Rose, would love to join in but just have to stop myself from joining. I have so many wonderful plants that have just spread themselves with the early warm weather we have had. I am giving my daughter a shower this Sunday, (other daughter is helping as much as she can but had to have her molars pulled in emergency the other day). My son graduates in three weeks, last of the five kids. Then the wedding is June 9th so my plate is full as well as my brain. Not sure how I am going to make it through. I will stop by to see how things are going.

Smitties

So, do you think I have plants on the brain? Reread this and instead of putting "plate" the first typing, I typed plant.

3 is a terrific number Rose! :) Count me in.
THANKS!
vina :)

Me too, me too! Haven't done an MNF for a while, and this seems like a good one!
Rose, need to tell you about the red monarda you sent me last year. Against all my expectations, it lived, no, really, and bloomed for at least 6 weeks. I couldn't believe it!
This year? There is an 8 x 10 area around the original plant, just covered with what I thought were red monardas. Makes sense, doesn't it? But the bigger the plants get, the less sure I am. It almost looks like the red hummingbird sage. I've had my other monarda beds so long that I can't remember: do monardas spread that quickly the second year? Or is it really the RTH Sage?
Oh the mysteries of gardening!
Shirley!

Shirley, my monarda went crazy this year. A single plant has spread several new ones. I just love them. I have one that is a tall variety and it grew almost 4 feet last year with brilliant blooms. Fighting the urge to buy a new type at my store but not sure it might be growing in my garden already from one of my past trades. Whatever has spread so well, you be sure to enjoy. (Is red hummingbird sage a perennial?)

Margo

Hi Everyone!
Margo, the Red Texas Hummingbird Sage is an annual which re-seeds like crazy. I've never had it reseed, because I nab all the seeds before that can happen. But every once in a while I miss some. I've had it come up at quite a distance from the parent plant.
The ones I'm hoping are the red monarda are at least two feet away from where the RTHS was. And there are, maybe, 30-40 little plants. To me, that says RTHS. Oh yea, I WSed 4 half gallons of it.

I love the RTHS (which is probably a good thing!); it is a coccinea type sage/salvia. The Coral Nymph Salvia is another and it is drop dead gorgeous - a peach/coral and white flower! Saved lots of seeds last year from that one too! There is a white one-Snow Nymph and I think, maybe, two others. I bought Snow Nymph seeds this year, but they haven't germinated yet.
Back to the Red Monarda! Rose could tell you, if she remembers, last year I whined and wahed about not being able to grow the Reds. I have lavender, pink and this year I WSed Wild Bergemot, which grew like crazy. In any event she sent me a red monarda and as I said, it grew beautifully. I would rather have a good stand of it than the RTHS, because I can grow that anywhere. I think I'll just have to wait it out and see. If the RTHS crowded that Red Monarda out, I am really going to bummed!

Well, that's probably more of answer than you really needed or wanted! So I'll quit babbling now!
Shirley!

Hey all!

Shirley I have an abundance of Jacob Cline Monarda coming up this year. I started it from seed 2 years ago. Last year it flowered beautifully! I didn't collect a lot of seeds from it, and this year, I have about 20 new babies popping up :) Maybe with all this crazy weather we've been having the monarda are loving it, and you have an abundance too :)...

Here's hopin'
vina

Vina, I hope so too! Altho I have to say, the leaves look like the RTHS. Drat.
Margo, hope you are doing well with everything you have going on!
Have a nice Sunday, everyone!
Shirley!

Can an old man join? (Just retired and can play in the dirt all day) I like to do a few plant swaps each year and this sounds like a good one. Margo is the daughter from the Meet and Greet the one getting married?

My Jacob Cline is going nuts this year. A photo from last year.

Don

Welcome, Don! Beautiful picture!
You know what, maybe this is just a good year for Red Monarda!
Shirley!

Vina, you are being outnumbered by Pennsylvanians! Don and Rose are both from PA and I was born and raised there!
So what that means is: we need more people in this swap from New York, or anywhere, to keep Vina from being overwhelmed!

Cloudy, overcast day here, altho warm. Didn't do any gardening, had some errands to run.
Hope everyone is having a great day!
Shirley!

LOL! Shirley! More are always welcome, but I feel like I'm good company already :)

Don, that picture is beautiful!

On a sad note, my first year harvesting asparagus has turned out to be a rotten mess. With the early warm weather the asparagus were coming up like gangbusters...then we hit a freeze. I was hoping that some would bounce back, unfortunatley, they all succumb to it and turned to mush. :(

Does anyone grow asparagus? And if so will they come back this year? I was told only to harvest them in the early spring and them leave them alone? Is this true??? Any info would be greatly appreciated. :)

Rain...rain...and more rain today. Side yard is flooded. Exactly where I was putting in my annual bed. Can you say M U D ? :D

Talk to you later!
vina

Hi Everyone!
Worked outside all day, dodging raindrops the whole way! It rained on and off all day, so I didn't need to water in! It was kind of muddy tho.
Have a great evening, All!
Shirley!

I would love to join also. Beautiful monarda! Mine didn't come back this year. The weather has been really wet and cold and WINDY all winter and spring. I lost a lot of shrubs and I think because of the cold winds. I planted out over 100 geraniums last weekend and guess what...it froze 3 nights in a row and they are turning black. I should have know better. The temps have been in the low 60's...guess I was thinking spring was finally arriving. Oh well to late now.

Ellie

hey guys, sorry to have been mia-- like i said, it's just CRAZY around here! mother's day weekend is the busiest at the greenhouse, so tons of prepwork, but things should ease up after sunday. i'll be posting small bingo list tonight, if i can get my act together :)

shirley, did you ever decide if it was the monarda that came back? let me know if not; i can send more. i'm surprised it gives you trouble; it's one of the few things that doesn't give me any trouble at all. now, i can't grow delphinium to save my soul-- i try and fail every year-- never comes back. and bear's breeches. i've tried twice, i have in theory the perfect environment for it, and it just doesn't seem to like me. who knows. plants are fickle, aren't they lol

this weather is driving me nuts. sweltering then freezing. it's been absolutely lovely, like june or july, i have about 50 planters out now, and of course it's supposed to go down to 38 tonight. screw it. what lives, lives. i'll bring in the flats of adenium and plumeria babies and everything else can just suffer for the evening. if i think about it i might cover the celosia and vinca, but this is just ridiculous. at this rate, we'll be getting a blizzard on july 4th.

Hi everyone, I sure wish I could do this swap but I am holding back each time I read updates.

Shirley, I will be on the look out for that sage. I assume by its' name it will be attractive to the hummingbirds. I am picking up pineapple sage at work tomorrow. That was a favorite for my hummer last year.

Just finished planting a Dark Ponticum beebalm I bought at work yesterday. I am anxious to see the blooms.

Don, beautiful flower. The daughter you met was Emily. Elizabeth is the one getting married. She is a couple years older than Emily. The scary part is I don't even have Elizabeth married off and Emily is talking about a future engagement. Ugh

The shower went well and I can't believe how organized I was and there were no panic attacks or stress blow ups. I was so proud of myself. Now to plan the graduation party for my son. We are sitting down to do the menu tonight and plan the decorations.

Looking forward to reading more updates. Margo

Rose. it isn't giving me any trouble, no matter what it turns out to be. I just couldn't believe that Monarda would re-seed or spread that much in one year. I love both plants, so whatever it is, it isn't going to be a problem. Hope things slow down for you!

Margo, my hummers love the RTHS. I've never seen the plant for sale. I'm emailing you as soon as I'm done here.

AND! Just for the record! This is absolutely the last year I am wintersowing 14 kitty litter containers and 2 pickle jugs of pansies. Nuff said! No, seriously, I don't want to talk about it!

Talk to ya all later!
Shirley!

Happy Mother's Day!
Wishing everyone a great day!
Shirley!

It is just about midnight and a wonderful Mother's day for me is almost over. I was able to get a lot of gardening done including most of a 8x8 vegie garden I did in a "square foot" garden fashion. I sure hope it works.

I just don't have time before the wedding to do any extra gardens so did an inventory of the seeds I have. I can't believe the numbers. I don't even want to do a total as I will get frustrated even more that I can't get them planted. I am going through and picking out the ones I want to do now and then try to do a little more after the wedding. The rest will have to wait until next year.

I hope everyone had a good day. I am having trouble getting tired so hoping I will feel tired very soon. Another busy day ahead of me for tomorrow.

Margo

Good Morning!
I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day!
Margo, what is "square foot" gardening? I've read about it and still don't quite understand the concept.
Are we getting partners today?
Have a great day!
Shirley!

Happy Belated Mothers Day Everyone!

Had a terrific day yesterday! :D Hope you all did too.

WOO HOO ! Partners today! Can't wait!
vina

hey guy! again, sorry-- i forgot mother's day is to the greenhouse industry is what black friday is to the retail industry. it was a rough weekend! i think in lieu of bingo i will do a simple random ungoogleable question kind of contest: how many planter combinations do i have already set up in my yard, in my obsession? (it is under 100)Person closest without going over wins the prize, whatever that is LOL

okay, the moment we've all been waiting for-- partners!

Rose sends to Don. Dem_Pa
Don/Dem_Pa sends to Vina/Flowergirl
Vina/Flowergirl sends to Shirley/Sjc48
Shirley/Sjc48 sends to Ellie/ farmergirl
Ellie/ farmergirl sends to rose

shirley, send me a pic of what is growing-- i can tell you if it is the monarda. rosemctier@aol.com. oh, square foot gardening is available as a free preview on amazon. just search for the book, and click on the icon. enough is available to give you a good idea what it is all about

Great! Partners! Ellie, sending you an email! I have your address.
Rose, it is the red Monarda you sent me last year. AND the red Texas Hummingbird sage is coming up all around it. The Monarda grew this past week to where I could identify it, looks like 2-3 plants! Your guess is as good as mine as to how the RTHS got back there! Guess I missed some.
Hope everyone has a good day tomorrow!
Shirley!

Sorry, I have been away from the computer. Been trying to fix/whatever in the flower beds. Froze for times last week. but the last freeze when temps dropped to 28* did the plants in and lost tons. It looks like black friday around here. Even the maple leaves are turning. Been pulling black plants out of the ground the past couple of days....compost pile is growing by leaps and bounds. Wouldn't you know the weather this week is in the 80's....where was it last week?

Rose I will see what is left within the next couple of days for you. Off to get an early start while its cooler.

Ellie

Woohoo! Partners! I send to Shirley :D
Wonder what I'm gonna send????? I guess the red bee balm is out, lol!

Okay, my guess is for planters is...64! You said it was an obsession :)

Talk to you later!
vina

After over 2 inches of rain, I took my trowel and a cardboard box for a walk. Shadow my cat "had" to help. I dug the plants for the swap and put them into the box to ship. I decided to mail it right away.

I came out to get into my car and Shadow was laying in the dry box.

Delivery confirmation to NY is DC# 0310 3490 00010391 9050.

Don

Don, great pic! What a beautiful black cat! How old is she/he?
My cats love boxes. I almost mailed Vinnie to North Carolina once, good thing she meowed. She was under all the heavy wrapping paper! They also love paper bags and my cloth shopping bags! And my knapsack. Everything but the cat bed I paid $10 bucks for.
Later!
Shirley!

Vina my asparagus froze also and also turned to mush. I am going to cut them down to about 2" above the ground. I am sure that they will come back by next year. Today the temp was 90* but going to cool way down and start raining toward the end of the week.

I planted the salad garden and tomorrow if I have time going to start the big garden. Have a great evening everyone.

Ellie

Ellie, your package is on the way!
DC# is 03120090000052205434.
Your package from the FOTESS swap
was waiting on me when I got home
from the post office!
This could get confusing!
Shirley!

My guess for planters is 59. Lots cooler today and windy. Tried to plant the beans but the wind was too strong so gave up. Looks like rain tonight.

Have a great evening everyone.

Ellie

Hey all!

I trimmed the Asparagus down and its now coming back? Can I harvest it? Or just let it grow for the year??? This plant is so neat and YUMMY, and this being my first year to harvest...I can't wait :)

Don, your Shadow looks like my Clover Louise. Unfortunately, she was hit by a car a couple of weeks ago and is now in heaven. I'm still so sad about it, and don't get me started on what I want to do to the jerk who hit her. I live on a road that literally has 5-9 cars go down it ALL day. I still blame myself for letting her run out and not going to chase her. She just loved being outside and laying on the deck. :( For a cat that just "showed up" the whole family has been upset about it...even hubby who in public will declare he never cared too much for her (but in private, went to the nursury and bought a tree to plant where we buried her.)

On a much happier note! I received my box today from Don :)
In my way bigger box than I was suppose to receive were all kinds of garden goodies.

Pussy Willow (Okay, this actually came inside a ziplock bag, inside a cup full of dirt. The dirt and everything were perfect when I took it out of the box???) I can even plant things in my greenhouse this neat and it traveled from PA without a scratch! )
Hens N Chicks
Egyptian Walking Onion
Comfrey: Boking 14 (I'll have to look this up...very interesting)
and IRIS'S...GEE! I wonder who told you that I'm partial to these, lol!
Jewel Baby
Big Blue Sky
Petite Polka
These are all the most adorable SD's and I don't have any of these...2 THUMBS WAY UP :D

OH! and I can't forget I also received...CHOCOLATE! teehee :)

Don, THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!! You went WAY above and beyond for this swap!

Shirley, I better get my booty in gear for your box. I'll be mailing on Monday or Tuesday of next week. I don't like mailing this close to the weekend. I know its suppose to be okay, but I still get the jitters. I'll post dc when I mail.

Have a super day everyone!
vina

did everyone submit their guesses already? did i even set a deadline? i've had a severe allergic reaction to my new migraine med with freaky neurological symptoms-- all is well, went to doc, it just needs to get out of my system-- and cannot focus enough to read all the posts. i don't even rememer posting the contest!! i will check back in a few days when the sludge is cleared from my synapses.

Vina, no hurry on the box; I'll use the extra time to figure out where I'm going to put them!
Rose, hope you are feeling better soon. Does it seem like the cure is worse than the illness, sometimes? I get bad reactions to most meds.
I have a lemon yellow columbine blooming right now, really pretty. Columbine blooms seem to last a long time, or maybe it is just the cooler weather we've been having. I'm really tempted to WS more of these next year!
Have a great night all!
Shirley!

Shirley, I received your wonderful "Christmas Present" or it seems like a present to me.
In the box was:
Columbine double rose
Wild Bergamot
Red Texas Hummingbird Sage
New England Asters
Penstemon "Huskers Red"
White Plains Beard Tongue
Agastache lavender

There were several plants in each and now have 22 pots sitting in the greenhouse. The weather is going to turn in the next few days and we are suppose to have rain for a good week. The plants are safer in there than out for 2-3 weeks. Thank you so very much Shirley for all these plants. I hope to have lots of hummingbirds, butterflies and bees this summer.

Everyone have a wonderful weekend.

Ellie

My guess is 24 planters.

A columbine and a story. This was a surprise. Sometimes I sit on my steps and clean seeds. Two years ago I cleaned some of my columbines and dropped one. When I first saw the plant I could tell it was a columbine. I left it grow and this is what I have this year. Purple Granny's bonnets and my first new iris from "Wild Iris Rows" a new company for me.

Its name is Blazing Sunrise.

Don

Hey all!

Rose, hope your feeling better! Migraines are the worst, but this medication sounds like the wors"er" of 2 evils. I love when I just make up words willy nilly. :)

Sue, your package is going out this afternoon. Its all packed up and on the way to the PO. I'll post dc when I get it. I beat the rain :), and I have to admit feel a little weird sending out this box WITH NO IRIS IN IT??? I was trying to go quickly because we are suppose to get a doozy of a storm today, so I kept walking by them thinking...Have I sent her that one yet??? By then your box was full :) I hope you enjoy!

Don, LOVE Blazing Sunrise! That would compliment my Apricot Frosty! :) Need to go put that on the list.

Ellie, I asked around this weekend and everyone around here had the same asparagus problem and they are all harvesting now. So I'm gonna do the same. :) Can't wait! Tonight its on the menu.

Have a great day!
vina

Vina, mine hasn't even grown since I trimmed it back but the weather has not been good. As long as the asparagus doesn't die entirely thats ok even if I don't get any this year.

Rose your box is on its way. DC# 0311 3260 0002 1777 5719
It's raining again...been off and on. Although we could really use the rain...free water.

Have a great evening!

Ellie

Afternoon!

Ellie, the weather this spring has been crazy around here. In the 80's when its suppose to be 50, and then in the 40's when its suppose to be in the 60's? We are down about an inch and half of rain for the month. So I'm hoping this isn't a future telling of what will happen this summer. I did manage about 10 good spears of asparagus last night. The rest I just cut off and put in the compost pile. They were very thin and has branches coming out all over them? At least the bed looks better now that it had a hair cut :)

Shirley, your package did go out yesterday :) and here's the DC: 0311 1660 0001 9243 2326

Talk to you later!
vina

shirley, do you have a guess for the planter contest?

don, i am so sorry-- i am as usual behind. i am still finding it really difficult to get anything done, like i'm still in a haze a lot of the time. i think with the heat wave of this weekend, i should wait til tuesday to send it. oh, yeah, please send me your addy-- my email is rosemctier@aol.com.

ellie, thank you for the lovely daylilies-- i do have a burning love for all things daylily, and i didn't have any of those varieties. i got
eruption
fairy tale pink
louise mercer
happy apple

i will get them in the ground tomorrow :) i have to find my planting chart so i don't lose track of the names and where i put them :) thank you so much!

Hi Everyone!
Rose, my guess is 13 for the planter contest.
My box arrived from Vina today, and it was very, very nice! Loved the butterfly stickers on the box!
Vina sent me:
Blue Mouse Ears, a mini hosta, YEA!, which is already planted in between the tiarellas;
A Columbine William Guiness, very pretty, and already planted;
A pink Obedient plant, an Agastache Honeybee Blue and a Rudbeckia Herbstonne, all of which have been potted up awaiting decisions on where to put them!
Also received a beautiful, orange daylily called Kwanza!
Vina, thank you so much for sharing these plants with me, I am very pleased!
Well, I have to have Willie, the cat, at the Vet's at 7:30 tomorrow morning, so I'd better start doing bedtime stuff!
Talk to ya all later!
Shirley!

YEAH!
Shirley so glad it made it there :D

I know the Kwanza DL is an oldie. And I may be old fashioned but they are my favorite. I just can't get enough of the triple petals, and they seem to last so much longer than some of my others. I hope you enjoy them too :) Sending warm wishes and happy thoughts to little Willy for his appointment today.

Talk to you later!
vina

again, guys, so sorry i'm mia-- the latest in the series of tragedies is that my boss got fired at work, and there have been about 50 disasters between that and the allergic reaction, so you can imagine how crazy it's been.

anyway, i got don's package mailed out today, i am so sorry for being such a slacker! and i have a contest winner to announce. . .

VINA comes closest with 64! i honestly don't know how many are out there. i stopped counting when i got to 75 and what having internal debates about what was considered a "planter." god help me. vina, i know i have it somewhere, but could you please email me your addy again? frankly, i just don't have the energy to look :)

Hey all!

Rose, I hope your turmoil calms down soon. That much stress isn't good for anyone. I'm sending my addy right now.

If its okay, I'm the June host, and would like to post for the month later today :)

Talk to you later!
vina

I received my box of goodies from Rose today. Everything was in great shape.

I received a red peony, a varigated iris, a hardy geranium, "Chicago Royal" daylily, a golden marguerite plant, and a jar of honey. (I eat at least one teaspoon of honey everyday. It helps fight allergies.)

Thanks so much.

Don

Hey all!
Rose, my super prize came today :)THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I just love them both!!
Rose, sent me:
Double Tuberose "The Pearl"
Hot Papaya Coneflower :)

THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
:0) vina