OOH!! That's awesome, Rita..*momentarily goes green with jealousy!* it sounds really pretty.. (I've seen your yard projects in other posts-it must be awesome to be surrounded by so much visual prettiness!) .. I"m only 10 mins away from the Whitestone Bridge, basically and yes. I didn't figure anything overwintered b/c we have had a LOT of snow and almost all my daylilies are above ground, so when it's cold.. they're COLD!.. that's why I kind of freaked at the leaf streak. I'm pretty sure I know which place I got it from, because I was clueless about rust last year and had no idea what it was, but in retrospect, I remember seeing it on just one of about 30 plants to start with and just figured it was okay, so at least in that case, I can sort of isolate where to not buy from. Cruddies dont' even bother me so much.. I'm usually pretty easygoing. I guess I was just afraid of having to throw things away and spend all this extra time/money on maintenance after convincing my husband so much that it made sense to spend all my hard earned income on lots of daylilies and the containers to hold them.LOL

Good Morning, Everyone! Thank you all for the "welcome back". I missed each and every one of you. Stormy here today on this Good Friday. Dark and a bit chilly out. Good weather for gardens though. Glad for the rain though. We've had high temps and high, dry winds this past week and wildfires every day. Nothing close to here, but close enough that I could smell the smoke. My dogs erupted in chorus with every firetruck that passed by over on the highway.(hehehe). I took pictures of the gardens on the 31st. Glad I did, as the hot, dry winds dried out all the pretty yellow Jonquils later that day. Blasted hot winds ruined them before our Easter Sunday family picnic and egg hunt. They were magnificent in chorus with the yellow forsythias, white Bridle's Wreath, and Redbud trees now in full bloom all over the garden. My beloved Jane Magnolia is breathtakingly beautiful this year and smells so wonderful. I planted out some Orange Perfection Phlox yesterday. Tried them last year, but they didn't make it. This rain may ensure these do. I dug around in the bin at the store until I found one, just one package with moist peat inside. Holding it up to to sunlight, I could just make out something possibly alive in that dark green plastic bag. Makes me mad to pay five bucks for dead rootstock. They are not the best looking root stocks I ever saw, but think they will make it. I only need one to survive to establish a nice clump this year for next year's blooms. I also planted a package of purple Liatris and a package of Freesia bulbs for summer blooms. I love the smell of Freesia. Yummy. All the Peonies are up and beginning to make tiny flower buds. Hopefully the red ones and deep magenta ones will bloom this year too. If they do, it will be their first time. Some deer came into the yard this winter and ate the top branches off the one surviving River birch sapling, but it is recovering nicely now. I caged it with a tomato cage and for now they are leaving it alone. They are "camped" up on the hill, hiding in wait for my juicy, delicious roses to start blooming, no doubt. :[ I've been taking the dogs for walks up there every morning and hopefully their pee and poop will make them think twice about coming any closer to the back yard. My English Shepherd could easily take down a whitetail deer. DH said this weekend he would finish stretching field fence around on the inside of the existing barbed wire fencing to keep out critters. That won't keep deer out, but it will keep our dogs in, so we can let them run loose on the property. That will be great. They need the exercise and I need them to do their job protecting the place. They love it, too. Hopefully the raccoons & coyotes will take the hint. Keep Out! Anyhow, so far so good. Gotta go check on my chicks. They poopy up their water really fast and will be ready for breakfast. :) Talk to you guys later. ~Annie

Hi Karen B, My Greenhouse is holding up well and has kept my plants at a safe temperature. I found condensation on the walls of my greenhouse today. I opened 2 of the windows for a few hours and wiped down as much of the wall area as I could safely reach. Tomorrow I need to open the windows for a longer time to get the rest of the moisture to evaporate. We have had several days of snow, rain and hail. Snow doesnÂt usually stick for long, however the red mountains surrounding the town have turned white. January is the coldest month and last year during the infamous California Freeze we had several inches of snow that stayed on the ground for a few days. I like my new home; it required a lot of work (new flooring, new carpeting, thermal blinds, appliances, light fixtures, a new storage shed, paint and whatnot) to make it presentable. Once I recover financially, it will be time to terraform the yard. When you move to a different climate, you have to learn to garden all over again. One example; I have a thing for morning glories and this year mine were all killed by hot dry winds. I found by observing a patch of wild morning glories on a vacant lot that I should have waited till the monsoon started. This is several months later than I was used to planting them in California. A California Poppy volunteered in my yard in July, which is much later than their peak in California. Hi Karen R, I live in Sedona Arizona. I moved here a year ago in November from San Juan Capistrano. IÂve lived most of my life in the subtropics (California and Florida), so the climate change has been a trip. I understand very well how horrified you were by the change in climate. Plants which were common and boring in California are now precious reminders of home and IÂm considering which ones I can manage to grow here. I moved here for family reasons, so picking up and leaving isnÂt really an option. My neighbors tell me last winter was the coldest winter they remember and last summer was the hottest they remember. This year is a La Niña year, which usually means a colder and dryer winter than average. The effects of La Niña seem to be more variable for California, so I donÂt know what it will mean for you. Sedona is beautiful and has a lot to recommend it, so I will learn to deal with the climate issue. Needless to say, IÂm a big fan of global warming! For me it would mean warmer winters and an earlier start to the summer monsoon, which causes the summer days to be more temperate. Philip PS: Bill, hope you have a speedy recovery from your surgery. IÂve been there and know the only good part is the drugs!

For those that weren't able to attend, those that bailed because of the weather and for those that chose not to attend for whatever reason... YOU MISSED YET ANOTHER FANTASTIC MTPS!!! Mark your calendars NOW for Saturday, October 17th. ----------------------------------------------------------- A very special thanks from me to: My wonderful wife Lavonne who will be paying for helping me for at least a week. She's sick as a dog and has spent most of the last 33 hours in bed. Billy Ring, who helped me out A LOT Friday and Saturday!!! Rhonda Chilson, who may very well have saved my life, what's left of my sanity and most importantly...my marriage! Tina and Curt Wideman, who gave us another in a string of excellent and informative lectures. I for one will be visiting Morning Glory Orchard during the Apple and Peach seasons. (June- November) Everyone who braved the "impending bad weather" (cough, cough) which never appeared until the swap was over. You guys are true die-hard MTPS Troopers!