My sunroom is getting pretty crowded with plants also. Can't wait to put them out. Hope they don't get too big before i can put them outside...

Here is a pic of my bedding plants !
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clairdo have u been fertilizng them? They will need food to growthey look good though.

Debbie :-)

Hi all:
I've been mulching like crazy. Weeding here/there but mostly piling on the mulch. Shredded newspaper first, then leaves or something organic to hide the newspaper. I've piles of shredded paper and organic mulch (collected in the fall from town) so when I get finished all the flower beds, I'll start all over again!
Geo

Geo, yep I've been doing the same thing with the shredded paper. Have been using paper for years now with bark on top. I still have lots more to do though.

It has been cold and windy here the past few days so haven't been out much doing the mulch.

Debbie :-)

Arrrrrrgh! It's miserable out there! Must be May! I keep thinking that things will get better, and they do for a few days, but then we get wind and rain and freezing cold thrown at us. Not nice, especially after that warm April we had. I keep hoping to get things out to the mini-greenhouse, but it has been too darn cold. Will have to work on that this week when the temperatures warm up again.

Things are coming up tulips out there, though! Some are blooming and some are almost, and so are the daffodils, snowdrops, and some scilla. Oh, and hyacinths, too. All the other plants are growing and sprouting and looking pretty good too. I received a lot of plants last week and got them planted on Sunday - some daylilies, trilliums, Asiatic lilies, creeping phlox. I still haven't gotten the order from Vesey's though, or McFayden's. Doesn't matter - i'd freeze my tushy off trying to plant! (Hmmm, now there's a plan...)

I would say that i have over 60% germination in my winter sowing so far, and it all looks pretty good. Of course, right now, all the containers are snuggled together under a tarp today! The main question is, where the heck am i going to put all this stuff? LOL

Inside, things are coming along slowly. Some things look good, others are still puny in spite of fertilizing. They need to go outside. Hopefully soon. Dh also hopes so because then i'll turn off the grow-lights. I may have to turn them off after he opens the hydro bill! LOL Maybe that will spur him on to build my greenhouse. :)

Some pics. Self-seeded pansies:
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With some new yellow friends:
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Daffodils, with and without tulips:
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'Cardinal Mindszenty' tulip:
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Arabis:
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Hyacinth 'City of Haarlem':
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Nanking cherry:
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So, in spite of everything things are looking not too bad. :) Tomorrow my daughter and i are going to town. Nurseries, beware!!

Marcia,
planning and dreaming!

Hi there, all you northern gardeners! I haven't posted for ages; we sold our house that we had been in for 25 years and moved to a new one. I brought a lot of perennials with me and planted them last summer, and though they were o.k. last year they look much, much better this year. Everythiong and every bed that I have made so far is new! So I really don't know what to expect now. It has been wet and rainy and not too cold so far for the last 2 to 3 weeks. Our lawn looks like a hay field, as we cant get out to cut it. I have made a large bed around a humoungous rock on the front lawn, and son installed a patio for us, but we haven't been able to sit out yet.

I miss nmy big mature gardens, and especially my beautiful greenhouse - arghhh! - but still, things are going well. When I figuree out how to use my new camera and my new computer, I will post some photos. Happy Victoria Day top you all!

Hi all

I finally hit the nurseries with my list this week and filled my mini-greenhouse to the hilt. Today I weeded all the flower beds as they needed it badly. Hubby helped me plant the perennials I got to replace the ones that didn't make it over the winter. It was interesting that the ones that didn't make it were the ones I was going to yank out anyhow because they were not what I really wanted. The colour was right but the shape and the floppiness were not. Of course, now that the perennials are planted, we are supposed to get some frost tonight. I will have to break out the tarps and cover them.

I am going to wait a bit before I plant all of my containers. I did get one done though... a low round one with hens and chicks. I also got the dog pen moved to under the tree where it is shaded. It was located in the middle of the yard and the dogs and puppies were in the sun. So much for having one dog! I am back up to 3 dogs and a couple of puppies that we are growing out as show prospects. At least, I don't have the whole litter here as there were 6 of them. It is a good thing I have a temporary pen set up as the dogs were doing a good job trampling the lawn and my flower beds.

Speaking of flower beds, everything is up and looking good except for my Painted ferns but they always take forever to show up. As soon as I figure out where my kid put the digital camera, I hope to take some pictures and post them.

Hi,

Things are starting to come to life around here! The crabapple tree is blooming, so is the Shubert Cherry tree. The hostas are popping up all over the place. I wasn't out in the yard for a few days and the other day I went out and things were really popping up! Tulips are blooming and they look so cheerful.

Son came over the other day and put one of the fish out in the pond and when I went out today to feed it, I think it is dead. Guess it was just too cold for it. I lost 2 fish over the winter too. I think the cat must have gotten to them!

I have moved 3 trays of plants out into the porch to try and harden them off. Still have a few in the basement and several on the main floor yet. It has been cool the past few days so I haven't been able to put them outside in the sun yet.

Woke up to snow yesterday morning but it didn't last too long thank goodness.

Marcia, love your pics! I love pansies but didn't see any yet this year, I think the mulch must of stopped them from self sowing. Love your daffs too. I don't have any daffs left, I'm going to buy a bunch of bulbs in the fall and plant some tulips and daffs and I might even try some hyacynths too. I tried them once many years ago but they didn't come up for me.

What did u buy in town? *BWEG*

Hi jak, I was wondering how u were doing. I was wondering how the move went and how u were making out in your new home. I can hardly wait to see pics of your new gardens and home! *S*

Hi dannie, sounds like u have been busy in the garden too. What kind of dogs do u have? Will be waiting to see your pics too. *S*

Here are some pics of my gardens.
Shubert cherry
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crabapple blooms
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Take care
Debbie :-)

Hi Debbie and all

I have Shelties otherwise known as Shetland Sheepdogs or some people call them miniature collies. As promised, here are a few pictures I took today.

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The flowering crab in full bloom.

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Iris Boo

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Iris Yankee Skipper

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Geranium Purple Pillow

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Various Hens and Chicks

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Heuchera Harvest Burgundy

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A shot of my shade bed

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These are the Sedums and Hens and Chicks I got for $1.50 at Hyatt's. They are closing and selling everything for half price.

I will get picts of the dogs at a later date.

Danni

Hi everyone

It has been so hot and humid here and we just got one a/c yesterday but it's only half cooling the main floor. It is so hot and humid up in the bedroom I'm not sleeping at night. The a/c guy said he'd be here in a week! I'm going to wilt in a week,,, hope it cools down a bit and the humidty goes away. Yes, I know, I said I hope it cools down. It has been in the 30's the past few days with the humidex around 34C and no a/cs.

I haven't been doing too much out in the yard cause it's been too hot and too buggy. I have a bunch of weeds to pull out but no energy to do it. The hostas are popping up all over the place and look like they have gotten a lot bigger too. The roses aren't doing much yet. Some look like they need more pruning back as they have more winter kill and no leaves are growing.

Here are some of my hostas that i took pics of tonight.
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One by the pond.

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They are just starting to unfurl but the slugs have taken a few bites out of a couple of them,,, time for the slug bait.

danni, does that tree smell as good as it looks? Love the colour of it. None of my irises are in bloom yet here, but yours are very pretty! I didn't know hens and chicks and sedums came in so many different colours.

And yes, I remember u now saying u had shelties. I had a sheltie and he was the smartest dog I ever owned.

Take care
Debbie :-)

Figured i should sneak back in here before the month is done, eh? :)

Nice hostas, Debbie! What's the first one? It looks like one i have whose name got lost. I have that one, one like your second pic, 'Blue Cadet', 'June' and 'Summer Music'. The unidentified one might be 'Paul's Glory' or 'Golden Tiara'. I know i had those.

Danni, your tree is gorgeous! I want one! Where's Hyatt's? We missed that one in our travels! I like those hens and chicks too, and so would my son. He likes the succulents like that.

Hi jak - long time! Glad to hear that things are doing well in your new place. Have you had a chance to cut the grass yet? LOL

The weather has improved immensely here. It got almost too dry for awhile but we've had some rain since. The flower gardens are coming along great. I planted the veg. garden over the long weekend and things are beginning to poke up in there. I planted some asparagus last night, and am hoping to get the tomatoes in on the weekend.

Here are some pics taken this morning:
The sunnier white garden:

The shadier white garden:

Far view of the yard:

Lupines, winter sown last year:

Trollius:

Alliums and tulips:

Hesperis matronalis (Dame's Rocket), winter sown last year:

The blue poppy blooms again!

That's it for now - happy gardening! :)

Marcia

Hi Marcia,

The first one is Sagae, it's edges get rippled as it matures, the second one is Albomarginata and is a common one. My June and Summer Music are still coming up and look really small so far, I hope they get bigger as they keep emerging. I have two Paul's Glory as I really like it and also have Golden Tiara. I can post some pics but the thing with hostas is that they can look a bit different in different light levels and at different ages too.

Marcia, your gardens look so nice. I love that blue poppy of yours! I'm so glad it came back! You have so many flowers blooming at this time of year. I wish I had more things blooming, the tulips are basically finished and other than forget me nots and the trees and dandelions of course that is it. *S* I did see that my peonies are getting little buds on them now.

Take care
Debbie :-)

I will start a June thread.

Marcia, actually, you probably drove past Hyatt's when you were going from Vandervee's to Landale. It is just after the intersection where you come off Mapleward and you turn left onto Hwy 11/17. I noticed that they took the sign down but if you turn right onto the road that leads to the West Arthur Community Centre and go through the gates on the left, the dirt road will lead you down the side of what looks like a neglected orchard, around a barn and unto their parking area. The 4" pots were a buck fifty and the gallon pots are $2.50. I am going back in a couple of weeks to see if their hostas survived. The hostas overwintered in pots so I really don't know if they made it. The lady there seemed to think that they were just fine so we will see.

Danni