Spring-2016 Gardening anyone? What do you plant? or not?

MoochNNoodles

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I think I have a problem.  I can't stop buying them.  My Mom picked my kids up before I had an appointment on Friday and she told me how she'd had hired a neighbor to clean our her flower beds and mulch around trees and things. She told me she planted red white and blue flowers.  So i walk into Walmart after my appointment and what do I see?  A hanging basket of calibrachoa in red white and blue.  Happy belated mother's day to my Mom.  (I didn't see her on Mother's day.)  The flowers are red and white and the "chain" part of the pot is covered in red white and blue beads.  

Walmart had absolutely no hanging pots.  Someone was rearranging the pots and said he'd had none in.  I'm not sure where to try.  Or if I can find just a replacement for the hanging part.  He broke on of the plastic cords that makes it hang.  I like those pots because you water from the bottom. They work well; especially for hanging plants! 
 

Margret

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I think I have a problem.  I can't stop buying them.  My Mom picked my kids up before I had an appointment on Friday and she told me how she'd had hired a neighbor to clean our her flower beds and mulch around trees and things. She told me she planted red white and blue flowers.  So i walk into Walmart after my appointment and what do I see?  A hanging basket of calibrachoa in red white and blue.  Happy belated mother's day to my Mom.  (I didn't see her on Mother's day.)  The flowers are red and white and the "chain" part of the pot is covered in red white and blue beads.  

Walmart had absolutely no hanging pots.  Someone was rearranging the pots and said he'd had none in.  I'm not sure where to try.  Or if I can find just a replacement for the hanging part.  He broke on of the plastic cords that makes it hang.  I like those pots because you water from the bottom. They work well; especially for hanging plants! 
I got a hanging container for a pot at Home Depot, but it's not very satisfactory.  The chain is too short for my purpose.  I finally gave up and went to the grocery store for some cotton clothes line.  I'll macrame something that fits.

Margret
 

Norachan

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It's going to be nice when it all grows in @foxycat  I have some little clumps of creeping phlox too, only a few small clumps as it's only been there since last year. Over here it's called shibuzakura, which means lawn blossom. I like that name. Creeping phlox sounds like some kind of disease that people died of in Charles Dickens novels.



There is a park near here with huge carpets of the stuff.

 
 
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foxxycat

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Peonie next to the strawberry bed-the rock wall is the cats playground
 


Yucka Plant-these have been here since  I have been here-then the lilac trees-two different kinds-one is traditional purple then some old fashioned ones that I think are pink or white-I cant remember. Then some kind of shrub that grows in the trunk with the lilac and we need to cut it down before it takes off. There are tiger lilies behind those but Have been digging them up and giving away-since I know lilies are not good for cats-so far only a handful left to get rid of-I may just stick them in a bag and put a free sign on them or put them in the compost pile. Behind the rock wall where the lilacs are is where we dump compost. I put soil down there once a month and turn it every season-there is usually some nice fresh dirt below the pile that I shovel out every summer. we don't waste greenery or old veggies..it all gets tossed and buried.
 

MoochNNoodles

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I have now found 4 holes from yellow jackets in my garden!  I'm almost done prepping the ground and 1 bed is planted.  When i was weeding and pulling roots I noticed a hole about the size of my pinky in the soil.  At the end was an actual yellow jacket!  It was alive; but it didn't fly off.  thanks to my google search I'm pretty sure they were males.  I didn't find any actual nests under the ground; just the yellow jackets themselves.  So I'm working out there totally covered up as I finish prepping the ground!!

Does anyone know what I can do to deter them!?  I'm mildly allergic to bees.  I don't want to know how I might react to one of them!!

(I also removed a huge ant colony full of larvae today. 
  I was NOT prepared for all that right in the corner of a raised bed.  If you drove by you'd have seen me running around with a shovel of dirt in one hand trying to find a bag to toss them into.  
)
 

angels mommy

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[SIZE=3[/SIZE] Well, I haven't posted bere in a while, (still having computer issues), but my sunflowers are out & growing. I can't wait to see how tall they get. A lot came up! I also have a couple of gladiolas coming back. The amarillas are done blooming for now, I think. I am still baffled at where they came from. I have never, ever planted them, & they were never there before I dug up the garden. At first I thought a client must have given me some seeds along with some others she gave me, but she said no, amarillas are large bulbs. So, I have no idea how they got there! Someone here suggested that maybe they are from Angel, & I'd like to think that too. [emoji]128522[/emoji] There was one on each end, like book ends.

And the hydragea I bought in Angels memory is doing really well! I'll put that in the ground in the fall. I wanted it in a pot while it was small, & up by my door. [emoji]128522[/emoji]
 

MoochNNoodles

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My soul-kitty Glory passed away at the end of January.  She was buried in my mother's backyard.  That spring some wild flowers; tiny daisy looking ones, grew up over where she was buried!  I did leave some flowers on her grave shortly after she passed; just a simple grocery store type daisy bouquet.  So I assume that was how that happened.  But it was still really a beautiful sight to find! 


The hydrangeas are very pretty too!  Is that one that stays small?
 

Draco

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My soul-kitty Glory passed away at the end of January.  She was buried in my mother's backyard.  That spring some wild flowers; tiny daisy looking ones, grew up over where she was buried!  I did leave some flowers on her grave shortly after she passed; just a simple grocery store type daisy bouquet.  So I assume that was how that happened.  But it was still really a beautiful sight to find! 


The hydrangeas are very pretty too!  Is that one that stays small?
that is amazing! Must be comforting to see that too.

I bought flowers and planted in my parent's pots while they're on vacation (I am dog sitting). Part of my mom's mothers day present I do every year. I come home.. and see the darned dog pulled out every flower and chewed the heads off.. destroyed the spikes in one pot too. ugh!
 

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I got all of my pots out to plant yesterday. The wheelbarrow they were in tipped over and some of the pots broke. :sigh: So much for that. I'll have to go to the store before making another attempt.
 

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I got all of my pots out to plant yesterday. The wheelbarrow they were in tipped over and some of the pots broke.
So much for that. I'll have to go to the store before making another attempt.
That's annoying. But at least you have a good excuse for another trip to the gardening center.

 

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I have seen two wheeled wheelbarrows on sale someplace, my wheelbarrow keeps getting on it's side, like a cats when it's sunny, so I have thought about getting one of two wheeled variants, maybe such model stays better upright?
 

MoochNNoodles

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that is amazing! Must be comforting to see that too.

I bought flowers and planted in my parent's pots while they're on vacation (I am dog sitting). Part of my mom's mothers day present I do every year. I come home.. and see the darned dog pulled out every flower and chewed the heads off.. destroyed the spikes in one pot too. ugh!
Oooh!!  Naughty dog! 


I like the idea of a 2 wheel wheelbarrow.  We have the traditional kind and I find myself using my kids wagon to haul things instead.  Our yard is relatively flat; but even the slope we do have can make it harder to handle.  

I hope you find some nice new pots Karen.  Mine are all plastic; but I've had those break too.
 

angels mommy

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My soul-kitty Glory passed away at the end of January.  She was buried in my mother's backyard.  That spring some wild flowers; tiny daisy looking ones, grew up over where she was buried!  I did leave some flowers on her grave shortly after she passed; just a simple grocery store type daisy bouquet.  So I assume that was how that happened.  But it was still really a beautiful sight to find! :rbheart:

The hydrangeas are very pretty too!  Is that one that stays small?

That's really nice. I'm not sure if it is one that stays small or not. I'll have to find & look at the tag that came with it. I didn't know there was one that stayed small.
 

MoochNNoodles

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That's really nice. I'm not sure if it is one that stays small or not. I'll have to find & look at the tag that came with it. I didn't know there was one that stayed small.
I only recently noticed they have some that are supposed to stay on the smaller side (about 3' I think).  I keep seeing some at Lowes that are more purple than blue or pink and I LOVE the color.  DH and I were disucssing if we could put one or two of those in our yard and where so I started reading the tags better.  
 

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The color of hydrangeas depends on the pH of the soil. If it's acidic, the flowers will be blue. If it's alkaline, they will be pink. If the pH is neutral, they will be purple. You can change the color by adding acidifiers or sweetners (lime) to the soil. You can also have half the bush in each color.
 
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foxxycat

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The color of hydrangeas depends on the pH of the soil. If it's acidic, the flowers will be blue. If it's alkaline, they will be pink. If the pH is neutral, they will be purple. You can change the color by adding acidifiers or sweetners (lime) to the soil. You can also have half the bush in each color.
yep that is true! I have acidic soil here with the pine trees..just add pine needles to the soil for acidic conditions. I dont know any natural things to help lime the yard-I know wood ash is a great way to get your grass to grow better so maybe thats a natural lime additive? 

Home for the weekend and I hope to get motivated and get outside to continue weeding and adding compost to the beds before the plants get too tall. its too sunny to plant my flowers-need a good cloudy day so they dont get shocked and wilt. Or I can wait until dusk-I just prefer to transplant on cloudy wet days. 
 

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You can buy lime at garden centers and hardware stores. In parts of the country where the soil is too acidic, people spread it on their lawns. Here in Illinois, we have alkaline soil, so we never do that. Much of the substrate here is limestone.

It's sunny and warm today, so I'm going to plant my Magic Carpet spirea. Lilacs are blooming and they smell so sweet.
 
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foxxycat

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yep the lilacs smell like heaven here too. We have clay soil with pine trees everywhere. I have never limed the yard...if the grass doesnt grow I dont mind. its one less thing to deal with. I just finished eating some lunch and going to head into the sun as well. 
 

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My parents has a row of lilacs along one side of their back yard. If you have the back door open, you can smell it.. smells so nice!! Too bad they don't last too long if you cut it to bring it inside
 

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Yes, I have some of those Korean lilacs in a row in front of my house next to the front door. If I leave the front door open, the fragrance wafts through the house. Now, if I can just keep Mingo from scratching the screen door. He's all but shredded it. I wonder if there is cat-proof window screen.

Lilacs don't last long in the house because of the woody stems. If you mash the stem where you cut it, they will last a little longer.
 
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