This morning I went out, and started looking for signs of Spring. I'm happy to report that Spring has sprung. :biggrin: One of my 6 Hyacinths has broken ground. The Tiger Lillies are about an inch high. I'm not sure if I'm keeping those, I might mow them off. I found out recently that they are poisonous to pets. I've never had a problem with them, but I am worried now that I know. The worst thing is.... my Tiger Lillies are in the same area in my flower bed, as my cat nip crop. :o :spooked: So now that I know this I'm scared to death. The Tiger Lillies are most definitely gone. Before I do it though, I'm going to do some research.
I also looked at my berry bushes and grapes, and they all have little buds on them, so I'm guardedly optimistic. *fingers crossed* Hubby's peach tree has buds, so he'll be thrilled when I tell him LOL!!!
This is the update I'm most proud to report.... Champ's rose bush is green,and it's getting buds on it. :sweetheart: When it went dormant last fall I sat and cried. I know it seems stupid, but it was a kind of acceptance of her death, through the "death" (dormant stage) of her rose bush. I'm sooo glad it made it!!!! This is the most harsh Winter Illinois has had in about 30 years. I have to say,I was skeptical that the rose bush would survive.
I'm beginning to plan what I want to plant in the garden this year. I know I'm going to grow pumpkins. Last year, I had sooo much fun with that,I gotta do it again. :biggrin: I'm not sure what else I'm going to plant. I need to order the beneficial insects, and get that going, before it's too late.
This thread will be about Springtime planting and gardening. What are you going to plant this year??.........
Well I've mowed once and will have to do it again before next weekend. My rose bush is green again. I just recently read that roses like sandy soil and are drought tolerant to an extent so along with my grill for my b-day, I'll be buying some more rose bushes. I've also just heard that grapes like sandy soil too. I'm getting more eucalyptus for my back yard. I have an area that is really the pits! I'm trying to buy drought tolerant stuff to put there so the grass can start to spread there and not get washed away.
By the way, I bought an Easter Lily and want to plant it in the ground now. Do I have to wait for the thing to stop blooming or can I do it now?
I just ordered and should be getting soon Bridal White Spirea that I will plant fairly close together for a pretty hedge, a 50 piece bulb garden, daylillies, 2 Hydrangea trees, a river birch, creeping phlox, and an Old Fashioned Lilac. I'm getting some free items too. That ought to make my yard have a bit more curb appeal.
Wow!!! You're going to busy with all of that stuff to plant. I don't know about planting Easter Lilies. I've had them before, but they never made it to transplant stage. I'm extremely limited on what I can plant here. There are soooo many common plants, and flowers that are poisonous to pets. I love flowers but pet safety comes first. I don't have any house plants at all. The only things I can plant in the house are cat grass,and cat nip. As you can imagine, that stuff doesn't make it very long. The cats grass only makes it to an inch, because as soon as the cats know it's there, they nibble it down to the base. When I plant outside plants, they have to be raised, or built up from the ground, because cats love to take a ducer in the flower beds. :spooked:
We'll probably plant the same as usual. Tomato's, bell peppers, green onions, swiss chard, and radishes. We have a limited area and thats about all we can get into it. We do have some 55gal plastic barrels which were cut in half that we're gonna plant some cucumbers and zucchini in. We've also got some strawberries coming from Henry Fields because we ordered ever bearing a couple of years ago and they sent us the wrong ones so they're replacing them.
I'm thinking about making some beds. I need topsoil or planting soil and that might break the bank. I have bushes in the front that I would love to move but they are so big that I don't think I could do the job without killing them.
I noticed that some of the mint I planted last year is coming back. I was hoping it would grow and take over a little portion of my yard. My yard is so huge that I can live with something that will grow and spread so I have less to mow. We'll see.
Quote from: me on March 29, 2008, 03:17:14 PM
We'll probably plant the same as usual. Tomato's, bell peppers, green onions, swiss chard, and radishes. We have a limited area and thats about all we can get into it. We do have some 55gal plastic barrels which were cut in half that we're gonna plant some cucumbers and zucchini in. We've also got some strawberries coming from Henry Fields because we ordered ever bearing a couple of years ago and they sent us the wrong ones so they're replacing them.
What you need is some of those hanging plants, that come in the bag. You just add water and hang them up outside, and they grow right in the bag. They have flowers like that too. When you're limited on space thosewould be great, if they work like they're suppose to. I've never tried them before, but I see them on TV all the time. My Grandma used to plant Swiss Chard every year, she absolutely loved it. She had the greenest thumb in the world. I learned a lot from her. :yes:
Quote from: kimmi on March 29, 2008, 03:20:23 PM
I'm thinking about making some beds. I need topsoil or planting soil and that might break the bank. I have bushes in the front that I would love to move but they are so big that I don't think I could do the job without killing them.
I noticed that some of the mint I planted last year is coming back. I was hoping it would grow and take over a little portion of my yard. My yard is so huge that I can live with something that will grow and spread so I have less to mow. We'll see.
If you want something that spreads, you need to check into Creeping Phlox. Around here people plant it on the hilly side of the roads, so they don't have to mow the inclines. I don't know if it would grow where you live, but they are great for covering large areas. Not only are they pretty, but they smell soooo good. :yes:
Quote from: kimmi on March 29, 2008, 03:20:23 PM
I'm thinking about making some beds. I need topsoil or planting soil and that might break the bank. I have bushes in the front that I would love to move but they are so big that I don't think I could do the job without killing them.
I noticed that some of the mint I planted last year is coming back. I was hoping it would grow and take over a little portion of my yard. My yard is so huge that I can live with something that will grow and spread so I have less to mow. We'll see.
I found some stuff called Irish Moss that you can walk on too. It is low to the ground and has little tiny white flowers. It also comes in 3 different shades of green.
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on March 29, 2008, 06:05:11 PM
If you want something that spreads, you need to check into Creeping Phlox. Around here people plant it on the hilly side of the roads, so they don't have to mow the inclines. I don't know if it would grow where you live, but they are great for covering large areas. Not only are they pretty, but they smell soooo good. :yes:
I've got some coming to me. It was pretty inexpensive from the place I ordered from - 12 plants for $3.95. I hope it spreads like hell. I'm tired of the drainage ditches on both sides of my property. I'd like to get it in the bad part of my lawn too.
ME I'll have to look for the Irish Moss. Hell I'll take anything right now!
Quote from: kimmi on March 30, 2008, 12:30:18 AM
I've got some coming to me. It was pretty inexpensive from the place I ordered from - 12 plants for $3.95. I hope it spreads like hell. I'm tired of the drainage ditches on both sides of my property. I'd like to get it in the bad part of my lawn too.
ME I'll have to look for the Irish Moss. Hell I'll take anything right now!
Wow!!! That is a great price. I'm thinking about planting some of it myself. Where did you order your's? I need to check that out. I don't think I've ever seen it that cheap. You must really take your time when you pick out your flowers. :yes: I think your yard is going to be beautiful. When it's in full bloom, maybe you can post pictures? :biggrin:
burgess seed and plant company website - look them up. They are having a penny sale right now on some stuff.
I will post before and after pics. I really wanted to work on some things outside today but it is cold and rainy. I need to purchase a storage shed for my lawn stuff. I found one online at Home Depot that is made by Rubbermaid. Anyone have one? All the reviews say that people love theirs. I hate it that this place doesn't have a garage.
Cool, I'll check them out. :smile:
Thing are greening up pretty good here. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks, I can start planting. The stores in my area have just started putting up the greenhouses. We missed the Good Friday deadline on the potatoes, and I don't know if I'll plant any of those. I'm still not sure what flowers, or produce I'm planting. Pumpkins are a necessity. :yes:
I got a notification that our strawberry plants had shipped today so we'll be puttin' them in the ground in a few days..... :smile:
Quote from: me on April 02, 2008, 09:12:37 PM
I got a notification that our strawberry plants had shipped today so we'll be puttin' them in the ground in a few days..... :smile:
I hope you have good weather for planting. We're still getting frost here at night. I hate planting anything if there is a fear of frost. Hopefully, we wont have much more. :smile:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on April 03, 2008, 08:23:54 PM
I hope you have good weather for planting. We're still getting frost here at night. I hate planting anything if there is a fear of frost. Hopefully, we wont have much more. :smile:
If they get frost bitten I'll just email Henry Field's and tell 'em they sent the darn things too soon and they'll need to replace 'em.... :biggrin:
I had to stop at the local junk store today to buy a runner and they had roses 3 for $10. They are two year old plants that they chop down but have new growth. They looked alright so I got some and planted them. If they don't work, well they were only $3.33 a piece!!
Quote from: me on April 03, 2008, 08:25:39 PM
If they get frost bitten I'll just email Henry Field's and tell 'em they sent the darn things too soon and they'll need to replace 'em.... :biggrin:
Good plan. :thumbsup:
Quote from: kimmi on April 03, 2008, 10:02:26 PM
I had to stop at the local junk store today to buy a runner and they had roses 3 for $10. They are two year old plants that they chop down but have new growth. They looked alright so I got some and planted them. If they don't work, well they were only $3.33 a piece!!
Usually, the ones that are well established do better. They will probably make it. At that price it's definitely worth a shot. :yes:
If I have some time in the AM, I might just go get 3 more. I mean you can't beat that price. If the rose bush that I planted last year is any indication how roses will do in my yard, then I should have no problems. My friend had a huge bunch of three bushes that she dug up and took apart. I got one part and that sucker looked like hell for about a month but then came back to life. It looks great now! I would love to see a huge rose garden in my back yard! It would remind me of The Wedding - the sequel to The Notebook! :biggrin:
It is really greening up outside. I'm going out later today to look, and see if my rosebushes survived the Winter. I can't wait to plant the garden. :biggrin:
The whole yard has greened up this week. The Tiger Lillies are about 3 inches tall. I noticed Sunday that the Peonies are about 2 inches tall too. I think almost everything survived the Winter. I've got to plan what I want to plant in my garden. The beneficial insects should be coming soon. In a couple of weeks I think we're gonna have to mow. I love riding the Cub during mowing season. I pretend I'm on a big Alice Chalmer bebopping around. :biggrin:
The beneficial insects arrived today. The Lady Bugs are live. We bought 2000 of them. The Praying Mantis' come in an egg pouch, we bought 1000 of those. We also bought a big box of Nematodes. Nematodes cannot be seen by the naked eye. The Lady Bugs are in containers in the refrigerator. It's not warm enough to put them out, so you have to refrigerate them, so that they go dormant, until you're ready to release them. I'm not sure what hubby did with the other ones, he must have put them somewhere where the cats can't get them LOL!! OK, now we need warm weather. :yes:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on April 11, 2008, 10:47:12 PM
The beneficial insects arrived today. The Lady Bugs are live. We bought 2000 of them. The Praying Mantis' come in an egg pouch, we bought 1000 of those. We also bought a big box of Nematodes. Nematodes cannot be seen by the naked eye. The Lady Bugs are in containers in the refrigerator. It's not warm enough to put them out, so you have to refrigerate them, so that they go dormant, until you're ready to release them. I'm not sure what hubby did with the other ones, he must have put them somewhere where the cats can't get them LOL!! OK, now we need warm weather. :yes:
Hum, if you can't see Nematodes with the naked eye are you sure you got them? Just one of those dumb things that popped into my head. what are they anyway?
Quote from: me on April 11, 2008, 10:50:59 PM
Hum, if you can't see Nematodes with the naked eye are you sure you got them? Just one of those dumb things that popped into my head. what are they anyway?
:biggrin: That's not dumb at all..... that's the first thing I thought of, and the first thing my husband said LOL!!! I guess we just have to take their word. :biggrin:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on April 11, 2008, 10:58:56 PM
:biggrin: That's not dumb at all..... that's the first thing I thought of, and the first thing my husband said LOL!!! I guess we just have to take their word. :biggrin:
:biggrin:
Well, it sounds like we better keep our fingers crossed on the weather. I'm glad I haven't planted anything. I am however worried about the flowers that have broken ground. The apple tree is a concern too. It has buds on it. Last year, we had that late freeze when the apple tree was blooming, and it only had about 5 apples on it. I hope Champ's rose bush will be OK, it's been looking really good. Why does this crap always happen ? :mad:
Quote from: Dexter Morgan on April 12, 2008, 09:53:14 PM
Well, it sounds like we better keep our fingers crossed on the weather. I'm glad I haven't planted anything. I am however worried about the flowers that have broken ground. The apple tree is a concern too. It has buds on it. Last year, we had that late freeze when the apple tree was blooming, and it only had about 5 apples on it. I hope Champ's rose bush will be OK, it's been looking really good. Why does this crap always happen ? :mad:
All we can hope for is a breeze or some gentle rain.
I don't know if if we got below freezing or not last night? I will have to go out this afternoon and check things out. :yes:
It did get to 32 here. Sure is a bummer after those warm days.
Daffodil days...
Quote from: me on April 13, 2008, 03:33:48 PM
It did get to 32 here. Sure is a bummer after those warm days.
Tonight's low is suppose to be 29* YIKES!!! :spooked:
Quote from: Sunny on April 13, 2008, 05:22:53 PM
Daffodil days...
I love Daffodils. I don't have any but I think they're awful pretty. I planted Tulips last year, but I haven't checked to see if they came up. I'll have to check them. :yes:
My daughter has some in her yard and they were all bloomed out and real pretty last week.
I'd say we're probably going to have to mow by next weekend. The grass is growing at lightspeed. I'm hoping to release the beneficial insects in the next week or so. :biggrin:
We were noticing ours might need mowed sometime next week. I need to get some weeding done too before it gets beyond help.
Quote from: me on April 16, 2008, 10:09:13 PM
We were noticing ours might need mowed sometime next week. I need to get some weeding done too before it gets beyond help.
I need to prune some of the dead spots out of Baby's Breath bushes. Then I need to prune the bushes around the garage. OMG... I just thought of something that never occurred to me.... my Baby's Breath bushes are poisonous to cats!!!! :spooked: :spooked: :spooked: Why didn't I think of that? OMG!!!!! :spooked: :spooked: :spooked: :spooked:
I have a feeling you're going to do more than just prune the bush.
Quote from: me on April 17, 2008, 10:03:15 PM
I have a feeling you're going to do more than just prune the bush.
I can't believe I just realized that. Those bushes have been there since we moved here. I don't know if I should tear them out or not. We haven't had a problem with them so far. I'll have to think it through,and discuss it with Hubby. I haven't decided about the Tiger Lillies either yet. :no:
Are tiger lilies bad for cats too?
I am not a pet expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I would think that as long as they are being fed on a regular basis, they wouldn't go out in search of plants as food. Just a thought.
I have mowed 4 times now! I just did the back yard last night. I can't keep up with that monster! I keep dreaming that HGTV is going to come in and save me - put a pool in or a nice rock garden. I am just going to have to save up so that next spring and I redo my lawn. So expensive but it should be worth it once it is complete.
I made a boo boo yesterday. I mowed over lilies I forgot I planted! Opps!
Got our yard mowed yesterday now to tackle the rest of the weeds in the flower beds and trim. Can't trim the shrubs yet but they do need it.
I just found the coolest azalea farm!! All of their azaleas are $6 a piece! I just cleaned out what little was in my checking account and loaded up!!!
Sounds like you're gonna be workin' in the yard shortly.
Quote from: me on April 17, 2008, 10:45:44 PM
Are tiger lilies bad for cats too?
I guess they're poisonous to cats? :spooked:
Hubby and I decided to leave the bushes there. We think those bushes are Bridal Wreath, and not Baby's Breath. We figure as long as we've been here we haven't had a problem. If it aint broke don't fix it LOL!!! :biggrin:
Quote from: kimmi on April 18, 2008, 06:52:35 AM
I am not a pet expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I would think that as long as they are being fed on a regular basis, they wouldn't go out in search of plants as food. Just a thought.
I have mowed 4 times now! I just did the back yard last night. I can't keep up with that monster! I keep dreaming that HGTV is going to come in and save me - put a pool in or a nice rock garden. I am just going to have to save up so that next spring and I redo my lawn. So expensive but it should be worth it once it is complete.
I made a boo boo yesterday. I mowed over lilies I forgot I planted! Opps!
I've ran over and pulled flowers I thought were weeds many, many, times. Too many times to count LOL!!! The worst thing about cats, is they have to 'taste' just about everything they see. They have to sample everything, especially if you draw attention to it. If I'm looking at flowers in the yard, the cats either (1. bite it and chew it, (2. flop down on it (3 dig it out of the ground or (4 poop or pee on it LOL!!!
Well, tonight we released the Lady Bugs, and tied the Praying Mantis egg sacks in the bushes. The Lady Bugs were raring to go. The Mantis egg sacks should hatch in somewhere between 2 to 6 weeks from now. We haven't decided when we're going to release the Nematodes. Probably release them when we plant the garden. :yes: