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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2015 11:39:47 GMT
Aren't those signs of spring heartwarming Dressy? They let you know the better weather is coming and Mother Nature is slowly trading her heavy overcoat for a colorful spring dress. Yes they are Shirley. After this dreary winter I'm even welcoming the rainy weather we're having for the next five days. At this point anything is better than snow. I saw the tips of my hostas and lilies poking out of the ground this morning and I'm sure I looked a little mad whooping it up around them while in my robe and slippers. Good thing I have no close neighbors!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 17:15:14 GMT
Too early for hummers here yet. We usually get a lot when the hibiscus bloom but that's still quite a ways off. They haven't even leafed out yet. I don't put feeders out because the wasps are so bad here and I'm allergic to them. Don't want to invite more in with a hummingbird feeder. I know they swarm the ones my Mom puts out.
I decided not to buy any new plants this year so I can put the money into getting the back property we bought useable. Had it brush hogged yesterday (imagine 2 acres of hundreds of crappy sapling trees) and dh is trying to get it cleaned up a bit with the big zero turn mower but it's slow going. Going to take a long time to get it into useable grass, especially with all of those little stalks sticking up. Would be faster to hire someone to disc it up and plant it with new grass, might have to look into that.
I know as soon as I hit the garden dept my resolve will cave though and I'll bring plants home. Definitely need some for the big corner pots that sit on the fence corners. Last year I put some snap dragons in them and they turned out huge, were gorgeous all summer long. I even had people stopping to check on what kind of flowers they were. I never saw snapdragons get that size and they changed colors all year, they'd go from yellow to orange to red to pink etc. Had princess lilies in my porch ones, was hoping the lilies would come back but so far they don't seem to be. Since they were potted they may have gotten too cold, I didn't pull the bulbs out. I figure they will make it or not, too much to do to baby the plants. They gotta be tough.
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Apr 8, 2015 17:25:36 GMT
I am pretty much a "make it or not" plant person too.
Years and years ago I used to run around the backyard putting sheets and towels and whatever over plants so they wouldn't freeze. Now, what makes it through the winter, makes it.
This year I didn't lose anything to the cold. We had cold weather over the space of days instead of freezing weather overnight. I think we dipped below freezing a couple of times but not long enough to kill the plants.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 8, 2015 17:44:32 GMT
I use to do the same thing and spend hours on end trying to save my roses from the dang Japanese beetles that have invaded the last 3 or 4 years. No more, if it makes it great, if not they can be replaced with something that will. I've become a tough love flower mama LOL
I'm giving all the roses one more year and if the beetles as bad this year as the past couple I'm taking them all out (about 20-25 plants). If they are lucky they get one good bloom in before the swarms hit and then the rest of the year they look like hell, especially the climbers. So I'm going rose free next year, lot of money lost but lots of stress will be lost too.
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Apr 8, 2015 17:59:38 GMT
LOL, Me too.
My roses are doing great now but they tend to struggle when we hit the heat wave in July and August. We must not have those beetles here because I haven't really noticed an issue with bugs. I probably should fertilize all my plants but that is not at the top of the yardwork list for now.
If the last 5 years or so, I have definitely gone with hardier perennials and don't even look at annuals anymore. The less that I have to water and fertilize, the better.
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val2525
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Post by val2525 on Apr 8, 2015 18:13:54 GMT
Good point about wasps and hummer feeders. Maybe I'll put a potted hibiscus by the window for hummers, for the cat to watch, instead of a feeder. Last thing I need is for the feeder to attract wasps and my neighbors behind me not be able to use the walkway to their front door without being stung I usually stalk the plant sections for distressed or marked down hibiscus anyway, I'll just be sure to get a red one for there (I get yellow for the patio).
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Apr 8, 2015 18:20:35 GMT
I am all over marked down distressed hibiscus plants. Last year I got 4 hibiscus trees for $3 each.
They all made it through the winter so I didn't have to cut them back.
The year before my hibiscus trees froze so I cut them back and they came back as regular hibiscus plants.
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val2525
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Post by val2525 on Apr 8, 2015 18:25:46 GMT
We get them in, but Lowes goes overboard so a few always end up reduced (not including the distressed markdowns). I love the yellow ones, so I try to get one for my patio. For outside the patio wall, I get whatever color is cheapest. I'll have to be sure to get a red one this year (shouldn't be too hard, for some reason the only color in short supply here is yellow, ha).
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Shirley U Geste
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Post by Shirley U Geste on Apr 8, 2015 18:57:30 GMT
Luckily I don't have a wasp problem here, but you can get wasp guards for some types of hummingbird feeders.
I have 2 pair here now, all Ruby Throats. Those are the kind I usually get first, the other species come in later, including the neon ones that come from deep down in Mexico. They don't usually get here until late in April.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2015 0:21:57 GMT
My pledge to not buy yard plants this year didn't make it very long. Picked up 5 good size dwarf burning bushes at Lowes to replace the roses I cleared out on the south side of the dogs pen. Hopefully the get established well enough to change colors this fall. They are in full sun so they should do well. Considering picking up another 20 to do the west side of the fence that runs along the road and take out those roses. Would be gorgeous in the fall to have that long hedge. I'd have to get smaller ones if I did that though. The big ones were $40 each and we bought the 5 they had. The smaller ones are $20 something. Would probably take them a couple of years to get as big as the ones we bought today.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2015 0:42:36 GMT
In PA we haven't had any spring yet. I think though tomorrow it is going to get warm. I am finally buying the pansies this weekend for out front. I got nice spikes for my pots at Home Depot but they were 9 a piece. I also got a big pot of rosemary as I do not think my bush made it this winter.
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Apr 10, 2015 1:46:05 GMT
I went by Lowes today and they had a bunch of annuals on the clearance racks. Nothing that I was interested in.
The freaking outdoor garden manager told me that they have a feral pregnant momkat living there that has already had one litter about 12 weeks ago. Seems there is one male black kitten left from that first litter-didn't ask if there had been more or not because I didn't really want to know what happened to them if they were more.
I told her that I have traps and she needs to get that cat trapped and get her spayed. The manager went all wishy washy on me and walked off. Same idiot that was trying to give away that sick kitten to the first person who would take it last fall.
It never ends.
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Shirley U Geste
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Post by Shirley U Geste on Apr 10, 2015 2:31:54 GMT
People just don't get it about ferals Kritter. The one in my shed is letting me touch her now when I put out food. She seems to be a pet that was dumped because she got pregnant. Nice cat and I know I can tame her enough to get her fixed and into a furever home. When she was out of the shed I looked and there are 2 fat healthy kittens, about 2-3 weeks old, eyes open, cute and alert. I didn't touch them cause I don't want her to move them. WHen I get home from the hospital I will try to get them all moved into my foster room so I can keep an eye on them. Momkat is yet another black cat, I seem to attract them like a magnet. Kittens are a gray and a tabby. It's early in the season so I know I can find homes for both of them. As the season progresses it gets harder to find homes because there are just too many of them.
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Apr 10, 2015 2:39:52 GMT
Yep, I know what you mean about that "finding homes for them" thing.
No telling if that Lowes cat is a feral or not. That manager sure turned into a ditz over the winter.
I guess I should go back and look for that 12 week old black kitten.
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Shirley U Geste
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Post by Shirley U Geste on Apr 10, 2015 2:43:18 GMT
I would drive myself crazy worrying about all of them.
I just save the ones I can and am glad I can help those.
It's hard here because so many just don't spay or neuter, there is a mindset that is really against it and it's an uphill battle.
I just work on one litter at at a time and am glad I can do what I can.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2015 21:10:33 GMT
Gardeners!! We moved into this house almost a year ago and I'm still making the garden my own. The first thing I did was build a bunch of raised veggie garden beds in a square in the back. We have a small greenhouse tower (from big lots, nothing fancy) and right now it's got cucumbers, watermelon, spinach, lettuce, peas, zinnias, kale, beans and lots of other stuff I can't think of. I also doubled the strawberry patch, planted some honeysuckle, added 2 blueberry bushes, an asian pear tree, a dwarf plum tree and planted a bunch of carrots and snap peas directly in the garden. Also planted about 100 bulbs - mostly tulips but some dahlias and other flowers, too. I'm still learning all the flowers, have always been more into veggies. Just scored a handful of flowers off the discount rack at kroger and filled the pots on the front walkway. We have a hummingbird feeder and a bird feeder and bird bath. I always drink my tea while walking around the backyard visiting all the plants in the morning. We have these great perennial grasses that get gorgeous red flowers on them mid summer and the hummingbirds love them. Here's a picture of one from last summer:
Here's a picture of the veggie garden - I've added two more small beds in the middle this year and a bunch of pots along the outside edge. If I can find soil and a container, I'll plant something in it. The two garden beds in the front belong to the kids - they decide what's going in it and take care of it. This year, my daughter planted all her seeds in nice neat rows with markers in front of each one. My son took handfuls of seeds and threw them in haphazardly.
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kritter
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Post by kritter on Apr 10, 2015 21:28:55 GMT
Shirley, if the Lowes cat situation is not bad enough, I got an email today looking for a foster for a cat whose owner is being deployed on Monday. Apparently the arrangements he had made fell through and now no place for the cat. I need to change my email address.
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Shirley U Geste
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Post by Shirley U Geste on Apr 22, 2015 3:26:33 GMT
I just mixed up a huge batch of hummer nectar for tomorrow.
I had filled the feeder this morning and by dinner it was half empty. So I sat out on the porch just before dusk to get a count, they will all come and eat then to fill up on energy to get them thru the night. There ended up being 4 pair feeding, so I guess it's now time to put up the second feeder.
It's early for me to have that many, but with the warmer weather we have had they must have started migrating up from Mexico earlier. I love watching them, they are my favorite part of the garden.
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