I can really relate to how you're feeling, Marcia. I am the type of person to get overwhelmed by the amount of work I need to do to get something completed. I'm also the first one to put my hand up say that I will take on more.

My suggestions:

1) Breathe
2) Make a list and tackle it, one project at a time.
3) Start the list and complete each project to the finish, one project at a time.
4) Take the phone off the hook
5) Stay away from the computer. You can let all of us know how it all turns out in two weeks. We'll miss you badly but we will all understand. LOL
6) Let me know if you need some of my "concentration" pills. I'm ADHD and they really help me to "focus". LOL
7) Now is not the time to worry about oiling your loppers or something else that can be done later. Besides, you'd have to find the oil before you could do that and then you'd be looking for the steel wool and then - well, what the heck, let's clean the garage. At least, that's what happens to me. Stay on track.

It'll all work out fine, I'm sure of it.

Hugs
Shauna

Hey Marcia, relax my friend, just breath. Its all going to work out. I have to point out that others won't see what you see when you look at your own garden. For example...I have been complaining that there are bare spots and not much colour in my gardens........yesterday I took a walk up the street and saw what others are seeing when they look into my yard........The view is totally different and there is colour everywhere. I think we as the gardeners, are just more picky, and see the down side of things that we want to be perfect.

Just a tip for your waves......and you probably already know this.....fertilize twice a week and they will try to take over your entire yard.....I am going to start a new thread on wave petunias...

BTW any pics I have seen from your garden always have looked very nice!

Now you still have a whole two weeks.....lots of time. ;-)

Sierra

Sounds fun and scary at the same time..lol..make a list of what needs to be done and a time line..it never fails that at the last minute you will be running off your feet for the last minute tweeks to your garden.
What works for me is fertilizing the wave petunias every day..I use Wal-marts "plantland" brand of fertilizer 15-30-15 and add a 1/3 -1/2 teaspoon per gallon of water everyday unless it is really hot and I water twice a day which I dont fertilize the second time.
I just took these pictures this morning
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BTW..did the danish flag poppy seed germinate for you..I tossed some of the DF seeds into one area late last fall and didnt have any poppies come up there this spring for some reason..I hope your garden tour goes great and dont sweat the stuff you cant change..you are probasbly being too hard on yourself :-)..savona (lol..just checked the preview and have included some wooden stakes in the picture)

Don't worry Marcia, it will be beautiful and people will love it. It's true that we see different things in our gardens than visitors see.

Savona, great tunies!

Marcia, we see what others don't in our own gardens. I have so many compliments on my frontyard yet all I see is a jumble of flowers, weeds and bare spots of no colour. Get done the things that are really important to you and don't worry about the rest. They'll never know if you didn't get a project done or not. To them your place will look fabulous.

Syreeta

Marcia, Im the same way as you when it comes to touring the garden. As you know I canÂt enter the Community in Blooms tour this year because of course it's on the weekend that I have to work. But I did have quite a few quest come by last Saturday evening for a private tour. Here everyone was oooohing and ahhhing how beautiful this and that was and here I was pointing out the negative, or picking weeds in front of them as we went by each bed. LOL,

ItÂs crazy how we only see the negative and not the positive in our own gardens, yet when I tour others gardens I only see the beauty and all the love that the gardener has put into his or her garden.

Like everyone else says, breath, relax and enjoy it too. Hey if you need to have a couple of glasses of Vodka before the tour, go for it. ;)

Keep us informed, youÂll be fine!

Hugs,
Sharon

Aw, you guys - you bring tears to my eyes!

I breathed this morning - procrastinated until almost noon before i went outside. But i did get three loads of laundry done and hung on the line! LOL

Once i got outside and got going, i tried to concentrate on the positive things that are happening in the gardens. Like the hollyhock that has to be ten feet high with huge red flowers, the large cluster of rudbeckia that is blooming now, the morning glories that are blooming so incredibly early, the cedar planter with the flowering semp, and the Simon Fraser rose that just keeps on blooming. The lilies may almost be done in two weeks but the daylilies should still be going strong. And people can always admire the vegetable garden! :)

Shauna, you oil your loppers? LOL I know how that goes. A lot of my trouble comes from having to retrace my steps in order to remember what i was going to do, and searching around the yard to find where i left my shovel or my trowel last. I couldn't possibly stay away from the computer - you all are my lifeline!

To everyone who mentioned fertilizing - i had slow-release pellets in the petunia containers but have started using a liquid fertilizer when watering (some Bloom Expert stuff, 5-30-5). I'll do it twice a week now. I've also started clipping back the petunias the way Sharon mentioned, not every branch but just a few at a time.

Savona, i love your baskets! Could i borrow them for the tour? :D Yes, the Danish Flag poppy germinated, and if it ever blooms i'll remember where it was planted!

I do realize that i'm pretty critical of my own yard, and that it's typical of us all. Earlier this spring when the people came for the lasagne bed demo, i was doing the same thing as you, grabbing weeds out as people looked around. One woman laughed at me - "How dare that weed grow there!" In other words, don't be so hyper about it.

Things will fall into place and i just have to accept that it won't be as perfect as i would like it to be.

Thank you all for listening and replying - you're the best!!

Yup, gotta keep the loppers oiled - even if I don't have a hedge to trim. LOL
But you never know when those loppers will come in handy for shearing . . . the petunias . . . yeah, that's what I could use. Would never do if they were rusty. Darn, no machine oil? Well, I guess I have to go to the pantry and get the veggie oil.

See how my mind works? LOL

Shauna

Marcia, let me second what everyone else has said. For sure, everyone is going to look at all your wonderful plants like the hollyhocks, the rudbeckia, etc. etc. etc. Isn't it true that when you start to list them, the great features by far outnumber what you didn't have time to do. And you're the only one who is going to know that there were things you meant to do!
Have fun, Marcia. I know that everyone who comes to see your garden will. Wish I was one of them!
Margaret

LOL Shauna! Vegetable oil, eh? I'd have to keep the loppers in the house then because around here the vegetable oil would attrack bears! Now wouldn't that be a Garden Tour treat? :>

Thanks, Margaret - it did me good to look at the brighter side of things. Hey, it would be great if you could come for the tour - i'd send my mother home with you! LOL Actually, i remember Gale and Kelly saying that they should come, but i haven't heard from them all summer. Maybe they'll surprise me! Eep!

I agree with everyone here -- they will only see the gorgeous bloomers and not focus on anything else. Kinda like an artist with a painting. The artist sees all the mistakes but the viewers only see the gorgeous painting.

Everything will be just fine! I'm sure of it.

Ang

:0 You might not want to leave your bloomers outside though the day of the tour, whether they are gorgeous or not. :0

Sierra...hee hee

And Marcia, make sure your jugs are hidden. And for heaven's sakes, hide the housecoat! ; D

Shauna

Oh noooooo Shauna......she is going to WEAR the housecoat! haha

Sierra

Ahhhhh, this is a "special" occasion. I think she needs to bring out the peignoir set with the maribu trim and the matching mule slippers. Which colour would be best? Of course, the hair rollers and hair net would have to match!

Shauna

For someone who is involved with organizing a garden tour I want to say to you relax! People who go on tours are looking for inspiration and beauty; they are looking for "real world gardening"(weeds, floppy plants and some failures) so they can be inspired to try and not have to be a perfect gardener with a perfect garden. What would be the joy and fun in that? I'm sure your garden will look great! Make sure you have a "comment book" available for all the compliments you're going to get! And I second the notion of a stiff drink the day of; you deserve it. By the way, in regards to your wave petunias mounding instead of trailing; I think its the tidal waves that are bred to be like that. They will mound more when they are spaced closer together especially but will eventually trail so I don't think I would cut yours back.

Marcia, sounds to me like that housecoat should have a 'shrine' built to it in your garden...lol! So many laughs from it that I think it should be immortalized!
Margaret

Hmmmm I am thinking the bright orange with dark green poka dots set or maybe the neon pink with yellow happy face poka dots. Waddya think? Do hair rollers and nets come in those colours?

Sierra (giggle)

Okay you guys - i've heard of "thread drift" but this is definitely "thread deterioration"! LOL I should make a scarecrow out of that darn housecoat! (One more project to do now!)

Shauna, thankfully i don't own a pegnoir set - some pretty ratty nightgowns but no pegnoir. (Wouldn't want to scare dh, eh?!)

Sierra, you're turning me into a pumpkin? LOL I am round...

Debbie, you're right - i've been on tours and never really thought anything negative about any of the gardens i've seen. At one garden, someone muttered "There's not a weed in sight!" I answered, "That's because they're all in my garden!"

Okay, i'm going to relax from now on. Really. (uh huh)

What are friends for, Marcia? We're just trying to help you decide what to wear for the "big day". ;^D LOL

Shauna

A pumpkin LOL Welllllllll I just wanted you to blend in...giggle. But then again if you chose the neon pink and bright yellow happy faces...you would stand out....you see, I was being very thoughtful...giggle...since I wasn't sure if you wanted to blend or stand out.

Yep thats what friends are for......always so helpful.

Sierra giggle giggle.

You're too kind... :D

You know, being the sweet, innocent, conservative-type person that i am (small c conservative, please), i don't own anything outrageous. In fact, years ago, my daughter raided my 70s clothes trunk at Halloween and dressed up like a nerd. I was so insulted! LOL

Getting totally off-topic - well, actually it was at a Hort. meeting - this woman came in wearing a long flowy skirt and a tube top. Trouble is, she's in her 60s or 70s and is huge, bigger than me! The wrinkly flab was so gross! I couldn't believe it! You guys don't want me to dress like that! :O

Talking about weeds...I had someone here the other day and we went on an impromptu garden/yard tour of my yard. She commented that she felt right at home. I asked her why. She said it was because there were weeds in my flowerbed/garden. I was taken back. She said that she felt that if there were no weeds in the flowerbeds when she went on tours that that was something too high for her to attain and therefore she always felt out of place. I told her that then, she could feel right at home if she wanted to here in my yard.

So, Marcia, if there is an area that you just don't get to weed, put a sign in the area that says,'Garden of weedin' and don't feel bad about not getting around to weeding it.

Hope the tours go fine and you have a wonderful day.

BTW I was on holidays last week in the Kenora area, on a little island in the Lake of the Woods. About 1 hour from you I believe.

Brenda

Marcia, I hope you're starting to relax about the tour. I agree with the general drift of the posts, here. Maybe not about the negligee!!

My niece is a new gardener, and she loves having me visit (we share lots of plants and ideas.) On my last visit, she started apologizing about this and that...things I hadn't even noticed until she pointed them out to me. When I'm on a garden tour (including an informal one at my niece's), I'm looking for the beauty, and all the things that are right with the garden.

If anyone views your garden differently, they've got issues that don't have anything to do with your yard. :-)

Relax, and enjoy. The REAL gardeners will be the ones telling you how wonderful your garden is (because to them it will be), and how appreciative they are about being allowed to see it (and they'll be sincere about this, too.)

Doris

I'm way more relaxed about it now. It's so hot and dry here and i can't do anything about that, so i'm just shrugging my shoulders and carrying on. I know some things won't get done, but some things have gotten done now, and so be it.

Though,,,, i did go to someone's house this afternoon to pick something up, and her yard was beautiful, what i saw of it anyway. I thought maybe she could be on the tour this year and i'd wait for next! :D

Brenda - only an hour away! Awwww, too bad. Another time. Lake of the Woods is beautiful, isn't it? My brother and i were talking about it this evening as we sat on the beach at Eagle Lake - comparing lakes. Eagle is pretty quiet next to Lake of the Woods. Did you go on the cruise boat?

No, we opted not go on the cruise boat, although we did see it cause it went right past my SIL's family's island that we were staying on. My DH and BIL fished almost all day each day we were there and so they did not want to go on another boat. I spent one day crayfish fishing and caught enough to serve all of us crayfish for nighttime snack last Monday. They are so good, fried with butter and garlic and served on crackers.

But, we did go into Kenora on Tues afternoon last week and wandered through 4 touristy shops, including the Blue Heron. Wow, the stuff they have in there. I bought nothing though. Just looked.

Brenda

Last summer my garden was on a tour, and I remember how people seemed to make a bee line for whatever's in bloom at the time. So I'm thinking, just pull out the few weeds in close proximity to what's blooming and people will think that your yard is weed free.;^) I too almost ran myself ragged trying to weed and finish up projects, and did manage to get a couple done. The tour was a good thing, because it gave me the kick in the rear to get a lot done, and that was really needed!lol
So yes, have a drink before hand and have a blast meeting a whole bunch of gardeners. I'm sure it'll be a wonderful day for all of you!

Laurie

Brenda, we've cooked crayfish before too - just boil them like lobster. Yum! :) You said your SIL lives on an island - she wouldn't be Goldie Hawn, eh? LOL

My brother and i worked on the pond this weekend. It's in but not quite filled, and the waterfall isn't set up yet. For now, i'll just put some container plants around it, and some minnows, of course, to entertain the cat!

The main thing this week will be watering, and the vegetable garden needs to be weeded. My mother is here to help, and i'm going to recruit my son's gf's daughter (8 yrs old) who likes to do stuff like that. Last time she helped, she took radishes home as "payment" but i have a feeling she'll want carrots this time! And tomorrow is supposed to be a bit cooler, which will be really welcome. Then it's back to heat, and maybe some rain on Friday. The latest forecast for Sunday is cloudy and 26° - just nice!

Marcia, glad to hear youre calm about the whole thing, no one should be under any stress when it comes to gardening.

Hopefully your fasciated lily is still blooming by next weekend. I'm sure you'll have many gardeners fascinated about that one!

Take lots of photos for us ;)

Sharon

Those lilies are pretty much done, but i have some decent pictures that i'll place where the lilies were. My red, yellow and red-and-yellow lilies will still be blooming on Sunday - thank goodness! Of the daylilies, only Silent Sentry is blooming so far, but some of the others may open by then. Centrefold is just starting to open now, as are some of the Orienpets (i thought the fasciated ones were Orienpets, but they weren't), and there are a couple more that are going to open this week. Lots of yarrow is blooming, and some veronica spicata, as well as hollyhocks, delphiniums (may be touch-and-go), filipendula and a few campanula. There are lots of cosmos and poppies too, nicotiana, impatiens and morning glories. And i got started on the weed whacking this morning - it's too hot again, so i'm here inside until it cools down.

Have to laugh - i've been keeping track of the WeatherNetwork's predictions for Sunday ever since it came on to the two-week trend. Here are the predictions for each day:
Sunday July 9th - cloudy, 28°
Monday July 10th - partly cloudy, 29°
Tuesday July 11th - rain, 33°
Wednesday July 12th - cloudy, 23°
Thursday July 13th - no data
Friday July 14th - mix of sun and cloud, 21°
Saturday July 15th - mostly sunny, 25°
Sunday July 16th - cloudy, 26°
Monday July 17th - sun and cloud, 29°
Tuesday July 18th - a few showers, 29°

Anal? No - it gives me a good laugh! LOL I love weather predictions!

Friday July 14th - mix of sun and cloud, 21°

I think this one would be perfect weather for touring gardens. None of that "few showers" stuff is needed between the hours the tour is on. Afterwards would be ok though! Mind you, I've toured gardens in the rain too, and it was fun. Good luck!

Laurie, if it got down to 21°, people might have to wear sweaters! LOL It sure would feel cool after all this heat!