A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2005 Gardening Journal!

Today? It's cold today - like a day on a northern lake at the end of summer.

Jeff and I are accustomed to having a half-cigarette on the half-hour. Well, we've moved this to 3/4 of an hour. Every little bit helps.

When I'm restless the last 10 minutes or so, I slip into my gardening joggers which are just outside the door and walk around. Last walk was with those clippers in the gift pack I got from this site.

Lopped off a few leaves that have already got holes and spindly branches that are doing nothing but block the sun from reaching places I want it to reach.

I might continue on the whole day this way - catching up with my computer work, then a little walk-'round with one tool. If I take my whole gardening cart out there, I won't come back in.

All I did was take photos after taking a stroll around the yard when we got home. We left Friday night, and I wasn't sure how the weather would be while we were gone. I had told my friend, "I'll have the sprinkler over there, and if you feel like it, you could turn it on for oh, 20 minutes on Saturday." I walked around the yard, and was shocked to see cucumber flowers!!! Lots of new wildflowers were in bloom, and so I took a bunch new photos. I still need to upload them, so maybe by tomorrow I'll have a few new ones posted in the picture thread.

Meg

HI, I am back from a nice weekend of camping. It wasn't restful as we were cleaning up 7 acres that we used every year for the family reunion. My contribution seem to put me on the end of a rake for the weekend. My arms are stiff.

Wow can weeds take over in just 3 days. I have the front plantings cleaned out but the big back flower garden looks awful. I put a bunch of water on it this evening so I can easily weed in the morn.

I did get all the mowing next to the flower beds done and all the trimming. I worked in the late afternoon so I was pooped after all the work completed.

Later....

Well I dug up another foot of garden space. I'm going to wet it down tomorrow and go after the deep roots. Then I am very tempted to start getting after that third tier. I think I'm going to put a clumpy mess of grass clipping on it and see if that will retard the weed growth there. Otherwise I guess it's level it and maybe invest in gravel? Somehow I have to create a walkway there or I won't be able to weed after I plant the garden. I also want to move the hosta's and the peonies. Do I have to wait for next spring to do that?

Well I got impatient so the hostas got moved and the baby got broken

The second tier is complete because I ran into one of the evergreens that I can't move. Huge root.

The bed for the wild garlic is prepared and I figure I'll plant the seeds tomorrow morning. I'm thinking if I just sprinkle a little bit of soil on top of the seeds I should be in the ball park. I hope anyway. Being wild I'm hoping they are very self sufficient lol.

Good luck with that TK!!!

Today i went into work with my ear piece in for the radio. Its one of those accoustic ear pieces for two way radios and stuff like that ^.^ when i first plugged it into the radio, it sorta worked, but then it made a LOUD beeping sound on every radio in the place o.O so i took it out lol. Then i tried it again, and it turned out that it really has to CLICK into place ^.^ so ya, i was Agent Phoebe for a day

it was sooooooooooooooooooo hot in the houses today >.< I mostly just kinda "got rid of the poo" which is what Missy calls it when you get rid of the crappy plants that no one will buy ^.^ After i did that, there was a lotta space open, so i filled it with tall marigolds. So ya, there's a lotta unblooming green, lotsa zinnias, and lotsa 6 inch pots in with the 6 packs in the annual house ^.^ They're thinking of throwing in the 2 for 1 deal again, cuz a lotta customers are coming in asking if the deal is on yet o.O

Oh! and i found the last white fucia for a lady that had been coming there for the past 20 years ^.^ She gave me a 5 dollar tip for getting it for her, and helping her shop for stuff Twas a good day! and now i get a day of rest ^.^ I'm gonna go to my friend Anthony's house and play guitar with him tomorrow at 3 ^.^

~Phoebe

WTG Agent Phoebe. I love hearing about your day. A white fusia huh, that sounds pretty. I don't think I've ever seen one. I'll have to look around. Have fun on your day of rest.

Nice going on the tip too. Isn't it great when you get tipped for having fun.

I found another one today *hops* I got to hang it up and clean it up too ^.^ yay!

~Phoebe

Phoebe I love reading your posts. You make me feel so cheerful!

I spent yesterday finishing cleaning up my whole back yard flower bed, it is mostly a shade garden. I planted some perenniels but added some annuals to fill in. I can't help it, I love petunias.

Today I am so stiff and sore I can hardly walk. Of course that might have been the 1 mile walk up and down dale I did today. I did walk around to check on all the new plantings and so far so good!!

I haven't been doing a whole lot in the garden lately. Mostly, water occasionally (which is better now that I have a sprinkler.. turn it on in the morning for like 20 minutes & it's good..lol.), pluck a few weeds, deadhead a few of the flowers, and just take in the sight of all my blooms, and wish & wait for more blooms.

I hope that soon, I will have the funds to buy my pallet of bricks to make my flowerbed. That should be a project! Well, the hardest part for me will be 1)getting it "level".. I never get anything level, and 2)I'm not sure about the splitting of the blocks that need cut in half. I got the tools.. I just don't know about if I'm able..lol. I did pick up some tools, landscaping fabric, and a couple bags of drainage rock. I'll need a few more bags of that, and a LOT of topsoil. Well, I'm gonna probably 50/50 it with compost, but I buy that too..lol.

Meg

Don't beat me up ok?

Why didn't you just buy some half bricks?

Please tell me that I told you they existed please.

Well, cuz that would be too easy.

Seriously, I don't think that the kind of bricks I'm getting come in half bricks. I think I asked them that. She told me what I'd need to cut them in half, should be mostly easy.. and I shouldn't need to break up too many of them. I'm getting Red/Sedona Lodgestone Retaining Wall Block . It's $1.17 a brick and I'm gonna be getting a pallet, which has something like 228 bricks. I really only need half of that, but ya know I'll come up with a use for the rest.. perhaps to do another bed. Or border my trees. Or a pond. The list is endless.

But of course, we need to get the money first. :rolleyes:

Meg

You can never have enough bricks - ha ha! I love bricks - there's so much you can do with them. I have them everywhere.

I also play the guitar - haven't had it out in months though. Arthritis makes it hard to fret and sometimes pluck the string.

I envy you that job - sounds wonderful.

So ya, i went into work yesterday. Turns out that Brian *the big boss* cut everyone's hours back cuz the greenhouse business is slowing down. So everyone works 4 days a week now. So i looked at my schedule and it says i get monday tuesday and wednesday off. Sweet.

Then i looked at the times i got... I work from 1-5 every day... That's from 40 hours a week down to 16... That ain't gonnna cut it! o.O So i talked to Brian about it, he was a poohead, so i talked to a buncha friends and they all said they'd give up their morning hours for me cuz they had other jobs anyway. So ya, Brian wouldn't let them do that... So i talked to Booker, and booker's gonna let me help him out in his water garden for more hours! So ya, Booker rocks ^.^

Then the other day, i was pruning the flowering maple. I could hear thunder in the distance for over an hour, and the sun had finally disappeared. so i looked up to see the clouds, and there's a greenhouse support like 10 ft from me. I hear a giant electrical snap, and see a LIGHTNING BOLT like 3 times my size hit the pole O.O Scared the poo out of me! So ya, i was cowering on the ground under a table when Brian comes by... he was like "Um... what are you doing Phoebe?" so i told him and he gave me a dirty look... I think that's a reason he cut my hours...

Plus i'm colorblind and working in Annuals... Annuals = Same plant with different color flowers.
Houseplants & Peranneals = plants with wacky shapes and neat-o designs and cool flowers that are so cool it doesn't matter what color they are!

So ya, the only good part about this is that i'll be working in house plants ^.^ Apparently i'm replacing someone. So i may get more hours later in the year... But that's like 100 a week... i was making more while i was jobless in college. So i gotta get another job. I'm thinking movie theater *shrugs* Its something.

Oh! and on a good note, my dwarf red lilies which i accidently left out all winter came back!! and yesterday they flowered!! *excited*

~Phoebe

My day just got so much better! I found some wild strawberries and some wild raspberries growing at the edge of my japanese knotweed forest! *hops* yay! food!

~Phoebe

Dwarf red lilies those sound pretty. Sorry about the job situation. A movie theater might be fun. Good luck finding something.

So, yesterday I was muddling thru the cucumbers, and picked a few.


I picked a couple more this morning.. all about the same size.. have 6 of them now. There's a lot of babies growing too.

That's so cool that you have vegitables already, Meg! up here, we got a really slow start, and people are just starting to plant their vegitable gardens >.< I managed to grab some strawberries before all those disappeared though yay!

Oh! I was watering and sweeping when i heard a lil girl run by going "Come on mommy, i wana show you the sensitive plant!" Now, that's a plant that was on my list of plants to buy ^.^ I didn't think we'd ever get any! So i went and followed her to an empty pot with a packet of seeds on a stick sticking out of it. I grabbed a seedling and yep ^.^ Now i have one! Its cute! It even closes up when you touch it!

Oh, and i wanted a vining plant, so i got a mandavilla too ^.^ Do Bleeding Hearts climb without assistance?

Oh!! And i can walk with a cain now I feel old with it, but my next move is a leg brace. My friend from Highschool taught me how to walk with one of those a long time ago so that'll be cool ^.^

~Phoebe

So ya, we have someone mowing our lawn now! it kicks butt, cuz we haven't had a mowed lawn for like 2 years >.< I came home and the grass wasn't taller than me o.O I was like "woah, i can walk over it now!" and i did! Then i played in it and it was fun! Thank you Daddy for getting us a lawnmower guy! Today i went out and checked on my small garden. Turns out the guy went by it and was careful not to go over it, but as he went by it woodchips flew, and my Black Magic Taro looked like it just got out of a fight with a batallion of archers >.o It had long wood steaks all through its leaves and it was definately not happy >.<

So ya, until the lawnmower guy finishes up with the Japanese Knotweed, i'll be keeping my garden *which is conveniently made up of sunkin pots* in the back of my dad's old truck ^.^ My Bonsai looks like crap with all the sticks and leaves in it and holes from dirt flying around >.< But at least in the back of the truck my stuff won't get attacked by slugs or anything like that :p

~Phoebe