With all these Spring rains.... may your gardens be in bloom soon.........
We came from here ... #35 ==> http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/976585/
Cottage Garden Seed Swap & Chat #36
Wow, I get to be first! Got nothing to report, just wanted to be first for once. LOL!
WIB,
SW
Thanks t
Do you think you could post pictures? I'm not familiar with the difference.
I'm on my kids laptop and dont have pics... so here are the links to Daves Images
Red Flax http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/228/
Blue Flax http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/260/
My red flax started germinating early, but now there's no seedlings. I think they froze after germinating :-(
Now its the battle with the slugs- what destructive monsters! I sprinkled diatomaceous earth around and it seems to be helping.
I got a bunch more seedlings planted in the gardens the last couple of days. Aching back, shoulders and arms, sunburn, splintered and blistered hands, and some patches of poison ivy, and all I can do is smile when I think about why! LOL This is the best time of year for me- just can't stand to be inside any more than I have to. So many blooms opening every day and fragrance wafting all around the yard keeps me out there.
Happy Planting everybody!
Goodie goodie. Made the jump.
LeBug. Prayers goign out to you and yours. We here if ya need us at any time.
Lala. How well I knwo that sinking feeling, but chin up girlfriend, don't let it set ya back, ya just replant and keep going. Hate to tell ya how many things I lost from the freak snow and freeze we had. Stil got pots otu there that gonan need to be dumped and started over.
Gemini- do ya think that stuff woudl work sprinkle d on top of pots. I battlign them this year too, like never before. I so mad. brought in several flats of plants form a local nurery and didn't notice til the nasty little creature s had had a field day munchign away on things that the flats had been infecte d with them. I done crosse d that nursery off my list for sure.
Hey Ella -- i'm guessing you got your MSN problem taken care of. I just read your post... but couldnt help. hope you are all sorted out.
tsc. nope in fact the problem worse, but at least can get to Dg . That the main thing. They gonan send me a disk and mayeb then I can get everythign on here removed and MSn back where it should be. I on some remote conenction right now.
Ella, that's what I did, just sprinkled it on top and around the pots and jugs. Its supposed to take care of a number of pests.
I got some Snail &Slug Bait II at Wally World the other day that is suppose to be good in the rain too, the slugs are worse this year than I have ever seen, they keep popping up in my little seedlings on the shelves outside, I keep bringing my snap seedlings inside at night and have gotten at least ten slugs out of them so far and they were just sitting on the front porch thru the day!
SW, sorry to hear about your mom too, I'll keep your mom in my prayers and your family too (((Hugs))), my seeds took a back row seat this year too but I figure next year will be gang busters again.
None of my red flax reseeded from last year and I put plenty of compost down around them just for that reason :( I never got any WS for this year and that seems to be the only way for me to start them. That's one plant I'll really miss this year!
Dad is still hanging in there, I finally talked to the doctor yesterday morning when I went in and he said it would probably be sometime today, I just called about him and they told me he was about the same for now.
Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers, it really means a lot to me to have such good friends on here :) You all are the best!
Great. Gonan go get me some today, and give it a try. nasty %&^%%&%^%& critters . Ugg I hate them wors e than snakes. LOL
Lea -- i'll be praying for you and your dad today. {{{{{{{{ hugs }}}}}}}}}
as for slugs ... i use a 10 | 1 ratio of ammonia and water in a spray bottle. Granted, you have to make contact with them... but if you are out there with your plants and you see the lil buggers.... spray'em good and they pretty much start to shrivel up right before your eyes.
Slugs! I found a ton of them the other day. Now this morning I went out to try and find one. My daughter has been feeding a turtle, and I read that they like to eat them. Do you know, I couldn't find a single little nasty slug?! Figures :) At least I know now they're good for something!
My red flax is blooming too. I had poor germination so only plnated out three lonely little plants then two died, so I have one little flax blooming! It's pretty but not quite the effect I was hoping for! Oh well, they were old seeds, so I guess I'm lucky to even get one! I will sure try them again with fresh seeds.
My profusion zinias are looking pretty faded. I've never grown Zinias before, do you deadhead them?
Tonya
Yes Tonya, deadhead the zinnias all the way to fall, then stop if you want to save the seeds. I think the color on the cherry fades pretty quickly, but the orange stay pretty vibrant.
Thanks Lala. I'll tell you "Profusion" is a very apt name! I am really enjoying them.
Uggg... that reminds me... i haven't started my Profusions yet!! gosh... where did the sowing season go?
I wonderign that too. Just so much weird , unusual and bad weather. I can't belive it here the middle of May and we stil gettign alot of rain, but in a coupel days our night temps wil be back down to abotu 55F go figure.
It so totally unreal this year.
I have hudnreds and hundred s of Daylileis out in the field and usualyl they start bloomign in Feb and March is my big month and slos down in April. I finally got three scapes and my first bloom of the season. Talk about, behidn and unusual.
Good heavens I've done it again. Here's your novella for this week:
I'm looking for some suggestions and here's the situation:
The house next door to me is a party house. There are 2 young guys living there who have some dandy parties at least twice a week. Their biggest priorities in life are beer and girls, and I think they are totally oblivious to anything that doesn't fall into one of those 2 categories. They both think that I'm the next best thing to sliced bread because (as I often point out) if they have to have an old lady as a neighbor they were pretty lucky to draw me.
Truth be told they really don't bother me. There's only been one time I've had to ask them to crank the volume down but for the most part I can sleep right through the festivities. However their yard is enough to make even the most indifferent home owner cringe. It's decorated with beer cans, plastic cups and bottles, old newspapers, and general miscellaneous trash. They like to have bon fires at night and will burn just about anything that you can put a match to....and the parts that won't burn are just left as skeletal reminders of the previous weekend's blowout. (For example there's been a blackened set of box springs laying between our 2 houses since last August.) And of course there's so much crapola laying around that mowing is next to impossible. So they pretty much skip that part too. LOL. Still, even as yard proud as I am, I've always turned a blind eye. I guess I still remember my glory days well enough to understand that fun is all that really matters to them now and that will all change for them soon enough.
My curiosity was aroused on Monday when I heard a power saw running so I peeked over the fence to see quite a little buzz of activity. Jack's (the homeowner) dad was doing some repair work on the house, Jack was hacking away at some overgrown shrubs, his brother was mowing the back field, and yet another kid was picking up trash. Hmmmm....how odd. We exchanged pleasantries, then we all returned to our respective tasks. Tuesday morning they beat me outside. They had the same crew plus one...busy, busy, boys! What in the world? I saw an opportunity so I asked Jack about my broken fence (the broken part being compliments of his buddy last fall.) "Hey Jack, I see you've got quite a crew here today. Have you given any thought to what you're going to do about the fence?" Well son of a gun if they didn't all drop what they were doing to hold a caucus over their best plan of attack. One kid hooked a tow strap to a fallen tree and removed it from the fence, another started cutting down 2X4's and before I knew it they reported that they'd run out of wood, but would finish it the following day. Which they did.
By Wednesday they had brought in a back hoe, dug a hole, and buried the remains of an old trailer, plus all the other surplus trash. All the landscaping around the house (which was so neglected to be nothing but a mass of weeds) had been pulled out and the area mulched. I looked around in shock to see that their front yard looked better than mine! I could stand it no longer and gave them the quiz which was when Jack told me that last week he noticed that his house was the worse looking one in town. Since he had a week off work he decided to clean it up. Just like that. As simple as that. Ya could have knocked me over with a feather.
And now I am finally getting to the point of my story. LOL. Knowing that I had plants for sale, and knowing that I'm a garden freak he asked my advice on what to plant around the house. He wants all perennials and no flowers (meaning that he wants foliage plants as opposed to bloomers,) and he has $80 to spend on the project. Well I really don't have that many perennials for sale, and the only ones that meet his criteria are ribbon grass, blue fescue, and Purple Knockout. He has quite a bit of area to cover so since I'm only asking $2 per quart container I thought I'd buy a few other things to mix in between my stuff. Here's where I'd like some suggestions. Y'all know what PKO looks like, and the blue fescue too. The Strawberries and Cream ribbon grass gets about 3'-4' tall. Despite his great efforts this week I don't see him doing a heck of a lot of maintenance to the bed so I need to scatter some plants around that he can pretty much ignore once they're in place. The bed in question is about 3'-4' wide and runs all along the west side of the house. There are (I think) 3 windows on that side of the house and it gets pretty much full sun all day.
Who has some brilliant ideas for me? This is my first "professional" landscaping job so I want to make it look nice. Who knows...this could open another door for me.
Don't have an answer to yoru question, you gonan need some northerns advice and but sure love d the story. : ) Gla d they got it cleane d up and got yoru fence fixed too.
gotta admit... i'm drawing a complete blank. now if it were shade plants... there are a lot for foliage. but for sun... i think flowers.
I do grow Husker Red for the foliage... though it does bloom.
planted four of the blue flax last year it didnt bloom but the pants are huge this year hoping it blooms soon
What a great story. You've been so patient, and now they're growing up!
I'm wracking my brain, but everything I have flowers! No use for a plant that doesn't flower :)
La, are you planning to purchase a few things to mix in with the plants you have? If so, Lowes and Walmart usually have inexpensive 1 gallon shrubs this time of year- maybe some low growing evergreens would be good for contrast and to keep it looking good year round. Glad to hear your eyesore has been cleaned up!
found a little friend to play with yesterday
one more pic so cute
Aw sic didnt ya have to post them pics. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH now I gonan be paranoid all day otuside wodnerign where my hiding and if they gonan reach up and bite me in the rump when i not looking.
Lala. I knwo he said no flowers, btu what abotu maybe some thigns like daylileis and Iris especialyl that provide foliage and flowers but oens that they wont have to maintain.
lol these do not bite they it just smelled the air around my fingers I wouldnt pick up the four foot one I saw last week but the babies are harmless just garder snake and I actually found it under a large juniper I was removing so unless you are uprooting large trees you have nothing to worry about
What a great story La! Your patience and kindness has reaped great rewards. What a great lesson for any others of us that have immature neighbors! Unfortunately, I am also only familiar with plants that would do well in my area.
Ah Mona, I think I have inherited a portion of my mother's fear of snakes. I wouldn't necessarily scream and run (or jomp up on a chair like she did once!), but you won't catch me picking one up, even if I knew it was safe. Glad you had fun with it though!
Tonya
LeBug,
Will be keeping you in my heart and prayers.
Mona, what a pretty snake!
Lala, what an inspiring story. I guess that means it's time to get to work on your yard. Have you asked Star? She might have some ideas.
I have an old trailer I'd like to bury. It's taken us since 1984 to get most of the trash out of here. Still have that old trailer. 6 roll off dumpsters, plus filling the regular dumpster as full as we could (most of the time over the years), our place doesn't look like a dump anymore. Does anyone know what to do with old dead riding lawnmowers? I think we have a herd of them out in the back pasture. LOL!
Seriously.
Today, after having given up on a lot of seeding I'd hoped to do I went out to the garden and found this. My first sweet pea in bloom!
Okay, it's not too late. I can still get some seed into the ground. Already told the boys to help by getting the trash cans and wheel barrels empty because I'm a gonna fill them.
Missed chatting with you all.
Be checking in more often now.
WIB,
SW
Well I got him hooked up. I purchased a couple of barberry shrubs (one in gold and one in red,) a yellow spirea and a miniature conifer to use as the 'bones.' I used 12 of my own plants scattered among them and brought him in $25 under budget. I would have liked to have gotten more creative but I didn't want to push my luck - plus I know he was tickled to get some money back. However planting them wasn't part of the package so we'll see how long they sit there in their pots. LOL! I suppose if he hasn't gotten them in the ground by the first or the week I'll probably just go ahead and plant them too.
Another neighbor and good family friend stopped down yesterday to get plants for her porch boxes. She claimed to have no eye for flowers and asked my advice, and since she has so much shade I recommended coleus. I asked her to pick out some colors (I have about 40 varieties) but she just kind of grunted and waved her hand. So I told her to go on home, loaded up my garden wagon, and 'Have Flowers Will Travel' showed up on her porch 15 minutes later. We then spent the better part of the evening chit-chatting while I filled her 6 containers with coleus, lobelia and impatiens.
I may not offer the variety you'll find at the big garden centers, but you sure can't beat me for service. Of course this means I'm spending no time in my own yard, but the neighbor's are all going to look great. LOL!
Lea... I'm thinking of you and your Dad. Let me know if you need anything, even an ear to bend ((hugs)).
Lala... all that you are doing now are the baby steps for a good "customer by word of mouth" foundation. And it looks like you have started a good base, yea! I had a lady that did hair for my wedding that my SIL told me about. She came to my house and did all of our hair that Saturday while we drank Champagne and had a blast putting on makeup. She was great. She did this for a bunch of woman and years later had her own salon. It was the hottest salon in town because none of those women forgot all those things she did. And they told and recommended everyone :-)
Singingwolf.... It's good to see you. :-) Thinking about you and your Mom too.
Lala, Loved your story. While I was reading it I was thinking barberry bushes and junipers. All pricky plants, stop those young men from using those plants as toilets hopefully. I really liked your choices of plants. Great minds think alot a like. lol
A friend of mine has a birds nest spruce bush, I love it ... I want one.
Singing Wolf. Good to see ya and oh what a pretty sweet pea. Heck it not to late to start planting. Everythign months behind here. We just do what we can a s we can and enjoy what we have and see .
Take all them lawnmovers and take the cooper out of them for cash and ya cna take the rest to scap metal plac efor cash too or turn them all into mini go carts. : )
I vote for Mini Go-Carts!
Now whoever sent me the small flowered pink petunia seeds ... I ended up growing only 8 of them, but they are all planted in my 'front of the house pots'. Some are just pink, several ended up having a white edge ... too cute. They are planted with blackie potato vines and Amyethist coral bells and some white flower ... Diamond Frost I think, new to me this year.
SW, I love the Sweet Pea.
Lala great story! I didn't reaslize were on to a new thread for some reason! It looks like I may be a tad late but the first things I thought of where Artemisia and a Caryopteris Snow Fairy http://www.northcreeknurseries.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/476/index.htm - this one gets flowers but they are sotiny you can hardly see them. I really like these ones.
hi all
i talked to lea and she wanted me to let you guys know
'Dad passed at 4:30 AM Friday, going to the funeral home at 4 today for the showing until 8 then the funeral is Monday at 2:00, they will have a showing at 12 until the funeral.'
lea..i will be keeping you in my thoughts and may your dad rest in peace
pam sue
Thanks for letting us know Pam Sue.
Lea, my thoughts are with you and your family.
Hugs,
toofew