Since this is an "OFF Topic" Conversation forum, those who post here do not have to be great gardeners, or even gardeners at all ( of course a plant or two, inside or out, would be nice). :-)

Age is not a criteria either, but it would be nice to see more 'elders' who can identify with one another.

It has gone from a false spring back to winter. A few snow pellets are falling, driven by a strong cold wind. The low was 24F and the high will hardly be above freezing. My poor crocus need to hunker down!
Cats are so forgiving! I accidently shut Trubby's long tail in the sliding glass door. He was wanting out, but as I opened the very hard to open door we both saw the herd of deer in the garden. I was not noticing that Trubby had not gone all the way out! When he got loose he ran under the house. I tried and tried to call him out to assess the damage. After a while I saw him in the front yard and went out to check on him. He came to me as though nothing had happened, and is fine...maybe just a small bump om his tail. I am sure he will be very leery of that door for some time! I felt terrible about it!
It is nice to have the new water heater working okay. I am so pleased that Nolon was able to do that job. As long as he doesn't have to hunker down, he is okay. My kitchen sink needs a new faucet, but I will have to find someone else to do that. It will require too much 'getting down'.

I am hoping to hear how your day is going...
Marian

Some of what is blooming indoors:

My new houseplant...Anthurium.
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Many of the Kalanchoes ;
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And a one year old orchid:

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The Kong Mosaiac. It isn't large enough to get a cutting from, but is doing well....
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If anyone has anything to say about the recent/past thread, please do not put it on here. Let's let this be a friendly thread. Whether it is positive or negative, if it needs to be said to me, put it on the 'Understanding' thread.
Thank you.

Hi Marian!

I come to the Idyll posts about once a month or less just to see what is going on in everyones lives.

Poor Trubby! Glad his tail was OK:)

It's a beautiful sunny day here but cold and windy. I somehow came down with a cold (or so it seems) in the middle of the night last night. DD and I took my Mom to town yesterday to buy some new curtains and I felt great. We had a wonderful time. Then I wake up in the wee hours with aching head and chest and coughing:(

I have one lone daffodil blooming. It's located on a south-facing slope. Also my blue Dutch irises are blooming and the snowdrops still blooming.

Indoors, DH has 20-some African violets in bloom and the two Christmas cacti are still putting out buds and blooms. How in the world do you get the kakanchoes to rebloom? Do you have to keep them cool? Every time I buy one it dies instead of re-blooming.

I ordered all the veggie garden seeds yesterday. On the PineTree order, I added in a few of their greatly discounted books.

The last weekend in Feb, my older daughter and a friend from church attended a Depression Recovery Training Seminar to become certified to hold the depression recovery seminars. We still have a lot of reading assignments to complete before actually holding a seminar. We hope to hold one at our church in the Fall of this year. It was fascinating and we learned SO much! In April, we are starting a 8 Weeks to Wellness seminar. This will focus on helping people change their bad lifestyle habits into good health-generating habits. Other people will be helping with the presentations so I only have to give two of the eight. That makes me happy!

Well, I need to see what I have the energy to do around the house. I hope you have a great day!!!
VG

Well, Marian, I qualify as one of the "elder" gardeners. I don't post much but do try to keep up with the forums now and again.

You are very welcome on the Ozark Forum. Arkansas sure qualifies you.

The weather here has been absolutely great the last few days.
I have planted some lettuce outside but will probably need to water it if we don't get rain this weekend (as promised).

Our area is still trying to recover from the disastrous ice storm. Our son came down from St. Louis and he and his family cleaned out entire yard. Now all I need to do is rake! DH and I have been cleaning up the east and west fence lines in the yard where limbs dropped. The trucks are running up and down our road taking the debris to a dump site in the near town. I want to take some pictures of the dumpsite. It looks like a mountain range.

I have lots of plants up and growing under my grow lights and need to do a few more tomorrow.

I am feeling a little bad today. I had some growths removed at the dermatologist today and I don't react well to shots of any kind! I should be back to normal by tomorrow. One was a basal cell carcinoma, but very small so am not worried about it. I think it is the first doctor I have been to in 10 years.....hope to keep it that way.

I am very envious of your beautiful indoor plants. I kill anything I try inside. I don't know if it is lack of sun or what, but they never do well for me. I love seeing yours.

There has been lots of 'water over the bridge' since I last posted here. One of the biggest events was the weather early this month. We went from a high of 80 to a high of 53. Then we got a light snow that I had hoped would stay on and protect our blossoming and leafing out trees and shrubs. It didn't , and the following night the temp dropped to 19, followed by 18 the next night. I have never before in my life seen what it did to the trees, shrubs, and perennials. In a day or so leaves and flowers were black, limp, and mushy. Our yard and woods went from a gorgeous spring to a view worse than mid winter.
I have taken a lot of pics, but it is hard to see the full scope....
Here is a 'before' of the red Japanese Maple and a flowering Dogwood:
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And an 'after' pic:
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Another 'before' :
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And an after:
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The serviceberry in front of the house looks good in this pic, but is losing a lot of leaves. The tree directly in front of it is the Ginkgo. It's leaves were almost fully opened. The large one to the left is the Honey locust. It had new small leaves and blooms. The one one the extreme right is the Ash. It was leafing out. In the background are oaks that were in full bloom.

Hostas, Sedum, daylilies, iris, lilies, Weigelas, Spireas, hydrangeas, Japanese Viburnums,Clematis, most roses,and on and on, were blackened, or turned to mush!The large Tulip tree ( Lirodendron ) was in full leaf. They hung like backened rags, but are now dried up and some are falling.
The Azaleas were severly damaged. There will be no blooms on the red one. The pink was opening blooms, but they were all blasted...along with the buds. The white one was so bad I cut it back, and discovered some protected buds that are now blooming.

I am so thankful for the few very hardy trees and shrubs that were almost unscathed. I am espacially pleased with the red honeysuckle on the trellis by the front door. It has remained in full bloom... to the delight of the 2 resident hummingbirds. The yellow Lonicera flava is looking great also. Every day I search for new 'goodies' and am happy with all that I am finding.

It will be awhile before the trees and worst hit shrubs recover. Some may be goners.

Marian

Ouch! Nature can be cruel. Your trees and shrubs are normally so lovely!
Today we had a huge deluge of rain which flattened early tulips and iris reticulata. I liked the rain actually, but the very first flowers are wiped out and the creek is muddy brown.
Enjoy each new plant that surfaces now! And the birds that arrive too.
'bug

'Bug, many birds have been noticably absent since the deep freeze. I mentioned to Nolon yesterday that it reminded me of Rachael Carson's "Silent Spring". Yesterday was very quiet, but today there were more 'voices' heard.
The insects are very sparse also ( except the ticks).

Sorry about your deluge...send a little our way. We are needing it.

The lose of all my Clematis really is an 'ouch' . Many were getting ready to bloom. Some were killed back to the ground! I presume they will resprout, and maybe even be the better for it? I have three that wintered over in pots in the cold frame. They were/are growing nicely, and I brought them in during the deep freeze.

Hi Marian!

Ouch! Those are very dramatic pictures! Even though I knew about your freeze, those pictures tell the story so much more graphically. It will be interesting to watch the recovery a good (but tough) lesson in how hardy things really are. I wonder if thing like the Serviceberry, if it recovers, will put out a second flush of flowersÂ? I always look forward to the pictures of your beautiful spring trees so your sadness at the loss of all that spring beauty was shared (remotely) by me too.

Our spring flowering is getting closer  finally! Our serviceberries are still probably two weeks away from blooming and it looks  so far at least  that the wisteria flowerbuds have survived the winter so I hope to have another spectacular show from the wisteria this year. All assuming that we arenÂt hit by some late weather disaster as you were!

We got a nice  but brief - rain late yesterday afternoon like GB did, although it sounds like GB got more than we did. We only go 6mm. which brought our month-to-date rain to 38mm.(1.5") which is far below last year when we had 85mm. (3.3") for April. So IÂm afraid this is going to be a bad drought year  we had much less snow than usual this winter so snowmelt didnÂt add a lot of moisture to the ground this spring eitherÂ

Misty continued to work on rabbit control  she presented me with yet another (4th so far this spring!) dead baby bunny on the back porch yesterday afternoonÂ

Hi Susan !
The only damaged trees that are putting on new leaves/needles so far is the Paw Paws and the Bald Cypress.
I will really be surprised if the Crepe Myrtle survived. It was the first one that I had succeeded in growing and was in it's 4th year. I am also concerned about the Dawn Redwood and the Maackii amur, and even the Ginkgo. Since they are all exotic trees they may not be tough enough to rebound.
Coming home from town the 'mountain' that was a lovely mix of pastel greens is now a mix of browns ! Most of the trees in Harrison look the same. I am wondering how far south this goes. Naturally the farther south that the artic blast went, the farther along the vegetation was. Elm trees are resprouting, but we have no yard elm, and only a few wood's elms.

Tim probably observed how far south in Arkansas it went, since he was here last weekend for his friend's funeral.

The funny thing about the Dogwoods is that the 'supposed to be pink' one that I bought was almost undamaged,( except it's blooms), but the native ones will have to resprout new leaves.

Some of the really good survivers are the Clove Currents, the Witch Hazels, the Abelia,The Pine tree ( it is putting on new candles),Haw Thorns, Nine Barks,Honeysuckles, most Forsythias and the large Cornelian Cherry. The tall wild black cherry is putting out new leaves. And , Oh yes , the cute little dwarf blue spruce that I set out before the freeze and didn't think to protect. It was putting on new growth, and was unscathed. It is so pretty now, but only about 8 inches tall!

I am looking forward to a 'second spring' ... :-)

Hi Marian! I'm so sorry to see the "after" pics! :-( Mother Nature can play some cruel jokes...but at least you had a moment to enjoy all the beauty; right? What *gorgeous* "before" pics. Mother Nature played a similiarly cruel trick to me and I only saw my Sanguinaria, hepatica and dutchman's breeches bloom for a day or two before they were ruined by the frost and snow. It also looks like I may lose some roses that were leafing out at that time. :-( Still, no comparison to your loss. I hope you do get another spring this year! :-) I know how much you enjoy all the beauty in your surroundings...and rightly so....you've worked so hard to make those surroundings as beautiful as they are.

Hope to see more pics when the "second spring" arrives!:-)

P.S. Did the forget me nots survive the hit?

Ei

Hi Marian and everyone,

Those pics you posted make me sad! Such beauty and then it's gone. The serviceberry by the corner of the den has put out a few new blooms after being frozen. My Japanese maple is also putting out tiny leaves again. I'm afraid the blueberries and the kiwis are done for this season :-(

My daffodils were at peak and so pretty. Fortunately not a lot of other stuff had come up much so it wasn't hurt. My old species hostas were killed back. Then another couple weeks of fairly warm weather went by and the newer onse came up and got killed back. And the daylilies :-( However they are coming back strong. Looks like I lost "Ellen Christine" this winter though. Such is life.

Speaking of birds, it seemed like the freezing weather put the bird migration on hold. They were all late. I have been keeping records of each arrival for years now and it's interesting to look back on it and compare dates. And a funny thing is, I get emails from all the eastern states rare bird alerts and New England has been having all the returning migrants including warblers and we haven't. Just Sunday I saw the first Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and "he" usually shows up in early April. Today was the first sighting of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, He isn't too far off, usually showing up around April 22.

Our 8 Weeks to Wellness program is going well. We had 33 people register the first night and 4 more came the second night. Last night was the 4th week and was my first time to do the presentation on choosing healthy carbohydrates. A very misunderstood subject. We've had some new people move into the area and come to our church. The lady is a vegan chef so I'm looking forward to getting to know her:-)

Susan, I have mixed feelings when Lady brings those baby bunnies to the porch! I feel sorry for them and but I'm glad she reduces the rabbit poplulation.

Our flowering dogwoods are just barely opening up their "flowers". They are still small and green.

Well, so much to do these days! Duty calls:-)
VG

Yes, VG the baby bunny thing brings mixed emotions. DH is actually the one most distressed by it. I have no objection to the pruning of the population explosion of rabbits that has occurred here in the past couple of years after the local fox population was decimated by a bout of mange. Plus I grew up with cats who regularly presented various small dead bodies for approval. DH grew up with well-behaved, non-hunting small dogs :- ) The 20lb rabbit-killer is a new concept for him! Interestingly, Misty seems a bit ambivalent too. On the weekend, she found a nest of slightly older babies they were big enough to be running around. Those ones she chased but her body language seemed to be saying play-time! rather than supper-time! Its the small, non-mobile babies that seem to be wearing an eat me sign.

Hi Eileen ! I attempted to answer you and VG and had a goodsized post, but the power blinked off...and there it went! That was yesterday afternoon, and I didn't get back to trying it again. We had some pretty powerful storms last night, but no damage here. The 1 inch of rain is certainly welcome.
I am sorry that you had flowers ruined by the frost and snow.Our Bloodroots were through blooming, and only suffered a little damage. My poor pitiful Dutchman's Britches had managed to put up one leaf, but is now toast. I am having no success in growing it, and have decided it was in too much of a hole, so I had dug up a sizable clump of dirt with it in the center, and filled the hole with good soil for it to set on. Hopefully that will help it.
Most of my roses were hard hit. I hate the way the Evelyn rose looks, and sure hope it revives.
Oh, yes...the forget-me nots look good, and I discovered another one in the front bed. It is curious that they didn't 'show' last year, but are here this year.
I went for my usual Tuesday visit in town. I noticed that a lot is releafing out there. It is slower up here, but still getting prettier. I am mainly concerned about the more exotic trees.

Hi Vegangirl ! Great to 'see' you again ! Sorry that you suffered some loses also. I am amazed at how widespread the artic blast was.
The wild blueberries were in bloom here, and all of them are lost. The wild turkeys will be short on food this year.
And speaking of Kiwis, I will be surprised if my tender ones, that I've had for around 15 years, resprout. They were all leafed out.
Our daffodils were finished blooming. Now the jonquils are in bloom. Some of my hostas are putting up a few new leaves. I got overly exuberant in cutting the mushy ones back, and most likely damaged the new growths. ( I was working off my frustration, and really chopped them and the mushy sedums down, and seriously pruned a pink wiegela.) It felt good to be doing something!
I think the birds are returning. I still haven't seen the bluebirds back that were here most of the winter. They were nesting before the freeze. I 'did' see 2 Arkansas Flycatchers this week. They are pretty black and white birds. And we saw a nuthatch. The crows, blue jays, cardinals, tufted titmice, buzzards, wrens, mourning doves , and others, have been here all the time.
Your "Wellness Program" sounds like an interesting project. I try to eay more 'good' foods, and less 'junk food'.

Susan, I am with you on the critters that our cats catch. It surely helps keep the populations in control. I do rather that they don't bring them home to me ! LOL

The storms are gathering again. I am hoping for more rain.

I visited 2 garden centers yesterday, and brought home a bunch more plants...bedding, perennials, and shrubs. Now , the question is.. will I have the strength to plant them all? I bought an Endless Summer Hydrangea, and a Summer Snowflake Viburnum, and a HUGE elephants ear bulb !
I still didn't get more potting soil, but will be returning to town Friday to have my car serviced, and plan on stocking up on several bags then. The car was too full of plants and groceries Tuesday anyway. :-)

I just returned from getting more soil for planting roses and clematis. I only bought one plant at the same time! Just a little aster.

Glad to hear things are returning to green. I noticed that the recent heatwave here made all the bloodroot pop wide open. They're a real treat, but I missed their slow emergence. I love they way their "fat cigar" shape unfurls.

This weekend I must cat sit for a friend: 2 huge fat lazy guys. They're really easy to love.

Off to deal with more nonsense here.
'bug

I'm in for a bite of lunch. We've been dividing daylilies. It's a beautiful, breezy day. The trees are putting out new, tiny leaves and the birds are singing.

Susan, I had to chuckle about your DH's dismay concerning the rabbit killer:-)

Hi Eileen, I didn't see your post yesterday. Sorry about your plant losses.

Marian, I also had to chuckle about you "attacking" your weigela and hostas:-) You sound like me buying plants. Bring them home and then wonder if I can get them planted! I look for Endless Summer every time I go to town and haven't found one yet.

Gardenbug, Just one little aster? What's wrong?;)

My Bluestone order just arrived a few minutes ago. I got Asters 'Hella Lacy' and 'Alma Potschke', Delphiniums 'Sky Blue' and 'Magic White', Shasta daisy 'Wirral Pride', Hosta 'Tokudama flavocircinalis' and a collection of 6 different mums. I want to plant them this afternoon, after we line out more daylilies. Am I dreaming? :-) (I know where they all go) Also SIL and BIL visited last weekend and brought us 4 roses they got at discount. I don't know a single thing about roses. I only have a very old shrub rose that my grandma got from her aunt. Anyway the new ones are a rugosa 'Therese Bugnet'; grandiflorias 'Montezuma' and 'Camelot'; and a hybrid tea 'Poinsetta'. So I have to figure out where to put them. I read that rugosas can take some shade so that's where Therese will go.

Well, break time is over. Back to work.
VG

I appologize for messing up in my spelling. I read, and re-read, but still miss so much...like in my new title! I went to my eye doctor for a checkup, just before the December holidays, but she was too wraped up in her party-going clothing to be professional,( very tight pants, and high heels!) besides she was probably annoyed at me for opting out on the dialation of my eyes. I need to schedule a visit with an ophthamologist ( she is an optometrist).

I am sure having a time posting. I typed up another followup for Marie and VG, then hit the wrong thing , and wiped it out !
I think it is time to take a rest...and try again later!

It took me a very long time to understand the effect the ocean has on my yard. I always expected "spring" before it arrived here. And it has taken me years to APPRECIATE the fact that the cold ocean temperatures keep more tender plants from putting on too much early growth. Moreover, the ocean tends to keep great fluctuations in temperature from wreaking havoc.

I heard a story this morning about the absolute loss of the fruit crop in Alabama... I had not fully understood the totality of the devastation until I heard the farmers' voices crack in frustration and concern. Marian, your pictures "primed" me, softened me to really hear the pain and worry in the voices on the radio.

Hi Chelone. Yes that arctic blast reached all the way down to the south. My loses are just a minor nuisance compared with what has happened to all the fruit growers.

Marie, I have been following your joy with the anticipation of the new grandchild. What a blessing that will be! I agree about the cats... they are easy to love (generally). Our bob-tailed Tommy is espacially loveable.

VG, I got my Endless Summer from Wal Mart. They had lots of good looking ones in gallon pots. A sizable branch got broken off as I transported it home. It had a bit of root on it. I stuck it in a pot of good soil and hope to have 2 plants....:-) All this rainy weather we are having ought to help it root. Today has stayed around 50F all day. I have had to start up our wood stove and keep it going all day.
Your plant order sounds like a good selection. I typed up what all I bought, then lost that post. Maybe I will re- list them eventually. :-(

Good luck with the hydrangea cutting. I love trying to root cuttings. Marian, don't worry about your spelling! I make plenty of mistakes myself. I blame it on my keyboard:-)

It was said on the news here that NC lost 90% of its apple crop. The losses will affect all of us who eat fruit, all over the US. I wonder how the farmers can survive a season without that expected income? As I have mentioned on older threads, we buy about 20 bushels of apples and the same amount of nectarines to can and freeze. Probably not this summer though! What fruit there is will likely be expensive.

I got about half my Bluestone order in the ground. It rained hard yesterday afternoon. We put down new vinyl in Mom and Dad's kitchen yesterday. It looks so nice and they are very pleased with it.

Time to exercise, shower and eat breakfast. The house is a mess from all of us working outside this week and at my parents' yesterday.

Good day to all,
VG

Things are just beginning to really "take off" in our yaHd.

We began the "fern rescue" last Monday. We took full advantage of "more power". We have a wonderful neighbor who uses our wood splitter, allows his dog to play with Rex, and who has worked tooth and nail to bring a formerly squirrel infested home back to habitability. He allows us to use his tractor!

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Magnolia stellata was a housewarming gift from good friends in '92. Here's a close up:

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It's hard for me to get a really nice "full" shot of the shrub in flower, my attempts look too "textbook". But this one shows the profusion of the flowers nicely, I think. Wish I could bottle the fragrance for you... vaguely lemon-y. Delightful!

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I planted a creeping juniper in a small island bed some years ago. "Slow growing" it ain't! it has rapidly overtaken the bulbs I planted well away from its crown some years ago... I have to move the bulbs, but this shot pleases me:

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So much for spring from the southern coast of Maine, my friends!

Great pictures Chelone. Our yard is bursting with greenery, but not much in bloom. The first Peony has opened. There are about 6-8 stalks of Iris blooms that escaped the deep freeze. I see more coming on the small late variety. The Rhododendron has 4 clusters of blooms...more than I expected ! The native ninebark will soon be in bloom, also the Arrowwood Viburnum, and there are two blooms opened on the Multi Blue Clematis. Almost all the damaged trees and shrubs are showing new growth....thank goodness !
How nice that you have access to that tractor. Is that your DH in the pic? I missed the post about the "fern rescue". It sounds like a fine project. I have a lot of the local native ferns in my beds. Occasionally a volunteer pops up in an unexpected location. I love them all.
I am envious of your magnolia. They are difficult to grow on this mountain....usually wiped out by late frosts.

I mowed most of our yard today, for the third time this spring. As I brushed against a spreading juniper gobs of brown needles showered my legs. Apparently the freeze zapped it's new growth too.

Yes, that is the helpmeet atop the tractor. He would not be pleased that his picture is posted here, either, but I figure it's far enough away to chance it. :) We opted to "rescue" ferns from the site that will be razed for a garage. We "heeled them in" in the leaf corral and also in a portion the old mulch pile. I've been watering them regularly, they appear to be growing, and it's our hope that they will survive (or go dormant) so that they may be used to replant the perimeter of the garage. I have always had a "thing" for ferns and the little native ephemerals that brighten early spring.

Good to know that your plants are making steady, if slow, progress in growth. Heartbreaking to see the flush of new growth zapped by freakish weather, I wilt a little myself when a late snow covers the earliest bulbs. No peonies here for some time to come, though. It's fun to note the differences in zones, although your's and mine are actually quite similar in many respects.

I'm surprised you wouldn't be successful with Magnolia stellata. It's very cold hardy, Marian (zone 4). The trick is, plant it out in the open where it will whipped by the cold winds; many in New England insist on "protecting" it but all that accomplishes is encouraging it to set buds too early. In the years since we planted our's it's NEVER failed to blossom for us, and in spite of some brutally cold late winter weather. Plants are programmed to read Mother Nature, sometimes, when we try to "help" them we do them a great disservice.

I pulled dandilions yesterday (ugh) and noted that I will have to mow the lawn on the south side of the house within a couple of weeks.

We planted a "serviceberry" last fall. Amelanchier arborea "Robin Hill", to be exact, and it has some buds that appear to be opening on the uppermost reaches. I know very little about this plant, except that it has been recommended by many, so it will be fun to see how it pans out in our "field trial". We're also awaiting the flower of the final Amaryllis, I think it will be a red one.