Went to get groceries & got a tortential downpour. I was completely soaked by the time I made it to my car. I moved a few plants around so I'm sure it'll help in firming up the soil around them, but we don't need more rain either.

My mystery plant is finally identified as campanula. I love the color. And I now have 3 tomato plants with fruits. Another month until fresh tomatoes.

Worked all day yesterday putting out plants and planting purple hull peas and okra in empty spots in garden, first peas came up and rabbits ate them (crawled under wire topping). okra came up and turned yellow because too cool. Came in after dark and waited on rain. None.

But when we started home from church today it started light rain. Ended up with 1/2”. Have been enjoying collard and turnip greens and fresh spinach. Squash is blooming. Flowerbeds have been gorgeous even though cooler than normal.

Campanula glomerata, isn't it, Jen? That's one of the best behaved of the bellflowers that I know of.

Farmgardener, that sounds like my luck..except most of my problems are slugs. I adore the loose look of that blue flax (everything is nice..but blue flowers are special..lol)

We got two inches of rain today. So far.

Jen, it was a downpour on our way home from lunch. Several wrecks on the interstate.

Danny, we've got a rainy two weeks ahead of us.

Tomato diseases, anyone? I so wish I had found some straw before all of this started. It would have been nice to heavily mulch them.

Rick and I planted all of the peppers. That feels like an accomplishment. Now, just to keep them from drowning. We also planted the sweet potatoes. I'm really concerned about them and the mud.

The cardinal vines look bad. The first two were killed by that frost last month. The 2nd two are living, but really unhappy. They LOVE sun and heat. They thrived on the west side of the chicken coop and pen back in 2018.

During a break in the rain, I untwined them and moved them to the greenhouse. They are in large pot. I'll probably put them elsewhere. Just have to find a place that has something for them to climb.

The garden is planted now, other than the roselle and melons.

Oh, and a few herbs still in the greenhouse.

This will be a crazy week. It's the last week of school. Hopefully next week will bring some calmness to my life. My plan is to work 2 weekdays and half a day on Sunday. Let's hope that all works out.

Beautiful flowers, Jen and farmgardener!

I planted stuff... hmmm what all was it? zinnias, dianthus, basil, and marigolds yesterday. Just in time, for a nice slow rain watering. Only 1/2" so far.

I also finished drying stuff. Recently I dried parsley, peppermint and last night lemon balm. Next will be oregano. :)

Even so I thought I had all the oregano planted... I found 8 more under the seat on the front porch. After the rain today I may survey how many didn't actually make it, and replace them.

I was sooo ready for this rain. My lovely clay rich soil had started to crack. Now, I should be able to pull this crap up. :)

I have such a lovely crop of it... LOL

but I was sure lucky this morning, as it didn't start to sprinkle till I got home from my bike ride.

Moni

My house gardens look pretty good. The contender green beans my great grandson and I planted last Saturday are coming up, I now have 21 tomatoes, 30 + peppers, 15 Moselle, and 81 sweet potatoes. In my home gardens. I am not sure what I have in the wildlife, but still have a lot to plant over there. I have taken all my extra plants to my neighbor. We both still have a lot of seers to plant, plus over a 100 sweet potatoes. My wildlife garden is just now getting dry enough to plant, and it is supposed to start raining tonight

Jen, farmgardener, the flowers are beautiful.

Danny, I think so. My mother in law dug some from her mom's house last year or year before & sent it to me. It never popped up so I thought it was dead, then this year some mystery plant came up. If this is "well behaved" then I hate to see how the uncontrolled ones do.

HJ, the cardinal climber I got from you has a bloom already. I'm trying to get it to go around a trellis behind my rose bush. If it grows, the red should make a pretty backdrop for the yellow & pink roses.

Larry, I think it would be nice to have a neighbor like that. Someone to share gardening with. One of mine has a garden & I've tried to engage her, but they also have five kids under the age of 10 (yikes!) so she doesn't have a lot of free time.

Farmgardener, beautiful flowers. What are the blue ones?

Okay, Danny, you have to be sure to tell us what you're picking up in Joplin. The sensitive briar is exquisite. I was feeling glad I don't have good growing conditions for it and then remembered the ex driveway where we threw the prickly pear cactus and cholla. hmmmmm.

I ony have four more flats of plants to put in containers or the ground. Tomorrow is the day.

I just saw what I think is a red-headed woodpecker on one of the bird feeder trees. I've not seen one here before. Very pretty.

And then I got busy, cleaned up the mess up to today, and then we took off for Muskogee. High winders coming back with rain. . . I doubt if we got more than a half inch or so. Lots of twigs and small branches littering the lawn.

Nancy, it can cope with quite a bit of moisture (haven't you learned that from my gardening..I always live in a mud pile (seems that way)?). I can assure you enough lived in my wet meadow with the leopard frogs and the crayfish, to do the common name proud (devil's shoestrings) and bloody ankles.

Oh, just some fillers mainly (couple of hibiscus species, common milkweed (which has persisted because it's aggressive here, but hasn't bloomed, will try a different siting), camassia scilloides, melanthium virginicum (bunchflower lily, new one for me), monarda bradburiana, phlox glabberima (my phlox maculata either died in two place this winter/spring, or has yet to come up despite 3-4 years in ground, so trying another species too), solomon's seal (for the really wet place under overhang)). I wanted Queen of the Prairie, but waited a couple of days too long to order and it was out.

I've worked harder than usual the past 3 days. Only 2 1/2 flats left to transplant. Weeding here and there, mulching with old alfalfa hay, filling up new planters. (Those mineral tubs take a LOT of potting soil--and that's WITH old logs and straw.) Here's one thing I am not!--I am not any good at putting together container plants. Oh to heck with it.

That's an amazing looking flower, Jen. I had no idea bellflowers could look like that. Just beautiful.

And your flowers are gorgeous, too, farmgardner. Had to laugh at your planting woes--I'm sure a lot of us are shaking our heads in agreement with that kind of situation. But by golly, you have some beautiful flowers there. I have nothing much yet. They're beginning to flower, one by one.

HJ, I hope your work schedule can unfold as you're planning it. That will be so awesome!

Danny, I have come to think you're just about as bad as anyone here--okay, worse! Maybe on the level of Dawn--at enabling people. I am so enjoying your expertise with the natives! And want to buy every one you mention.

Larry, you often comment about your poor luck with the gardens, but always post such beautiful garden photos. So just knock it off.

My hodgepodge vegetable garden so far is just that. I don't have much room. I plan to put mostly Contender beans, a watermelon plant, and a cantaloupe in what's left of the spaces. The onions and garlic look just great--I am regretting I didn't plant more of each. I'm keeping an eagle eye on GDW and don't want him getting anywhere near the asparagus regarding weed-pulling. Meanwhile, I counted 10 altogether that have come up now. I am excited!

These photos are my great laughs! The best plants I have, I think, are the leftovers and volunteers around the veggie beds. The malva sylvestris are magnificent. Well one is. The other would be if something hadn't been munching on it. Now I've got cages spread around them. CANNOT figure out who did that. I would have thought deer. . . but down next to the deck, right behind some Asian lilies, there's another malva that has also been munched. I know deer LOVE those lilies. There's a fishing line fence in front of both. Doesn't seem likely a deer would have reached over and past the lilies. I'm a bit puzzled. Any guesses? It had to be a critter that could reach 3 feet high with no problems. Aggh.

I laugh at the malva because Amy and I had agreed they were such a great plant. But this "great plant" came up as a volunteer in a raggedy place. GDW and I are highly amused.

Also a magnificent Giant mustard going to flower. . .

and funniest are the 8-12 cilantro plants growing outside the veggie bed areas. . if you look closely, you can see at least 10 cilantro clumps. And the beautiful white flowers inside the veggie bed area? Cilantro going to seed. All these cilantro plants are featured with Lynn in mind!

My salad garden in deck containers has been wildly successful! I will plan to keep this going. Only thing missing are a few onions planted in the mix so I can just cut scallions as I'm cutting lettuce.

I’m alive! Still in vaccination hell with work. Y’all get those shots!

Nancy, I still have 2 malva Mauritania for you.

I’ll come back with pictures on my phone, but I wanted to ask about something. Several of my tomato pots have a hard crust on top of the soil. I refreshed them the same way as I usually do, with composted chicken poop, mushroom compost, and a bit of potting mix. Maybe too much compost? The plants in them are not doing well at all.

All these flowers...and mine are still newly emerged (more or less) because of cold weather. You all must have been so much warmer than we are.

Same here, Danny.

Everyone must be busy like me! I just sat down for the day and it's it's almost the next day. LOL

What is vaccination hell, Rebecca? and I like your pictures! Pretty!

Does anyone recognize this? I think I picked it up at the SF. Last week I found it in the greenhouse under a frost blanket I had accidentally dropped on it. It was half dead but is coming back. No idea what it is or who gave it to me.

Jen did you bring any of the mystery plant to SF? I have a mystery plant that I posted here and in the Facebook group and no one has fessed up to what it is. It was shoved into my hands by Paula maybe when she was trying to clear the free-for-all table. As well as I can see leaves in your pictures, I think it might be the same. Whatever it is, it won’t get planted until I know what it is. I’m old enough to know better and apparently also old enough that I do care! Lol

I have been incredibly busy both in the garden and with work. The whole PE teaching is still happening too. I did get myself a teacher appreciation gift... a new iWatch. I was able to get one through my health insurance. If I meet weekly move goals and other wellness tasks, they make that months payment. If I don’t, then I make the payment. Should keep me motivated once PE is actually over. Only problem is that the band is white, so I kept my old watch for garden work. I’m not missing out on all That work counting toward my “move goal.”

The kiddo got her first covid vaccine on Friday. Other than a sore arm, she had no side effects. Her next one is in 2 weeks, then my whole house is fully vaccinated. I’m grateful because I return to working in the office in June and have coworkers who worry about taking it home to kids too young to be vaccinated. A lot of our other coworkers pish-posh that concern but as a mom, I sympathize with that fear that we’re just one variant away from one that harms our babies. So, I feel for them but grateful I will no longer need to sweat it.

I continue to be much drier than you all. I had 1/2“ on Sunday/Monday and 3/4“ yesterday.

A lot is on the brink of blooming, but keeps teasing me. Plains coreopsis and Ratibida could bloom any day. Milkweeds - tuberosa and antelope horn - could go any day too. Rudbeckia grandiflora, the one that resembles echinacia, has sent up flower stalks but is still a bit away. The coreopsis cultivar I have all over is starting to bloom and so is the gaura.

My lettuce is getting tall and some appears to be preparing to bolt. I found a food pantry that says they accept fresh produce donations from gardeners. I’m hoping to hear back as I have more than enough to feed me and the neighborhood. A couple of my dill plants looked to be sending up flower stalks but I think those were ones that were otherwise stressed.

Tomatoes... well, this has been my best year ever for fruit set. I worry a little about BER since I know a lot of fruit can tax a plant but it’s well amended, good soil, so I need to stop borrowing trouble and just revel in the masses of green tomatoes on the vines so far.

i just realized how late it is. Even though I could ramble on, I should go get a kiddo and dogs down for bed.

I DO know what it is!! Will post tomorrow.

I have learned not to id things when I'm sleepy, but I shall make the effort and probably have egg on my face. Rudbeckia laciniata is my submission.

Y’all I am having problems with gw hou. It won’t refresh half the time and then I see 3 days worth. It’s nuts. I did so much in the garden yard today I am completely exhausted.

It's not tomorrow, but I second Danny's submission.

Nancy, by my calendar, it is most certainly tomorrow. It turns over at midnight, right ? :)

Is this normal? I had some onions that were sprouting late last fall,so I thought I would replant them and harvest some seed. It has been at least 10 years since I have been able to buy bulk onion seeds around here.

I am guessing that all the rain I have been getting is causing the seed to sprout on the plant?

I don't grow often, and only one time before from seed because I could buy bulk seed so cheap. What has been your experience with onions,and growing from seed?

It's producing bulbils.

Thanks, Nancy and Danny.

I have a rudbeckia but it's called Hirta? It's from seed that I got from Alexis. It's leaves are different from this plant.

Maybe this one (the pictured one) is from Jen....

I can't remember.

Rudbeckia hirta, native black eyed susan.

Danny, thanks, now I have another question, do all onions produce bulbilis? These are from bulging onions. I am not sure which ones. I always plant 1015Y, or something about the same. The Egyptian Walking onion ( next to these always produces bulbilis ), but I was under the impression that building onions came from seed and walking onions,or tree onions come from bulbilis. I also planted some onion sets this year, do the sets come from bulbilis or seed?

Thanks, Larry.

That one IS from Jen, Jennifer. I decided I had to have one, also, after reading the description. Rudbeckia hirta is a traditional clumping black-eyed Susan. . . Gets to be about 2.5-3' high, and 2' in diameter. Mine always developed mildew, so I took it out. But I planted rudbeckia submentosa at school and it was wonderful! I preferred it to hirta--more flowers, no mildew. Maybe it was because of the location. . . anyone else have experience with other rudbeckias. The one you got from Jen (LOL, Jen/Jennifer. . . so confused now), rudbeckia laciniata, should be even more spectacular, which is why I ordered one, too. (That's why I knew yours was laciniata--and Jen offered to meet up with me to hand off another one, but I had already ordered mine by then.)

Haha, Danny. I could have sworn I posted that before falling asleep last night. I give up.

Day before yesterday we power-washed the deck. What a JOB. The job part was moving everything--there's a lot of stuff out there on that long long deck--and then moving it all back. Three tables, 20 or so chairs, grills, the wood porch swing and junk junk junk. I'd like to get a cabinet to house some of the junk, but haven't been able to find an affordable one I like. I didn't like some of the things the guy who built this house did, but I love that he left 1/3 of the deck unroofed.

In 2019 I won Dawn's door prize. It was a set of 3 heavy, lovely candles in ceramic holders on a ceramic tray. I had it sitting on one of the empty tables and so wiped it off. It set me to thinking about Dawn and I was inexplicably sad; perhaps the all-day rain and gray skies played a part. But the transience of life was weighing on me--not in a bad way, just in a reflective way.

I saw that a couple of onions had bulbils. . . not especially happy about that. It seems that every year I have some sort of misadventure with onions. This year, though I planted them at exactly the right time, I planted them too deep--I don't know what I was thinking. Clearly, I wasn't.

Well, Jennifer, two more days of school and then you're home free!

Yep, also known as cutleaf coneflower. It's gorgeous, just plant somewhere it can grow. And Nancy, it's a good thing you ordered one. Mine are now about 2ft tall and I'm not sure I could dig one out at this point.

I now have baby tomatoes on most of the plants I picked up at SF, and the ones I grew have now doubled in size. They really need to grow faster lol. I'm ready for tomato sandwiches!

Well here's what followed me home from the Master Naturalist sale (pre-order event) that I mentioned on Sunday. Most belong to Donna (three more than belong to me). Oh...and my car needs to be vacuumed out...three pots turned over on the way home.

As a rule, my don't they look nice?

Oh my, they do. And my mother is probably turning over in her grave at all the dirt in her once-pristine car.

Megan's post just showed up for me.

Megan, our SG tomatoes have fruit! Most plants have multiple fruit. When did that happen? lol.

Nancy, today was the last day of school. After we get Mason moved out of her house this weekend, I should get some rest and things done. SO looking forward to it.

Last night I was able to plant some flowers and herbs. I'm late getting all the pretty stuff planted.

Tonight, Rick and I mulched the tomatoes in the SG. We also got one row of trellises up.(I know that isn't written well but I'm tired. that's how this post will be and I'm not going to fix anything. lol)

I am SO sick of aphids. They are EVERYWHERE. For some reason my property is a magnet for aphids. The ladybug population is growing. We have numerous ladybugs and ladybug babies too. But the aphids are NUTS.

There are/were literally thousands on my small patch of snow peas. I shake them off and they climb right back up. I try to squish them all with my fingers. I feel like I have them in my hair and in my cloths. UGH. They are the lime green ones.

Well, this generation of aphids will be born pregnant, so...they multiply fast. Some warm dry weather would benefit the ladybugs in controlling them and slowing them down. Alternatively you can spray them off with the hose..their soft bodies are often damaged by a powerful spray, though I'm not sure anything needs more water right now.

Anything you do may/could also affect predators trying to help you as well, not just pesticide.

Happy heavenly birthday to our matriarch mentor and sweet friend, Dawn. I miss her every day when I read the posts.

Remember what I was just saying yesterday???? Crazy. Well, I had a question early on today, so googled the subject followed by okie dawn. My memory is shot! What was it! Well the main point was that a GW post by okie dawn popped up, and I read her long discussion on it--oh I know--it was on easiest vegetables to grow.

But then when I checked in on FB, there, front and center, was the notice that today is her birthday. And so I shed tears. How lucky were all of us who benefitted from her kindness and knowledge. I am so thankful for finding her--and all of you.

Oh my gosh. . . as I was thinking of her yesterday and today. . .worked so hard in the house AND in the yard. I wanted the deck and yard to look nice for the trail of people who were going to be passing through tomorrow. Getting the lawn mowed proved to be quite the challenge since it has been rainy all week. Since it runs off our yard except toward the back corners, I found a 3-hr window of slightly windy and no rain yesterday and slammed out the enormous ex-driveway and immediate back yard. GDW took pity and asked if I wanted some help in the immediate, and I said, "PLEASE!" I hardly ever accept his help. But was grateful for it yesterday. Then, we had another break of about 3 hours today! And I told him I thought I could slam out the small front yard. Meanwhile, he was weed-eating. I was thinking about Dawn then, too. She never gave a clue that she was in pain or having trouble. But she HAD to be, I would think. And so thinking about that enabled me to get a lot of work done today. Cleaning bathrooms, finishing cleaning on the deck, vacuuming part of the living room, cleaning out the fridge, mowing the front lawn, doing a couple loads of wash.

Then a note from our friends at the marina saying they were going to cancel the poker run tomorrow and move it to June 5. I laughed SOOOOOOO hard! Perfect! Got all our deck and house stuff caught up. We get to clean again a bit the week before June 5, but meanwhile, we get to enjoy how spiffy the deck looks.

I have a lot of containers and a lot of BIG containers outside--something like a dozen or so. None are native plants. Several are ornamental peppers and/or lettuce/kale/chard. But though I'd like to have a professional container planter person come do these for me, still doesn't look too bad.. Just got a several more sweet potato slips from SESE that I'll have to get to the school tomorrow (except it's supposed to rain all day), or maybe Sunday. Still have a FEW peppers to plant somewhere. I guess here and at school.

Well, love to you all. Later.

Well, it's been a whole week of rain for me (yes, 7 days) and the sprouting silver maple forest in the lawn taunts me, knowing if I don't get them soon, they'll be mature enough (lol) to resprout over and over again. But it's a mudball out there. I didn't even get to wage my war on the virginia creeper invading the lawn and flower bed yesterday because it rained ALL day, despite not suppossed to rain at all yesterday.

And then it wasn't suppossed to rain today, now it says showers...I wonder if that means 5 or more hours of rain? (yes, exasperated at the weather)

Nancy, I can relate. I only do a good cleaning when expecting company, which for me...umm is about once a year. Well, this year, my two best friends (both named Michael, to be confusing huh), were involved with family weddings and not likely to visit. That means no impetus to do a mass cleaning...which is really bad news because I might die when my clutter produces an avalanche. Well, my friend Donna revealed she's coming in two weeks (I told her that would be the minimum to produce the cleaning affect, and otherwise she wasn't allowed in the house)....so I'm saved. I started cleaning yesterday.

Being as she's never been here, and we typically meet at Stilwater (Bustani), I think she's going to more appreciate how long that drive is for me. (evil grin)

Ok, I think when I went to bathroom I saw things that needed some spray and paper towels...excuse me.

I used to spend a MONTH cleaning before my mother in law came. Anything that was out of place last minute was in a laundry basket in the garage. House hasn't had a deep clean since she passed 15(?) years ago. Nancy, I'm sorry the event was put off, was it due to the rain?

I walked around my garden yesterday, it doesn't look bad. I don't think we've had as much rain as some places, but it's dreary, damp ands still not warm. The beans Ron planted are up. We need a week without appointments or family drama to get some things done!

Don't let Nancy fool you, her containers are always lovely.

before Christmas we bought a lift chair because I had issues getting out of the chair we bought about 2 years ago. It's electric and incredibly uncomfortable, hard as a rock. Twice now the power has gone off while I was sitting in it. Seriously it ought to have a special way to close it in a power outage! Maybe it does? Wonder if I have a manual. It is also slow, no way to jump up and do anything while the footrest goes down. I really hate to buy a 3rd chair after only 2 years!

Danny, really, pregnant aphids, LOL, don't need to hear that. The Facebook group is upset about aphids and ants and BIRDS! How dare birds poop on the patio....

I was a little taken aback when I saw Dawn's birthday come, Nancy, you are so...plugged in...feeling her before knowing it was her birthday!

Larry, I think one of the walking onion bulbils found it's way to a spot next to your bulbing onion.

Rarely am I ever "plugged in," Amy. lol And yep, the event was postponed because of rain. BTW, it quit raining about 11. Could have easily had it. Isn't that par for the course! I howled at your MIL comment. You're so funny!

What a major pain about the lift chair! And the other chair. That reminds me of my crap-shoot buying experiences on Amazon. I HATE that. Still. . . your comfort is important! Maybe you could sell the other two chairs and recoup some of your money. Garry is regretting buying the wood chipper--that was an expensive regret. I'm regretting buying the Roomba, another expensive regret. It would be lovely if we didn't have 3 cats and a dog. But we do. Even running it once a day, I have to empty the filter at least twice. And that's not really all that simple. To work for us, we'd need a large industrial-sized Roomba. We might try to sell both those items. (I told him, "Then we could go buy a used golf cart!" Big laugh. It would be fun, except neither of us cares to go tooling around the neighborhoods out here.)

Danny, is your yard pretty big? It surely is, with all the plants you acquire! How long does it take you to get to Bustani's? Yeah, fixing our house took about 2 weeks. Now we have the "event" in 2 more weeks. I bet I can easily trash the deck or house in 2 weeks. Nope nope. Can't do it. I think I can manage not to trash the deck.

I was later than most of you, Megan, in getting the tomatoes and peppers transferred to the raised beds, so they're slow. And I LOVE the gray mineral tubs! Don't the rest of you, too? My biggest thrill is seeing TEN asparagus plants that sprouted. Yay. Yesterday, I decided I should investigate and see if cilantro is invasive in OK! LOL Serious--it is sprouting everywhere. Pretty amusing.

Well HJ, you're a good person, helping the kids move. You get the gold star this weekend.

Later, all.

Amy, they are not the same as the walking onions, but I planted some of the little onions in a pot anyway, should have let them mature more, will watch and see what happens.

I would like to plant more plants and seeds in the garden, but too wet.

Parthenogenesis is a weird thing. But, I won't go down that trail (in how it relates to other species besides aphids).

Aphids are kicking my butt. I understand why people get so frustrated by them. Ladybugs do eat them, but sometimes they can't keep up. I just try to squish them with my fingers and shake them off the plants gently (so as not to disturb ladybugs eggs). Then try to smash them with my fingers onto the soil. They starts crazily climbing back up the plants. There's 10's of thousands of them. Maybe more.

They can and will destroy plants, so it's frustrating. It's too bad rolly polies don't eat them. And the flies that are buzzing around the pea plants. I suspect the flies are enjoying the honeydew.

Other than that, things are looking pretty good. I look forward to next week and getting caught up on some things.

I need to do a deep clean of several rooms in my house too. Because the dogs no longer sleep in the utility room, it will receive a deep clean. I can't wait to get that done.

The bathroom remodel is taking so long. There's no point in working on the house until it's complete, though.

It it making me crazy. I'm one of those people who need a tidy and clean house to feel comfortable. At times I almost don't want to leave work because my house is so uncomfortable to me now. And y'all know I love my home. I think it's because my mind is so cluttered that a tidy environment is a relief.

It's been a busy day. I took my Mom and her friend to the airport. E was confirmed and I went to his confirmation. Went grocery shopping. Will help M & M tomorrow afternoon after work with their move. It's almost done....just need to do the final clean and last minute things.

I was happy to see the cardinal climber made it's first bloom. I put them into large pots and decided to put them into the greenhouse until the sun begins to shine and the rain wanes a bit. They were struggling.