What a nice post, Sherry, and indeed you've been gone for too long, and were missed. I'm so glad your DH is on the mend. Yes, it's amazing how our priorities can change on a dime!

My yard took a beating too, this summer, as spent a lot of time caring for DH (cancer), and we're like you, count as a blessing each day we have together. Now that it's cooler and relatively calm around here, maybe will get some time out there.

Yesterday I went to the Celebration of Roses in Farmers Branch, TX and it's the first time in months I've been out, other than the grocery store and doctor. What a treat!

Take care, and I wish for nothing but the best for you and DH.
ogrose

Just gotta keep putting one foot in front of the other...Counting those blessings and living for each day!
Susan

ogrose, I can see that you know where we are. Glad you got to go to the Celebration of Roses. i'm hoping I'll get to go to the Heritage Roses Conference - at least one day. I wish you and your DH the best as well. Make these days sweet!

Susan, you hit the nail on the head. Thanks for your kindness. :)

Sherry

Glad to have you back with us once again for any number of reasons. I'll be coming to Lakeland and I hope I can meet you there.

Rosefolly

OH! What a pleasure to "hear" you again!

I am glad your husband is better. Gardens are wonderful, but life is a series of cycles, and gardens aren't always the top player in every cycle. Between hot weather and over-commitment, our garden's pretty bad. But there are still things blooming to lighten the heart.

Jeri

So nice to have you back!! You've been missed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Is this your WEED?

So glad to have you back, Sherry! Glad to see that you and the DH are home too. I hope everything remains positive and hopeful for you both. The garden still looks lovely and filled with pretty blooms. Take it easy and take your time. It doesn't have to be perfect to be pretty!

Sherry, I've thought of you so many times, hoping against hope as the months went by that your DH was improving. It's so good to hear from you! I wish him and you all the best and a speedy end to the difficult times.

Ingrid

So happy that your husband is better and your blogging and posts are surely a welcome "sound".
Molly

Hi, Sherry. Very sorry to hear your husband has had a difficult time lately, but glad to hear he's doing better. Your plants must really be tough, from your pictures they look like most of them have been hanging in there. I really enjoyed reading your blog and going on the walk through your garden with you. That white shooting star hydrangea is beautiful. I've never seen one like that before.
What a treat to see the pictures of you and your husband through the years! That is so special, thanks for sharing those with us.

Randy

Sherry, good to see you back, and good to know that you and your husband have survived your ordeal and are going forward. Life is tough sometimes.
Melissa

Sherry, I'm glad you're back and that your hubby is on the mend. We have missed your kindnesses and gardening successes which you share so well. Take care and god's blessings to you both.
Jeannie

I am sure you'll whip the garden back in no time. But in the meantime, first things first.

You have created and documented a beautiful and inspiring garden.

Sherry, your renewed faith and your everlasting love for your husband touched my heart. Wonderful song - such deep meaning.

Don't try to do too much too fast. Take time to get your emotional strength back, and then enjoy the gardening renewal. Best wishes for you, your DH, and your garden. Lou

Great to see you back!

I know your weed. Good thing is it pulls up easily, bad thing is it comes back easily too.

All things considered, the garden looks great and picking just a small area to clean up at a time might be a nice break from the medical and feel good to see the accomplishment once done.

Welcome back, Sherry. You have been missed. You and your hubby have been in my heart and prayers. May the Lord continue to shed his blessings on you both.

How special your newest blog was. Your garden surely welcomed you back with some lovely blooms. My reblooming hydrangeas seldom ever rebloom---maybe because I love the color of the aging old blooms and do not dead head them.

I have a lovely weed that is a type of Wandering Jew with brilliant blue flowers called "Day Flower" that looks very much like your weed or "wild flower." Yours is probably related. Mine came with daylilies from a local daylily breeder. I usually yank out handfuls when it threatens to take over but do leave enough to enjoy the lovely blue flowers.

Hey, hey, well done, you two. Glad to hear from you, my dear- always enjoy your droll comments and generous nature - take it easy and just let life roll on by, carrying you along, floating, flying.

Sherry, glad you are back and things are running smoothly. I would love to spend every minute in the garden, but the time I am able to spend is just wonderful. You have beautiful photos and I always enjoy seeing them.

I just thought about someone else who hasn't been here in awhile......I cannot think of his name, but he had a really interesting website. He'd had a stroke and found a way to garden and propogate in spite of it. He was very knowledgeable and I miss his posts. Hate that I am having a senior moment and cant recall his name. Do any of you remember him? I would enjoy going to his website again, but don't know any way to find it.....
Judith

Hi Sherry, So sorry to hear of your husband's stroke, but good that you are now home together. I think that weed looks like 'wandering jew', or Tradescantia. If so, it commonly causes allergic reactions, esp in dogs.

Sherry!

Welcome back, and we're doubly glad that it's combined with news of your husband's continued health given his circumstances. Now take a deep breath and enjoy the garden one section at a time. Clean up and prune one tiny corner then sit in a chair facing only that corner and sigh and the wonderful beauty.

Judith, I think you're thinking about Karl, Rosenut. His user name (and license plate) was Rosenut, and I think that was some part of his blog name. I hope all is well with him as well!

Cynthia

You have been missed! Glad to see things are well!
Regards,
Andrew Grover

Sorry, I forgot to answer your question on weeds. The weed is spiderwort. Very common in my yard. One of my least favorite weeds. It will take over. Once it gets into weed suppressor cloth, it is a lot harder to get rid of. Same with dollar weed. Some Wandering Jew is purple, and grows more or less, in clumps. I'm highly allergic to it, I break out in welts.

I mainly see Crabgrass, Balsam Pear, Beggar Ticks, Bermuda Grass, Brazilian Clover, Chinese - Violets, Dichondra, Dollar-Weed, Leaf Mustard, Long Stalked Phyllanthus, Oxalis, Purple Pigweed,and Wild Violets. Those are the weeds I can think of off the top of my head!!! You have to love Florida weeds. At least I do not have kudzu.
Regards,
Andrew

The Forum is not the same without you, Sherry!

To say that I'm back is kind of overstating it. Haha. But with no laundry to do, everything picked up and toileted, and his online medical supplies order done, I have some minutes that I will spend with my friends.

Rosefolly, thanks so much. If I play my cards right, maybe one of the kids will stay with DH for part of a day. I'm wondering which day would be best.

Jeri, I really am surprised that the garden didn't just keel over. It's a lot more resilient than I expected. A couple of the Home Health nurses/therapists have admired it in terms that are pretty unwarranted from my view, but they say the weeds don't matter. They can SEE the English garden and love it --- but then I've noticed how encouraging they are to the caregiver so... but I appreciated their excited praise nonetheless.

Subk3, I don't think that's it. Mine has purple flowers and the leaves are farther apart. Thanks for the suggestion though. I didn't know Wandering Jew was a weed or highly allergenic.

Seil, thank you for the good wishes and the compliments. The garden is what it is. I'm not upset by the condition, and thankfully I don't feel stressed by it. I would like to go out and get that weed out before it eats the house but whatever. :))

Ingrid, I know you've been thinking about me. Your email was sweet and very appreciated. I wish I could have answered, but you said you understood if I didn't. That was a very stressful period so it was wonderful to hear from you even though I barely had the time or brain capacity to read it. Your caring wasn't wasted. Thank you so much for it.

Molly, I'm so glad that you're glad. Things are beginning to SOUND more normal all around.

Randy!!! How wonderful that you're back on the forum. I have missed you tremendously. I got the Shooting Star hydrangea at the grocery store, believe it or not. I really love it. I've been acquiring more reblooming varieties that tolerate sun, so I'm thinking some of the roses that have passed on will be replaced by them. The only thing I don't like about the hydrangeas is their deciduousness but it's only for a few months in the dead of winter so I guess it won't be so bad. I'll have to get clever with their placement, I guess. So happy you're back!!!! Thanks for liking our old photos. You're very sweet.

Melissa, you nailed it. We survived, are going forward, and life can be hard. I led a very sheltered life before this. No real sadness had ever touched me. This made any previous bad times look like childish melodrama. Now I see other people's tragedy so differently, much more compassionately. Thank you for saying it so well.

Thank you, Jeannie. Your kindness is so appreciated as well. What a wonderful place this forum is, filled with kindred spirits.

Monarda, I like your optimism. I guess it will get whipped back into shape, but I think I also want to do some tweaking. We'll see, won't we? Can't just leave the furniture in the same place year after year, right? I know one thing for sure. Maggie is saying byebye...I think.

Lou, what you said really touched me. I'm thinking the most I'll get to spend in the garden - someday - is an hour here and there. I've already learned that there are risks to being out of the room. He slid off the sofa the other night reaching for something while I was on the PC in the laundry room (doing the blog, in fact). Had to call the paramedics to get him up. Fun, fun, fun - he wasn't hurt at all. Two big hook and ladders came, no sirens thankfully. Firemen are very nice people.

Kippy, MY weed used to pop up one at a time, and they were easy to pull and control. It used to be the least of my weed worries. On the positive side I have a feeling a lot can be accomplished in just a few minutes with that one. Let's hope so. Seems like several of us have it. :))

Sunny, you win the cigar! My weed is definitely Commelina coelestis, aka, Day Flower, Widow's Tears, Blue Spiderwort. If I had a bigger garden, I might keep a spot of it, but I don't think I'll tempt nature. Thank you so much for your prayers!

Campanula, as usual I loved what you had to say and as usual I had to resort to the google dictionary - to find out what droll means. That was a lovely thing to say about me. I think you've got me pegged. I didn't know there was one word that would sum me up. It doesn't sound like a good word (d-r-o-l-l...comical has a nicer ring) but I think it nails me. Ha, I could definitely be a buffoon if I weren't so shy. The "generous nature" part is very kind. Such excellent words..."take it easy and just let life roll on by, carrying you along, floating, flying." Will do! And thank you!!

Judith, curiously, today I noticed that my house is pretty clean and tidy. Suddenly, I'm my mother, always flitting around, picking up stuff, folding, wiping, no dishes in the sink overnight, I thought to myself, that's because I'm not out in the garden all day and because the CNA comes every other morning to give DH his sink-side bath. So glad you like the photos!

Titian1, thank you. It does look like the green form of Wandering Jew except for the white flowers.

Cynthia, thanks for the good advice. I, too, hope Karl is well.

Andrew, thanks for the information on the spiderwort. For a minute I was thinking it's only in the beds, but then I remembered all the places it has spilled over and rooted in the gravel. Yes, thankfully no kudzu!!

Hoovb, that's so sweet. You always amaze me with how much you can get said in so few words. That's definitely not my strength. :))

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Sherry, I know why you've been gone. I'm so glad things are getting better. I've been gone myself for a week helping my daughter with her babies. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the conference in November.

I saw those babies, Pam. So cute!! I know that was the best helping job you've ever done. I sure hope I see you, too.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...