Happy Birthday MaypopLaurel!!

Hi Patti, do I ever love picadillo and plantanos! We like to get together with friends and play an odd version of croquet followed up with a picadillo dinner. The croquet game consists of setting the wickets all about the yard and playing something that resembles miniature golf with a prize at the end. One goes about wacking balls and drinking sangria on a hot summer afternoon. A fantastic hat (usually silly) is de rigueur. It was more fun in Miami because of the level terrain. Up at Maypop, the hills make it work and dogs sometimes confuse the rolling balls for a game of 'fetch'.

Thanks Dave for the continued warmth. Loved seeing you made famous by the RU photos.

Laurel

I got one for ya, Laurel - RU food! (actually DH was the one who thought to get this one!)

Amy - Anne Taintor is hillarious, and so dead on right!

Nance, what a great picture! I never went in that deep.

How could you?!!!! LOL

And that isn't even close to all of it!

Oh, My! Laurel........I just found this thread.......I hope that you are pahtying bigTime even before the Atlanta crowd gets into the act! Happy, Happy birthday! I think I'll make a cake in your honor! LOL

Best Wishes!!!!
Louise

Mmmm, yeah. I think I'll EAT cake in your honor!

Nance, what a tease to show me all the food covered!

Love the astilbe and clems Louise. That fence is a perfect back drop. Everything is so manicured. The Atlanta yard is terribly overgrown. A search and rescue team will need to be on standby if I go out there.
L

If it weren't for the clem discussions on this forum, that clem wouldn't be blooming as nicely as it is this year.

Do you see the 4th picket over from the left in the photo? It got broken when a bear vaulted over it. I refuse to replace it, because I think it is cool. LOL

Wow. Talk about a conversation piece! Did the bear vault towards or away from you?

Nance - it came over from the back yard into the front yard after marauding our bird feeder. I wasn't outside at the time. We have named the bear "Guy Noir".......LOL

Funny!

I love Guy Noir (and Rusty and Lefty). Not a whole lot of entertainment options on Sat. night in the mountains. Speaking of mountains, isn't that what the bear is supposed to go over, Louise?
L

HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY, Laurel!


My poppies are a poppin', despite being drenched!
I squashed a JB in your honor!

Hi Melissa, thanks so much for the bd wishes. Belated is good too. I love the poppies. Possible here, but not easy. What kind are those? California poppies are grown as massed roadside projects in early Spring. Some old timey medicine ladies grow Orientals up in the mountains. I guess for medicinal purposes. :>)

Look what my GF got for my bd... Isn't he cute? His name is Snowball and he squeals like all get out if you try to pick him up. I told her she should have named him Mojo (as in mojo pork). She was not amused. Then I admired his trotters and hocks. She was still not amused. Geez, how do you compliment a porker...I mean pig? Glad he's not mine. Definitely labor intensive and attention demanding. We have several friends, including two in the city who have gotten pigs. They are a lot of work.

Laurel

Here is another of a face only my GF could love...

I am sooo sorry I missed your birthday, MaypopLaurel! I hope your gardens thrive all year!

HOW CUTE!!!!!!!!! (I'm squealing in somewhat of a piglike fashion!)

OMG- how adorable. But Snowball is not yours? I think his face is cute as can be. Maybe she should have named him "Hamlet".

Yes, I AM a vegetarian.

I don't know what kind of poppies those are! I've planted every kind, both from seed and from the nursery, and I've forgotten the name of those. I'll bet they'd make a nice snack for Snowball!

I think they are the annual "Flanders" type of poppies - I, too, have planted every kind imaginable. California, they are not, and perennial Oriental types are already finished by now, around here, Melissa. I would love to hear your pig-like squeal, though.

Nope opium poppies.

Snowball would REALLY like poppies, then!!!

Thank you, boojum! Now I know the poppies that just finished are the Orientals I paid $$ for at a nursery. I wanted to see which grew best for me; the opiums seem to spread easily and be the most vigorous.

I have red and black opiums that I use to line a walkway each year (soon). Then when they are done, I yank them out and spread the seeds in the same place for the next year. Here's last year.

Very pretty.

Laurel - I think Snowball is adorable. Your GF has great taste (no pun intended). I have always thought the VPP were cuter as babies. When they mature they are oddly shaped and have very coarse, sparse hair. Not so cute anymore.

Guess who heard our poppy chatter? First bloom.

All my poppies are done - clearly a different variety. How long do yours bloom?

Boojum, your garden is magnificent!!!
I'm glad to see that you use straw mulch. I use pine needles for mulch- I can't see spending $$ for something I get for free. It looks so much more natural. (I've never seen that neon orange bark mulch in any natural setting I've ever seen, on this planet, anyway.)
Carrie, the poppies seem to have about a 2-week bloom time. Now I am wringing my hands b/c all of that crisp, light green foliage is going to turn to mush and I'll have an empty spot. I'll have to resort to BUYING a flat of something to fill it. This after winter-sowing and planting a hundred million seedlings... I didn't calculate the poppy die-back in my plans. Live and learn...again and again...

Michaela, apparently you have not missed my birthday. It ongoing. Thanks for the wishes.

Kathy, you win the prize for "Extreme Gardening". Honestly...everything you grow indoors and out is so beautiful. I think Oriental poppies need a head start here and be planted out while young to get established. The heat and humidity is hard on them.

Nance, we have a friend who had two. The female wore a giant pearl in her ag. dept. tag ear hole and a pearl necklace. They needed to be bathed and mineral oiled all the time because their skin is so sensitive and they have chronic dandruff. I agree that they are not so cute (or small) down the line. Now here's a pet visiting the garden for my birthday that's more my speed. No pun intended either. We seem to share backing up and parking skills. :)

Laurel

OOOoohhh turtle (me squealing again!)!!!!
Turtles are my favorite animals. I guess I wish I had my house w/ me where ever I went, so I could hide when things got scary!
What kind of turtle (tortise) is she?!
Can you rescue the eggs??

Happy Extended Birthday, Laurel! I like Snowball.....very cute! Pigs with pearls! LOL I also like your tortoise....also my speed!

Kathy - your poppies are so pretty!

Thanks! They are short lived and so intense.

Wow. The turtle just showed up? How cool is that! And I went nuts when I got a frog in my pond. lol