Sue G. Congrats on the win!!! Rotties are beautifully scary dogs very loyal!

My husband wants to grow sunflowers...those "fireworks" are amazing...where would I find seeds for those?

Getting excited for bingo!

Sue congratulations....good guess.

Thanks for all the congratulations on our anniversary.

Susan-Those sunflowers are gorgeous..I love all sunflowers.

Sheri-Yes I own Shirley's Garden and have over 2,000 plants, 1,000 are daylilies. DH said I have created a monster. It is a lot of work and you have no free time during bloom season. I think every year I get a new addition. This year it has been named grasses and sedums. I grow Bearded Irises, Siberian Irises, Louisiana Irises, Japanese Irises, Peonies, Hostas, Asiatic & Oriental Lilies, Tulips, Daylilies and a few other plants.

Moring Everyone!!

Congratulations Sue!!
Yea!! Rotties are awesome! Had one when I was younger. Used to go trail riding with me wherever I went. My parents said they never worried as long as Sam was with me. Never understood why growing up with him. Now looking back I get it. He was huge!! A great big teddy bear as far as I was concerned. Other people may have been a bit put off by his "bigness", lol :)

Wow! Shirley, OVER 2,000 plants!! You are my hero! LOVE IT!! :D It must be a lot of work, but so gorgeous! Are you constantly digging for the farmers markets or do you go digging crazy in the beginning of spring and your good for the season? I can't even imagine HOW much digging that entails. Is everything potted? Even your iris'? Or can people come and dig in your garden. We have a "Dig your own iris farm" a couple of towns over. Went passed it once, but never stopped. Was WAY too tempted, lol,

Have a fabulous Sunday!!
vina

Just a slight delay on the BINGO game. No big deal at all, we'll just start it later.

Let's play another guessing game! Looks like everyone is excited about sunflowers. Guess the name of this tall sunflower, in my back yard, and I will send you those commercial seeds as well as another little surprise.

ONE GUESS PER DAY

No hints, yet. This may be too easy... we'll see. :)

Sheri

autumn beauty

Lets try autumn beauty they cover alot of colors

I'll guess that is Velvet Queen.

Carol, keeping you in my prayers.

Shirley, congratulations! And they said it wouldn't last!

Mary E.

I'll guess:

Earthwalker

What about Red Sun?

What about Red Sun?

I'll try Moulin Rouge.
Hope everyone had a good 4th of July!
Jeanne

This sunflower's name is Red Sun... Sue G. you win again! Lucky lady... I think you should go buy a lottery ticket today!!! :)

I have enough commercial Red Sun Sunflower seeds (and a fun little garden gift) for a different lucky person. Tell me where I bought these Red Sun Sunflower seeds and you win!!!

HINT: It's an online seed company.

Sheri

johnnysseeds

My guess is Burpees

Had our son and daughter home for the holidays as well as dog sitting for another son. The son is headed back to Indiana and the daughter back to Columbus. Just dropped off the dogs so the house is quiet once again. Yes!!!!!

Margo

This post was edited by smitties on Sun, Jul 6, 14 at 16:36

JL Hudson

I guess:

Baker Creek (http://www.rareseeds.com)

My guess is Territorial Seed Co. I bought some seeds from them, 100% germination so far this season.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, too. Both of them, ordered on-line, first time for me. Both companies shipped fast, no problems, 100% germination so far.

Erica got it! Good job! Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. is where the Red Sun Sunflower seeds are from.

BINGO starts tomorrow. Have a great night everyone!

Sheri

Sweet! That is my favorite seed company!

1st TWO BINGO WORDS DRAWN:

FLOWERS

SUNSCREEN

Remember, I'm giving prizes to the first person to post BINGO as well as the second person to post BINGO!!!

For our new members, I just post two BINGO words once a day.

I won't be listing all the words that I've drawn as we play (like we've done in the past). If you get behind, you'll have to hunt through old posts to find your words. Thank you!

Sheri

Welcome Mary and Kim. I enjoyed reading the info. about you.

Looks like it is going to rain all morning here, then be hot and muggy. I worked the whole 4th of July holiday and weekend and was hoping for a beautiful day to garden today ... I guess I'll just have to be happy with day off work. LOL

Vina, I'm very happy to have you as a partner, you have so many ideas on your trade page. I've been having fun making a list of all the SUMMERTIME ideas to send you.
I know my list isn't that great but really any flower seeds (will take OP) you send I will love. It is always fun to receive seeds that were the senders FAVORITE flower for that year.
Please don't send me any vegetable seeds though, I have so many and will probably never use them.

BINGO: Hurray Bingo has started. One down already!
The list of Bingo words I sent to Sheri were the things I least liked about summer. LOL
Other games: congrats Jeanne and Erica.
Sheri, so many games already! and I loved the "HOSTAS, not Hostess" story!

Shirley, Congrats on your 45th!!!!!!color = red>size = 5>

Susan, love love love the picture of your sunflowers. How in the world are they blooming already for you? Mine won't bloom till August.

sharon

Here is a picture of my larkspur that self seeded in my garden this year. This is at the beginning of the bloom, the area of blooming has doubled. I love it. I've lost the name of the red clematis, I think it may be Ernest Markem.

This post was edited by toomanyanimals on Mon, Jul 7, 14 at 8:54

I know they self seed for the past 3 years. They came early . I have a dahlia already also . The sun and rain have been giving me perfect conditions. But only 1 orange sausage tomato for the 4th. Lots of big hard one. . Got 2 cukes that are in grow bags. go figure. Picked zukes and candy onions . Pulled the peas ans some lettuces. Rain today but took the hint and planted more cukes and zukes to cover the ones that will burn out when it gets hot. . Today will be house cleaning day. Springhill in tipp city ohio is having thier fill your cart for 25$ over the weekend. I am going to Newport on friday. But will be there at opening to get some new rebuckias. or others ;] I can't wait

Annie,

I shipped your package this morning and emailed you the PID!

Erica-You are on the ball...first package out.

I have not forgotten all the members who won the games in the June swap. I do hope to get those prizes out this week. This afternoon I was asked to help cut back the irises at Church so went there to work. Never a dull moment in my busy life. Life is good.

Sharon-Thanks...wow that clematis and larkspur is beautiful.

Susan-Love your dahlia, beautiful color.

Congratulations Erica.

Shirley

Good morning everyone...I have spent my last few mornings coming home from work and either seed starting or planting. I have been attached to garden Web my Facebook gardening group and youtube! Hehe I love seeing everyone's flowers bloom and the harvest they're picking! Can't wait until I have some of those pictures to share!

I'm finally off work for my "weekend" break! So more time outside!!

Skyblue.. (hope to learn everyone's real name soon) :) that is a beautiful flower!

BINGO WORDS FOR TODAY:

ICED TEA
DAY ON THE BEACH

Love your photos Sharon and Susan. Sharon the painting easel in the window and gorgeous flowers... does Monet live there? ;) Susan.... I'd love to hear all about the "fill your cart for $25" day. It sounds like you have a good-sized veggie garden, too. Please let me know what your favorites are this year!

Kim... I'll post first names and screen names for you soon. I have to do it, anyway, to keep track of who's sent their package. :)

Sheri

Here's my Hungarian Pepper tree! ;) It was a bit of science experiment for me. I ordered Azomite powder and put about 2 cups on the surface, then mixed it in. I also used a Jobe's fertilizer spikes for citrus. I've never had a pepper plant grow this huge and be this productive. It's 27 inches tall.

Sheri

That is a good looking pepper plant. I am glad it rained on my garden overnight. And Erica, that's amazing you got your package done so fast ... I'm still in the creative and have fun stage. Come to think of it, I like kids' drawings, say, of a horse or pony. Or old photo of kid with pony or people with horses.

I like that larkspur with pink clematis photo. I have some larkspur with a white daisy and they are next to Fireball monarda ... so red white and blue, although I didn't plan it out.

That is a good looking pepper plant. I am glad it rained on my garden overnight. And Erica, that's amazing you got your package done so fast ... I'm still in the creative and have fun stage. Come to think of it, I like kids' drawings, say, of a horse or pony. Or old photo of kid with pony or people with horses.

I like that larkspur with pink clematis photo. I have some larkspur with a white daisy and they are next to Fireball monarda ... so red white and blue, although I didn't plan it out.

Wow, step away from the computer and I missed so much!! Mike and I have officially started planning the wedding. We want to have it at his uncle's apple orchard and barn next May- colors are amethyst and silver. Beautiful, right?! But my mom is freaking out (from 800 miles away) about how to provide the things that are inherently included in a "traditional" reception hall... like bathrooms, chairs and salt shakers... Oh well!

Congratulations to the game winners. So far I have just two bingo words crossed out. Everyone has such gorgeous flowers already, too, and I'm so jealous of that pepper plant, Sheri! My Tabasco just had its first flower yesterday so of course that's my seed pepper. (The one I self pollinate to make sure I have true seeds.) The cucumbers in rubbermaid containers are growing gangbusters and the daylilies in the front yard are just starting to open, but I only got a single pea pod away from the critters before having to pull the plants.

Suzanne the flowers you sent during the last swap are settling in nicely with all the rain we're getting. The Snow In Summer is in a wide pot and it's especially happy right now so I'll try to remember to post a picture of it soon! And Shirley, just wanted to let you know that Carol and I are working out a solution for her box that went MIA last month, so don't worry.

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!!!! Its wonderful to 'meet' you and I know you'll love it here! :)

~ Laura
(PS - Sorry for the information overload!!)

Happy OBF welcome to Mary (cottonwood468) and Kim (klwallace12)....enjoy!

Laura, so happy for you!!!!! A good caterer can handle everything for $$$$$$$! I have gone to parties/weddings without bathroom facilities and they bring in portables! I have not been to a wedding on/at an apple orchard.....that is really cool!

Sheri, did you buy your azomite powder through Amazon??? If not, where did you buy??

Happy Tuesday!!

Annie

Sheri,

Omg, I love your pepper plant. I am having pepper plant envy at the moment.

Happy Tuesday!!

Laura, that sounds incredible! An apple orchard wedding...it just has that romantic sound to it. I'm so happy for you!

Sheri, gorgeous pepper plant!!

Sharon, so excited to have you as a partner!! I'm just going over your gw page and see many interesting possibilities, lol :) I'll be mailing sometime next week.

Just trying to keep from going crazy this week! My plant swap at the county fair is saturday and it always seems like there are a billion last minute things that need to be done every year. Ugh! Can't wait till Saturday though, it's always such a fun time!! :D

Have a great day!
vina

ps. Was out taking some pictures yesterday and got a new one of my pond :)

Vina,

I love your pond. It's so lovely and tranquil.

Vina-Oh my goodness that pond is gorgeous. Does it have fish in it? We have a small pond but deep in one part of it. We have had several people who get tired of their fish and ask if they can come and dump their fish tank of fish in ours. We always say sure so no telling how many fish are in it. They will come kinda close when they want to eat but real skittish. It freezes over in the winter but the fish survive. Love the turtle and also your water lily.

Sheri-I agree super nice pepper plant.

Laura-Thanks for working it out with Carol about her swap box. Congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

Daylily Ya Ya Girl

TODAY'S BINGO WORDS:

GRILLING
SWIM IN THE LAKE

Annie, I did get that Azomite Powder through Amazon. I think it's 2 Tbs per plant, but I indulged this pepper plant with 2 cups, just for fun. I got the Jobe,s Fertilizer stakes at Lowes. I wanted the Fruit and Nut Tree/Bush Stakes, but they didn't carry them, so I got Citrus. I'd lost a batch of pepper seedlings to the damp, cold spring. I didn't think this one would make it, but WOW!

LOVE the photos Vina and Shirley!

Missed you for the games Laura (we'll have more). Congrats to you and your hubby to be! I was in Kohl's the other day and I thought, "I need to get married again so I can register for more cool kitchen stuff!". ;)

Sheri

Morning! Happy Wednesday!

Yes, we have fish...what the heron doesn't seem to find anyway. When we first put in the pond years ago I had these big dreams of schools of koi swimming around. So, I went and paid WAY too much money for some fish. They got rather large, then the heron showed up. Killed them all! They were too big for him to even pick up and eat...they were all just floating in the pond with skewer holes through them from his beak. Taylor was little then and freaked out. Had to wade in and get them all out to bury them. I cried. Ever since we get the nice cheap .15cent feader fish from the pet store. So far I've put in almost 100 this year. And you can only see 2 or 3. hahaha

We have large bull frogs, paint turtles and a couple of snakes that hang around so I can't blame all the little fish deaths on the heron anymore.

This year I bought oat grass bales to put in it to control the algae naturally. They work great! And I planted plants on top of them. Two with water celery and 1 with impatients. All the pond critters love them. It gets them out in the middle and away from my resident frog catcher, otherwise known as Billy :)

Sheri, I know what you mean I was in Kohl's the other day. I could spend so much time in the kitchen department.. So many cool new gadgets! I need to win the lottery, lol!

Have a great day!
vina

got one of my back flowerbed. You can kinda see my pergola in the background. Kids eat out there almost everyday for lunch. :)

Wow the gardens are coming thru. I love all the pictures. I would love to have peppers to go with all the zucchinni . Vina- Going to a county fair with a plant trade. That would be a high light for summer. wish I could swing by there. The rains and winds bent some of my sunflowers down. I think I'll cut 1/2 to 3 ft. and leave the rest so the birds will still come around. The ground is so soft I just want to get out and plant. Hope everybodys wedsday is filled with beautiful flowers. Sheri here is the bee balm just blooming, I sent you. I see Vina has it also. But my daisies are done. Interesting about the different bloom times in zones.

Finally got two words for Bingo.

Wow, all the beautiful flowers. Isn't it fun? I just love your pond and garden Vina. What a job you have done. I have a small two sided pond and it isn't easy to keep it up. Thank goodness my husband is willing to keep it clean. We finally found a liquid that will help and not hurt the fish. I too put in two little 25 cent fish in 5 years ago. They managed to have one baby a couple of years ago. I don't why not more but suspect they all made it to the other side where there is a filter. The filter sucks them in. This past spring we lost a fish and not sure what grabbed it. It had grown quite a bit so I hated losing it but that's nature.

Keep the pictures going of your gardens everyone. I just might find the time to get one on myself.

Margo

Vina-Love hearing about your plant swap. I told you last year our County Fair is in Sept. so way late to trade plants.
I became a Master Gardener this year and thought about asking if we could do one at their facility. Great place and plenty of parking. Can't wait to see your bale of hay finished.

Asiatic Lily Lionheart

TODAY'S BINGO WORDS:

MOSQUITO BITES
PICNIC TABLE

Swap Updates:

Sharon (toomanyanimals)
Vina (flowergirl34)
Ruth (Ruthz)
Nikki (cinnie0)
Jayeanne (pinkiris)
Susan B. (skyblue52)
Shirley (Brittneygran)
Laura (lilangel181)
Sue G. (squanzon)
Sheri (Panhandle_Seed_Swap) - sent her package
Annie (canyonwind)
Erica (EricaBraun) - sent her package
Margo (smitties)
Jeanne (sandlapper_rose)
Mary E (cottonwood468)
Kim (klwallace12)

Morning!!

Margo, it's not as bad to take care of as people think. I think because its bigger, its pretty self sufficient. I do need to get in it every month or so and weed. My water plants reproduce so quickly they would cover the whole top if I didn't.

What's nice is I put all the pulled ones in a wheelbarrow and bring them down to the veggie garden. Pile them up and let them dry. I about a week they are bone dry. So dry they crumble! I use them for fertilizer. I don't know if its the pond water, fish waste or what but those plants work almost like miracle grow ;)

Shirley, we have a Master Gardener's plant swap usually every year here around Mother's Day. I say usually, cause this year we didn't have one? I was so busy at the time, never asked why, and till you just mentioned it forgot all about it :) My fair swap has been growing a little every year by 1 or 2 people. :)

A lot of the same people come every year once they get hooked. The like the variety of different things I bring every year. What's awesome is that it all comes from the gw. :) The seed swaps in the fall produce nice little babies for my swap. This year I tried a bunch of Dianthus.... I have Ipswitch, Black Adder, Yellow something I can't remember, Black Magic, Fire Witch...as you can see I got most of these from the Halloween swap last year :) I also have some different Althea's that I can't remember right now, lol.

The turtle is officially done. He's not a fancy turtle, but, he does look cute. ;) The kids are so excited I hope he wins.

Taylor was looking through the entry list for ecology classes. She's entering photography, art (painting and sculpture), sewing, flower arranging (gee, wonder where she's gonna get those?), and house plant arrangement.
I have 1 house plant in my house. Taylor's zebra plant. This thing has produced 8 babies! She took my tea cup planter and planted them around in it. She then used one of my old spoons and stuck it in. Made a tea bag tag to tie to the spoon, " Taylor's Tea" It came out so cute!

Billy is entering art. He made the most beautiful pastel drawing of a fish this year in kindergarten. It won an honorable mention at the school art show. I framed it. He's also entering the house plant arrangement too. We didn't have any house plants for him, but, we did have some hen's and chicks. So yesterday we got a pair of his old sneakers, washed them, and filled them with hen's and chicks. They are so cute!! Little blue sketchers!! So adorable!! My neighbor saw them when she was walking her dog and asked if they were going to be at the plant swap...lol! I have to get a photo of them.

Have a great day!!
vina

Here's a weird one...found this double gaillardia. It looks like a science experiment gone wrong, lol.

Susan B your package went out in todays mail....really had fun with this swap =)

Jayeanne

Here is one of my newest lilys.....

Jayeanne-I like your newest lily. Your daylily "Blackberry Cobbler' was mailed today for a Saturday delivery.

I have 4 more things to ship:
Sheri's, Nikki's, Laura's and Melinda's pussy willow cuttings.

Vina-If it wasn't so far I would come to your swap. LOL
I had a daylily bloom the other day with two different blooms. Not sure what happened with it.

Shirley

SUMMERTIME arrived from Erica yesterday. I have been gone and have just gotten home to open it.

Here we go....it is SUMMERTIME from Erica!!!!!!!!

S...Sunflower Russian Mammoth seeds
U...Um Nom Nom (is that correct), recipe for Strawberry Sorbet (Erica's favorite)
M...Morning Glory Scarlett O'Hara seeds
M...Mystery Hollyhock mix seeds
E...Everyone can use these....plastic plants labels (these are becoming very difficult to find around here)
R...Red Hibiscus seeds
T...Thank You note cards
I...Ironweed seeds
M...M & M's...
E...Esperanza Yellow Bell seeds

Erica, thank you so much!! What a wonderful SUMMERTIME package of fun you sent my way!!

Annie

Annie,

I'm so thrilled that you got it and are happy with the contents.

I got a wonderful SUMMERTIME box from Sheri on Wednesday. It included my prizes won in the contests, the sedum and some seeds and she even included plant marker and a sharpie as extras!

Sweet scented Gladiolus acidanthera bulbs
Unidentified bug bearing flowers pot hanger
Ms Mars Sunflower (dwarf) seeds
Miss Fancy Turtle pot hange
Elegant Baby Bella Nicotiana seeds
Red Four O'clock seeds
The beloved bee pot hanger
Incredibly realistic frog pot hanger
Merry little gnome pot hanger
Enchanting Sweet Autumn Clematis

Thanks Sheri everything was much wanted and adorable!

Sue G

TODAY'S BINGO WORDS:

WATERMELON

CAMP-OUT

Summertime Swap Updates:
Sharon (toomanyanimals)
Vina (flowergirl34)
Ruth (Ruthz)
Nikki (cinnie0)
Jayeanne (pinkiris) - sent her package
Susan B. (skyblue52)
Shirley (Brittneygran)
Laura (lilangel181)
Sue G. (squanzon) - received her package
Sheri (Panhandle_Seed_Swap) - sent her package
Annie (canyonwind) - received her package
Erica (EricaBraun) - sent her package
Margo (smitties)
Jeanne (sandlapper_rose)
Mary E (cottonwood468)
Kim (klwallace12)

I'm glad you enjoyed your SUMMERTIME package, Sue. :) Great SUMMERTIME package from Erica! Thank you Sue and Annie for posting the contents... so much fun to read.

Sheri