/181/cid/889

Victor! You're the best. Thank you. I copy & pasted it into my journal. Looks like I'm too late to combat it effectively this year, but I've got something to plan for next year... the only bad thing is, it's growing right up along the creek that feeds the lake. Grrrr... Why are all my hard to kill weeds there? I've decided to let the PI be. I'll just make sure it doesn't spread. At least the birds will have something to enjoy.

I could not believe the root depth - 20 to 30 feet!! No wonder it's so hard to get rid of. Good luck!

Thanks. I don't think I'll ever get rid of it entirely, but if I can keep it from choking my other plants, I'll be happy. Some bug eats it, so it's not even pretty.

I love orange... have several orange roses... well actually I love all colors... purple better but I love it all!!!!

changing the subject a little... I love the book "the earth knows my name" oh it is so good... I can't decide what to do... if I read or post.... both so fun!!!!

Thanks for the bindweed link - I have it and can't get rid of it. Even a 1/4 inch of root grows!!!!

Anita, I'm sorry you have the bindweed problem too. You have my sympathy!

100% extrovert + about 10% introvert
but my plants are somewhat muted and I can't figure that out. Its just the shade I guess - hard to find bright colors for the shade. I decided yesterday that this garden is still in the stages of becoming my garden. I inherited someone else's 21 yr old place and she had her own ideas of course. It took me 2 years to realize that her entire garden bloomed and was done by June 10 except for the Black eyed susans, heliopsis and Monarda. I've started adding early spring and fall. Now I'm working on filling in the hot summer months.

Re-did front bed with Hosta Patriot, variegated euonymous and hellebores & annual impatiens
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d25/alyrics/MygardenJune2007025.jpg

I'm bashful to show this but in 2 more years it will be pretty. It's hellebores and Hakone grass around our well head. - was looking for something evergreen and low growing.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d25/alyrics/MygardenJune2007026.jpg

This is so 'leafy' looking - ha. It used to be all old daylilies. Now there's a nice Magnolia Jane, H.Great Expectations, lot of dying daff foliage, purple irises and dianthus, perennial foxglove and a bunch of nicotiana that reseeds every yr.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d25/alyrics/MygardenJune2007032.jpg

Hosta planted under a couple of old maples. - can't see the huge one just outside the pic. I'm going to rearrange this again. http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d25/alyrics/MygardenJune2007033.jpg

Thanks...

very nice alyrics.

You're getting there Andrea. Don't forget flowering shrubs for shade / part. Clethra, Kerria, Hydrangea, Bottlebrush Buckeye and Leucothoe are just a few. They will extend your season.

Yes you are right Victor, it took me a while, but I finally realized that was a negative for me with this garden - very few shrubs and it all died in the fall because there were few evergreens and structural shrubs in the perennial borders. In our climate, having nothing for 5-6 months a year is pretty barren and I still don't really get the winter excitement of Sedum Autumn Joy and empty seed heads of old echinacea.

Kerria is on my shopping list. Do you like the single or double? I love that bottlebrush buckeye - is my favorite shrub but I've been told that it grows so slowly here that it would take 10 years to make a meaningful statement. So I've put it off, - and the specimens I've been shown were $100 apiece and in a 2 gallon pot - yikes.

I am moving toward shrubs and away from perennials for another reason as well - just about no maintenance! Plus they add structure as you said. I have both the single and double Kerria and like them both. And don't forget Japanese Maples. I am addicted right now. Great for the shade garden. My Bottlebrush Buckeye is about four or five years old and is about 4 1/2 feet high and wide now. I think it was about 18 inches when I planted it. Got mine from Fairweather - they are reasonable and you always get great bushy plants. If you have sufficient moisture and have never tried Clethra, please do. The scent is heavenly and literally fills my garden. There are quite a few Viburnum that can take a decent amount of shade. Also Dogwoods. Lots of choices!

ok, Victor you got me thinking of japanese maples.... how close to the house can yuo plant them??? I have the front of my house that I need to think about it....

Ahhh - yes, we should continue talking about converting to all shrubs. I really do not have the time for the garden I inherited. It is very high maintenance in addition to just plain being big. I remember coming here the first time and thinking how natural everything looked. OMG, the work required to keep it that way..... We took down over 100 mature trees the first 2 years and that consumed our time and $. It was so overgrown. Because we had all the stumps ground nobody realizes we removed trees because its still almost like a forest. The woman who lived here was famous for being in her garden from 6 am till dark every weekend and all summer long. H*ll, it would take that to keep up with what she planted. Every shrub she did choose is really too big for the location and has to be pruned carefully every year.
Here's a list of what I've added
Cornus florida - maybe 6
Flowering crabs at the edge of the woods
Viburnum Blue Muffins
Viburnum Arrowwood - don't recall which ones
Buddleia Black Knight, White Profusion, Petite Nanho, Nanho Blue, Red Delight
Heptacodium miconoides
dwarf chamaecyparis Tom Golden and some miniatures
dwarf spruce
Magnolia Jane
Chaenomeles Jet Trail and Cameo
Rhodo Purple Gem, Christmas Cheer
Kalmia Sarah and OIympic Fire
Fothergilla Mt Airy
Witchhazel Jelena
Itea Little Henry
Azalea's several colors
Clethra rosea and some white ones - can't remember
Hypericum Albury Purple
Holly China Girl and Boy, Blue Girl and Boy,
Buxus Vardar Valley, Green Mountain
2 big River Birch - 20 ft
Lindera benzoin
Tree peonies if they count

So I have a start. I'm looking at Aronia if somebody could tell me once and for all if birds will really eat them. Also want some winterberry. Now need to remove all the flowers.

where are your pics???

Wow - how big is your property Andrea?? Good list so far. I have many of them. I love Heptacodium. Didn't notice any Hydrangea - any reason? I love Cornus kousa and C. alternifolia. Kousa will be blooming soon - much later than florida, does not get that nasty disease the florida gets and has great Fall color. I would definitely look into native flowering shrubs of your area. Best bet to attract wildlife and better survival certainty.

Kass - J. Maples come in all (mature) sizes. They can be anywhere from 3 feet up to 25 or more. Weeping or upright. Broadly lobed or finely dissected leaves. Red, green or a combo. That's what's so great about them. But best of all - once you plant them and get them established, you just sit back and watch them strut their stuff.

"strut their stuff". I love it. I just bought a Japanese Maple 'Our Back Yard'. I wanted something that grows quickly to cover up the neighbor's eyesore.