I have only flowers, no veggies. Impatients, Lobelia, Geraniums, Petunias etc. And of course my Brugmansia (Angel Trumpet). Where is your picture? -- Here is a pic of my "Angel". IngridFrom Drop Box

Hi! I have two deer Christmas lawn decorations (white thick wire frames that used to have white Christmas lights which all blew) that I'm trying to recycle in my garden room which is part shade - in late summer, it's mostly shade. One deer is a buck (antlers) standing upright; the other a grazing doe - each deer is about 3-31/2 feet tall and maybe 3 feet long. I was thinking of planting Clematis to cover the deer frames in summer. Is Clematis a good choice - is it too big? Can I manage the plants size without harming its flowering power? Do I need more sun? I'm looking for white or light pink - does anyone have any recommendations? If I don't have enough sun for Clematis, can anyone recommend a flowering vine that does well in part shade/shaade in Z6? Thanks - any feedback is appreciated.

Well welcome to mystery land. I've cross pollenated my own Lilies before and gotten some real ugly looking things and some real nice ones. Most have been done before. The seeds can be removed and planted as soon as the pod starts to get "crunchy" or hard. This may require a daily check otherwise it may fall and split before you get them. Seems this happened on a windy night all too often to me so now I put a baggie around it. The seed color varies. I've had black, green, yellow and shades of those, however it doesn't seem to matter much if i'm a little too early or late. Mine have never bloomed the first year, may bloom some the 2nd and full size plants by the 4th year from seeds. There is no gaurantee the new color will stay that way thru coming generations. If you are trying to get a brand new variety like I am it seems very difficult. I thought I had one 9 years ago. I crossed a dark yellow with a Stargazer and got a Lily with a dark yellow base and a light pink brush with dark pink spots. It resembled "TOM PUCE" but with spots. After 3 generations of it I send it in and found someone had done it before. You can expect a surprise. I've planted the seeds inside (after 3 weeks in freezer) and let them grow all winter. And I've just let them lay on the ground all winter. They grow either way. Lilies are not very fussy about it. My current cross involves Lilium "NEGRE" (a very dark red) and "CASABLANCA". We'll see what I get. Take the seeds and plant a few in various ways just to be sure. GOOD LUCK to you. And you can name it LILIUM "MARBREE".

Last night I boiled my chicken carcasses, strained, and put back in the frig for todays chicken noodle soup. I tidied up the house and did some floors. On my second load of laundry. A load of white sheets, Persil Perls, 158degf water, 4 rinses. No fabric softener and a load of white bath towels same procedure as the sheets but added 1 Tablespoon Downy citrus spice. I'm thinking about making some sort of dessert. I don't need dessert but the kids will enjoy something. Were supposed to have a pile up of snow and ice. It started about 20 minutes ago with huge snow flakes comming down heavy and thick....already laying in the grassy areas. I imagine school will be cancelled or delayed tomorrow. On second thought maybe I should hold off on making a dessert in case school is cancelled than the boys can make cookies..yep that's what I'll do and just give them a piece of fruit after dinner tonight. Since I'm not baking today I will probably make a pot of tea and sit at the window for an hour with my book. I have an hour and a half before the boys get home and I'm pretty much done for the day AND I'm tired. Cant go like the energizer bunny any more. Lol