Best/ worse/ ? did you learn today #53 visit with friends...

Next....

Next.....

Here's some LIlies at a flower stand--these are ALL over the place!

Last one----

These are from my Cousin's garden......

What happened??????

There were several more--and they are not here......I'll go back....

Seems some of them are not sending...have now tried 3 times.....WEIRD!!!!

OK! Now it went.....Maybe I am doing everything too fast?

Next......

Next.....Last one....

Morning!

Loved the flower pics. Gita I think your pink one is my favorite. I need some of that color in my garden. Gita are you friends with the ladies next door? If so maybe you could invite them to garden with you?

Betty that cake is just the cutest thing. Yes I can see it will be easy to make.

Judy still in the funk. But I did sit outside for a bit yesterday and enjoy our beautiful weather after picking beans,cukes and peas. Looked at how the extended vegie garden is growing since the deer are leaving it alone.

Liz friday at work was a breeze! There wasn't that much extra to do or else my brain was in a freeze and I couldn't think of anything. But it was screaming child day! What is wrong with the parents!

Bev more beautiful flowers! More kitty pictures?

Here is the extended garden.Or maybe I should say extra!

I lied......There are also from a Flower Stand. They are HUGE, with several blooms on each stem. People would buy just one stem with some greens to give someone....

Beautiful / beautiful..must stop looking at them or I'll be at Gatrix Lily farm before the shower...

OMG Vicki, you have to look after all that veggie gardening as well...is that corn further up the hill? I had my first feed of corn from the area on Friday and it was so 'yummy' my favorite veggie of all...

Gita, your visit must have overwhelmed you..all the architecture, family and gardens...bet it's taking some time to unwind...

Got waylayed..yep..garden called...know I shouldn't have moved my smoke tree but just had to do it...then I had all those shrubs/perrenials I bought last week so planted them all, did some weeding and now I'm soaking wet, rain just starting to brought the 4 chairs up on back deck and because I'm only stippling and doing one stroke on each for color I should be able to get them done before the shower....

Let's see if I can get back to my schedule..

Betty the Dh has been pretty much taking care of that. I just hilled up the potatoes. The rows are wide enough apart(for the most part) that he could get the tiller between the rows. Also if you pretty much get the weeds early on the rest of the summer isn't too bad. I just know if we decide not to add the extra vegies it will be a nice flower garden!

What a beautiful thing to wake up to, all the pictures of lillies. We sent my BIL and SIL flowers on Friday so when I opened my e-mail this morning she had sent a picture - mostly lillies. Then coming over here - I think I'm in lily heaven. When we got home from our travels some of out lillies were blooming, of course in getting resettled I didn't get a picture and now they're mostly gone. Oh well, I have other ones just forming buds now. I will thoroughly enjoy them. We took our trip at the wrong time of year for most of the flowers I have, I missed most of the lilacs, as well as most of my irises and peonies. I also missed the first blooming of a hoya cutting that I started last year. There's still lots to enjoy though so I'll just have to be happy with that.

Gita, it must have been heartbreaking to see everything replaced with grass. My sister once moved from a townhouse that was getting sold. The back yard was really small but crammed with plants and a lilac tree. It was beautiful. When my sister moved she took a few plants with her but wanted to leave some for the new people. As it turns out, the new people ran a 'landscaping' company, ripped everything out and put grass in. My sister now wishes she had just taken everything. The thing that really bugs her is that all the units were the same (and there were quite a few still available), the 'landscapers' could just have easily picked a unit that just had grass to start with.

My goal is to have as little 'lawn' as possible, especially where the ground slopes away from the house. It's impossible to mow there. I just hope the next person who lives here appreciates it. I certainly appreciate the garden that I inherited here. Now I just need to figure out what some of the plants are.

Now, these aren't lillies but I just love the look of a field of devil's paintbrushes. This was outside one of the motels we stayed in.

Betty,

There will be at leas 2-3 more postings of my pictures. Maybe I will do #2 tonight....

I am not a person who gets "overwhelmed" much by anything....at the time. It is when I have time to reflect and look at all the photos and the memories come back.....THEN I get more emotional....well....Just a little bit? Remember me comparing this trip to a fruit salad???? was it on here i did it? Or on the Mid-Atlantic? Let me know if you do not know what i am talking about......

One of my 6 folders of digital pictures is ALL flowers. I was going to post many of them on the plant ID Forum as I had not seen many of them before. You might know some of them, as Latvia is more in your zone than mine. Or, someone else who is a bigger gardener might recognize them. I will "flag" you all when I post them....

OK! been up for 3 hours now and ll I have done is sit by the "C" and chat....Time to get something done......

Gita

Gilli,

Here's the irony of it all.....My neighbor is just clearing things OFF THE SURFACE, as he has NO clue about gardening. Next Spring--all the bulbs and roots will be coming up again. Sort of a 'second chance"?

I have not posted this, but here is the pile of beautiful, mature Hollies (at least 4 varieties) and a Cherry Laurel and a variagated Acuba, and what not---ALl cut down and laying in this big heap on the back lawn for at least 3 weeks. UGH!!!! Idiot! Double UGH--UGH!!!!

I KNOW I took pictures of the piles, just cannot find them. I looked through all my Folders....Wonder where they are???

Gita

That makes me want to cry. It will be interesting to see what he does when all the bulbs come back.

Beautiful photo, breathtaking..one to frame for sure...

Just getting ready to head into town, rain or rather 10 drops stopped shortly after my last post but I didn't want to get into anything serious so managed to get 2 chairs out of 4 done, very primitively done but that's exactly what I wanted..

Then Mom called about 1/2 hr. ago..wanted to know about Christmas, step father Jim returned to work at 74 NOT because he had to but found it boring and got a kick out of their still needing him so he doesn't want to take the time to go to Clearwater Florida at Christmas time, he mentioned to mom that maybe I could drive her (not so sure about Aunt Muriel but she is going to ask her - devil for punishment I'd say) ..I had planned on driving but she wants her vehicle there for the winter and then Jim will drive down in the spring to pick her up..so guess my plans have changed..I will book a ticket to fly home and will drive her down..then she says, you always have Christmas before Christmas so Jim and I and all of you can celebrate then..which is true..Jim is a heck of a guy, love him to bits, always thinking of Mom...he got on the phone and he always calls me 'Bett' and wants to say how appreciative he'd be if I could do this little thing for him...ok/ok guess I'm I'm doing it..lol...Deborah, if time of day permits, guess you'll have to join us somewhere off I-75 S for coffee....

Clock is a ticking, I'd better go get dressed and get out of here, have a fun things I need in town...

Loved the photo's..and no Gita don't think it was this thread that you mentioned the fruit salad...when I have some this aft. at shower I'll be wondering what your reference was made to...

Glad Gillian you are enjoying your garden...yours starts late and ends early I believe..photo's please...

Oh Betty, I'm just off I-75 between the first and two exits. You just got to swing by my house! I'd love y'alls company!

I've got some lilies scattered here in there in a bed. I really need to dig them up and group them together. All bloomed out now, just the green stems standing up. When could I safely dig and transplant these? Anyone done this kind of transplanting now and still had blooms the following year?

Not going to the camper today Betty. I have some things to do. Powder is a little girl and she is so spoiled already. She wants me one time and Scotty the next. She is getting fat. She eats a little of her food and if I don't shut the door where I feed Snuggles she will go and eat her dog food. I will have to take a pic of her big belly!!!! Hi to everyone and all the lilies are stunning. I am so excited!!!! I have to get off lily topic because I ran out, but I grew some canna from seed and am going to show you a pic of what I have. I was very suprised. I have a dwarf one that is only 18 inches tall and on the ID forum was told that it is a completely new canna just like hosta seedlings are and I can name it what I want. They suggested that I name it BEV"S BEAUTY so here it is. I also have more but not like this!!!

That's an absolutely stunning canna bloom! What was the name of the parents? Bev's Beauty is a perfect name! Market the rhizones for sure!

I will never know the parents so I think that is out right? Thank you I just love it!!!

Bev,

Just out of curiosity...How long did it take for your canna to bloom--from seed? Surely, NOT the same season!

Betty,

No, the "Fruit salad" was on my "Greetings from Latvia" thread. I was "waxing poetic" how I looked at my trip.......kind of, musing....

I'll see if I van c/p it here.....OR, you can go there and read it.

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OK! Here is the "fruit salad" part of my Post......Still from Latvia...

OK! Here`s the musing/poetic part...

At this time, I am looking at this trip like a colorful ''fruit`salad''. I ''eat'' it every day...It is filled with colorful ''ingredients'' and so very pleasing and tasteful...Because I ''eat'' it every day, I cannot tell you how wonderful each and every ''ingredient'' of it is. It just is!!!

After I get back home, I will start ''digesting'' it. I will allow my mind to remember each and every ''ingredient'' of it and revel in it`s beauty. I believe it will be only THEN, that i will appreciate this trip. Right now, it is just too complex and too diverse...
It will take me a long time to get my photos uploaded anf ID`d. I HOPE that I will not procrastinate this time with putting all the printed photos in a huge album--as I am known to do after a trip...

I have also collected odd pieces of small driftwood fro various beaches as well as some pine cones and shells. I have a craft project in mind!!It will be a wall-hanging/mobile-type of a thing...I have also bought small amber pieces to suspend within it and some heavy, gray stone ''buttons'' to incorporate as well. So far it lives in my mind only--but that is how all my projects are...until they become reality.

Rest assured that i will take a picture of it and share it with you all.,,WHEN I get around to making it.

OK! have to go! Our cousin just came in with fresh picked berries from her country home...

CIAO!!!! Gita

another

Yes Gita, I recieved the seed in Dec. o7 and planted them in the house in Jan. 08 and transplanted to the garden last of April. I still have 2 more that are blooming and 4 that are not yet. I will take pics of all. I can't ecven think, I am so excited. Hugs BEV

Oh MY!!!! Such a beauty!!!!! Just love the gentle colors of it!

What color was the canna that you took the seeds from? Is it common in Cannas that the seeds may turn into something totally different? Who, or what, cross pollinates it?
I usually remove the spent blooms. Maybe I should let them go to seed and see what happens.

Please tell us just how you grew it from seed and how long did it take....

Muchas Gracias! Gita

A ladie from Texas sent me the seeds in Dec last year and I planted them in the house in Jan. 08 and only half came up so transplanted to the garden last of April. I don't know anything more than you do about cannas because this is the first time I tried this and didn't get any info on parentage. Don't know if you can register a plant without parents names. I dought it. BEV

If that's the case, those rhizones still can forever be called "BEV'S BEAUTY SEEDLING".

Some beautiful pictures of the lilies were posted here. I am like Starzz and regard some of the lilies as my favorites. I am partial to pink ones too. I had a blood red one that is really pretty. I believe that it is call Monte Negro. Mine bloomed a lot earlier than everyone elses. Mine have been gone for weeks now.

John sister and her dh just left a bit ago. They came to see our gardens. We had a nice visit. I sent her home loaded down with a pot of Coleus, a bag of Gladiolus bulbs, a ceramic bird for her garden and a baggie full of Celosia. I also gave her the last and most perfect Gladiolus that has grown here this year. I just finished cutting the last of the Glads, until next year. I will miss having them. I have been bringing in bouquets ever few days for several weeks. I guess that now I will start doing vases of Zinnia to sit on dining room table.

Well, the weekend is winding down. It has been a good and productive one for me. Only one more thing to tend to before going to TV and vegging out for the evening. I need to go outside with my roll of velcro plant tape and tie a Hibiscus bush to the lattice that is behind it. When I looked at it yesterday there are about 8 stalks laying almost to the ground. It has things looking pretty bad in the area that is planted. It will be blooming soon and I want it to be supported nicely when it does begin to bloom. The white blooms on it are usually about ten inches wide.

You ladies enjoy yourself and have a good week coming up.

Ruby

Ruby,

I have a Kopper King Hibiscus in this tiny bed up against my house. Full Morning sun until about 3PM. This Hibiscus grows amazingly tall! Easily over 6' and has the hugest blooms!
WHY it likes it in this bed--I don't know.
I bought 2 of them at the same time. The other one got planted on the west side of the house in front of my climbing Rose "Autumn Sunset". This Hibiscus, along with another perennial hibiscus at the other end of the bed, as well as one of my Daturas all had that weird mosaic virus (or whatever) that deformed their leaves and blooms. Do you remember me posting about it last Summer?
Anyway--the Kopper King Hibiscus on the West side never came up this summer. DEAD!
The tall, perennial hibiscus at the other end is doing great and blooming away. Go figure!

Here's my KK Hib. just now.....

Herte are a couple blooms close up. The bees are a buzzing around there--but--this Hibiscus does NOT make any seed pods. Weird! It starts them, but they never develop and just fall to the ground.

Here's looking at Ya! These blooms are HUGE!

A nice day for flowers,
here is my Texas Star hibiscus, a very old one.....These were the first 2 blooms, and it has had 2 new ones both days of the weekend.

Also have one blooming that came from my Great grandmother's yard. It is pink and also white, all on the same bush, a lot smaller than the Texas Star and a lot older, but fuller.

Have had Ethan for a few days, also have been very busy the past couple of weeks. I love your flowers, my lilies, about 200 of them are just about finished with their blooms....

Here's Ethan, he just turned 4 last week.

Bev, that looks so much my canna Jivago! Yours is beautiful and 'creamier'.
Oops...have to continue this later...just got an emergency call. To everyone..hope your Sunday's a happy one!

Bev, Kel just told me yours look like Glauca Panache that we bought last year...waiting for it to bloom.
You could find it resemble closely to the bottom pic. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/197700/
What an obsessive thing this is..when you're excited about plants and emergencies must wait...lol..ok I'm gone!!

Gita and Sharran, what do you do with the hibiscus after it is done for the season? Do you cut it back at all? I have had this particular one for several years but have about 4 or 5 more that are growing in a different spot which isn't as fertile. Thanks for your help ladies.

Ruby

Ruby, I just cut the stalks back, otherwise they die back anyway. Then mulch or more likely just put dried leaves over.
They winter well here....and spread with each new season.

So sorry ladies for that hurried postings. Little kittiess got out of Kel's workshop, again...so had to corral them. Funny it takes a feminine voice to lure them back! With Kel, they play cat and mouse!!
Gita, I want to go to Latvia just for the blooms....either that, go surprise Shar when her 200 odd lilies are showing off! Like I said, this is my first year with Asiatics and Orientals, and they got me speechless with their beauty and scent. Got me hooked just like the brugmansias.
You're a good daughter Betty. I'd do anything for my Mum too, if she were alive.
I can imagine the reminiscings during the long drive to Clearwater.

hello all

gosh so much to catch up on..

lovely lillies!

DD and baby still here as she has had a problem withthe oartner and they are apart for now!! all madness here so a quick post to say im doing fine and getting better and i will post more later

hugs to you all

xx