What's growing in your garden?
Not much yet. But I'll be watching as Spring moves on.
Thank you Jeanne Lee for bringing back our Gardening forum! There wasn't so much to speak of through the winter months but NOW!!!!! everything is coming to life again.
We are slowly getting started with cleaning up the beds and working at getting the grass away from the edges. Over the years I've learned to be a little slower with digging around in the flower beds because some of the plant are later to emerge and I've lost things because I tried to cultivate too much too soon. My daughter came and helped me clear away leaves from one corner today and I noticed a nice bleeding heart plant that I think I could move now before it gets any bigger. I've been amazed at how easily we get little new starts from this plant, and it is a favorite. The creeping vinca is blooming purple and looks good against the remaining daffodils and the forsythia.
A pair of bluebirds have taken up residence in one of the new bluebird houses. This is thrilling as we haven't had bluebirds nesting in our yard before.
Thanks, Jeanne Lee.
Does ANYONE truly like to weed? I'm afraid I am one that does not but it does get me out in the fresh air and that is a good thing.
FlaJean, the picture that you posted in the What's For Dinner topic looks like Euonymus to me, too. I have a large patch of Creeping Euonymus in my side yard that I love. It just slowly and quietly creeps around under the Spirea and Azalea bushes and climbs up the oak and sweet gum trees. Not aggressively invasive like the English Ivy is. So pretty. It's leaves are a variegated green and white rather than the yellow variety that your picture showed.
The man I bought the Creeping Euonymus from said that he rooted it from a cutting he took from a bridal bouquet when his daughter got married. That was many years ago and it has flourished and lasted a long time in my yard.
Thanks Jeanne Lee and thanks Rammel for the link.
MaryC, that is definitely my plant. We are in north Florida. It is such a pretty color and looks like a healthy plant. There are some roses planted but they look poorly. I've had two rose gardens and am tired of the care they need so they will be replaced with plants that don't need spraying. I love roses but will leave their growth to someone else.
Good FlaJean!! The Euonymous is a hard working shrub that demands little of the gardener. As Phyll mentioned in her comments you might have to do a bit of trimming here and there if you want "control" but that depends on your situation. Also as she said the trailing variety tend to wander through your garden and I have some of those that I really like but do give them a nip and a tuck at least once a season to keep them in bounds. I have another that is more bush shaped and it doesn't trail at all but from a tiny little plant a few years back it is now starting to show it's stuff and getting to be a pretty specimen in the garden.
I like Phyll's story about her plant coming from someone's bridal bouquet....nice memory. My trailing plant came from a garage sale ($1.00). The owner had started it from a larger plant. Now after a few years I have many of those throughout the garden and have given several away. They are easy to start where they root down in their travels.
Already my Hosta Plants have grown so big than they look like bushes. I should have thinned them out last fall. To late now. They fill in the whole space.
I saw a plant like mine at Lowe's today. It was called Golden Euonymus. It looks like I have three planted close together. I think I'll place them a little apart and trim them back in hopes they will bush out a bit.
I would separate them also. Most do get pretty big fast. At least here when we get so much rain. Sure are pretty. Would look nice about three in a row in that area front of your entry way.
Today was a perfect spring day for getting a bit of gardening done. I spent most of the day out in the garden and got our row of barberry bushes trimmed and weeded. After that I just puttered around from place to place doing small jobs of cultivating and weeding. It looks like another nice day tomorrow. At this rate I may not get too much housework done this week, but I doubt if it will go anywhere if I don't do it. ;)
We took out the rose bushes as they were in bad condition. I've had two rose gardens in two different climates and in both they took a lot of care and spraying. I don't want anything else that needs pesticides. I've decided to keep my euonymus together and just trim them back. They look so healthy and colorful. I think next to the house we will get some dwarf Ixora. We had them in Ocala and thought it might be too cold here, but it seems they will do well in the protected area by the house. Lowe's is supposed to be getting a new shipment Monday. We got a cute girl and boy fountain.
Jean. You will have your yard and garden looking good in no time. I like those boy and girl fountains. I have a girl Statue but not a fountain. Now will they go by the front area by the door, or in the back garden? What birds are showing up in your yard?
I had friends living further South in Florida. Their trees were full of the small parrots (Quakers) from people first started out letting their pet birds go. they breed so heavy. Lots even in parks in Chicago as they seem to be able to take cold weather. Now by law can't be sold or brought into most States as Pets.
FlaJean, It sounds as though you are going right "to town" on your landscaping. It is nice to have something already there that you can just adjust to your own liking.....sounds like fun. Hope you will post pictures when you are finished. I hadn't heard of the shrub you mentioned but looked it up and it is very pretty.
I have a question as I just purchased a daisy I believe at the Organic Co-Op. It's Latin name is Osteospermum, the variety is Summertime White altho the outside is lavender. Any ideas?
This is part of our garden in front of the little porch. We are going to start in the back yard after our fence is installed in a couple of weeks. Nothing dramatic as I like things kind of simple and easy to take care of. I posted a photo in the Photos folder of one of the hydrangea bushes we inherited.
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I love your light. Now does that plug into Electric or sunlight. I like the red colour mulch but removed all mine close to the house. I had it all around my wood outdoor shed and termites ate all around the building. Was told to never put it within 5 ft of a foundation even though they say treated. Will be treated for awile but then wears off. Now liking the river stone better. Maybe not that problem in florida
It's looking good FlaJean! I light the light also. It's nice you have a handy outlet there.
I had a cute little fountain from the Dollar Store a while back but had to use it on the deck because....no outlet near the garden. :( That fountain worked well for several years but last year something happened to the pump and I haven't seen them again at the $$ store. It was nice even on the deck because I had it near the sliding door and could hear the water sound from the family room.
I've been busy cleaning up flower beds and trying to get some things moved about. Our ground is terribly dry and I've had to soak in order to dig. It is going slowly. The forget-me-nots and silver dollars have finished so they had to be removed to make way for the early summer perennials. The lupines are just wonderful right now.
I see that I wrote back on June 2 that our ground was quite dry. Today, the 30th of June and the ground is even dryer. Today's paper says that we've had .94 in of precip this month. Yesterday and today since it was a little cooler, I worked in one of the garden beds and the ground is dry deep down. I'm afraid to see our water bill. :yikes:
Maryc, floods some places and no rain other places. Fortunately for us we have had several nice rains at night and our small flower gardens are looking good. Now if we can get through hurricane season with no hurricanes we will be indeed be fortunate.
Yes FlaJean ,I shouldn't complain when I think of those folks struggling with floods.
Ta-da!!! I am able to send a reply from my Kindle tonight.
We had a really good rain yesterday afternoon.....our first since June. The grass and the gardens look so very very happy. We are having a birthday party for Al's 90th at the end of August and I was beginning to think it would be like a garden party on the desert. I think there is hope now for a few flowers to hold on and the grass to come back a bit. I suppose if I had my druthers, I would take this dryness over the flooding that many have had to deal with. I think I need to rethink our garden so that they can better survive a long dry spell.
FlaJean, I hope that you don't suffer too much from the hurricanes. How close to the coast are you?
MaryC, we've been having some nice rains---mostly at night. We are about 9 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. If you look up Niceville, you will see how much water surrounds us. Whenever we go to Home Depot or Lowe's we have to go Destin and cross a large bay called Choctawhatchee Bay. But the area we live in is very convenient for medical visits. My doctor, dentist and ophthalmologist are all within a half mile.
It has been so hot this summer that we haven't done anything in the backyard but mow the grass. We did get the front small gardens looking good. We planted a few Blue Daze around the front of the azaleas. Along the side we planted Ixora.
I hope everything works out nicely for Al's birthday party. Is he eating better now? I find if I make myself a smoothie using a Boost with protein it helps my energy level.
FlaJean, It sounds as though you are pretty close to the Gulf when it comes to those tropical storms. I hope you will be lucky in that regard. My older sis lived in LA and the storms were always a source of worry for her. She went through a few of them but was gone before Katrina. I don't know how or if she could have handled that. Her granddaughter lost her apartment in that storm. She moved to Seattle near her mother and hasn't returned.
Thank you for your good wishes. Al has felt so much better in recent weeks. He still doesn't have a lot of energy but for what he has been through I am very grateful for his ability for day to day stuff and his mood is so much better. We'll just take this one day at a time and be happy for the good times. I had mixed feelings about planning a party for his birthday but felt that we shouldn't let this big occasion go by without something. We are expecting family that we don't often see. We had breakfast with our daughter this morning on her deck. It looks over the north end of the Niagara River where it empties into Lake Ontario. There is a lot of sailboats in the river and lake. The Forts Niagara and Ft. George sits on opposite sides of the river. This morning we could hear the Fife and Drum Corp from across the river. It is a pretty and busy harbor.
Want to see old friends, go down memory lane?
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We are under drought conditions here in Auburn, Alabama. Our whole state is on drought alert and many farmers will lose their late summer crops of peanuts and cotton. I have a rain barrel still about half full, so I am using that to water my house plants. I planted pansies last month and had been watering them a "little bit" about 3-4 times a week and they are doing OK, but I'll have to curtail the watering now. I have about 36 large azaleas in my back yard and have not watered them nor the 10 or 12 in my front yard. I'm hoping/praying for lots of rain and SOON!
Sue
Good afternoon SCFSue, I read your post a few days ago but I was using my Kindle and can't respond too well with that. I sympathize with you in the drought conditions. We had similar conditions here most of the summer. I did manage to keep the gardens watered but the grass got to be pretty awful looking until the spell broke in late August. Things came back pretty well and those that hadn't done well all summer flourished when the rains came. I have a lovely patch of nasturtium plant that was from just a package of seed. It did pretty well in the dry season but after the rain started it just went wild. I've never had nasturtium that grew so large and spread out as it did. It is still pretty with orange and yellow flowers in spite of our cold nights. I'm not going to pull it out this year and see if it seeds itself next spring. Just a little experiment.
I know that our state is still down from the normal precipitation level and that many growers suffered this year. We watched a documentary on TV a while back about the severe drought conditions in CA where so much of our food is produced. It is sobering and you have to wonder what the outcome will be.
We had a nice sunshiny day yesterday here in Alabama. I cut back my butterfly bush (should have done it earlier). Today is still sunny, but I either have started a cold or the time outside stirred up my allergies. I am planning to cut back my pyracantha either today or soon. I have the sniffles today and don't know if it was caused by my yard work yesterday or is a cold starting.
What's going on in your garden?
SCFSue
We are having some beautiful weather just now, but we had a few really cold nights earlier. We covered the Blue Daze and the hydrangeas but they still turned all brown. I'm going to cut back the hydrangeas and just hope for the best that my Blue Daze roots weren't damaged.
FlaJean, I was curious about your Blue Daze so googled it. It is a pretty flower. I see that it is classified as an annual.....probably in our cold zone but for you I guess it can be carried over. That is nice. We plant morning glories (that look a whole lot like your Blue Daze) around our flag pole each year. It is fun to watch and see how close they will come to the flag by end of summer. I've notice over the past few years that they do seem to reseed themselves. I always plant new seed but notice little plants coming on even by that time.
Sue, I've been watching our pyracantha as it is close by the kitchen window. I did do some pruning in the summer but notice that there are some branches that look brown now. Is this the proper time for trimming?
My birthday is coming soon and I have chosen a pair of Fiskar loppers for a "gift to self". This pair has something called a power gear that assists the cutting. The pair I have seem to be difficult to make a good cut and I've had my eye on a new pair for a while so this is the time. A couple years ago Al and I bought a couple new garden tools in January. He wanted and needed new grass shears and I needed pruners. It was kind of fun ordering them and having them ready for springtime. At Christmas when I did Al's shopping for myself, I found a nice new pair of leather garden gloves. My old ones were beginning to separate from the lining and they are a necessity for trimming our barberry bushes and the roses. He offered me a nice new pair of mens leather gloves that he had but I sweetly declined and found this nice pair of ladies....that fit me!
I've been watching my orchid plant closely since December when it started to put out a shoot about where I had cut the old bloom off. I'm hopeful that it will be another bloom. It reminds me of our old friend Nate who was quite an orchid expert. At that time I didn't have an orchid plant nor did I think I would attempt one but last mother's day our grandson gave all of the mothers and aunties an orchid plant so Debby and I have been pampering them to see what would happen. It's been fun.
Weather to bad here today to even go to the Mailbox. Icy Rain. I did manage yesterday to clean up a lot of the leaves that had blown up against the Porch. With the wind again I don't doubt some are back. I have some in bags for tuesday pick p. LOts of limbs down in yard. they can stay for nicer day.
I don't like driving on icy roads and even foggy out. and so will not go to library today. See what tomorrow looks like. Alse 2 movies I wanted to see. first being the Lion but it will stay on next week.
Have a shepherds pie in the oven. It is smelling good. 3 servings will go in freezer. Leaving a few mash potatoes that I can make into Broccoli , Cheese and potato soup for later.
Sue. Start taking something. Weather so crazy that Flu going around bad here. Up at granddaughters in Connecticut all 3 children down with something. Been in their schools since New years. return.
I was eating breakfast at 7:55 this morning and the tornado siren down at the fire station went off. I immediately grabbed a sofa cushion and the telephone and went to the hallway to my bedrooms and sat down for about an hour. Before I sat I turned my TV to the weather channel and could hear the projections of other tornados. We are all clear now. We may get more rough weather before the day is over.
Sue (SCF)
Good to hear that you are ok SCFSue. I hope that nasty weather passes you by this time around.
This morning is sunshiny and warm enough for just a sweat shirt to keep my arms warm. After my morning walk down the hill and back I finally cut back my last lantana. It was already frost damaged, but the roots are still alive, so I'm hoping for some nice flowers and berries in March or April.
I need to work on my azaleas, both in the large back yard and the front. Some need to be moved as they are crowding others next to them. I don't know if they will bloom much this year.
Thanks for the OK, Mary C. I did go to a women's basketball game on Sunday. When I arrived the arena was under another tornado warning and the game was put off for another 45 minutes--and when it started our girls played really well, but we lost to Kentucky by about 5 points. It was a good close game.
Sue (SCF) Is our other Sue OK, haven't seen a post from her in a long time.
SCFSue, Your threatening weather just doesn't want to stop does it? I've been thinking about the tornadoes and wondering if this is the usual time when those happen. It seemed to me that I've heard of them more in the spring time than in winter.
We had such a good day today. It was kind of cloudy but the temps were in the 40's and no wind to speak of. The forecast is for wintery weather this weekend.
This afternoon I took out my little garden cart and picked up a lot of fallen twigs and small branches from the yard. It was so good to be out there moving around the garden. A couple days ago I did get out and check my Witch Hazel tree. I see that there are a few buds that will open next month. I've been excited to see that little tree flourish in our garden. I've hoped to get one for quite a while and found this baby tree at our local Garden Fest a couple years ago. I also have another young Serviceberry tree that looks to be coming along quite well. We have a mature tree in the front yard and I found this young one at our hardware store among the few perennial plants year before last. They are so pretty in the early spring, have berries for the birds and lovely red leaves in fall.
SCFSue, I love your little spring poem over in another forum. :) Our daffodils are just beginning to show fat buds. The crocuses are blooming as are the snow drops. I love this time of year when all the shrubs and trees have buds ready to burst.
I am in the midst of trying to clean up the debris from our recent windstorm. It was followed by a heavy snowfall so all of the fallen branches and twigs were buried for a few days and then the yard was so wet it was impossible to walk out. I've been doing a bit at a time when we had a warm day.
We're having a spring-like day today. I am watching my undergrad Alma Mater (U. of South Carolina) play basket ball against Florida and we're behind at the half--but I'll stay inside until the game is over. I'm hoping for a severe talk from our coach and much improvement from our guys. We have shorter, faster guys and hopefully they'll pick up the pace and make those baskets.
For those who missed the poem I learned as a child, here it is:
Spring has sprung,
The grass has ris,
I wonder where
The flowers is.
Pardon the grammar--and I don't know the origin. It's something my Dad's cousin used to tell us when we were getting ready for Easter.
Sue
Summer is finally upon us here in Alabama. I've spent several days out front digging up and cutting back mimosa seedlings that have reached LARGE proportions! I'm still not finished. My next door neighbors have a yard man and their mimosa is lovely, but it drops lots of those blooms with seeds upon them and they drift over into my yard. Hopefully I'll get most of them cut out before fall, but they WILL return--just like Gen. McArthur!
My fall garden is coming along OK. I think I'll get some bush beans by late September and hopefully a tomato or two. I didn't get outside to plant my little enclosed veggie bed until recently, so no tomatoes or beans for summer meals.
Not much else to report from my garden, although my butterfly bush and lantana bushes are blooming--the butterfly bush more than the lantana.
Happy gardening,
SCFSue
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I thought sure we had lost our Blue Daze this winter, but it is prettier than ever.
Beautiful flowers, Jean. Of course, I'm partial to pretty blues.
Mary Ann
FlaJean, the Blue Daze flowers are beautiful. Are they related to petunias? I don't recognize the foliage.
Sue
Also love that patch of blue.
Sue, Blue Daze is a low growing evergreen plant (member of the morning glory family). We have it growing in several beds and it makes a nice ground cover. The cold killed many of the leaves this winter but it survived nicely.
Flajean, these flower are so cheerful. Do they grow from seeds? I have never seen them before. I just fell in love and wonder if they would support the proximity of the sea.
Bubble, we bought them as small plants at our local Lowe's nursery section. We are surrounded by several bayous, the bay and then a few miles to the Gulf so I'm sure they don't mind the sea.
We always had very good luck in Ocala with begonias but here we are getting too much direct sunlight and they look anemic. I think we will have to replace them with possibly vincas.
Apparently they also grow in hanging pots. I'll have to see if they are available locally. I'd love that. At present I have two nasturtiums in hanging pots and they are gorgeous.
Love those Jean. Now are the the ones that spread fast. Close to the ground.? I many try potting some as I am not big on gardening. Most flowers affect my allergies so have to be careful.
I've never grown nasturtiums. Looked them up on google and they look like a nice carefree plant to have. I've got an empty pot that needs filling and I'm going to look for some at the nursery.
FlaJean, Nasturtiums are one of those plants I found very easy to grow from seeds and my last packet that I just spread gave up several colours and do not need a great deal of attention. Usually I do not use seeds.
Mine also grew from seeds I had collected from a friend's plant. They are all shades of orange and brighten my window. They look even more stunning from the outside because they cascade on the front of the building. I should take a picture, but it is so hot outside that I am reluctant to put my nose out.
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My "garden"
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I received a lovely begonia
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Good idea Junee about the seeds. I couldn't find the plants. I ended up getting some Vinca plants which do well in our Florida weather.
Nice "garden" Bubbles. Thanks for the photo.
We've had lots of rain from the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston. I forget which night I was wakened by a torrential downpour about 1:30 a.m. It continued for a long time. I was afraid my house, garden, shrubs, etc. would all be washed down the hill and out into the street. Fortunately not much damage to trees and shrubs, but my little veggie garden has not produced much all summer. I've had one serving of green beans and NO tomatoes or peppers! Just too much water in that raised bed which is surrounded by concrete blocks.
I'm wondering what fall will bring.
Sue
Hi...I'm wanting to get a Esperanza plant..may not be spelled correct...can any one tell me when is best time to plant one in ground. thanks. CC
Think I will google it..CC
I've spent a few mornings cleaning up yard debris and have weeded my little garden bed which is enclosed in cinder blocks. I'll look for tomato plants and bean seeds for that area soon. The tomatoes will need some warmer weather before I plant, but the beans can probably go into the ground soon.
I have a lot of oak trees in my yard and also in my neighbor's yards so there are many oak leaves down. I need to spend a couple of days raking and taking them down to my leaf pile to compost.
I hope other gardeners drop in soon and tell us what they are growing or planning to grow!
Sue
I don't do "gardening" any more, but do have the same clean up problems as Sue. Oak leaves just don't go away. This past year has brought a bumper crop of pine cones from the two or three trees on the edge of our lot. Seems we are still getting those winter storms here so I'll wait another week or two before cleanup. My gardening now is down to trying to keep the grass green (and cut).
Lost my yard man after 30 Years. He just sold all his equipment and truck. Have to now find someone to do yard, Bushes etc. He has 2 Grandsons that use to help him 20 and 16. Don't know if they will be doing anything. Now into it at that age. He had a good business as did work for may people on Campus and some business. He got a heart problem last year and it did worry me when I saw him cutting grass in 80 deg. He is now 85 . its a good paying business if someone wants to work. Now lost my Handyman who could do everything. Now has Alzheimer. He is not 91. That is what happens as we get older. Loose our Doctors also Dentist. I got all of mine over 30 years back. Times goes fast.
It rained here last night and my deck was full of wet leaves this morning--and still drizzling a bit. I went out side and swept up the wet leaves and took 3 trugs full down to the curb. If the wind blows, I'll have even more on my deck tomorrow. My yard pickup is on Monday, so I'll probably clean more out of the back yard tomorrow. Hopefully we will have some sunny weather after church!
Sue
I have quit cleaning of my big porch . I don,t know where the leaves keep coming from as all were baged and carted away in the fall. The sewer company dug at the side of my yard last fall to put in new pipes. They said would be right back to resold it but never did. That looks awful
I'm not a gardener - just the proverbial "black thumb". I'm looking for help keeping squirrels away from my bird feeders. They're hung on hooks on my deck (the only way I can get to them), so the ingenious baffles, poles, etc., aren't an option. I just feed black sunflower seeds in the regular feeders and dried mealy-worms for the bluebirds. I've tried mixing in cayenne pepper and/or safflower seed, neither of which fazed the squirrels at all. Last year I finally stopped putting the feeders out entirely, and I'd love to find some solution. And, no, I can't just shoot them. I do turn the hose on them when I can, though.
Mary, I can sympathize with your squirrel problem. I have a metal feeder which requires a bird to sit on a lever to release the seeds. The squirrels figured out pretty quickly how to climb up on the feeder and lean down and push the lever, then run down the tree and eat the seeds. Squirrels are wily creatures! They've also figured out how to drink water from my water bowl. I have some cardinals nesting in my fence where I have greenery growing. The cardinals fly down below the feeder and eat the grain the squirrels knock down. I guess the cardinals ignore the squirrels!
Sue
Since yesterday, I seem to have found a natural squirrel deterrent. I have two bluebird houses - both occupied. One of the males is quite territorial, and has been dive-bombing the squirrel - even when he tried for the other feeders (with sunflower and safflower seeds). I'm cheering him on! :thumbup:
We have two birdhouses my husband put on the 6ft wooden fence in the backyard. One has a bluebird and the other a Chickadee. We’ve seen the male bluebird go to the entrance to feed the misses. They incubate about two weeks so we are looking forward to seeing some little bluebirds soon. The Chickadee is small and so fast in and out of the house we are not too sure what is going on there, but we think the female is also incubating several eggs.
Squirrels were driving me crazy going into my garbage .chewed holes in it. Now I just hang a cloth wet with ammonia onto side of it. Worked on raccoons also. On the gutters on porch gutters where sparrows would make nest. I sprinkle moth balls in there. Seems to work.
Jeanne, sounds good - but I'm not sure that would be safe around the birds' food. I might try mothballs around the bottom of the deck railing.
Today we had some Goldfinches at the feeder. I've been hoping they would show up.
We’ve been enjoying watching the Bluebirds guard their house. The male dived at a nosy squirrel and had the squirrel running. Papa Bluebird meant business. We are a little concerned about the Chickadees. Pretty sure the eggs have hatched but don’t see much action from the parents. Wondering if something happened to them or they are just too quick in and out for our noticing. Looking forward to seeing some little birds flying out of the nest.
When we lived in Maryland, we had a Robin’s nest in a bush next to the patio door. We watched as the parents pushed the birds out of the nest. They would fly about 20 feet to the fence then fly back. This went on for a while and then one day we noticed the empty nest.
My husband checked the Chickadee nest and it is empty. Those little birds are so fast we couldn’t keep up with them. We did see the Chickadee leaving the nest with a white pouch in her mouth several days ago. She or he was cleaning up the nest after the little ones. We are so relieved they have safely added to the local Chickadee “communityâ€. The male and female look so much alike it is hard to tell the difference in the male and female.
I have a woodpecker that I wish would go somewhere else...any ideas how to get rid of one ?
First you put some salt on it's tail. :2funny:
They look for bugs, so if they are tapping on your house do some inspecting.
Not on my house..on a telephone pole in front of my house :D
It's also a way of attracting a mate. The guy making the loudest noise gets an advantage. ::)
We have a woodpecker that raps on the chimney cap. If we toss it a peanut it grabs it and flies away. We're suckers for feeding the "wildlife". But I very much enjoy watching them.
I once had a flicker that perched on my TV antenna (before cable) and the bird would rat-a-tat on the antenna and the antenna would vibrate sending sound throughout the house. The first time it did that, I thought it was the water softener and looked all over the house to find out where the noise was coming from. I no longer live in that house and I have not seen a flicker where I live now.
Mary Ann
We often have a Red Bellied Woodpecker visit the suet. Larry has two suet containers and keeps no melt suet “Peanut Delight†in them and most of the birds give them a visit. All the birds seem to like it. We have lots of different kinds of birds, but, surprisingly I haven’t seen a crow. We do have grackles and blackbirds. Yesterday we saw the first Flycatcher.
I have a pair of cardinals nesting in my yard. They take turns coming to my feeder and eating whatever the squirrels have left on the ground. So far, haven't seen any babies.
Sue
After a couple of days of soft rainfall, my Gardenias have burst into bloom and are gorgeous. I have one bush in my backyard which has full size gardenias, but has never had many blooms. However I have a mass of gardenias at the curb down by the street which is in full bloom and they are simply beautiful. And the smell is lovely. I have to be careful when I'm weeding around them, though, as I am allergic to bee stings. I keep an Epi-Pen ready just in case of bee stings.
Sue
Sue, Norm and Dot had a gardenia in Florida and it was so pretty and smelled so nice. It usually was ready to blossom when I was there in late February and/or early March. I don't do any gardening up here; I gave it up. My neighbor takes care of planting some flowers in front of my condo. What I have planted in the past are perennials such as little blue bulb flowers, snow drops, trillium. I do buy two or three hanging baskets so I have some color.
Mary Ann
I had some lavender plants out front but they didn't fare well through the winter. There's just a hint of life in them so I think I'll have to replace them. Don't know what with yet. A neighbor's lavender seems to have made it OK.
I've been outside for about an hour cutting back ivy. It has grown all over the sidewalk to my front door and I did get it into a presentable look for now, but know that it will be back shortly. It's hot outside and I have lots more I'd like to get done out there, but I just don't want to get over heated. I'll try again when the sun starts to set.
Sue
I just lost a post about weeding and pruning my pyracantha bush. Needless to say I'm H-O-T and am going to take a shower and call it quits for outdoor work. The temperature today is supposed to get up into the high 90's--and it's on it's way already at 9:30 a.m.!
Sue
Good morning! It's going to be another scorcher here. I am going outside shortly to pull some weeds in one of my flower beds, but that will probably be it for today. I have blooms on my butterfly bush and my pyrancantha and plenty of weeds! The temp is already up in the high 80's and expected to get up to at least 95* today.
Sue
any butterflies visiting?
Good morning, Bubble. Very few butterflies here so far. My newspaper has mentioned several times of a scarcity of bees and butterflies--I don't remember what the articles said was causing this. But I think it was the overuse of insecticides.
Sue
It's pretty chilly here this month and not much going on in the garden and lawn. I have been cutting back ivy from my front sidewalk and other clean up chores, but not much else to report.
I hope other gardeners will check in and let us know what's going on in their gardens.
Sue
I'm checking in but nothing going on here. Too cold.
Sue, this is not gardening weather up north. We can dream, but that is about all. Ask us again in the Spring.
Mary Ann
Good morning, Mary Ann. Right now my gardening chores are cleaning up the MANY leaves down from the oak trees in my yard. Not my favorite job!
Sue
Sue, where I lived before coming to this condo, I had 60 oak trees in the large yard. Half of the leaves would drop in the fall and half would stay on the trees only to drop in the spring. Tom lived with me then and he'd get some of his church school kids to come over and rake leaves onto a drop cloth. A cemetery was across the road from us and they'd drag the drop cloth over there to an unused area and dump the leaves. I lived there three years. The condo hires a company for lawn care and that includes blowing leaves, however, every year leaves fall after they're done, snow falls on it and we have leaves on the ground! We have an English Oak in front of our building and there are leaves on it yet.
Mary Ann
Givetry
Changetrying size on iPad now.
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Gardening here in Auburn, Alabama is predominately leaf raking and taking to the ever present leaf pile! I have a lot of oak trees in my yard and the leaves have been falling at a great rate. It seems as though I'll never get them all raked up and in piles down at the end of my lot!
What's going on in your garden?
Sue
Sue, I can relate to your oak leaves dropping now. Before I moved to this condo 37 years ago, I lived where I had 60 oak trees on the lot. It seemed half of the leaves dropped in the Fall and we'd have a foot of leaves on the ground, and the rest dropped in the Spring and we'd have another foot of leaves on the ground. Tom worked with the youth at his church and he'd have them come to the house, rake the leaves onto a drop cloth, then haul them across the road to an unused area of the Township cemetery. We only lived there three years, not because of the leaves but probably because of the water softener. Where we are now, the condo assn takes care of things. Of course, we pay for it in our monthly fee, but it is nice it is not my responsibility. Enjoy yourself.
Tom told me yesterday that he had driven by that house and at least half of the trees had been taken out. Too bad, in a way, but it makes easier mowing and raking.
Mary Ann
Hoping :-)
I have just secured a gardener but earliest is two weeks, grass is overgrown already...never realised what they charged...something i had never needed to worry about before when i had my Richard...I ordered myself a " witches " corn broom for the leaves outside my kitchen side door part of the patio area...