Wow! You must be really fit, Rita. How are your knees holding up with all of that planting?

I posted a link to some iris photos on the iris forum...just to keep you juiced up for the weekend planting party.

Renee

My knees are fine, I never have any problems with them. I get sore and in my butt and thighs. Gotta admit getting old. Used to be able to do so much more, even at 55. Am 62 this year but as long as I don't try to do the heavy lifting I am fine.

I do alot so it adds up and sounds like lots of work but not really anything that complicated. Moving small daylily clumps, planting bulbs, planting annuals and planting new daylilies is not so difficult except that it all seems to be having to be done all at once.

I did immediately go visit the iris forum to see your pictures and loved your slideshow. I got the iris crazies myself this year but mostly for Siberian Iris. Yes, I do want tall bearded iris and thats what I bought potted today, but have to find places for their needs in my usually heavily mulched garden. Going to have to do a new bed somewhere.

Rita, I need to stay out of the local nurseries too! I keep going back to buy specific things...for ex - I've been looking for a couple of 6 packs of white impatiens, but they haven't had them (every other color but not all white) and I always walk out with things I had no intention of buying. Today it was angel wing begonia, yesterday it was a grecian rose (new to me - had to try it), earlier this week it was bat face cuphea. And I tell myself every time...THIS time I'm only buying what a came for - nothing else! I'm hopeless.
Kathy

Hi New York Rita,
I also was at Home Depot buying hoses this week, two hoses, a 100 foot and a 75 foot, and a sprayer. ggg In Florida stuff like that does not last long. Hard mineral water, the sun, etc. I also bought some calladiums. I looked at some pots for a big ficus I need to transplant, but what I liked I could not afford ($100 for fiberglass. I like some of their plants, too. A week or two ago I bought a tomato plant and red bell pepper there. I don't have much luck with them, but they're in the ground. I like Home Depot. You must have so much energy to do so much planting.

I planted my flat of scarlett red attention getting petunias in between the daylilies in the first row of the second terrace in the terraces garden. Got the Nasturtiums planted up there in terrace three and all of my two flats of Impatients planted. Its too early to plant the tomatoes so I have to wait and there are daylilies coming this week, some of which go in the terraces garden, and then I will put the marigolds in there between them to give some color.

Still have to buy at least a flat each of cosmos, zinnias, snapdragons and verbena.

Honestly, I don't know what I would do without Home Depot as I get so many things there. I am glad to see I am not the only one that likes to shop there and also not the only one that goes to nurseries and comes back with all sorts of plants that I was not even looking for :-))

I shop at Lowe's and Home Depot.....depending on what I am needing depends on where I go at the time. It was really, really bad in the summer of 2007. I was in Lowe's so much buying plants and landscape paper and mulch and fertilizer.....every time I walked in, there were at least 3 clerks that knew me by my first and/or last name. Weatherford is not that small of a town, as that was always the way it was growing up in a small town of 3300 people, but Weatherford is growing by leaps and bounds, and I think around 20,000? We are about the last "town" before you get into the constant "city" of Ft. Worth & Dallas. It got embarrasing when they called me by name and asked me about how the last project went, and what I was starting on next!! LOL Awwww, the joys of working outside in the dirt!!! I love it and all the beauty it brings to my little place on this earth!! Jan G.

Hey, I have been good. Look at that, last at Home Depot on April 24th and I only went back again today. Must be some sort of record for in the spring.

I really needed something like a brick in a charcoal grey color to do the edge of a new garden bed in my sideyard. I found something they call pavers as they are brick shaped but not as thick as bricks but same dementions. I thought about it and decided that the fact it was not as high did not matter as the color was perfect. Its only to define the edge of the bed and keep the grass out so the height will do. So I bought a bunch of them. Have to go unload them from the car in a few minutes.

Between Home Depot and the local nursery that I always stop at I bought a hanging basket, more impatients, $9.99 red Mandavella vine impuse buy at HD, 2 ferns for that new bed I started, flats of snapdragons to go in the upstairs garden, lantana (another impuse buy) and a flat of those bedding dahlias in reds and oranges.

I need red verbena for the terraces garden but red seems to be really hard to find. Going to have to drive out to the nursery I got it from last year as I need a flat of zinnias too and thats the only place to get those two items. 45 minute drive but I hit two nurseries in the same road a very short distance from each other and then I drive alitle further and go to the pond place were they have water plants and vat after vat after vat of pond fish in every size, type and color. Got my fish there last year.

I guess I must confess, I went to a local nursery for more garden gloves and came out with these:

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Who could resist? They are THE most beautiful Delphiniums I have ever seen. And ~*yes*~ those are zinnias you see in the backgound, I got those too...... :o)

No one could resist those delphiniums!
kay

Rita,
You know that's not going to happen. I am currently expecting 2 orders of roses, an order of cone flowers, some labels, and the replacement door for my arbor.

I also ordered lilys from B&B and the pink "grapehyacinths" and lupines (which will probably not grow here) from Brecks.
I have a couple of flats of annuals from the locals as well. And we won't go into the Schreiner's order

If I don't have way too much, I order more. If I have way too much, I order more. But I will admit, you even top me pretty good in ordering.

Hey, we're not buying drugs. Can't be too bad.
kay

Those Delphiniums are just too lovely. Thats something I don't remember ever trying too grow but I do love them so don't know why.

Whenever I get the crazies for something I seem to have the complusion to buy as much as I possibly can so that I have it planted and see it blooming.

Besides my usual dayliliy crazies I got the bulb lily crazies also bad this spring and you already know about the iris crazies as I got those iris crazies this spring really bad too.

Already planted 36 Siberians this spring but the other day, seeing as how I got all my lily bulbs planted, I decided I could order some more siberian iris to get them in yet this spring. So I did. They come mail order and I hate to wait for fall as spring planted have all that extra time to grow.

So, I got myself in trouble ordering something else.

Michelle, those are some beautiful delphinium! The first looks like Sir Galahad, but the blooms look more full. The coloring on the second is right up my alley. Are these truly perennial for you? I posted on another thread that I treat them like annuals and plant a bunch every year because I can't do without them.

I know all too well the compulsion to order. I forgot, I had three, not two roses orders coming.

After seeing Jan's Knock-Out roses, I decided three of them would go nicely at the back of my greenhouse, so I ordered them too.

I know I am going to order another batch of tall-beardeds. I have a long list I need to pare a bit,since I don't really want to take over more of the lawn right now.

kay

Chris,
I don't know what those Delphinium will do here in Texas... this is my first time growing them. I know in California, I could grow them as perennials, but that was just about true for most plants that were annuals elsewhere. :o) I just couldn't pass them up - they were calling out my name. Thankfully there were only the two for sale, because they made my wallet go on fire... if there had been more, I'd have been in BIG trouble. But, I put the garden gloves back and duct taped the fingers on my old ones... rather have plant material than gloves anyday.

I think even my compulsion to order is running out of steam for this spring. But I have made alot of progress with all the things I ordered.

Heres the charcoal pavers I bought the other day.

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And here they are over the bricks I intend to replace. The grey looks so much better there than the brick color.

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Here some of the flats of annuals I bought the other day. Planting today and only managed to plant one small flat of snapdragons and the four pack of lantana.

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Going to have to take another picture to show off todays haul. I went to two nurseries more out east that I don't usually go to, these are more like once or twice a year places. At any rate I finished my shopping for flats of annuals (bought 5) and picked up a nice hosta and two small catmints. I am almost done with spring purchases, still need to buy an astilble for next to some ferns.