Show us your bloomers!!

Grampapa all your flowers are stunning. I can't imagine how beautiful they all must look blooming at the same time.

Nice shots Anita and Jan! Patti - wow, close call with your son. Speedy recovery! Have fun with the stream. I have a pond. I love it but there is a leak somewhere and that is no fun. Luckily it's within a few inches of the top.

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful!!! Patti - hope your son is feeling better soon and heals quickly!! Eleanor

al and granpapa -
i love those simple, single dahlias! Did you say they were dahlia ancestors, Al? Is that like species tulips? 'Cause i am not a big fan of dahlias for myself, but I really really like those! How do you grow them? Are they perennial or annual?
I like simple things and flat flowers. go figure.
(except tulips. they aren't flat. but i don't like the ruffly ones.)

Glad to see I'm not the only one who prefers the clean, simple look of singles. Added benefit - less floppy after rain.

Jan - the clematis looks nice. Yes your coccinea is from the same pack as mine. All mine were 2 toned last year, but this one isn't.

Amy - yes dahlias originated as singles. See the Bishop family as other examples remaining. They are from Mexico originally. Many of those can be grown from seed yearly or overwinter the tubers.

Hello everyone... gorgeous pics... even bugs looks good....lol!!!! have never seen this one before!

Harriny

good looking dahlia... they are holding on!!!!

I finally got a monarch to slow down. He was working over the verbenas.

great shots today... everyone.... can't wait to see what the riverbed looks like when it's done

Allison

Great pics Kassia!! Eleanor

Jan, Anita, Bebop and Kassia - lovely shots - especially for so late in the season!! It's a real challenge to get any good pics now!

Al and Victor - you guys are too much.......but then, I did ask for it with my ambiguous grammar and everything!!! LOL Don't you guys have parties for your playhouses??? I like the idea.....maybe you'll be invited next time......:)

Patti - I love your plan and the shot gives a great sense of how it will look when it is finished. I can visualize it and think it will be great!! I really want to do the same thing, so I'm most interested in how yours develops! Please keep us posted!

Thanks Eleanor and Victor, DS is back at work, but still on crutches and in pain. Though he has been giving me good advice with the math involved in figuring the flow of water (gallons per hour) and the lift to find the right pump. So he is interested in this folly. And he has promised to help me with the aesthetics in the choice of stones used. I fear he will have me moving them about for hours. Good exercise. I am taking the truck off island on Thursday to pick up all the materials needed to complete this project and will begin laying the liner on Monday when I return. Can't wait.

Here are some of today's stragglers. I do love their effort. Patti

I forgot the pictures, duh!

Thanks Donnybrook, I will post more when I do the next phase. Patti

Patti - lovely shots!!

DonnieBrook, here is a collage of some random shots taken at various times of the area that is to be "streamed". I never could deal with the slope part of our "dell" which always seemed to wanted a water feature, but I did not want a pond and then I read about the endless stream. I am hopeful that it will make this space special. I am on the hunt for an old bench to position to view and hear the water. But tons of rocks to throw before that happens. Patti

Nice dahlias Pattie. The paths and fence look good.

Louise - I'll look for that invite. My mom says no more playing doctor or truth or dare at those though.

Ooooh, Patti - what a great place to work with!! The stone walkway is lovely....in fact, it's all lovely....you will have a gem when you finish. Thanks for posting that collage! There are lots of nice benches out there. Comfort is not part of the design of so many, it seems. Some of the teak benches that I've looked at are comfortable as well as weather worthy and nice looking.....but there are lots of nice choices! The sound of the babbling water is so restful, and that's what I want to have closer at hand myself. In Fla. our next door neighbors have a fountain in their pool, and we enjoy the sound of it.....the only advantage of being so proximate to the neighbors down there! Up here in NH, we have the exact opposite setting....we can't see anything but our woods in all directions here.

Just make sure you bring expensive giftSSSS, Al!! LOL .....and a nice cake would be nice too. Your Mom will learn to adjust! Mine did.

Patti - just take extra time clearing any stones and debris before laying down the padding and then the rubber. Also be careful when placing stones onto / into the liner. You might consider a variable flow pump.

Victorgardener, I have cleared pretty well, and, luckily, there are not many rocks on Nantucket. I read that using an underlayment fabric was a good idea below the liner to protect it from below and then using old carpet scrapes under the larger stones would kept the liner in good shape. I checked on a variable flow pump and the only one I could find was over 2000 bucks, out of my league. I am getting a Proline 4800 by Pondmaster which sounds good on paper

You can vary the flow by using different size 'nozzles' at the pump exit. The $$$ ones you saw are probably variable speed motor pumps, which are very expensive and not what you need. They are for industrial applications. Good luck and keep us up to date!

Love the stragglers, Patti.
This is a tiny Johnny Jump Up that appeared in our veggie garden.

i want those...
i know they are weeds in some places, but i have ugly weeds already - i want pretty ones!

Bebop - love the pretty Johnny!! In one house we lived in, they sprung up everywhere between the bricks at our front door. You know the old saying, "Step on a crack, you'll break your Mother's back"?? Well, I'd practically kill myself trying not to step on any of those cute little faces if I had to go out that door. Usually, I'd avoid it entirely and go out the garage instead.

I have some in the cracks of my brick patio - if I tried to grow something in conditions like that it probably wouldn't work!

No kidding!

patti:

Just a shot in the dark, but, have you tried looking at eBay to find a pump? BTW, love what you are creating. It makes e jealous!

Candyce, I am an ebayaholic, but I think with the pump, I want a new one with a warranty. Thanks for the encouragement. I can't wait to start the rock work. I had knee surgery last Jan and I must say I am very proud of my digging prowess. The Doc did good, but he is the knee and shoulder surgeon for the Patriots and Boston Bruins. He jokingly told me I could play football by the fall, and I think this is just as physical and much prettier! If it turns out well I will frame a picture of it for him for his wall of accomplishments to hang with all the famous athletes and dancers. Patti

Patti!

That's a great idea about the photo. I'm sure he will cherish it! Keep on getting better. In my mind, there's no better therapy than gardening.

Here's one of the last blooms for my Pistachio clematis. It still has over a dozen buds, but I don't know when the next frost will hit hard. I've been extremely happy with this cleamtis this year, and I can see new shoots, so I am hoping for a great bunch of blooms next year.

Here's some promise for next year ...

The primrose is looking kinda 'beaten and eaten'. But it's still blooming.

We put in a kale, for interest. Doesn't it look interesting?

Candyce, I love your clematis. I am going to have to look for that one. It is a much better picture than those posted in Plantfiles. I posted it in my want journal. Thanks, Patti

I must admit, patti, that THAT is the best bloom I've seen from it all season. It must be because of the cooler weather. In the spring, it did have some purple on it, but it was mostly a white bloom, and very hard to photograph. I guess I'll have to add this one to the PlantFiles, what?

One last photo grouping of our Snapdragons ...
They seem to really love the cooler weather, too. There aren't as many blooms, but they are still a rich color ... much richer than my camera can capture this morning.

I hate it when the photos get cut off! Oh well. You get the idea.

I have a repeat Iris in bloom and some brand new buds on one of my DL's! I'll try to post.