Recent Activity
garyz..that’s a lot of pots!..
lindalana..spring cleaning outside is nerve wracking..you have to be so careful with new tiny plants coming up..
I won’t ever catch up..there’s so much to do here..
Blue Mouse Ears..
Venusta..and a seedling below it..
I love this time of year everything starts growing again. It is a lot of work though, everywhere I look there is something else to work on. The forcynthias are blooming with their beautiful yellow energy. I have been uncovering the hostas when they peek beyond the mulch. I move the mulch and leaves back then give the plant some milorganite to help it grow and keep away the deers. We also are cutting down the remaining blue spruce trees in the grove between our neighbors and us. We lost one a year ago then 4 in January and 1 a week ago, I guess it was time to take the balance down.
Beth..your forsythia are gorgeous!..my forsythia blooms are over..it’s a beautiful day here..going out to do some garden work..
Not being in the totality path here in Milwaukee, I didn’t think anything would happen. However, that morning I hit on a link showing all areas that be affected and MKE was in the 90% area. I had a two o’clock massage appointment, right at the peak time. So I called my massage therapist and asked if we could move my appointment time a bit so I could view the eclipse. That was fine with her. So my DH quickly made a box for me. I went to my appointment, arriving 15 minutes early so we could watch together. When she saw my box she said, “oh maybe you’d like to use my glasses.” OMG!! The eclipse blew me away! To see a completely dark sky through the glasses with a bright Amber colored sun and the black encroaching moon so perfectly clear, was just amazing to me. A neighbor of mine who’s quite the world traveler plans to go to the 2027 eclipse in Egypt. I just may join her. There is one coming through MKE being in the full totality, but that’s in…..wait for it…..2099! I will be long gone!
Utog, your photos of the shadows are really cool!
Ann, your garden is getting greener and greener!
I have a few pips but it’s too early here with our last frost date being May 11-20. I remember when it was mid April. I put some dirt on those to protect them. Hopefully we won’t get any late frost. 🤞🏽
debra
indianagardengirl..you’re right 👍..the standing water’s back..thought of a joke..my Fire Islands are really islands! 😂..
a few hours later..a little less water
Same for me. Most of the water today is already below the level of the grass, so it doesn’t look bad. But it’s very squishy and your feet will get wet if you walk across it now. Sunshine tomorrow, and by Sunday I will be able to mow (if the rain is done 😉. )
Paula - Your hostas are looking great! I sometimes do go out to stores dressed in my garden attire (dirty bib overalls & quilted flannel shirt). Of course my DW will walk way ahead or behind me, says she'll meet me in the car. lol
There was an old comedian, Godfrey Cambridge that used to tell the story about tourism in Florida. They said "COME ON DOWN TO FLORIDA", he said he went down there and they weren't even expecting him. So if I come knocking on your door, remember you invited me. lol
Paula===> be careful! I don’t want t you to get hurt! Landing on a tailbone or hip or other could be disastrous for us gardeners! Bones break too easily….. am happy you bought new recliners! Enjoy them in peace!
debra
utog - that container is very pretty! I think most of us need a bigger yard! 😁
Follow-up on 28 degrees: I didn't have time to deal with garden at all, due to having to deal with contractor door woes. Now I found out that the matching high-end storm door was shipped without the hydraulic closer, so it can whip around in the wind. Closer supposed to be arriving this week. The HOSTAS and other plants seemed to make it through the low temp night just fine. They are pipping like rockets. My only garden setback this past week was the guy I had weeding my garden (one of my prescriptions gives me painful vertigo when I bend over and then straighten up) was overly thorough and also pulled up and discarded my Polemonium reptans Jacob's Ladder (already replaced), my pulmonaria plant (if anyone has a sprig they'd like to send me, let me know!), a very pretty carnation, and a fourth plant I can't remember.
It's cooler here, too. Thankfully, it's just in the 40's (It was 80 degrees here on Sunday.) Everything I have is fully leafed out.
Glad your hosta are doing OK.
bk
I did speak with our radio guru today. He told me to go easy with the fertilizer. He used the analogy of, "when someone has had major surgery, you don't want to give them a 7-course meal". He told me to go ahead and clean it out the soil a little better. He told me to add fine bark mulch and some expanded shale to my soil mix.
bkay
edited to add: He also told me to fertilize lightly with a water soluble fertilizer with trace elements, which is basically what Al recommended.
i hate my new chrome book.. keey board too sma.ll
i not going to correct the typos.. lol ..
hosta grow roots in july ... aug and sept.. to store energy for emergence in spring...
in theory.. you cant fert now.. to off set scuh .. because you missed the window to fert for root growth....
old school gil jones.. of warwick fame.. aka.. warwick comet... here in jackson MI ... would fert hie hosta in ground freeze MI .... IN THE GROUND ..... with 49-0-0 in early spring.. praying some late frost or freeze wouldnt kill them back to teh ground after his juicing ...
no clue what that means for pot peeps ...
what should you do.. how the heck do i know.. carp.. and blimey.. and go figure... oh.. throw them ont eh driveay ... bare root.. them repot them .... and give them a stern atalking to... maybe bneat them on teh sidewalk house or tree.. before you repot..
get you freaking act together.. or get out.. you holy piece of carp ....
God i hate this small kepyboard ...
ken
ps: salting my pork blade roast with 2 teaspoons of celery salt and 1/4 of onion and garlic powders... overnoght uncovered int eh fridge ... as noted above.. i hate this keyboard .... go chef go... will have with gravy on mashed tomorrow.. and pulled pork sandwich on monday....
Hey Ken! Quit complaining and get a BIGGER Chromebook. A 15" one will allow your fingers to find the keys.
Oh, and for you fert folks, my hostas (in pots) are leafing out now and I will fert them soon, (weakly, weekly). If you want to know when they begin to grow new roots, just slip them out of a pot and look for those new short little white ones. For you folks with them in the ground, give it to them anytime, they will use what they need when they need it, just do it lightly.
I have had some very successful ones grow in pots for me here in Sunnyvale, CA (next to San Jose), but it takes a lot of work, keeping them on the dry side during our normal winter rainy season, and fighting snails, mealy bugs, and aphids.
I migrated here from Northern Illinois where they grew like weeds, with almost no care at all.
And KEN, you probably should get OUT of the kitchen. Stick a port butt roast and your seasonings in a crock pot, turn it on LO and wait until tomorrow. LOW and SLOW. Then "fork it" as they say.
Miss you,
-Babka
Hey, Babka, great to hear from you. I no longer feel like I'm the only one struggling with weather and hosta in pots when you are around.
bk
Gorgeous today, but see a stretch of cloudy and cool days. Hellebores are blooming, again. Some bloom in mid winter, but I don't go out looking for them in the cold.
And Camellias still going strong. They have been in bloom since November, but not has heavy as now.
Wow, that's a gorgeous trillium, GardenGal!
Thanks mxk3 - it's pretty special to me and has long and somewhat checkered back story but is one of my favorite plants. It is a cultivar of chloropetalum called 'Volcano' and was developed in NZ by tissue culture. The success rate of the TC was low so they discontinued it and it's now no longer available commercially.
As you can see it is quite a robust plant - this is half of my original plant - with nicely marked leaves and lots of big, deep red flowers. Apparently tolerates considerable neglect as it has been growing and flowering happily in the same container for more years than I care to admit!!
UTOG, love the pics! LOVE primroses!
We kinda stalled here. I am thinking on adding more small bulbs as it is too long to wait till they naturalize...
Debra, those are cheerful pots!
I have only left either plastic or frost resistant ones, too much to keep moving them around....
I did put pine brunches in them during winter with some decor .
Pretty much perfect day. Drove 80 minutes NW for 24 holes of disc golf with wife, dog and a friend, 3+ minutes of totality, 90 minute drive home with a stop for ice cream. The 360 degree sunset around us was unexpected and the tiniest sliver of the sun made it impossible to look at directly. Corona was larger than I expected and a tiny solar flare was visible (but not to my cell phone camera, lol).
we watched the whole time, got to 93percent. The thermometer showed a 12 - 15 degree drop in temp! Our solar system slowed way down of course, the graphs online showed a huge drop in solar energy available. It was an eerie gray out but very similar to cloud cover. Our birds did not quiet down. Our lab did not bark. Hubby said there's no contrails from the jets. We live along a busy highway and noticed more cars with their headlights on... Enjoyed it!
Yes, I could look at the sun during totality but when the sun barely peeked out of the shadow of the moon, one very quick glance was all I could handle then it was back to the free cardboard eclipse glasses from the library. Lucky I didn't buy any plastic ones from Amazon. Who are these people staring at the sun? A few minutes after that and it was back to playing disc golf in the twilight.