Starting another new post with the traveling daylilies group. Hopefully it won't be long until we can all trade daylilies again. I have so many daylilies in my gardens from this group and will always treasure each one.

If any would like to join this group please get in contact with one of the members and we will go from there. HAPPY SPRING

JO.................Hope you get plenty of cake and ice cream.

Shirley

Thank you all for the happy birthday wishes last week. It was a pretty uneventful day. I worked all day, had a nice dinner when I got home and was in bed about 10:00. We 48 year olds need lots of rest, you know.

Oh Shirley, I too hope that we will all be trading daylilies soon. Seems like the cold is never going to end here. We still have some snow on the ground and the temps are finding it hard to rise out of the 30's. My spring bulbs are barely breaking the ground. I am so envious of you with your beautiful spring pictures on the other thread. I am definitely thinking more and more about zone 7 in my retirement years. I've had about enough snow and cold for this lifetime.

NOTE to anyone that placed a TNN 3 order at the co-op (I think Sharon, Marea and maybe Shirley). TNN is not shipping all of the requested items at the same time, so Pam has basically cancelled TNN 3. You will need to go to the co-op and find her post or email about what is available for 4/21 delivery and resubmit an order to her if you still want it. Email me with ???

Better get ready for work. Hope you all have a great day.
MaryB

Happy Birthday Jo! Hope you enjoy your special day!

MaryB....thanks for the co-op update. I can't recall if I ordered from TNN3 or not??? I better check. : )

Lots of daffs starting to poke their sleepy little heads up out of the thawing ground. I am so excited that it's finally starting to warm up a little.

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

(Singing.........)
Happy birthday to you.........
Happy birthday to you.........
Happy birthday dear Jo......
Happy birthday to YOU!

Ok, although I can't sing that was my best Virtual/Cyber voice.....lol

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JO!

JAYE

Mary, what a bummer about TNN3, I saw it yesterday. Most of what I had ordered isn't even relisted. I'm not reordering the rest since I was unable to be part of TNN 1&2, not worth the postage for the few things I want. But happily I'm ordering a few things from the May perinneal co-op.

Did I mention hubby wants to turn the 50 foot of road frontage at the cottage into a 'Drought tolerant' Garden. Hopefully a 'weeding free' garden too. lol So I've been busy starting 'drought free' seeds and plants from some certain co-ops. Hey, aren't Daylilies drought tolerant!!!!

We got rain, sleet and then 4 more inches of snow last night. I've already cleaned off the car, just waiting for it to warm up. :o) God made the snow, so I love it! And I'm still not convinced about Global warming ... at least not this winter.

Sharon

Off to clean the house, DH is picking up D on his way home from work today.
:)Anita
Think Spring!

Thank you all for the B-day wishes, they are just so pretty.

It is so nice to be back here among my wonderful garden friends. Warm happy hugs to all of you.

Had a quiet birthday yesterday. But, it was lovely. DH made me a wonderful dinner, and gave me a beautiful card,and built me the window seat i have been wanting, it turned out great. DD and DGS gave me a huge bolt of faux leather that looks like it is hand tooled with gorgeous flowers, it feels real, and is as soft as butter, and then they each gave me a wonderful card. She knew I wanted that fabric to make the headboard for our bed, and to recover the 2 chairs for the sitting area we are adding in our room. It is fantastic.
Tonight, my BIL and SIL, niece and great nephew will be here for dinner, and cake and icecream. He is just walking, so it will be good for Alex and him to play together.
Little Alex is not feeling to good today, so I hope he will enjoy tonight. He has an ongoing problem with ear infections, mostly due to allergies. He has been on antibiotics for nearly 3 weeks this time, and it isn't gone yet. DD is going to take him back to doc. He will most likely have to go see a specialist, his pediatrition said if he didn't respond this time, she was going to send him to one. He is probably going to have tubes put in. Because, even when the infection goes, there is still fluid in there, and within a week, he has another infection. Doc put him on baby claretin to try and get rid of the fluid, but that doesn't seem to help either. He is normally such a happy little guy, you know the minute he is sick, cause he gets crabby and whiny, and that is just not Alex. Normally he is all smiles, giggles, and a bundle of energy.

This weekend I have finally decided to start a few seeds, I know I am late this year, but I have been concentrating on the house and getting the rooms done. The seeds are all annuals, so they will go fast, and should be ready to put out.
My houseplants are doing fantastic this year. My aralia has tripled in size, I am going to have to repot the poor thing, it looks ready to tip over in the pot it is in now.
And, my plummie finally bloomed, it is yellow/white, and smelled wonderful. All of my brugs in the basement seem to have decided it is spring and are sending out new leaves, I have told them they need to wait a few more weeks. I couldn't get them out last year till about the end of May.
My yard is a complete disaster, after the ice storm we have dozens of small branches everywhere, (no big ones thank goodness), papers and plastic bags have blown in my yard from only God knows where. And doggie poo "everywhere". I simply cannot understand how 3 small dogs can leave that much behind. We go out and clean every other day, and it is still everywhere. I think they must hide it somehow. (grins) But, no matter how they manage it, my yard is still a disaster with all the debris. So, we will have a lot of cleanup to do once it finally warms up.
One of the very first things we intend to do, is fence an area off for the dogs. I simply cannot have all that all summer. They used to go way up back and go just in the one area, but not anymore. And I won't have it all over with the grandkids here to play. So, some unhappy little pooches are in my future.

Someone mentioned they were going to "Parks" for plants.
I have their catalog, and would love to order some things. Are their plants nice? Do I dare to order from them?

We have about 8 inches of snow here this morning. (weatherman said we were to get a "trace" in this area) I really wish I could get a job where I could be wrong 80% of the time and still get paid every week. I think I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times they have been right about the weather here this winter.
So, now all my little daffs and tulips that have poked their little heads up are buried under all the snow. At least they have a blanket if it decides to get cold again.

well, best get moving, lots to do,

warm hugs to all, and thank you all again for the great B-day wishes,
Jo

Back to work

Shirley

Thinking spring...but its not coming fast enough for me.

Hugs Dirtpig

Just stopped by to say hello.

Jean, thank you for the b-day wishes. *smiles*

Shirley,
Thank you. I went to their website this morning, and of course the 2 clematis I wanted are already sold out, =(.
I really want to order their Harlequin honeysuckle. But it is only in a 3in pot. So, not sure. The size wouldn't matter to me if it has a good root system, that would be great, but if it is really small and no root system, then its not a good deal. They have a few other things I want as well, but the 2 clematis and the harlequin honeysuckle were top of the list. So, I will be waiting to hear how the plants are. Thanks again.

It is a really beautiful, sunny, day, kinda chilly though.
And we still have lots of snow.
But........... spring is really close!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!

hugs to all,
Jo

Anita, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Shirley, I'm getting lots of bearded irises flowering that you sent me a couple of years ago. Glad to see them take off.

Happy belated birthdays, and welcome to new members. I need to catch up with almost 400 posts :-0.

Well... off to church. Paul

We are also getting things together for my son's wedding here on the farm May 17th. Several people are planning to camp for a couple of nights during this time so they can have an extended time to celebrate.

I have been skimming the previous post. If I have missed anything I need to be aware of, please e-mail me. I don't have much time for the computer anymore...but try to check my e-mail every couple of days.

I will try to catch up on the rest of the post later tonight. Happy late Birthday to our March BD's and Happy early BD's to Marea (April 4), Sharon (April 13) and Mary Ellen (April 17). Miriam I don't have your birthday listed. Would you mind e-mailing me and letting me know so that I can add it to our Memberslist info.

More later.

Debbie/budsnblooms

I fought my way past the leaf pile that had accumulated against the shed doors for my fan rake. I cut all the poison ivy vines from the side fence. And the hosta beds are now raked. Got my big, strong landscaping neighbor to start up the leaf blower for me and turned all those leaves into mulch.

So nice to have one clean garden area to gaze at from the house.

Let the gardening season commence!

Carol, your daylilies are just poking their heads up.

It is raining and blowing and nasty here this morning, but tomorrow it is going to be in the high 60's.

So YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!

We went shopping yesterday and got 2 new replacement windows, and DD got a new bed for our little Alex. We will need to make the rails because we checked several places and all they had were the light plastic ones. Well, he would make short work of them, let me tell you. He is a big boy, and strong, so plastic simply will not work.
He really likes the room, he knows it is being done for him, and he runs in there every chance he gets.

Debbie,
Wow, lots of work there, but sooooo worth it, it will bring in lots more money when it sells. A couple of tips, in case you don't know it.And, if you do, then you can just ignore me. To really make an impact, be sure there are "no" personal items, like family pictures, mementos, etc. Remove "all" clutter, nothing on the counters in the kitchen, except maybe a bowl of fruit. No magnets on the frige, etc. Make sure each room has a clear purpose, office, den, family room, etc. No "multi purpose" rooms.
"Stage" the home, with candles,complementary colored pottery, vases of flowers, towels, and specialty soaps, nice centerpiece in the middle of the dining room table,new bedding and drapes to match decor, things that will make the house look "wow". These are, of course things that will go with her when she moves, so she can pick out what she loves, and go with it. It is proven that people who stage their home, make at least 40% more $ on the sale than those who don't. And, with the landscaping you are doing, it is really gonna make a difference as well. Wishing you and your DD and SIL the best of luck with the work, and the sale. But, please don't stay away too long, I miss you. ( I got a lot to say huh?, lol)

Paul,
80, wow. Chilly today huh? I bet what you call chilly and what us New Yorkers call chilly are 2 different things. (grins)

Hi Dianne!!!!
You lucky gal, you. Glad you were able to defeat that leaf pile, they can get pretty rowdy. Too much mud here to try and do anything like that.And, where the mud "isn't", we still have at least 5 in. of snow here. But, tomorrow will take care of that. But, then we will have even more mud. LOL But, I intend to at least "try" to get "something" done. Of course, if you don't hear from me for a few days, you all will know I am out back, stuck in the mud up to my eyeballs.

Well, I suppose, it's time to get going. sighhhhhhhhhhh

Everyone have a wonderful day,
Hugs to all!!!!!!!
Jo

Shirley

Our Lisa went into the hospital last Thursday with severe kidney problems. Pray for her.

~ Anita via Marea

Healing thoughts and loving prayers going out to Lisa. Please let us know if you hear anything more.

It was sooooo beautiful here yesterday, 68 and sunny. but, by the time I got home, it was raining, so I didn't get a chance to be out in the garden at all. Wahhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Then the winds moved in and nearly blew the whole house down. It hit the house like a giant hand, making it vibrate and shake, and making booming sounds. It was awful. I kept expecting the neighbors tree to fall on us. It leans right over our bedroom. They have been trying to find someone to cut it down, but it is so expensive because it is near a main highway, and the house power lines run through the branches. The cheapest estimate they have gotten is over $2000, they just can't afford that.

But, the winds have gone down considerably now, so we are safe for now. It is gonna be chilly though, sighhhhhhh. So, no work in the gardens again today, more sighhhhhhs.

Well, time to get moving.
Just wanted to say hello to everyone.
Hope all of you are well,
hugs to all,
Jo

Lisa, big hugs and prayers to you!

Rebecca

I had stopped by to see if there was any news of Lisa. She is still in my thoughts and prayers.

Off to bed, I am never up this late, usually to bed with the birds.
Hugs to all,
Jo

Come on everyone, if I can get my lazy little disorganized self here to post, I just know all you really organized people can do. (and don't tell me your not organized, I read your posts, and you guys are so much more organized than I am.) (laughing, big hugs )

I finally got to my sewing/craft room. It was a complete disaster. It got so bad over Christmas, I couldn't even get in there to find anything. It took me 12 hours, but it is now spanking clean and ready to be used once again.
I did a total rework, everything out,swept, and mopped, reorganized and back in again. I found stuff I had forgotten I even had, lol. I have so much stuff in there, it isn't even funny. 43 large totes of just fabrics, then at least 25 totes of craft items, and that doesn't count the things just sitting on shelves. That is what happens when you work at a large craft/sewing store for too long.

Any news on Lisa?

Well, I hope all of you are doing great. Please post guys, I am back and I miss all of your posts.

Warm fuzzy hugs,
Jo

Jo, Canna, etc. good to see you.

I got into worm composting late last year. Anyone do this? I will be using worm tea to spray all my plants this weekend. They say it'll keep the bugs away and keep your plants healthy... and we're recycling, so it's a good thing. My wormies were in the greenhouse all winter long (not like a NY winter, but it was still cold :). They are fat and happy.

Love all the baby pictures... my oldest (daughter) is turning 14 this Sunday. Daddy is NOT looking forward to it.

Paul

I have been cleaning up flower beds every afternoon when I get home. The weeds look great and have grown all winter it looks like. We bought a new tiller at Lowe's and hope it helps somewhat. I've tried to plant my daylilies in rows and far enough apart to till the ground. DH also tilled the garden spot so looking forward to planting my veg. seeds.

Paul-14????? She can't be..Where does time go? I know Dawson and Anita's little David will be 4 this year and I can remember when they were born.

Shirley

JAYE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAREA!!
Hoping that your special day is filled with lots of fun and surprises!

Lisa, you are in my thoughts & prayers....I sure hope you are ok!

Jo, GREAT to see you posting. Sorry about the tree. : (
Did you get my email? Two have bounced back. Maybe I have the wrong address??? I thought it was your new one.

Paul.....Happy Birthday to your DD! Don't worry...she'll always be your baby. : )

I wish I had more time......i'll be back to share some photo's soon.

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAREA!!!!!!!!!!!
How are you doing? Were you the one who posted and said you have a daylily scape? If so, I am telling you now, I have "severe" zone envy. (grins)

Carol,
Thank you for the b-day wish =), doesn't matter if its late, once past 50, it makes us happy if we remember to say it at all. (giggle) I have a package I need to get sent to you, (now if i can just remember where I put it?)

Dawn,
No, I haven't gotten any e-mails, sorry. I will send you one as soon as I am done here, maybe that will help. Hope you and your family are feeling much better now.

Paul,
I did vermicomposting for nearly 4 years, and I had very good luck with it. I used it on my 3 orchids(and other plants), they liked it. My worms were fat and sassy. Then, one day I went to add more shredded paper, and to my astonishment, they were all gone. It happened in less than 3 weeks. One week they were there, 3 weeks later, gone. I never figured out what happened. I want to get into it again, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Hi Jaye!!!!!!!
Are you staying warm out there? I am so ready for spring.
Mother nature is teasing us here. We had a beautiful day with temps near 70, the next day it was 40 with windchill of 30. and the winds were gusting 35-45mph. I think they were worse than that. The way it was hitting our house. But, all our beautiful trees survived. they came through the horrible ice storms too. thank God.

Hi shirley,
I know you are having nice weather down there. I bet its gorgeous now. sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh (Jo, sitting here longing for sunshine, blooms, and warm temps)

Well, off to watch a movie with DD,
Have a great night everyone,
hugs,
Jo

AND HI JAYE! How happy you on back online, too.

It's true - I've got TWO scapes out there now already! I read in the daylily forum that someone always gets early scapes & CUTS THEM OFF because the flowers don't amount to enough to justify the stress on the plant, but I'm going to expect wonderful flowers, regardless.
Many of my daylilies have been in their pots for 4 YEARS already - we've been swapping for THAT long, you guys! - and so been doing lots of repotting into bigger pots, lots of eBay sales & lots of backaches this past month, in between snow & hail & ice storms. Temps are supposed to stay in the 50's this week finally - hurrah!

No word on Lisa, Anita?

Hope y'all havea warm & sunny weekend, Marea

Good morning everyone...Raining here again today, hopefully the drought here in the South will be better this year. It has started off with lots of rain.

Contest Time

The winner will get this bearded iris MAM ZELLE

The question is:

How many years have I been married?

Shirley

jo - my lazy backside hurts too much to move so this will be short:) been sanding between my concrete today - its beautiful out and more bags to go.....

Marea, i cut alot of scapes myself, but i am ssssssssssssssssssoooooooooooooo looking forward to your pic. most daylilies are up here now...75% or so. maybe an inch tall max.

Shirley, i guess 28 happy happy years. this would of course make you a child bride of 3.

Hoping Lisa's doing ok....

Cindy

Marea-Sure hope your Birthday was as Happy as can be.

Shirley

Annette

Shirley

Shirley

Shirly....great question! : ) How's about 34 years?

Enjoy the day everyone!

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

PS: Lisa & Anita....waiting for updates!

I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Marea!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like i said, zone envy. (grins)

It was sunny and beeeeeeuuuuutiful here today. i actually got some work done outside. Some of my daylilies are up about an inch or so. And several of my hostas are poking their little noses up. And all my crocus are in full bloom.
The tulips and daffs are up about 6-8 in. and have buds.
Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shirley,
hope my memory is correct,(and my math) it should be 39 years. (fingers crossed, toes crossed too, maybe even my eyes)

Well, off to bed, its been a very long day,
hugs,
Jo

Thank you Shirley, you're a sweet person and just so you know, I have lots of your babies coming up! Awwee, so sweet it is!

Sassy

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY MAREA!!!

Spring finally came to lower Michigan over the weekend. I spent the entire time cleaning my gardens, and playing frisbee with the dog, AND eating the food my hubby cooked. Ahhh, I think that qualifies as a perfect weekend.

Shirley, lets see, you look so young, but I think you said you got married on the younger side, sooooooo 36 years?

Oh, I have crocus blooming!!!! Jo, you have buds on your daffs?!!!!

I have callas, lilies waiting to be potted up. Big smiles.

Paul, that is so cool you are into worm composting! My Dad used to do that some for his vegetable gardens. He also had a night crawler bin for his fishing. lol

I think a 14 year old daughter is a wonderful age! She will do you proud.

Shirley, I'm so happy the 2 Japanese Iris that bloomed last year are coming back this year. I should have planted all of your Japanese Iris in my one 'wet' garden.

sharon

Dianne

You ladies are all around it I mean. One even has what it will be this coming July 4th.

Sharon-So glad Spring finally arrived for you...I knew it would. LOL
I am separating my japanese irises and moving them to a new bed. You can't leave them in the same bed over 4 years because they zap every nutrient out of the soil and will not do well. However you can dig them up add new soil for nutrients and re-plant in the same hole.

Shirley

I have to tell you guys...it sure feels good getting my hands dirty again. I didn't do too much in the garden last year since I was busy with my little bundle of joy...and in 2006 we were so busy with the start of construction. Boy, are my gardens a mess! But I transplanted a few things to the new house yesterday with the help of my sister Jenna......she pulled the babies in a wagon while I worked. We had a really nice day. : )

I took some pictures.......let me go get them loaded in and i'll post on the other thread.

After Talon's nap we will be headed back out into the gardens. Beautiful, sunny, 65 degree day today. Yay!

Hope you have a sunny day too!
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

~Dawn (mamabirrd)

Wake up traveling daylilies group...I have given away 5 irises already in the OBF group.

Shirley

If that's not it then it must be 31 years.

HUGS,
~Dawn (mamabirrd)

I have a few epiphyllum buds forming... yaaaaahooooooo!!!!!. Spent most of Saturday afternoon getting the scales off of 'em. YUK! At least they don't bite.

Jo, I heard the worms can make a mass exodus in search of a better home :). Mine seems to be fairly happy so far, but we'll see when the 100-degree temps hit.

Happy belated birthday Marea!

Ok Shirley,
I am gonna try again, since you said we can, (grins)
At this time you have been married 38 years 9 months 3 days. (You did say your anniversary will be July 4th)

It was beautiful here again today, not as nice as yesterday, but still beautiful. I didn't get a chance to work outside, just got home, and the wind is really gusty, makin it kinda chilly, so not gonna take the baby out. He has a lot of problems with ear infections, and right now they are clear, so not gonna chance it.He had a blast yesterday, we were out most of the afternoon. He even helped carry some of the dead stuff over to the pile. He is gonna be my little garden buddy. I already have plans for him to have a small bed to plant seeds in.

Hi Sharon,
Yes, I do, they are still small, but they are buds, so I am very happy. Com'on SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, off to do some sewing,
hugs to all,
Jo

Is there a prize for the worst answer? big grin :)>
Thanks for the fun Shirley!

Sassy

Jo-You will get one also for your correct guess.

You all were so sweet to say the things you did. Here is Eddie and I last year.

Thanks for guessing.

Shirley

You both look amazing. Way too young looking to be married almost 39 years. (smiles)

No sun yet today, but it is supposed to be in the 60's, so as long as it doesn't rain, its all good.

Paul,
Yeah, I have heard that too, but I thought they "had" a good home. Lots of paper, nice moisture, lots of veggies, and apples, they just loved the apples, had a major sweet tooth. (do worms even have teeth?, grins) Had them for years, and no problems at all, then, "gone". Go figure.

Gloria,
Carol keeps calling, and you haven't shown up here, so, I will lend my big mouth to her much smaller, quieter one.
GLORIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
COME OUT, COME OUT, WHEREEVER YOU ARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
OLY OLY ALL HOME FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a wonderful day everyone,
hugs,
Jo

Paul-I was thinking I sent you bearded iris Mam Zelle in a swap that we were partners. I can send another one if you like.

Looking for some nice weather here today. It's supposed to be in the 70's.

Shirley

Shirley, that name does sound familiar. Any ideas what the lost tag ones are in the picture thread? I'll be out of room very quick here with all the banana and hibiscus I'm expecting, so no worries. I may even have to dig out a brugmansia or two. 39 years in July... wow. I'm working on my 16th :).

Well... have to take my daughter shopping so she can spend her birthday money. Kids are on spring break this week.

It's been a really really long time since I've posted here. Last year was a really busy year for me and I didn't really do much of any gardening :( Many of my daylilies were decimated by voles. It was not a great year for my gardens.

Hopefully this year will be better.

I'm glad to see a lot of familiar names still here. Hope all is going well!

Happy Belated Bday Jo!

Ellen

It is "GREAT" to have you back. Don't worry about being MIA, I have just come back from that myself.It was longer than a year for me I think. Just happy to have you back.
Sorry to hear about your poor daylilies. We will just have to get trading and get them back for you. Hugs!!

Your right Shirley,
I didn't see that she had posted 38, so sorry.

Di,
Big "CONGRATS". If you can't squeeze it into your garden, I will be glad to "babysit" her. (grins)

Well, gotta get goin,

Hugs all around,
Jo

Paul-You are too funny....about the count. I will check the irises and see if I can find the names. I sure hope my iris Forge Fire doesn't end up purple.

Shirley

Can you come out and play??

Com'on, tell us what you are doing, and what you plan to do in your gardens this spring and summer.
And, tell us what your number one priority to do in your garden this spring is.

Actually..........Lets make it a contest......

The person with the most unusual garden project ("in my opinion", that way, no one has to vote, I remember that some didn't like that) will get a handpainted garden rock from me. (and remember, I have taught painting for over 20 years, so it will look nice, I promise) Then, we want before and after pics of the project, to satisfy our curiosity. Cause, I don't know about everyone else, but I am incurably nosey (grins) and "LOVE" to see all your gardens.

ok, time to run,
hugs to all,
Jo

Can I play?? My biggest project this year is not really unusual except in scope. We put a berm up at the end of the driveway a couple of years ago. Last year, we put a stone wall around the edge. Now I have to plant the top. It's unusual for me cause it's really big and I need it to be super low maintenance - tree & bushes with only a smattering of perennials. I've forgotten how to put pics into the posting but here's a link to the project. So far we've planted a few trees but it will take a lot to get it into shape.

Ellen

Most interesting garden project? I don't know if you'd count us fencing in our side yard for the grands. I'm making a sensory garden for them to interact with. Last year we put down a bluestone path with stones large enough to draw on with chaulk.

I'm planning an area to grow a sunflower teepee and another for a popcorn/morning glory house. If I'm lucky enough to find an old whiskey barrel I'll plant a crop of peanuts. That was a big kick with my own little ones.

Also, we've been looking at houses with my son and DIL. They need more room and property. The places in their price range all will need cosmetic and exterior work. Now that my yard is technically 'done' I'll be assisting with whatever help they'll need. Just the thought of a blank palatte is getting my creative juices going.

On an interior note--my kitchen flooring is 5/8 completed. The new cabinets come Monday and my GC said by Tuesday, I'll be cooking again. I'll post pictures.

I'm eager to hear of everyone else's upcoming garden projects.

Dianne

Ellen,
That is gorgeous!!!!!!! What wonderful stonework, and so beautifully done. I love rock walls.

Di,
A popcorn and peanut garden!! how very cool!!
Where did you get peanut seeds? I would love to try that with my little ones. I have never seen any peanuts to plant. Would love to try it. I think I remember seeing some popcorn at one of the places I have been recently.

Come on ladies and gents!!!
Lets hear all those great garden projects!!

Have a great day Everyone,
Hugs,
Jo

Ellen-What gorgeous property you have...thank you so much for sharing your pictures. I love rock work also and it looks very professional. I don't know what something would look like if DH and I did it.

Dianne-Your iris is on the way and I hope it does well for you. The sunflower teepee sounds awesome..Please post pictures of it when it blooms. Someone sent me some popcorn seeds in a trade so I think I will plant them.

Jo-That is a great idea about all the projects this Spring.

Shirley

GLORIA........GLORIA........MAMABEAR......WHERE ARE YOU.....

WE MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Projects? DID someone say projects? I need volunteers!

How about what is planned and what I WOULD like to get done!

2 ponds are suppose to go in this summer....????

Gazebo is suppose to get concreted....

Sandbox for the grands is to suppose to be done...along with playhouse built.....

Tool shed is suppose to be torn down.........

Greenhouse is suppose to go up!

Pathways are suppose to be layed down....

Exsiting flower beds are suppose to be edged with brick....

Indoor patio is suppose to be isulated along with sun roof/solarium being cut into the roof....and wood burning fireplace put in before winter....windows replaced along with doors and outside patio is to be sanded and repainted along with the entire house and the gutters replaced...............yeah right.......all by this summer????????? are you kidding??????????

OK!......... Notice I used SUPPOSE in all the sentences! LOL!!!

WE'LL SEE! Wish me LUCK!............I'll get as much done as I possibly can............although nothing is completed as of yet.....

Anita~ LOVE YA'! and everyone else as well!!!!!

High winds and possible tornados today....so far so good.....but we need the rain!

Spring break and have had the grands all week......enjoyed them but..............WHEW!!!!

Just came back from TYBEE ISLAND last week...had a great time! Going to Jekyell Island/Savannah/St.Simmons for my daughter's birthday.....she's almost 30...time flies!!!!

DH is taking me to see Kenny Chesney next month......I'm SOOOOO excited!
Anybody like Kenny or country?

P.S.
Won't be trading many DL's and some hosta's this summer because my GRANDS have some how removed most of my TAGS! Since they are a bit older now and understand that they DON'T remove the tags, I hope to keep up with things a bit better .......but I will need to replinish my collection ..... I will need to almost start over again.....I only have a few that I can recognize and they are fairly common ones.....although I have many other things to trade....

JAYE

Wish us luck,
sharon

Where is my friend Gloria????

Jo, Shirley & Jaye - Thanks for the complements on my rock wall. I'm really lucky that all that fieldstone came from own property. We only paid for labor to put it up. It's a local guy who does it in between other jobs. He charges us by the hour for time actually worked. It wouldn't look nearly as good if we had done it ourselves.

Di - I love your garden plans they sound really fun!

Jaye - your list looks like mine. I try not to think about it too hard. My wish list would fill a book.

Last year, DH decided to bring in some help for me to get the spring gardens ready and de-weeded. Don't worry he said, they know what they're doing. When I found them using a large hoe to dig all the "weeds" up in my perennial beds I almost had a heart attack. I lost a bunch of plants - some of my favorites. They only know how to take care of gardens that have bushes trees and annuals. I'm giving him some gardens like that but leave my perennial gardens alone!!!!

Ellen

Anita-I agree..it seems like old times with everyone posting again. All the co-ops have just about bank-rupted me.

I spent the day cleaning out flower beds...I have almost desolved two very big ones and I am so happy, 25 beds is way too many. I have potted up most of them for a big plant sale. It was hard to decide what goes and what I will keep.

Sharon-Good luck on your rock problem. Hope it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to get it done.

Shirley

I came home a few hours ago to MamSell iris from Shirley! Thank you! Thank you, Shirley!

I'm going to clean out the closets (both DH and my own), post the clothing on Freecycle and then open a bottle of Pino Grigio as a perfect ending to a great weekend.

Hope you are all having a great second weekend of April.

Dianne

I posted some pictures of GD Brittney's prom

Shirley

We spent a good part of the morning watching the ice melt on the lake. Just sat there drinking our coffee, trying to keep warm. It is just a 3 season cottage and it got down to 25 degrees Sat. night..... burrrrrr!
I will try and post some pics of the ice damage on our pic thread.

Just had to mention that this morning we went to the Tractor Supply Co. in the town where our cottage is. Hubby bought me a 8x6 portable Hobby Greenhouse for only $89 for my BD. It is a Shelter Logic. More like a tent or a car port than a greenhouse, but it is perfect for me. I'm going to try and put it together tomorrow. I have off work for a dentist appt .... yuck!

s

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY SHARON !!
I hope this is your best year ever!

My birthday continued today. Hubby came home early to help me set up the greenhouse (it looks just like one of those plastic sheds).
sharon

Hope you had a great birthday.........

JAYE

Sassy

Happy Birthday Sharon!

~Canna

Happy belated birthdays to all:)

Hapyy birthday Sharon.
Hope you had cake,gifts and loved ones on your day of days.

Snow is still melting from the last storm that went
though last weekend.sigh..So tried of snow..hehe
And it was all gone too!!!

hugs all

i finally got a new car. 2004 jeep laredo, silver. takes two tracks like a pro. not really a whole lot else new. i'm putting in a small pond this summer, 4x6 i think. so i'll need some pond plants a little later, hint hint. shipments have started coming in. so far daylilies seismic force, diane grenfell, taos, lies and lipstick, evelyn kloeris, happy halloween and grand floridian, heucera ginger ale, heucherella pink gem, clematis slimvaki, coneflower green envy, jap iris edens paintbrush. my plants delight order should be here tomorrow, pretty exciting.

ok offering these here first
1 fan each of
lies and lipstick
evelyn kloeris
grand floridian
grandmas smile

two fans of happy halloween
two fans of rock solid

Sassy

HAPPY BELATED B-DAY SHARON!!!!!!!!!!!

Carol,
that was much much better!!!!! (grins)

GLORIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Carol, (and all of us) want you to come and see us. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAASSEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We miss you, hugs, hugs

Jaye,
Wow, yeah, I can really relate. My list looks like that as well, but I have *starred* 5 projects that have to be done this year. The rest are things I want to do, but only if there is time after the main ones get done. Hope you get a few of yours done too.

The projects are sounding good, anyone else have a really good one (or 2?)

Alex has been out helping me in the garden, he put some of the dead stuff in the wheelbarrow, and carried a couple of empty flower pots to the shed. We got the sand for his sandbox, plan on setting that up very soon.

I was very impressed with all the posts, it is sooooooooo awesome to be back among my friends.

GREAT BIG WARM HUGS TO ALL,
Jo

Sassy

Have a good one sweetie!
Sassy

Cody,
I would LOVE to get these from you:
lies and lipstick
evelyn kloeris
grandmas smile
happy halloween
Do I have anything you want?? Hey, I have tried E-mailing you about the Brugs a few times, are you getting my E-mails. Long story short, had to bail my nephew out of jail, drained the bank account & I had to cancel my Guidrys order, Please help a poor girl out!!

:)Anita-Off to pack boxes

Shirley

Blooms are a coming! Yippee!

Sassy

Mr Cuddles is always on the look out for giants and after some net surfing decided to find the biggest 3 Alocasia in the world that also have the possiblilty to succeed in Illinois. He knows winter storage is sometimes tricky and so decided against any Colocasia. He wants to know which one is the biggest giant in Illinois zone 5!

He was thrilled when they arrived this week from LariAnn of the International Aroid Society in Florida! You can see for yourself how smug he is posing with them! He picked Borneo Giant ( which will probably prefer Borneo to IL)
BorneoMac ( LariAnn's cross)
Calidora ( which is reported to get taller than my tallest Alocasia (Odora) for someone in a similar zone)

These are the "before" pics.
In the fall we are taking the "after" pics to show how big they got!
I'm not sure if this experiment game is going that long.

Mr Cuddles has left the room, looking for pancakes.

Karen / cheerpeople

Congratulations on your SCAPE, Sassy! Isn't it thrilling? My Ruffles Elegante might even flower before the end of the month if it ever stops snowing - already I've started the rushing out to see progress in the mornings LOL

Cody, those are some mighty fine daylily picks, as usual! I don't have anything to trade you this year, I don't think.
My few incoming for this year: Delta Blues, bonus plants Lori Goldston & Strawberry Fields Forever, my precious TLBB, Moroccan Madness, Purple Mound and still to arrive are Admiral's Braid and Unity Consciousness. Been trying VERY HARD to downsize, but I just couldn't help getting a few...

Mellen, you are so welcome. I DO know how much it means to have somebody remember *grin* Hope this is your best year ever.

Shirley, your grandbaby sure HAS grown up fast - what an absolute doll she is!

And what an absolute WRECK your shore is, poor Sharon! Time to rename it Rocky Point, huh? Dang

My hostas are starting to unfurl - if I'm gonna swap hostas it has to be quick...
~m'

Happy Belated Birthdays Sharon, Mary Ellen & Marea! hope you all had good ones. :)

The warm weather is contining here...little daffs and crocus are done. Being followed now by big daff's and tulips (tons of new ones here..thanks Maryb), hyacinth and the pear & cherry trees. It is wonderful having blooms again!! Marea, hard to believe you are getting snow. ive got my fingers crossed we are done, at least hard freezes. but May 15th is the safe date. in the meantime, im enjoying!!!

Daylilies, :):):
*Sassy, wow, a scape for you too. Yeah! blooming pic needed when happens!
*Marea, egads UNITY CONSIOUSNESS. a hanson with an edge. oh boy, cant wait for pics. and that TET LBB is going to make some nice seeds for sure!
*Cody, wish i had something to trade for your GRAND FLORIDIAN. no extras on incoming yet though :(. maybe later ill find something for it if you dont trade it ist.
*just a few here, MEE YING, and some smaller yellows, BUBBA ON TOUR, BETTER THAN BUTTER, and IRON MAN (at least i hope, this one came tagged without a name). nothing to speak of for extras though yet.

Shirley, love the pics of you and DH as well as your GD. that pic in fromt of the cherry(?) tree is just a keeper. im sure she will love her Lets Make A Deal gift too. too funny.

Garden projects: Jo, great to see you back. love this idea, what fun it has been to see what everyone is up too.
* Ellen, what a great rock wall. glad to see you post.
* Dianne, love the sensory garden idea. your GK's will love.
* Carol, just lookie at those new virgin veggie beds! way to put in the time for preparation.
* Sharon, hope you get those rocks moved in time for the new boating season. cool greenhouse deal, i love Tractor Supply.
*Jean. love the art! very unusual.
* Karen, love how Mr Cuddles is in those pics. sound like neat plants too.
* Jaye, your list scares me lol. i thought mine was bad.
*Shirley, i so understand your dissolving. good for you. i just havent been able to take total distruction yet.

My garden projects: well mine mostly center around fixing old problems, more re-sizing than down-sizing, and/or would be more appropriately titled garden disasters :).

*elimating duplicates...when i bought this property 10 years ago, i would often split and seperate incoming to cover more space. I did this for at least 5 years. It did not occur to me at the time :), how much maintainence is required, or how number of plants add up, and when they grew i started split out more into some mass beds lol. Removal includes misc allover the place items, a stella bed (my 2nd bed and still a sniff sniff for me), and a 300 ft driveway bed X 4-5 plants wide of nothing but duplicates. Staus: all duplicates are gone except for my first bed of HAPPY RETURNS and HYPERION. that is going nowhere, i still just love it and it is very easy to maintain after 10 years of mulch.
Replacements: almost all were filled with overcrowded plants + a few incoming last year. Hard to believe but i overcrowded that much! the driveway bed has been reservered for new seedlings only. I will slowly move the keepers from the old beds to there as well.


* tagging problems. i quickly learned that metal tags were the way to go, but i used the "flap" type for a couple of years. not good. all were finally replaced. did this during the winter on freezing but dry days. oh boy, i had to add hybridizer year, and ploidy to hundreds too. who would have thought at the time that might be important???


*the gazebo. some of you may remember the "stopsign" concrete i had poured. It looks entirely the same now with a new bed for incoming around it. Instead of a traditional gazebo, i found a *deal* at Sams Club for a metal one. The problem is it was missing a part. the very center top part, a small peice but enough to keep it from being erected. 3 months later, the part arrived. last week which was the same week DH (the builder) started back to work. btw, the furniture i bought for it was the truck that ran off our drive in the snow. the furniture is still in boxes in the barn. and i spend last weekend still trying to fill in and reseed the ruts.


*the backyard shelter house. DH is (supposed to) build. DH wanted to use the same telephone poles he used for an arbor as the structure. Nothing else would do!! they come from a very small local sawmill. ordered jan, they came last week. the day he started back to work. status: at least the main poles are concreted in.


*grass. sounds easy? well i did a 1/2 acre or so for many years. somewhere along the way, i got bored with an acre to go. wanting to *finally finish* and maybe add a few new beds (lol), i tilled it up last fall. the next day it rained. it hasn't been dry since. what a muddy mess. worst part is its so bad and unlevel mow, its all going to need to be started over.


*ornamental grass. jo, this is my entry for unusual. Lat weekend i split maiden grass clumps (12 - over 70 divisions). until DH came home and informed me that my line where i planted (was lining our property) was over 10 feet on the neightbors property. sigh. i spent all of yesterday replanting/

i'd tell you about today. but it involves the emerggrency dentist and a broken tooth due to the re-shoveling yesterday. surely a crown and maybe a bonus root canal.

Cindy,
gee whiz in preview i typed alot. dr gave me scripts for three FULL bottles of pain meds to make it to wed. my cabinet looks like a drug store. i rarely take an aspirin or ibuprofin (sp?). i only took one kind cause i dont understand why there is three, but wowzer....

Marea, I'd forgotten about the Maracas, they are so cute! Looks like Anita did Valentines day proud.

Karen, I can't wait to see the final pictures of your Alocasia.

Mellen, Happy Belated Birthday .... seems like I've been saying that to often lately.

Cindy, what a post ... I read it all. lol I'm listening to you slightly older wiser women talk about downsizing. I still have some pain with my back and am finding it hard to go out and garden ... yikes, I'm not even 50 yet. I told hubby I would give it one more year to see if the pain lessens, if it doesn't then I might downsize a little. But I have decided to decrowd my gardens. I want to give my favorite daylilies room to grow.
I'm so sorry to hear about the shovel/teeth problems.
Try to wait out the pain before getting the rootcanal. Once I went 2 months with lots of Advil/pain, but the pain gradually subsided and I was able to avoid the root canal. I think it was worth it, but I've never had a root canal, and someone who has thinks I was crazy. But I've avoided them twice so far by just waiting out the pain. Crazy ... well, maybe. lol

Going to pick the DD up from college today, she is coming home for the summer. Hurray!!

Friday I'm going to help pack for a co-op from that other site. Should be fun to meet some of the gardeners from the area.

I hope everyone one is into spring now. Cindy, you are a little ahead of me. My crocus is done, but the little daffs are still in full bloom. I have a couple of the big daffs up and one tulip someone sent me that I think is a species tulip .... so cute.

???Oh and my hellebores are in full bloom. I thought they were supposed to bloom earlier???

??? And does anyone know about Leeks? I planted about 20 last year. I put them through out the flower gardens, where ever there was space. I think I pulled one up to eat. Then I started work full time, then I hurt my back and they never got pulled up. I thought they would die over the winter. The bunnies loved them in the winter. Well, they are all still there this spring and coming back???? I just might get to eat them after all. lol

Off to a wonderful busy day!
sharon

Thanks for your concern Marea and Sharon. d-day is tommarrow...sharon im just a hoping she says i dont need one. it was an iffy anyway. but ill sure ask if its an option....

Sharon and Shirley, have to share a story....I would have known about the amount in a change jar. My gma's brother Uncle Sam was unmarried/nokids but the absolute coolest guy ever. I believe my father referred to him as a bad influence, but to us, he rocked! He kept all his change (even the good quarters and sometimes half dollars!) in what appeared to me at the time as something as big as a 5 gallon bucket. We visited once a year every year (lived out of state) to visit. From a wee young age, with every visit, we were allowed to put one hand in (eyes !must! be closed tight), and keep whatever we could come out with that wasn't dropped. It was like the lotto for years to a kid. Since your hand always grew, it was always the best year ever. :)
One year i even got a casino chip. think i got a buck to return that lol.

This was always followed by a ritual of ggma's homemade pastries and hours of pool with Uncle Sam who "tried" to win it back. Odd how those games were always a tie. can you even tie in real pool. ? Very fond memories.

Sharon, wish i could help on the plant questions. no ideas.

Cindy

It is "such" a gorgeous day. I am doing the happy dance.

Cindy,
I am soooooo sorry to hear about the tooth. I do hope it goes well at the dentist. Hugs
I love it that you have those great memories. It is very special.

HAPPY BELATED B-DAY TO MARY ELLEN. sorry I missed it.

WOW!!!! So many posts, IT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY!!!!

So many wonderful garden projects, too fantastic.
Its gonna make it difficult to choose.

****************ANNOUNCEMENT************************

Ok,
I will give everyone till this Saturday to post your projects. I will announce the winner on Sunday.
(SMILES)

Carol,
I think we need to do what I used to do with my boys when they didn't contact us for weeks/months. I just packed up a missle and did a countdown to launch (lol)
Believe it or not, it worked nearly every time.
So, I suggest we give that a try.

GLORIA.........
We need you, PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE come and let us know how you are.

T MINUS 10.....AND COUNTING................

Sharon,
I hope your leeks don't do what my moms did. They literally took over all her flower beds. Once they got a hold, there was no getting rid of them. They are still there, and going strong, and, (no exaggeration) they are now in the thousands. We dug up all of her beautiful plants and transferred them to my gardens, and believe me, I was VERY careful to make sure none of the leeks made the trip.

time for me to get going,

big hugs to all,
Jo

Dianne

Happy bday Sharon and Mellen

Hi Cindy - amazing how it all grows so quickly. That sounds like a huge job to get rid of all the duplicates. It's a huge garden! I love your story of your great uncle. She sounds like a lot of fun.

I don't know if you all remember that a few years ago, DH had a bad accident. We have a farm and had a variety of farm animals. After the accident, we got rid of them. Well finally DH has fenced in a yard and is building a nice big shed for more animals. He's almost done with the shed. He's finally doing things right too. Building the yard and house for the animals and then getting the animals. We're trying to decide what kind of animals to raise. We want something that will be profitable and fairly easy to care for. It doesn't have to be wildly profitable but profitable. Anyone got any ideas.

A lot has changed since last year. I've gone back to work full time. It took about a year to work my way back up to a full time job somewhat close to what I had been doing before. I just started working about two months ago for a small pharmaceutical firm. So far it's been great.

About six months ago I took a big step forward for my health. I was pretty overweight and had been for years. I had two friends that had gastric bypass surgery and lost lots of weight very successfully so once I had insurance that would pay for it, I had it done too. So far I've lost 72 lbs. I went from size 22 to size 10 so far. I have more to lose but I feel great! I finally have a figure again too!

Ellen

When we grew up I most always got hand me downs. I was so much taller than my older sister by the time she out grew her dresses they were oh so short on me. I fussed and fussed and told Mom they were too short for me to. My Aunt brought both my Sister and I lots of clothes from someone she knew to. Anyway I think because of that I love new clothes. I have 3 closets full plus I store my out of Season clothes in the loft. When I have a yard sale lots of people come to buy my clothes. Then I make money to buy more clothes. LOL

Sharon-I know what you mean with back trouble...if the old back goes you are in trouble.

Cindy-Loved your story about your Uncle Sam and the money jar. Brittney used to get candy out of a jar at her Great Grandma and Grandpa's house and it was kinda like that. She would have to drop half of it back in the jar so she could get her hand out. She would get so mad because she couldn't get all she wanted out at one time. Pa would laugh and laugh at her. Hope your broken tooth has been re-paired. Crown and root canals are sometimes a must if you want to save the tooth.

Karen-Mr. Cuddles is so cute and what a cute name.

My median irises are now blooming and oh so pretty. I will have to post pictures. The hard freeze last year must have really helped the bulbs to multiply this year because I have tons.

Shirley