Vivien
Vivien, I've never heard of "busy lizzies." What are they and how did they get that name?
BBB
Re: BBB
BumbleBeeBoogie wrote:Since I can't dig planting holes, my contractor, Henry, planted 40 miniature roses in my front yard. They will provide a carpet of multi-colored tiny roses soon.
We planted Asiatic lily bulbs, Spirea plants, hardy blue Geraniums, Caryopteris plants and several clematis vines in the rear yard.
After Henry removes a diseased Pinion pine tree on Thursday, three tree Peonies will be planted in the spot in the rear yard.
My task, which I can manage, will be to plant Blueberry plants in pots and add about 100 strawberry plants to those I planted last year in the raised plant Henry built for me. Frost-tender Dahlais and multi-color Calla Lilies also be planted in pots. I also want to buy some tomato plants in pots so I can enjoy good tomato flavor as I did last year.
We had an unusual amount of rain and show this winter in Albuquerque, which produce a huge crop of weeds. Both yards are now pretty weed-free---at least for a month. Now if I can keep Maddy and Dolly from digging up the new plants, I will have lovely plant colors this year.
BBB
This sounds good. I love those miniature roses... and all those berries? Yum!
Piffka
Piffka, I couldn't have gotten my garden additions in the ground without Henry's help. He normally doesn't do this sort of work, but he does it for me. I contracted a really nasty cold last week and have been very sick. Working outside was out of the question. I felt good enough yesterday to give Henry instructions re what and where to plant and that was about all I could manage. I'm getting better each day but this nasty bug takes about a month for full recovery.
BBB
Sorry you've been sick, BBB. Your yard does sound gorgeous!
Ooh, ouch, ouch, ouch!
I am stiff and sore all over. We spent the entire weekend planting. The gardener who was supposed to do it called in sick Saturday morning, so there we were with $300+ worth of bedding plants, mulch and assorted gorgeous goodies. Couldn't let them waste away waiting for the sick guy to get well, so we did it ourselves. I'm getting a bit old for this, but at least SonofEva is getting old enough to help now.
Spent a lot of yesterday in the whirlpool. Today it's painkillers and on with the show.....
But the yard DOES look wonderful! Window boxes, English garden & borders all planted now. Impatiens, dusty miller, geraniums, herbs, tomato plants, and lots of annuals....it's a rainbow out there. Especially with the azaleas, dogwoods and redbuds all blooming right now.
We just had the front porch roof rebuilt. It also serves as a balcony across the front of the house. We put in a ceiling fan with a remote control while we were at it, and moved a radio out there. I've bought new all-weather wicker furniture over the past couple of years with nice, thick cushions. The Eva Family had a picnic out there Sunday night to cap off all our hard work. Listened to Garrison Keillor on NPR while we enjoyed the porch swing and the new rocking chairs. I think I'll take the cordless phone out to the front porch this afternoon and curl up on the chaise while I wait for the tax accountant to call with the (hopefully good) news. I wonder if taking the phone out there would qualify the porch for a tax exemption as an outdoor conference room?
Ah well, it's so gorgeous out there now...it was worth the work.
Sounds great, Eva. Vivien's does too. I wish my yard was in better shape. <sigh> So much work and so much dratted rain just now.
BBB -- Did you see The Independent article on Vitamin C this morning? Makes me want to take some mega-doses of Vitamin C double-quick. Hope you feel better soon.
Piffka
Piffka, my immune system usually protects me from colds. I get flu shots and have had my pneumonia shot. I get lots of vitimins, but nothing protected me against this nasty bug. Even my physician and her nurse got the dratted bug and it took a month to recover. It's going through Albuquerque right now and is considered one of the worst cold bugs in years.
BBB
Uh-oh. We had something similar around Christmas. It was truly awful and did last a month! Ugh.
BBB sympathy! I had that bug in January and felt like death walking and it took ages to get better.
Busy Lizzie's are simply cheap and cheerful Impatiens.
My new Acer is looking lovely - it has these lovely red stems and the spring leaves are just out and bright lime green, they go beautiful colours in the autumn,
Sorry about you guys being ill. Take care of yourselves. Spring is here!
It's been raining so much here in GA, I haven't had much of a chance to get my barrels and raised beds ready for planting. Hopefully it'll dry out and I'll be able to get to that in the next few days because I'd like to get my veggies in the dirt this weekend.
In the meantime, my hostas are flourishing.
I hope everyone feels better today. So far so good on the pink petunias I planted. They look like little splashes of pink among the early globes of green in the perenial beds. It's turned much cooler this week, more April-like so my pansies are loving it.
A few of my hostas are popping through and the astilbe is starting to show signs of life. Ah, spring.....
J_B -- the mystery flowers have bloomed and they are definitely virginia bluebells. Amazing job, thanks!!!!!!
Now I have to decide whether to leave them or not. They seem to be a wildflower -- I doubt they were planted. They're all over. They're big. Any suggestions?
Basically, I'm all for wildflowers, but don't want to crowd out other stuff (and I'm still discovering what "other stuff" might be -- columbine are about to bloom!!!)
They're perfect because they go dormant in about a month and completely disappear until next year, allowing everything else to have their time of glory. I'd suggest leaving them, but if you pull them out, I have a perfect spot for them!
Keep them for sure!
We now have chionoxa and grape hyacinth blooming in the garden. And, wood hyacinths and trillium are in various stages of growth.
I'm going to venture out into the north bed today. It's close to the house and a full month behind the south bed. It should be a muddy, wonderful day.
I have a mystery plant that has been blooming for a week or so -- a small shrub I bought a year ago. It has dark glossy leaves, white cluster flowers with a citrus smell. You'd think it was a lemon, but it couldn't be.
The native dogwoods are at their height in Puget Sound. Driving around last evening it was stunning to see them. Here's a picture that doesn't begin to show their glory. Tree after tree outlined in full white regalia on the edge of the dark firs stands:
Finally have two little yellow crocusi in bloom.
Tap tap tap.
I know it's actually too early to really expect much here, but tap tap tap.
eastern lake ontario : lots of daffs, crocus and snowdrops in bloom. hedge-plants sending out shoots, even rosebushes setting buds. temperature rose to about 15 C, but the wind coming across lake ontario is still quite icy, needed sweater and jacket when we went for a walk by the lake. hbg
back from a stroll on the beach with the dogs - a reward for all of us after a trip to the vet
about 50 scilla popped this afternoon - the fern started unfurling - the dogwood, spirea and saskatoon berry have leaf buds - the climbing rose has little red buds all the way to the roof of the porch
there is hope!
Wow, our ferns take a while to get going - way after crocus and daffs, well, pretty much after anything that blooms in spring.
I planted a few primroses in a neighbor's bed and raked up left over leaves in my beds today. I also moved some blue-eyed grass and iris which were all getting too little sun. Every one of the clematis I planted last year have kicked into gear..... very exciting!
