Is your VL above a good color for you because if it is, the bloom is much more yellow than the one I have growing outside. Mine is more of a pink base than showing a yellow base.

We dug rock yesterday! On one side of the field we have an overgrown area with junk trees and my beloved honeysuckle shrub pest growing that was several feet away from the fence. In the rest of the field my husband has been able to keep the monster at bay except for the actual fence itself. He has been working for several years to clear out these areas to drive snakes away from "my" territory. I had collected all the rock I knew about and still needed more for a new area towards the front of the garden next to the picket fence. This area is without a doubt THE best soil on the property. I casually mentioned I was going to buy the rock to finish the border. I guess the word "buy" got his attention.

Yesterday he used the frontloader on the tractor and started pushing, shoving, mowing into the area because he knew this area had been used to dump unwanted big rocks over the years. Once he got a large area done, we actually dug up big old KY limestone. Some of the pieces were so big they could only be moved on the frontloader. Those will be used as accent pieces in the new shade area and the rocks that you can actually pick up, will be used for the border by the fence.

Hubby might have a conversion of ORANGE VELVET blooming in the building. The first bloom had small and large pollen grains but the next day another OV bloomed and it had all small pollen. Yesterday the original OV bloomed again and all the pollen was huge. The pollen now resides in our freezer. It is interesting to compare the two blooms on the two plants - one is smaller, thinner textured and a weak scape and the other is larger, heavy texture and strong scape. Both plants got identical treatment so it shouldn't be a culture issue.

I have finished harvesting the garlic for the year - the rest gets cut off so it won't annoy me - until fall when it reappears. I have been potting the perennials and annuals I grew from seed from coir into real "dirt". They are outside in my tacky plastic gh's and keeping them watered and fertilized in coir is much harder than in the real stuff.

My goal today - work on the pond and get it up and running with filters. Not my favorite job but necessary and it has to be warm enough that I don't freeze playing in water.

More rain coming in later today and possible bad storms tomorrow. I have some dogs that need grooming so rain will keep me inside.

Brooke

Just for general information, ORANGE VELVET outside in the garden, is huge and definitely does not have weak scapes, is a ML and is a reliable rebloomer here. The color inside under lights is more of a gold with touches of orange and outside it looks like orange sherbert ice cream. Yes, we can bloom under artificial light and in a pot but not even close to normal as...

Brooke sounds like you and I are in the same boat as far as digging up old stuff goes. I have been excavating sidewalks, building footings, and old colums for the last week!! All made of old brick, with the mud/sand/pig hair mortar between.

I have found a doll teacup, and a ceramic doll leg, numerous other items, they obviously had a daughter who-ever lived here? Also i think the house burned, as i am finding alot of pieces of burned wood and chunks of coal which are scattered throughout instead of concentrated in one place (like for a chimney)

Its been interesting to say the least, but fun, i have a huge stack of brick, and still pulling more out, finding alot of old liqour bottles also, broken from the tractor passing over, still waiting to find all the loot!!! Wheres the damn safe huh? The jewelry boxes? The GOLD BARS!!!?!???

Havin fun just the same!
Gerard

Brooke, the picture of VL is about right. Here is another of VL and SHORES OF TIME.
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"I casually mentioned I was going to buy the rock to finish the border. I guess the word "buy" got his attention." Funny! I sure would want the snake habitats cleared, whether or not I wanted rocks.

Congrats on the OV conversion. I think that is neat. Guess you need to show us a picture of your pond sometime, when you get it up and running with filters, etc. and time/weather permits comfortable picture taking.

Hey Gerard, it appears you are having fun. Must be interesting to find all the old things. I'm with you in thinking it would be really interesting to find some "old" gold bars.

Finished planting daylily seeds. Still have some from 2003. I put a couple of batches in water to see if they would germinate. A few germinated in one batch and none in the other. Been thinking about tilling a small patch about 4 x 20 and dumping all of them there just to see if anything worthwhile appeared. Germination isn't high enough for regular planting, but doing that might be better than composting them.

Installed the shade cloth on the gh today. Doing that is a PITA and I am always glad to get it done. Without it, it was getting too hot in the gh. So, finished planting dl seeds and installed shade cloth. Nice to get those jobs done and I think I will goof off the rest of the day. Tomorrow I will pollen dab again.

I don't think mine will be blooming any time soon although there are some Victorian Lace crosses in there somewhere.

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Gerard - here is the best thing we have found on the property. This was buried under our back porch for the 20 some years before we found it. It is in amazing shape, only a few bullet dings (not holes) in it. {{gwi:632040}} We have found lots of small things but nothing of value, sorry to say but good luck on the gold bars and don't forget your friends here on the GW.

What a pretty picture Royce - sure beats blooms under the artificial lights but heck, I'll take those right now.

Even if the OV is not a conversion but a chimera, we still might be able to get seeds from it. We have several more that appear they might be converted but the growth is so slow on those fans I don't know if they will even bloom this year.

Well, I didn't do the pond today. By 9:30 the sun was gone, it spit rain off and on, high of 57 so this old girl put if off again. Here is a picture of the pond from last year taken from the sunroom deck. When I sit in the sunroom, this is the view I have. {{gwi:632041}} Early in the morning and late in the evening, this is where I plan my garden work.

I did get one dog clipped before my Trimmer order arrived and I had to reluctantly (yeah right) quit grooming and pot up my arrivals. I also got the rest of my perennials and annuals into bigger pots with real dirt.

Nice seedlings Edward - I think I see a future Stout in there - 4th row from left, 3rd seedling back. Yup, a Stout.

Brooke

Love the pics everyone! I have hidden treasures up behind my place. HUGANTIC moss covered boulders, some caves, and of course TONS of wild Trillium, Mayapples, Dutches Britches, Jack in the pulpits, Bloodroot, Spiderwort, wild clematis, and all kinds of ferns!
Lots of arrowheads up there too!

Well I've done it now! I've been after my sister for two years now as to why she should have a greenhouse. Well her husband went an ordered a greenhouse kit for an 8x16..7 foot center, barnstyle so there is I think 5 foot sides? Automatic ventilation and a side window I think. I can't remember everything she said about it, she showed me a pic of what it should look like after her husband gets it put together....looks pretty neat!
They got a new well pump so the well can be utilized for watering, they do not have to pay for their natural gas either because our local gas company has to pay them royalties for use of the natural gas well they own. Water...FREE, gas...FREE greenhouse kit....3,000.00.....
Nancy's soon to be introduced DL....PRICELESS! LOL
Now if only I knew what to do with this greenhouse that my sister wants me to use. She is very interested in hybridizing....well I should say she is FASCINATED BY THE IDEA!
So what should be first step guys? Do you dig up the DL's you want to hybridize, pot them and put them in the greenhouse for use next year?
Where does one start? I have no clue...but that's nuthin new!

Nancy

How many shades of green are there? Color me all of them! Wow, a free greenhouse.

I don't have a clue about the why's, when's regarding potting up the potential parents but I'm sure our friend Royce can give you sound advice.

I would love to walk your woods with a shovel and go shopping with you. It must be beautiful. I have no woods here, just fence rows with junk grown up in them.

Rain here early a.m., then clearing during the day and temps in the 70's and then a chance of thunderstorms later today. We have a slight risk of bad storms but the biggest area will be south of me. Everyone in TN and AL need to be on the look out for the violent stuff. Stay safe.

Brooke

Well Brooke,I'm jealous. You got your Trimmer order but mine's not here yet. Just as well. With the rain last night I can't get them planted anyway.

I tried to get some fertilizer down night before last. I use a lawn spreader and it's getting harder to get over the top of them since they're growing pretty fast. I wasn't going to put Snapshot down on the established rows this year but after looking down and seeing a few little weeds starting to sprout it'll be going down before the next rain.

Last night I only had one kid in the household. Unbelieveable how peaceful it was. The youngest will be visiting her two sisters at two different universities until Sunday night. I'm sure she'll come back thinking she's quite mature.

Weekend plans include a couple truckloads of mulch and planting a couple hundred cabbage plants. At least I won't have to water them when I plant. The ground should be wet enough after this rain.

Janet

My first two orders are going to be mailed out on the 17th and I am starting to get excited. They are from Tom Maddox and Memory Jordan. Just one daylily each but they are among my most anticipated. I think I am about one month from planting my seedlings, or at least starting to harden them off. I decided to give Knights in White Satin to my mother-inlaw. I can't see a place for it in my garden yet and I can always get it later when hers clumps up. Now I only need to find places for 14 daylilies.

Edward

Don't be jealous Janet, that is the only order I have received so far and you have gotten TONS of orders. Congrats on the quiet house, another what, four years, and the only mess in the house will be the hubby! The biggest treat will be lack of laundry!

Edward don't go to too much trouble with hardening your seedlings off. I never harden anything - in the building under lights and then thrust into the real world. This is spring sun, not hot intense August sun, they will not only survive but thank you for giving them the real thing.

Well we've had one bad storm system go through about 3:30 until about 5:00. We were actually on the northern edge of the storm so no tornado warnings around me but about 20 miles south. Right now the sun is out, it is still warm outside and the watches go until 11:00 to night. I hope my luck continues. The only good thing - spring is here even if we get down to 32 tomorrow night.

Brooke

Brooke and Janet, I envy your rain. It's seriously parched around here, and a lot of the spring bloom is finishing too fast. I wonder if I'll have a blueberry crop this year...

I've spent a large portion of today dragging a hose and moving an oscillating sprinkler. Does anyone know if pvc pipe can be painted? Plain white doesn't bother me among the rows of daylilies, but I don't want it in the "display" area. I'd love to have those pop-up type sprinklers, but basic pvc is all I can manage right now.

I've received almost all of this spring's plants. I have one more order & two single plants from the auction still to come. This year I got carried away with tet conversions, but I'm still waiting for 4 of the 5. I tried to place another small order today, but nobody answered the phone. Is that a sign that I already have enough???

Nancy, I'd love to explore your caves. I've never been inside one. Is it spooky? Boulders would be neat, too. I'd love to have some rocks! I've heard this area is ancient beach--it's only 50 miles to the coast--and I don't even have pebbles in the dirt. It's sand with a tiny bit of organic material, and some patches of clay if you go down deep enough. Easy digging, but not very nice for plants.

Break time is over. Now I get to walk my nice clean dog (inspired by Brooke) and wash all of his blankets. If I can still keep my eyes open, I'll tackle some of my homework. I was so proud of myself. I actually remembered some of my chemistry from high school--1973!!!

Lelia

Sure sorry about your lack of rain. So far this past winter and now spring, we are getting about the right amount. Last summer we were in a major drought and I did my share of dragging and watering to keep things going. The only rains we had were from two of the three hurricanes that hit. I would gladly have forfeited the rain for those that suffered through them but if they hit, I was thankful for what we got.

Sorry to say pvc cannot be painted and even my hubby can't think of an inexpensive replacement for it. Heck, better to have the pvc pipe and water the plants than to lose the plants. It reminds me of the woman on the Robin who said she didn't want to see those hybridizing tags flapping and distracting her when she visited a garden. Then my suggestion would be to not visit my garden.

The only gardening I did yesterday was to arrange my rocks around the edge of the new bed so I can study the flow before I dig the rock into the ground. Sorry to say, I need a few more bigger rocks to finish it but am sure we can find more in the field when more underbrush is cleared from that area. The good news is I can get two of my new Japanese maples into the area so they can be underplanted with some daylilies and a couple of hosta.

Cool and cloudy so will continue the dog grooming.

Brooke

Well, I been busy, except I moped around a lot yesterday.

Brooke, I like your pond picture. Your overall landscaping is very nice. Glad the bad storms are missing you. Like Lelia, I have not had much rain. Fortunately, I have pvc buried and running all over the place. I still have to use garden hoses to reach some of the areas. For example, in the area I just planted, I have two sprinklers. Have to run a hose 100' for one and a little over half that distance for the other. At least we don't have many mosquitoes this year, which might be because of lack of rain. We are having thunderstorms today. So far, not much close by, just a few sprinkles. We are still early enough in the growing cycle that lack of rain is not all that bad.

Nancy, I think it is great that you are getting a greenhouse. Before building mine, I was not sure it would be worth the cost, but it has been a real pleasure. Regarding what to do, I am not at all sure I am the one to try to help. It is different than gardening outside and I don't really have it down myself yet. I sometimes think I make one step forward and two back in learning. I think I read that you are going to visit Jack Carpenter. He can be a big help. When I was building mine, I asked a question on the email robin about shade cloth and cooling/heating. He answered privately and we swapped two or three emails. He was tremendously nice and knowledgeable. If I recall correctly (and I am not sure that I do) he has raised beds in his gh and plants directly in the raised bed, rather than in pots. I plant in pots. For me, the worst pest by far is spider mites and I sometimes move the pots outside to spray them if the weather is fairly nice. I hate spraying in the gh and going back in it for a day or two after spraying. I use at least 5 gallon nursery pots and have them 3 deep on each side, with a walkway down the middle of the gh. It's nice to be able to move the pots when hybridizing or photographing those on the back row. I pot them up and put them in the gh before the first frost. Generally, I keep it heated only enough to prevent freezing until about the first of the year. I try to not let it get colder than about 26 to 28 degrees until that time. This year, I turned up the heat in early December, hoping to get earlier blooms. The blooms were no earlier and next year I will go back to turning up the hear on the first of the year. If I was getting free gas, I might turn it on in December again. Good luck - I think you will find it a joy.

Oh yeah, we had frosts two nights this week after everything was up and growing. Daylily foliage is scorched, but we seem to have that every year.

I am sore and exhausted. I moved two yards of dirt AFTER stripping the sod so I would have a place to put it. I am doing no yardwork tomorrow.

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Looks like you did a fine job there Edward! i guess the soreness is worth the payoff....that's what I think anyway! I suppose you will be filling this with DLs?
Nancy

Hi Nancy, there won't be many daylilies in that bed and they will be cheap ones at that. The bed is right next to the bus stop. No need to tempt the ratty neighbourhood kids.

Edward

Edward, that sure is some fine looking soil. Whatcha gonna plant there for the ratty kids - Cactus???

Do you think I could train a rose to climb the telephone pole? It is going to be a mixed perennial bed. I have a Euyonomus alatus that will be moving to that bed and probably a peony or two. I might put some mini daylilies along the curved edge. Will Return, Siloam David Kirchhoff and You Angel You are not particularly happy where they are.

On the bad news side, I lost a daylily to Crown Rot: Cameroons. I was picking away some dead foliage to see if anything was coming up underneeth and the whole thing popped off leaving grey/brown mush underneeth.

Edward

Bummer on Cameroons. I lost Clown's Cabaret..took it out of the pot to plant into the ground couple weeks ago and roots were MUSH! I cut off all the mushy roots, dried it out most of the day and repotted it. To no avail...it succombed to DL heaven.
I'll bet you could train a rose to climb the pole but doubt the city would like it too much! You might be hating it if one of those city workers cuts it down in order to get onto the pole for maintenance!

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE!
Nancy

Edward knows dirt - good job!

Sorry about CAMEROONS and CLOWN'S CABARET. Last year I had a few that didn't have enough energy to swim through the winter. This year was normal and everything has returned. I think I had a couple of losses in the seedlings we moved late summer plus some that appear to have struggled and have come back with the teeninsy fans. What amazes me are the ones that will have one "normal" size fan and then the teeninsy ones appearing. It makes you question why one fan would survive and it's brother wanted to go belly up.

Brooke

Speaking of Cameroons, it looks to have EBOLA virus in RUST terms. I have never seen one so completely covered and ingulfed in the stuff? Horrible looking!!! Going to use it to infect the seedlings tomorrow i think. Then i think im going to dig and throw in the burn pile.

Edward, a good rose for climbing, that has lots and lots a thorns for those pesky little brats is Josephs Coat, nice blend of pink, yellow, orange, and red blloms, they come out yellow and progress to red. Youll have evry color on there at once, and the pole shouldnt be a problem. Get some of those galvanized hooks like for hanging hammocks, (hardware kind, not the dainty ones for hanging plants) and place them on up the pole. you can set the branches in the hooks, then turn them to adjust them to hold the canes without tying or hurting the plant.

G

I've got a 'Blaze' rose planted at the foot of my utility pole, and so far the city hasn't complained. The plant isn't irreplaceable - I figure if they need to cut it to do maintenance, oh well. The cable guys keep dropping odds and ends in the flower bed (and never clean up after themselves), but I'd rather they didn't walk around in there so I just pick up the stray bits and keep my peace.

If you're looking for a truly vicious rose, try 'Othello' - honestly, it's the thorniest rose I've ever seen. If the flowers weren't so wonderfully fragrant, I'd remove it. (I goofed and planted it by a path, so I have to corset it to keep it from snagging and mauling passers-by.)

I've been hauling rock too - building a new raised bed in the back yard. Finally, a safe(er) place to put my daylily seedlings! I've had to scrounge rock from all over the place, and I've even paid my friends' sons to pick rock from their creek. Still, it's cheaper than paying for a pallet or two from the building supply place.

Laurel