Congrats on your new trimmer Glenda. It's frustrating to not be able to get one started. I think you're smart to get an EZ start one.

I have some dark red oriental (I think) lilies just starting to bloom. My camera has been missing for well over a month now. I was certain I had lost it in the house somewhere and that I would eventually find it. If I go buy a new one, it will turn up.

Glenda, I misread your post to mean from 6:30 PM until 10:30 PM and was wondering how you worked in the dark. Duh.

I'm going to attempt to get the last of my plants in the ground tomorrow morning, aside from the potted daylily the toad is occupying. I'll reward myself with a small order from Bluetone Perennials. They're having their spring clearance sale right now.

I picked up a gorgeous cherry red daylily at Wickman's that I'm going to plant where I can see it from my recliner. :)

I filled a half wiskey barrel with pine bark, perlite, peat and Stay Green shrub soil conditioner like William uses. I got it watered but not fertilized. I will put sun coleus in it. Mostly I am cleaning up in Joplin. There is nothing more frustrating than a tool that won't start except a computer not working. You will get good use out of your new trimmer.

Helen, are you just doing volunteer work or is it for special friends or relatives? I didn't think to ask if anyone you knew was affected. You are a good person! I wouldn't know where to begin.

Those poor folks need all the helping hands they can get.

I am wondering about planting in the spot where they ground the elm stump out. I tilled it and there is some dirt, but not much. It is mostly composted (just this year) sawdust.
I do have some alfalfa meal and cotton seed meal I can add.
Do you all think it would grow anything. I want to plant some zinnia seeds there.

My friend did not have severe damage but you wouldn't believe or maybe you would the trouble some damage will cause. You have to get an electrician to fix the wires on the house, then contact the utility about the meter. You have to move stuff out of rooms where there is a leak so it doesn't get ruined by the workmen fixing the sheet rock. You have to move stuff so the roofers won't throw shingles with nails on it. It has been all we have been doing since Sun. June 22 and he only had garage, laundry room and shingles off the roof and then leaks on sheet rock. I can not image being in the kill zone. Those people have to be worn out. I think of my situation that I had with my elderly mother and wonder how old people and their caregivers are making it. Trucks go by and give you snacks or meals if you want them. In the first few days there was an army of people picking up debris out of yards and men with chain saws that sawed up the limbs and others who drug them to the curb. I have lots more ugly pictures that I may put in my album; every time we drive in that area I feel so lucky because we were only three or four blocks from the total destruction area.

Weeds, weeds, weeds. Little ones, tall ones, fat ones, skinny ones, weeds and more weeds. Need I say more about what I'm doing in my garden?

I think about the older people too....I am an"old People"! I can't imagine seeing everything you own wiped out like that. Starting over for older folks will be the hardest.

I didn't realize you were that close to the center of it.

Don't overwork in all this heat.

I think I have finished planting the garden......at last. I am beginning to water things.

I mowed today and chopped some weeds that were too large for the trimmer. Maybe another couple of days and I will be halfway caught up.

Mosswitch, this is the worst year for weeds that I can remember.

We had our first broccoli today and as hot as it is, that may be the last too. We also had new potatoes from a volunteer hill.

I am watering and siponing. I save water in stock tanks, but the frogs like them too much. It is a hassel I put nylon net over the end of the hose so I don't get tadpoles. I like tree frogs and try not to harm them.

I'm pulling weeds as usual. And watering. Gosh, it's hot!

Being the gardening fool that I am, I picked up a few plants today. 'Jethro Tull" coreopsis at Walmart, a Happy Returns daylily, variegated liriope, and some type of feathery looking grass at Lowes and Home Depot.

I can't keep up with the weeds in my yard. Even my raspberry patch is overrun and it usually stays fairly weed free on its own. I may have to dig up some sprouts and start over. I was out of Roundup and bought a cheaper off-brand at Walmart that I'm going to try. I need to do some mulching too. That would help.

Our old Weedeater needed a new carburetor but it wasn't worth fixing again so we went ahead and bought the Stihl that was the Consumer Reports Best Buy. It was $159 at Race Brothers. We passed on getting the EZ start Stihl because it's heavier. Hubby got ours started when we got home but he did have quite a bit of trouble. He trimmed my feather reed grass and one of my Black and Blues. : (
I used it for awhile too. It's easier to use than our old long handled weedeater but my arms were still tired.

I've been seeing a lot of butterflies for this early in the summer. Wish I had more flowers blooming for them. It's too early for my butterfly bush bloom and I haven't even PLANTED zinnias yet. Verbena bonariensis is starting to bloom a little.
For the first time, I found some Tiger Swallowtail caterpillars on my Tulip tree. I see the butterflies occasionally but this is the first time I've found some to bring in and raise. There are three and one is starting to form a chrysalis already.

Christie, glad you got a new trimmer. I need to put string in both of mine....dread learning that new method!

My blackberries have some tree size weeds I need to get after.
BTW, check out Race Brothers for week killer. I buy Gly-4 or any generic glyphosphate product in a gallon size and it is pretty cheap. It lasts me forever but I like having it on hand.

I need to stop in this week and get more cheap garden gloves and see about some kind of fencing for digger dog!
I put up fake hot wire but he figured that out immediately.
He dug up a huge clump of iris....I am not a happy gardener.

I finally got all my Kitchen Garden planted...and zinnias, bachelor buttons and marigolds (a month late) and will have to water to get germination.

Helen, I set up another cattle panel and planted 15 feet of Cherokee Trail of Tears beans. I don't know it the panel will be tall enough but didn't have my helper to do another hoop house. That is the permanent thing I want to do.

I am seeing just a few butterflies even though quite a few things are blooming : Clematis, lilies, rose campion, roses, my wild flower front ditch with oenothera, daisies and others,
(also weeds), salvia farinacea, gaillardia, nigella (love-in-a-mist), perennial salvias, Brandywine viburnum, Grace smoke tree, one daylily, one clump of the petunias I thought I had lost and a couple of heliopsis.

I got 4 bags of pine bark mulch at Lowe's and looked at sale plants. I can't buy plants because I haven't got the ones I have planted and they are declining. Also it is already a struggle to water and I had a flood two weeks ago. My ground drains very well. I try to plant 5 plants a day as a goal even if I don't have time to do it properly. If I had spots prepared, I'd plant them all in one day. I am going to get another little pickup load of mushroom compost now that I can get to Joplin Lawn and Garden. I was avoiding that area because of all the traffic in Joplin.

I think every acorn that fell, sprouted this year. I have never seen so many!

Still planting hostas, I have one order yet to come from a nursery in Minnesota where it is still cold! I may have to re-think my planting plan, some of the new ones may get way to big to plant that close together and I HATE moving mature hostas. Which means I have to clear out more ground cover and enlarge a bed. I also need to move some way overcrowded big hostas but I think I am going to wait for next spring to do that. They weren't supposed to get that big! I have come to the conclusion that "medium" size means 3-4 yr old plants, not 5-6 yr olds that spread waaay out to here!

Got some more ferns to plant, and my driveway pots are still awaiting attention. I have plants for them but the pansies are still pretty there yet.

Most of the daffodil foliage is brown and ready to pull, and a couple of way overgrown clumps that have bulbs actually piled up on top of the ground need to be dug and the extras replanted down in the woods.

It never ends.

Sandy

I got out early this morning and potted up some mixed container gardens I've been meaning to do.

This evening I'm going to.....wait for it....WEED. Yes, weed. Again. More Bermuda. I foolishly thought I'd gotten it all last time since it took its sweet time coming up afterward.

I did it!! Yesterday morning and then yesterday evening I worked hard and got ALL my plants in the ground! Yahoo! Now all I have is a small area to mulch and I'm finished for this year aside from maintenance.

No more plants for me this year. Do y'all believe me? I don't even believe myself, but I'd at least like to take a break and just admire my garden for a change.

Awwww it's no fun to be finished Teeandcee. Then all you will have to do is pull weeds all summer. blah I think you should go shopping. : ) I went to Hilltop yesterday to spend my little wooden dollars that they give out. I bought a couple kinds of garden phlox and a couple more tropical milkweed since I never got my seeds planted of those.
Mosswitch - I bet it's hard to keep up with the oak seedlings. The squirrels plant them everywhere, even in containers. My oak trees are young but I still get quite a few. I have a lot of wild black cherry seedlings coming up this year. The birds "plant" those.

Glenda - Thanks for the weed killer tip. It's too early to tell whether the stuff I got at Walmart is working. It better. I'm already behind.

I need to figure out how to get tadpoles but not mosquitos Helen. I want more frogs and toads to eat the bugs and slugs. I keep thinking I'm going to get some mosquito dunks and then keep some water out for the frogs but I've never done it.

If you have water you will have tadpoles. In the sun the water gets too hot but in the shade all my stock tanks have tadpoles, frogs and dragon flies. Goldfish will eat the mosquito larva but also the frog tadpoles. The established plants are not hurting for water but it is hard to keep the newly planted and small things watered. Hoeing the weeds is satisfying as I don't think the chopped weeds have a chance in the dry hot weather. In spring they just reroot or grow new ones quickly. I am not getting much planted because I just don't have places for the plants. I get small truck loads of soil and mushroom compost and have room for 5 or 6 more plants. I think potting in big pots and gradually finding room is the best plan.

Christie, glyphosphate takes about 7 days to work. I always think mine is no good before the weeds start dying. I need to get over to Hillhouse. I have $6 worth of wooden dollars to redeem. Good idea about the milkweed. I don't have a single plant in the yard.

I have just a couple of things left to plant and then, I am done too. Of course, that is before I go to Hillhouse!

Helen, I need to do some serious hoeing in the garden. Things are too big now to till between the rows.

Big job now is watering.

it has been a very tough month and a third. had to replant cucumbers, pole beans and okra. we went from cool and wet to very hot and dry. had our 1st rain in 3 weeks yesterday, about 3/8 of an inch.

gardening here is not easy. no level ground and rocks in the top1 ft of soil so everything we do is in raised beds. here is a gizmo i made for our old southwest deck. hope it works for my wife loves watermelons.
william

Keep us posted on the progress. I grow other things in pots but never tried a melon. What will you think of next? The weather has been crazy; I have rocks and fast draining soil too.

I finally got most of the garden cleaned, watered and ready to mulch. DH brought down 10 bales of old hay. I mulched one row of strawberries. I will have to watch and see if the berries can root in the flake of hay. That may be an issue.

The tomatoes are begging for staking. I may have DH corralled to help me today and tomorrow.

The okra and pole beans last planted are up. The squash are coming up spotty.

I pulled the first beets and pickled about a pint and half and just put them in the fridge. I made myself dig up the volunteer potatoes that were shading the onions (too late, I think) and now have a gallon of new potatoes on the porch.

The romaine lettuce is still sweet, but the leaf lettuce will now go to the chickens.

I watered and re-mulched the orchard trees so they should be good for a while now. They all look good. I noticed DH managed to hit the sprinkler head (the $25 one) that I had laid next to a fruit tree on the mulch.....he is dangerous around plants and equipment. I don't know if I can rig something to keep it upright or not. The base is now one piece (sheared off the cast screws) and the head is another.

Well, Christie, I actually have a trip to Hilltop planned next week. :D I've been enjoying myself though, just swinging in my hammock swing admiring my flowers. It was hot today but absolutely beautiful this evening (June 13, Monday) with the wind blowing. I've spent hours outside doing a whole lotta nuttin.

Sweet, I love your watermelon gizmo. Very innovative!

You won't be disappointed Teeandcee. They have a display garden with lots of hostas you should ask about. I wanted to visit that this summer but was short on time when I went. Their website says they'll be closed for the season after June 25th unless by appointment so don't wait too long. I'll post a link with their hours below. I showed up too early once and had to wait.

I finally got some zinnias planted this week. Kind of late but not quite as late as last year. I planted Zowie Yellow Flame, Benary's Purple and Scarlet Flame so far. My goodness I can't believe June is almost half over.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hilltop Farm - Ash Grove

I finally quit talking about it and began mulching the Kitchen Garden. I did 7 bales yesterday and will do more today.

I am harvesting a few beets each day. I made a quart of beet pickles that I am just keeping in the fridge. We had buttered beets at lunch yesterday and beet greens cooked down like spinach. Also had new potatoes again.

I will be doing more watering today.

Christie, I couldn't believe the zinnia seeds I planted without watering came up almost overnight! When I drug the hose over yesterday, there they were. Very surprised.

The tree stump bed was a very bad idea.....should have waited until next year. No seeds germinated and I lost about half the agastache plants. I have to water it almost daily.

Christie, thanks for warning me about June 25! I was looking at their website last night but missed that info. I went last year and LOVED their hosta garden. I'm interested to see if they're as eaten up with slugs as mine are.

Glenda, I love beet greens. They're my absolute favorite green. Don't like the roots though.

Compared to my luck with agastache, it's sounds pretty good to only lose half. I grew Apricot Sprite from seed one year. I started with lots and ended up with about two that have since disappeared. I have a lot of trouble getting those to winter over.

I bought myself a treat at Lowe's. They had coreopsis 'Snowberry' and they looked so pretty grouped on the table there. Not very showy once I got it home and planted it all by itself but if it spreads, it might be pretty. I haven't had very good luck with coreopsis wintering over either but I planted it where it will get a little bit of windbreak from the north in the winter and I kept my receipt just in case.

I planted some more zinnia seeds yesterday and today. I didn't get very good germination from the ones I had already planted. There will be a few but not the big patch I was picturing in my head. I planted Exquisite Pink, Violet Queen and some more Scarlet Flame this time. Hope they're quick to mature.

Hubby got a snow blower for Father's Day and he's assembling it right now with our son's help. He's anxious to use it but I think it will be a few months. lol We have a long driveway and I worried when he was out shoveling last winter. I hope it does the trick.

I spent most of yesterday morning weed eating the area between the potatoes and the fence where I intended to get mulched.....instead opportunistic plants (weeds) were about 18inches tall and 3 feet wide. While trimming, I would stop now and then and pull the weeds from the potato row....they should be ready to dig soon. It will be nice to find the row instead of digging through the weeds.

The onions are looking pretty good too. I have some tiny cucs set on. Ready to pull up the broccoli and compost them.

After I finished weeding, I harvested some things. The onions weren't really ready but I needed to thin some and I was out of onions in the house.

This morning I canned 5 pints of beets which will probably last us five years! I vowed not to waste what I planted this year. I thought the tops were a little past prime for greens.

That is a nice picture Glenda. I plant onions for green onions but don't really know how to take care of them for onions to store. I have lots that look like yours. I thought I would cut the tops off, wash and put them in my refrigerator crisper. I don't think they will grow any bigger the tops are drooping. I am getting a few Sun Gold tomatoes which I eat in the garden. I think I will hunt for a few new potatoes.

Your picture makes me hungry, Glenda. I love onions that size.

I'm behind on my Bermuda battles but fortunately the lack of rain is keeping it from taking over.

I visited Hilltop with a friend this week and practiced a bit of self-discipline by only buying an orange butterfly weed and a malva moschata alba. I kept reminding myself I had to plant everything I bought in a timely manner, which curtailed my spending.

tee, I do that too! I look at daylilies at Wilds, select ones I want.....then think about planting them and move on!

I am still doing my morning round up of JB. I will need to start watering again soon.

I still haven't planted the sunflowers but will do it today!I did get a hill of a winter squash in by the corn patch.

Ceresone, I have my eye on those peachy dahlias we both bought. All three came up and are taller than the porch rail this year. They have buds but haven't shown color yet.
I will take pictures....of course, the peachy rose is out of bloom!

I bought some seed of those cute mini sunflowers that I need to plant. I've got some sprouted tithonias but am thinking I'll just put seed in the ground instead. I also have to put in seed of my white and purple hyacinth beans. And some cucumbers. I'm so far behind. I know the hyacinth beans will be okay this late as I did the same thing last year. I think the mini sunflowers will too but am not sure about the cucs or tithonia.