Thank you Christine, these are just the beginning blooms of the season so many more to come! Debra, the deer fence has been a GODSEND! My first year growing daylilies went just fine, second year fine but then I lost over 250 cultivars that were in pots for winter. We had an especially bad winter that year, ice storms, etc. It seemed to be FOREVER recovering from that only to have the deer move in the following season! Kay it was VERY FRUSTRATING! I would be anticipating seeing a first time bloom only to find the scapes cleaned of their bud the next morning! Bluebird Butterfly takes my breath away too! Vickie, Thank you for your kind comments, glad everyone shares their garden pics here so we can all see what they really look like! Glad you enjoyed the show Cindy! I'm glad the deer are not a problem, but I still have nightmares they will tear the fence down....LOL! Ellie, THANK YOU. You know the fence is really meant to keep you out....LOL! I told my Sweetie Guy it needed to be AT LEAST 10 feet tall cuz of that big ol shovel you carry with you at all times! Funnies aside, we haven't had near the rainfall we had this time last year! We haven't really had hard rains, have been more like showers throughout a day, every other day or so. Nancy Billingslea took a good 2-3 years settling before she gave me a spectacular show, so patience my dear Ellie. Rita, It is so WONDERFUL to be able to walk the gardens and see some bloom. Has been a two season battle, finally just had to spend the money for fence when nothing else seemed to work fully. Michelle, The deer only got worse, season after season. I tried everything for two seasons running. Something would work, but not for long. Decided the fence was worth the money! I've hit the deer with rocks, only to have them look at me in disbelief....LOL Hit one with a bottle rocket last year and it jumped a couple times, stopped and stood there looking at me saying What did you do that for? LOL Sharon, I had an armadillo problem one year. I took a bunch of old clothes, lined my garden with them, soaked them with ammonia and the dillo's never retured. That was at least five years ago! Thanks for enjoying the show!

I agree, you should get good blooms from this one, but dividing might give some of them a setback. As Renee said, rhizomes tend to start growing on top of each other & causing problems, that is when you really need to divide. I just divided my Footloose which has been in place about 6 years, although I have dug into it to trade a couple of times. It is a great iris that multiplies really well & looks like yours is doing great.

I second what mizscarlett said. PTSD or even TSD is a very real thing that happens to many people, not just soldiers. Arcy- I understand why you wrote what you did, it is the common stance of the general public to abused and battered persons; I used to feel much the same. BUT....unless you have lived through it yourself and had the same crushing emotions, guilt, worthlessness and self loathing that these people have experienced from years of emotional abuse, you really are in no place to judge. It is easy to view as an outsider and say, "you should have just left", it is FAR more difficult to do when you've been, slowly over time, made to live in fear for your life and the lives of those you love or been made to believe that you are, in fact, worthless. The worst damage people like OPs husband do isn't physical, it's emotional and mental. Her mother was willing to pay for the divorce but she was so worried for her mother's safety from this lunatic that she was willing to endure additional abuse to keep her mother safe. You berating her for something she already regrets is simply blaming the victim and encourages other people to NOT come forward. Many people who are abused (not saying this is necessarily the OPs stance) state that their abuser is quite charming at first, a "catch". Slowly, over time the verbal and emotional abuse escalates but they still say, "s/he's so great, and they've never hurt me!". Then the first time comes and they are physically abused. They are so shocked that it happened and "it's never happened before" that they write it off. It happens again, a few months go by and it happens again...and again....and again. At this point it is happening at an alarming frequency but by this point, the battered person is so broken, so ashamed at not recognizing what was initially happening, that they stay silent. The victim blames themself. THEN, in worst case scenarios, they begin to actually believe what the abuser says. They believe they deserve this. They believe they messed up, believe they are worthless, believe they are at fault. Frankly, as much as I want to judge and blame someone for their past mistakes, I can NOT sit by and blame a battered person for their poor decisions regarding their abuser. It's not right and it's not fair. msgenie- you've been given some great advice already. The only thing I can add to it is that you've already given him power and control over 50 years of your life. He is gone now and you can finally live. Try to NOT let his ghost take any more of your life from you. You only get one life, one chance at this big game; make it count. Regret nothing, learn from it.

What's this, cynic - you brought tinder ... but no matches/(lighter?)? Yesterday, I visited the snowmobile-accident-confined landlord in the hospital, then went to United Way to work on this year's list of charities that my tax-free-capitaI-gain-stock-when-sold-to-support-a-charity is to assist. Then came to this city library till I'd planned to visit my son ... ... visiting the bathroom on arrival and, after my two-hour limit on the city's computer ... ... again when I stood to leave. On becoming aware that my bag was no longer with me ...pretty sure I didn't pick up my bag n the bathroom at the time of the second visit. Returning today ... no report of a bag turned in. Didn't take it in to son's place, or to a store or two I visited. Did someone pinch it out of the car? Whatever ... the stuff in it is no longer available. Guess I'll have to start out my accumulate my (bag-carried) stash of survival stuff all over again. Wait a minute - my bank book was in there, too! (Rarely-used credit card ... in wallet in my pocket). Oh, well!!!! ole joyful ... most of the time.