The Hackberry Tree and other stuff...

Thank you, beautiful red. Can't sleep.

Sunny, that bed has really taken off...it was very sparse the last time I saw it. Looking good up there.

Our rhododendron does well here, but this one is about 40 years old, and is very nearly succumbing to old age, I think. I doubt it will last much longer. It has been very showy for all these years, though, and I hate to lose it.

In my case, it's 'got to sleep',
even when there's much more interesting things to do!
Never liked sleeping.

Agree with you on that one, Sunny.
But it's on my must do list, too, even though there are other things that I much prefer.
You all have a good day tomorrow.

That reminds me to edge some of the borders.Nice house Sunny

Hi ge1836,
Took several years of class from a local horticultural-environmentalist expert.
He said edge down about a foot with a spade and it needs to do be done once a year. We have heavy clay. Only go down about half that myself and need to do it twice a year. Tend to continually build up my perennial beds by working in (weedless) composed matter in spring and fall. Whatever the case, edging really makes a garden look better and, of course, it keeps the lawn out of the flower beds and it seems to help keep weeds out of the lawn.
You probably know: houses really tend to suck your money up (this wrong, that wrong), but I love the gardens (rather spend the money on them, though don't think you get it back when you sell the house!). Off to garden.
Sunny

I live with my kids they take care of whats wrong with the house, so I can obcess about the gardens

Back. Pouring with rain.
You're a useful person to have around.
Shouldn't be too perfectionist about the garden. I am!
Off to price shrimp manure.

shrimp manure?
My cats would love it.
They already think the mulched beds are just big litter boxes.

You put it that way ge1836, my wife would love it too! I'm not absolutely sure what it is, as yet, but I suspect it might be mainly seaweed plus soil. Got to check. Found last year that the huge advantage of it is that it contains no weed seeds.
Despite the cats, think mulching is the way to go. Don't use it myself because like to see the surface of the soil, while I still can (till end May?). Plant perennials pretty close and typically divide in a few years. Don't have to tell you the advantages of mulching.
Our obese cat likes to go out and eat my plants (irritates me) and then go in and be sick on the carpets (irritates my wife).

Oddly enough I also have an obese cat that never goes out side unless its 60* or above.
Seedless mulch and compost, now there's a great Idea.
GF of mine who farms organicaly gave me hundreds of pounds of her compost. I used it on DL's last fall. Now I can find where the plants are because of the stacys weeds that came with it.
We mulch here because the soil is clay and has no nutritive value.

Hi ge,
Good to hear from you.
Will get back to you later in day.
Sunny

Running behind today...and the day hasn't started yet. Lots of iris blooming now, but only one of each of the color groups. That's strange.

Here is a painting I did of my last year's calla lily. JoAnn, thought you might like to see it. Did it too quickly because it was to be a gift, so put it off till the day before the birthday, nothing like being a procrastinator. I don't paint much during gardening season, is that true for you too, JoAnn?

This was such a simple thing to do, particularly in acrylics, but fast, unlike your watercolors.

Sunny...hope your day is good, too.

Not fair for one person to have so many talents. I love the painting. I can't even draw stick people.

Nice Sharran the mood is there.
I dont paint duering the garden season and I do not paint pleinaire(out doors)

This message was edited Apr 29, 2009 11:10 AM

Hi ge, Sharon and LouC.
Nice painting Sharon! Clever artist as LouC says.
Would like to try painting myself sometimes. LouC should try abstract art.
Ge (going to capitalize first letter - hope that's OK) - Won't go GE because that's 'genetically engineered'. Know exactly what you're saying about weeds in compost. Bet we all do. We have heavy clay and also add lots of organic matter. Have gardened on sandy soil. Much easier, but I have more confidence in clay than sand. One of the really tricky things about clay is that it is easy to slip on when wet.

I hear you.
I am not young and nimble and shoved the spade into the ground ,lost my balance and fell backward. First time on the ground in 30 years. Now that thats over I'm not affraid of it anymore.
I carry a bucket of compost and potting soil and manure (any organic matter) mixed together, dig the hole adding the clay to the bucket and mix it,then fill in the hole around the plant.My other house was sand. I preferr clay, easier to dig after a rain.

Got to be careful Ge - I'm not exactly a spring chicken.
Working on garden today which has weathered limestone rocks in it - very pretty - but very slippery, when wet. As we know, got to take care on clay too. It is a bit wet, but that is also good for the perennials I'm having to dig up and replant. Bed is really overrun with spring and latter bulb plants that spread by seed (especially puschkinia (small white plants with light blue lines in flower) and large alliums (decorative onions)).
Have regular arthritis - mainly knees - don't let it bother me too much - but I
think it might affect my sense of balance. Watch it yourself too.
Sunny

Without hijacking the thread I can tell you the arthritic knees do affect your balance. Feet too. I'm riddled with it but refuse to just lay down and take it. Motrin,Motrin,Motrin chant as I go.

And then there are those of us who rely on nerve root injections in our backs just so our legs will walk. But oh well, anything, as long as we can dig a hole and plant a flower. And the injections only take one day away from gardening (yesterday), and now I am good for the rest of the summer!!

This is my day to get out there and tackle those weeds that grew up yesterday while I recouped from the injections.

Finally my old yellow and white irises are blooming, I was beginning to think they had faded into oblivion. I also have some heirloom tomato plants that need to be put in the ground, and a few beans, it might be a dirty muddy day because I can see clouds forming. I definitely wanted sunshine today.

Looks like we are in for another over-cast day. Saw on the tv news that on the other side of Dallas (we are south) about 50 miles from here that they had between 10-14 inches of rain yesterday. Just three weeks ago today is when we had the wildfires and it cleared some astronomical number of acres (120,000 acres or more). They are getting the floods now and while it sounds like a good thing, it is wreaking more havoc. I feel so sorry for everyone who is standing in the wake of nature with no place to hide.

Christi

It is snowing in Baker Oregon this morning.
I told my friend there: Merry Christmas.

Looks like rain here today, but my weeds are higher than my knees at a couple of spots, so I am going to have to get out there between raindrops. We do need rain, so I won't complain yet.

Morning Christi, I hope this day is good for you and the rest of our crew. I will be spending my day on my knees dodging raindrops, because I am determined to get these beds weeded. Let's hope I can crawl back into the house once I finish.

UMMMMMph Sharran. Good luck

Christi - good to know arthritic knees and balance problems are related. Now I know it's not my brain.
Sharon - wish you only had arthritis - scratch - wish you wouldn't have that either.
LouC - You must be the fittest of all.
Sharon - weeds - I find a coffee (and donut) at the beginning and a beer at the end does help. Really trying to cut out the donut, but not today.

Groooaaannnnnnn.......
Just a little break. Worried about my holly tree. Some years ago it came up on its own, and is a lovely pyramid now, about 20 feet tall. When we had the horrific ice storm at the end of January, it was bowed over frozen against my trellis. Well, when it thawed some 10 days later, the holly sprung right back up, and I thought it was OK, but now it is shedding leaves like crazy, but on some branches I see new growth. Not sure how to deal with it, but think I will give it time and a trim. Maybe that will help.

Break over, I am dragging, but knees work fine.

Maybe we should start a" creeky gardener forum".
Give some of these youngsters a glimps into their future.

Sounds like an idea to me.
Thankfully a little shower came along, gave me an excuse for another break!

While I somewhat resented the title of "Senior Citizen" for awhile, it doesn't sound so bad now that I have entered the "elderly" range.

I have what I call "geezer moments"

Still croaking like I have whooping cough but the sun is out for a moment and a walk in my garden is always good for the soul.

Later.

Christi

Funny thing about gardening - you're not usually interested in it when your young and quite fit. Then when it gets to be a bit of a physical challenge, you decide you love it.
Still, in all seriousness, it's great exercise for joints, etc.
'Senior citizen' is OK when you get discounts on things!
(Sorry - think I confused Christi and Ge above - must be a senior creeky geezer).

Chuckle.....

Must be. I remember being offended when I was first offered the senior special at a breakfast place a few years ago. Discount was nice, though.

I dunno, those years we were young we were busy doing other things, I think. I have always gardened, but not to the extent that I do now. Now it is an obsession, and I am not happy unless I am outside. Even though it goes hand in hand with creaky bones and aches and pains. Worth it, I think. I surely am not going to get my exercise working out to a video!

It's raining.
And no, I am not nearly finished.
And rain tomorrow.
Rats. But oh my, I have a ton of iris and roses blooming.

Think gardening is good for the mind - very mentally relaxing.
Love to work in among the bees.
Noticing as many bumblebees, in our back garden, as honey bees. Read something like there normally being 20? times more honey bees than bumblebees. Maybe it's because the weather keeps getting a bit cool.

Love irises Sharon, though as said too early for them here. Lovely picture.
My professional horticulturalist friend complains that irises don't bloom for long enough. I don't agree, though the more of them you have, the better the showing. I don't think irises like competition from other perennials; they like space. They seem to do fine at the front of the beds. (Sun on tops of rhizomes etc.)

Have used Canadian Explorer Series and other roses (fully winter-hardy here) in mixed perennial beds. They do very well, but the problem is they tend to rip your arms when you are working in a bed.

We have rain tonight, which is very convenient, because I just dug over and replanted a perennial bed.

Rain here still tonight, sometimes heavy. The iris will be drooping and the roses too. I might have to go out tomorrow and make little crutches for them. I surely have enough small branches all over the yard to do that.

Roses do rip into you, don't they? I have New Dawn, a white climber, and it is not getting enough sunshine where it is. I am going to cut it back and try to move it. I am sure I will be shredded before getting it done because its thorns are absolutely ruthless. Maybe if I wear a heavy longsleeved denim shirt, and those oven mitts that come up to the elbows, perhaps overalls...boots....I might get it moved. You think?

Even then, it'll probably win the battle.

Yes!
Your'e also obviously a lot more cunning and devious than the rose.
Usually wear long pants and longsleaved shirt myself when garden.
One thing I have trouble with, is wearing gloves. Certainly with a rose.
But there are lots of times when I can do much better without gloves
e.g. planting small bulbs, pulling up grass in a flower bed, even planting
flowers.
Prop up a large number of plants myself, usually with bamboo stakes and twine. Small branches may look better with something like an iris.

I have bamboo growing, and saved the bare branches from last year. They of course have forks, so that's what I will use.

I hate gloves, too, but try to wear them most of the time.

Here's Sophie's Rose.....somehow I have ended up with about 3 of them, and they are all in bloom, pretty blooms, and not too prickly. Very full foliage.

All the rose talk makes me jealous. DD is the rose expert in this house. She doesnt garden as much as I do so I wish she would add a few more roses to the ones we already have. We have about 4 NOID's from the former owner.
Jo Ann

Aunt Bett would be so proud of you. She probably was even when you were a little tyke.

Lou, you have read too many of my stories........

Computer problems again.
Going back for service.
Will be back when fixed.
Sunny