Hello everyone, I celebrated my 53rd birthday this month. I have been married for almost 31 years to my wonderful husband, Adrian. We have three sons and two daughters. Andrew (married to AJ), Alex, (soon to marry Kelly), Elizabeth, Emily, and Taylor.

Three years ago, my husband and I built a new home on 5 acres of what was once farmland. We love it and the possibility of new gardens is endless. Adrian has enjoyed creating new gardens and I enjoy filling them. He even added a small ornamental pond for me last year complete with waterfall. It has been such a challenge trying to figure out what grows in our clay soil.

Our animal family consists of our dog Beggar, our cat gang, Joey, Bump, Peanut, Webber, and Miss Kitty. Other than Joey, the others have all found us. We quickly found out that irresponsible pet owners often dump their unwanted cats in the country.

Other than gardening, I enjoy beading, reading, and photography. I collect teapots, garden frogs, cookbooks, and garden books.

Thank you Kym for hosting this and for allowing me to join.

The following is what I am wishing for.

Gaillardias:
dakota reveille
amber wheels
sundance

chocolate cosmos
Rose Bonbon cosmos
double click cosmos
Rudbeckia 1. Green Wizard 2. Chim Chiminee
Coreopsis -nana
goldilocks rudbeckia
Sunny side up shasta
gold rush shasta
broadway lights shasta
Poppy - 1. Jelly beans
Calendula -octoberfest
Nasturtium strawberry ice
Echinacea magnus
Any unusual Echinacea

Hello all!

I'll share a bit of info about me, I'm turning 46 on the 31st. I have been married for 25 years, have two children and two dogs.

I have always enjoyed gardening but just started growing from seed in 2008, I can't believe all the years I lost and the money I spent on nursery plants.

I can't say there are alot of things that I dislike by way of flowers but I do have a wish list.....

plants for part shade(morning sun only)

primula tomassinii true blue
snapdragons
portulaca sundial peach
sweet pea sugar and spice
poppies
dianthus any
verbana st. george
cineraria jester scarlet
geraniums perennial
salvias[have red rocks and huskers red>
stock
snapdragon twinning
carnation clove drops
hibiscus disco belle red
penstemons
rudbeckia spotlight, cappuccino,ruby gold,denver daisy
zinnia starlight rose
I really like anything

UPDATE *********

I spent a few hours making a spreadsheet with ALL the swap info to email to you all today, and just opened it..to find all my work gone ...AHHHH !!!!!! I am going to have to redo it all today, so PLEASE work on your cards, and I Promise to get the addresses to you ASAP !

Have a GRRREAT DAY !!

I wanted to know...is anyone wintersowing ??

Those kind of computer mess ups can be so frustrating. Sometimes I feel like throwing my computer out the window. I know you will get it done when you can. No problem.

I for one am not wintersowing as my past experiences were not very good. Too much wind around my area. I spent so much time getting things planted only to have them blown over and around. Even when I start things indoors, when I try to get them acclimated to the outdoors, the wind does it no good. I just gave up.

Thanks Margo, I hate when that happens.. shouldnt have done a spread sheet..just thought it was be easier for all to keep info.

I wintersowed the last few years and loved it, but this year I think I will just do annuals and take the spring to move plants and clean my yard.

Here is a list of people in the swap, PLEASE let me know if I have missed you !!

Address email will go out Wed Afternoon !! Along with the list of hosts for the year . It is done, waiting on 2 peoples info..

margarita10
w9yards
patti957
hdiperna
robin1967
ishareflowers
fcofill
appaloosa909
faermergirl2009
ilovefarac
catrionaa
deannainnh
cherone7
sandlapperose
ozark
smitties
naturegirl
ranegrow
dirtundermynails
canyonwind
chitownlady

CORRECTION-My gardenweb name is:robin1962-2008.
Thanks,Robin

I thought that I would share a pic of one of my beds, the snow is getting me down! Does anyone have dial up?? if not, maybe we could share a pic of one of our gardens. I love seeing what others do with their space.

This year there isn't as many b-day buddies, nice small crowd. This will make it easier to share with everyone!

Lisa

Robin..thanks, I tend to shorten screen names..As long as you knew I had you on the list..all the info on the email should have been complete :D

Lisa, I LOVE ur beds !! Wish mine looked as nice..I think I am not gonna ws as much and try to work on moving plants and filling in. Then next season plant like a fool again..lol

I went to Lowe's today and first place I went was the seeds..and ONLY ONE pack I didnt have ..lmao not sure if that is a good thing or not :D YES, I did buy the pack..cant have one out there I was missing...YES, I am a seed addict !! *grin*

How is everyone ? Id love to see more pictures !!

Wow Lisa!

So neat and tidy! want to come and straighten out the chaos I have! pretty please!

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Frances

Lisa, lovely garden and so clean and neat. Makes me so sick of winter and wanting spring. It is cold, dreary, and windy today. We are warming up this weekend to a big 40. Can't wait. (Thought sarcastically)

I have to stay clear of all seed displays. If I don't have it, I will buy it although looking at my seed box, I can't believe there would be anything I don't have. :0 Of course, I can always use more of the same, RIGHT?

THINK SPRING!

Whoops, I posted the following on the wrong birthday buddy thread last night.....so I'll copy it here!
"Happy Birthday Margo and Lisa.......I have been checking your wish list seeds...some very cool ones. I have a glass, my bottle of Chianti wine, lots of rain and wind.......so nice......now, I am off to do some seed shopping!!!
Thanks again Kym.............."

Well that was last night.......I am still loving all the rain and wind, although quite destructive. I am still seed shopping but without the bottle of vino!!!!

Over the last two weeks, I have WS about 40 jugs! The rudebeckias and dianthus that I received in the SS swap have already sprouted. All of my lettuce that I started in December was doing beautifully but the vegetable garden is now under water...shame...but things could certainly be worse....much worse.

Duty calls...pool drainig time!

Annie

Thank you ladies!

I guess that my ocd shows in my gardens, I just can't stand to have weeds!

here's another. This is a memorial bed for my black lab that I had to put down, he was 15.6 yearsold.

This bed has:
chasing rainbows iris
stairway to heaven iris
polemonium heavenly habit
polemonium stairway to heaven
phlox speed limit
jobs tears
and a var. blue hydrangea

If you click the pic it will become larger.

Lisa

Happy Birthday to our January birthday girls! I stopped by the post office yesterday but I am not going to tell what my errand was...
I look forward to getting to know everyone better.
Jeanne

This is the north side of my house, I added this garden this past year for my neighbor who looked at a bare side of my house. I used mostly larrys hosta and ligularia. I did buy a few heucheras to add for color.

Frances, I would love to come play in someone elses yard! If only you lived closer..

Am I the only one who is going to post some pics, come on ladies....share.

How cool is it that you put things in for your neighbor to admire rather than looking at your house siding. I wish we had a good neighbor like you. Our neighbor to the south, (thankfully just a crop field to the north) owns both the two lots just south of us. He build on the furthest one although the lot frontage is not that wide. He and his daughter and sil own the lot right next to us. The daughter and sil plan to build but cannot afford to right now. Instead, they built a big red metal barn that is just feet off the lot. To top that off, the guy does mechanic work so there has been as many as 8 cars sitting outside with at least three that don't run at all. I am sure this is not allowed but until someone complains, nothing will be done. I do not choose to complain cause this guy doesn't look like someone I would want to make mad. I have 5 cats and a dog that hunt their property so don't want to create trouble. We moved out to the country to avoid the problems of close neighbos etc. Unfortunately, this barn went up after that decision. I still enjoy it out here so try to avoid looking at the big red barn. We have planted trees but it will be a long while before they become a blocker.

I would love to share pics but when it comes to technology, I am not very good. My daughter might be willing to help me after this weekend. She is busy with work and band Solo and Ensemble tomorrow.

I'd love to show you pics of my garden.... if I had one! lol

Since this is just my first attempt at a garden, I'll just sit here with my Garden Envy. (drool... I want mine to look like that! gnash! Why won't my mom let ME plant stuff in her yard? Sigh... maybe I can send them pics for MY bday!!! Yeah, that's the ticket!) OK, garden envy moment is over.

I just did my first foray into WS today. Planted some spinach (WAY too many seeds for the space I have it!), a couple of cucs, and a couple of varieties of maters. Actually, an heirloom and a surprise mix someone sent me. (You guys will come to know that I'm MATER CRAZY!!!!)

I know that I only planted less than 12 hours ago, but can you believe I've been out twice to look at it already?!?!? Talk about anticipation!

later taters!
cc

BTW, someone was talking about the weather.... we had schools closed week before last cause it was in the teens, it got up to the 70s this past week, and we're supposed to have a low of 29 this week!

Spring, will you PLEASE hurry up!

cherone7,
I hope that spring comes for you early! We are just waiting for the real 'winter' to start here, although we did have an unusally cool January, February is usually when we get winter. (such as it is) Love Love Love the climate here!

My garlic and spring onions are up, but I haven't planted too many seeds yet. Will start WS in earnest next week! Tons of annuals for shade.

Lisa
is that Sedums and hosta planted together!!! never would have considered it!

Annie
I wish we had room for a pool! I miss having one very much, but it would be a full time job keeping it clean here in the shade! We have pretty stiff water restrictions here in summer too, it would probably end up being a big empty pit!

Happy Birthday Lisa and Margo!

Gotta run back to work! Have a terrific day!

Frances

This is a small cacti and succulent garden thrown in the middle of a casual bed in the back. I hope that it spreads out a bit this season.I planted some ws babies that you can't even see yet.

Lisa

Cherone, you will have a garden in no time!

Frances, you posted as I was posting...lol

Yes, that Is plain old autumn joy sedum planted with hosta and heucheras in the first pic. The autumn joy does great no matter where I put it so I stick it in wherever I can.

Lisa

Lisa, what is the plant behind the succulent garden ? My gardens are a mess, because when I received plants the last few years hubby just planted ...so this year, I want to go out and move things around to make them look eye pleasing :D

I found tinypic.com to be one of the easiest ways to post pics, I dont use photobucket...I think just for time restraints.

This is the side of the house..we put in a dry creek bed that still needs some bigger stones to make it look better...it was nothing but mud all spring, and now the rain drains much better.

To the left is all of my plant beds...I think I am up to 7 beds, Ill share a few more..just dont look at the weeds..LOL

My succulent garden is inside of an old wood bench..

One more for now...

This is one of the beds, it is right before the beginning of the dry creek bed area...I have them all lined with stones found on the propery.

So I'll post here.

Tee hee hee! I know a January birthday buddy who will be getting a card!

Tee hee hee!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for spending a cold winters day showing me how to sow seeds in plastic containers to germinate outdoors. Your garden photos are just beautiful. You have that "knack" for keeping everything so pristine and wonderfully organized! Your garden pics are stunning.
Cathy
p.s. how do you add photos?

I love the use of the old bench for flowers. I am going to do some garage sales this summer with gardening in mind. I want to incorporate old items reused as planters into my gardens. As they say, one mans junk is another mans treasure.

I received a lovely homemade card along with a package of Vanilla Berry nasturtium seeds today from Elle aka farmergirl2009. Thank you so much. I can't wait to grow these.

I love this idea we have here. With birthday buddies, my birthday is never ending. :) Margo

It is too cold in this area to wintersow yet but I do have the gro lights up and running. I ordered 38 packages of aquilegia seeds from Touchwood and put under the lights. Hopefully in a couple of months I will be able to sow outside also. I have very little planted in my 1 1/2 acres. Being a new home, I want to get the hardscape in first so I am not constantly moving plants. Happy birthday to Margo and Lisa.

Ellie

Another card today. I received it from Iris along with some Magnus echinacea and cucumber seeds. Thank you Iris.

It is so cold today, it is hard to believe that spring will come. I am getting very impatient. I was talking to my husband the other day suggesting that I put some grow lights in the basement. That way, I can do a little gardening because I am having a gardening withdrawal that just won't quit.

Ellie's talk of growing lights really gets me to thinking I REALLY NEED to do it.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Happy Birthday to all the January girls!! Lisa, I absolutely love your beds! Mine are haphazardly thrown together, but yours are so neat and nice! I just let mine run together and have stuff everywhere! Very cottage gardeny!!
Love all the pics! And Kym, I love that succulent bench! That is so cool! Very nice!
Hope everyone is staying warm. We have lots of snow and it is cold!! Unusual for us here, but occasionally!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Melinda

Margo, glad you got your card and seeds !

I have 8 shelves with shop lights set up in my garage , my SO built them for me last winter . They are the cure for me when I get spring fever and its still freezing outside ( like now ... and its snowing here btw YUCK ! ) I can't wait till the first week in March, thats when I start some my seeds under the lights .

~Iris

Hello all!

I posted two of the the cards that I got to the wrong page so I'll post again here.

sandlapper sent me nemophilia and a dbl purple poppy

fcoffil sent me a packet of coleus that was the star of her garden last year. I hope it's the star of mine too!

farmergirl sent me sweet pea chocolate streamer and salvia saint johns fire

rain grow sent coleus mix and dianthus firewitch

smitties sent red peony poppy
purple prince zinnia
agastache golden jubilee
cornflower blackball
AND 2 types of rudbeckias!

Thank you Ladies for thinking of me, it makes the winter months pass by quicker although it feels like January just started!

I have to say how cute the cards were, I wish that I could make my own but with my neck issues, packing seeds is about enough for me.

Here's another pic ....This is my largest bed,it's about 40 feet long and will be extended to accomodate some of my 2010 winter sown plants.

Kym, Love the sedum bench, what a great idea!

Lisa, Happy Birthday. It looks like your birthday will bring a close to January Birthday buddies.

Hope your day was the best. Margo