Mariann, I have 6 albums in PT of the wildflowers that I've found here. The link below is of the 1st one. The rest can be found by going to the lefthand top of the page, to "more albums"
I have some of the prettiest growing in a wildflower bed back of our house, and some in other beds.

How fortunate you were to have the Sympton Management program. I went to a Fibromyalgia Syndrome support group a few times. This was after my worse symptoms had abated. Otherwise I have had no support, except tolerance, from those closest to me.

Boy it's not easy keeping these home fires burning. Come on those of you who are home and post a little something...please!

Cynthia, have fun tomorrow. I have some lemonade and vodka so I'll join in on the Idyll party tonight too. I like your rule to live by and agree with it. I also believe that we reap what we sow when interacting with others throughout our lives. One of my grandmothers was a miserable person, always having excuses why she couldn't do anything to improve her life, always complaining, and she lived a lonely life in her later years. My other grandma had much less, was in worse health but was a wonderful lady and was dearly loved by many. I had to laugh about the red meat allergies. That's quite a bit of hamburger each week.

Brenda, good deal on the russian sage. I wish I could grow it here. I just don't have the right conditions for it. I saw some on my way up to my moms earlier this week and it looked like purple clouds, so pretty! Good to hear that the crops are coming along well too!

Mariann, nice to have another tropical lover on board. What ones do you have? I need to repot some of mine. At this time of year the roots start filling the pots so much that they just can't get enough water. I think it's great that there are programs out there to help people deal with illness. You were very wise to take advantage of that. You sound like a very positive person.

Bella's bouncing a ball in here and it's come dangerously close to bouncing off my head a few times (must be the effects of the pop). So I'm going to go read to her for a while and see if she unwinds a bit. Half an hour until bedtime and then I'll join Cynthia and those at IU in a drink.

Good night, Eden

Well, here we are , thinking longingly of our buddies who are on the road !

Eden, I have the Direct TV satellite baseball package and get many games every day-I was so bummed that I missed that no-hitter ! There is nothing I enjoy watching or listening to on the radio more than a no hitter-they are so exciting. I don't even care what team is involved. . Im lucky that my own team has thrown so many. Glad tidings that your Mom may come home.

Cynthia, nice job with the Sue-impersonation. Im sure she will be happy with your efforts in her behalf. By the way if you get a really short dog it is harder for them to drool on the windows. Unfortunately my little dogs drool was the pre cursor to the up-chuck.

Ok Mariann, I looked at your pics and it is clear you are one of those Daylily People!.do you hang around on that forum?? I lurked over there for awhile and they were a bad influence. I now have numerous specimens courtesy of the Lily Auction, Maryotts and Ebay ! And I want more.

Babs, did I miss where you are headed on your vacation ? I still have one left and will head up to Oregon in Sept. But Im telling you all right now that I am planning on attending IU5 . If I plan in advance I can make it happen.

Michelle-overwatering is indeed an affliction with Rexs. They rot so easily. I always plant mine in a clay pot to get more aeration in the soil, and with a very light soil mix..

Woody, your observations were of interest to me, and very though provoking. As one who is blessed with extremely good health (I have only been out sick once in the 20 years Ive worked for my current employer, and that was actually an injury to my ankle that prevented me from driving or getting up stairs, and only for 1 day) and tend to be suspicious of some folks sicknesses. I am trying to be more tolerantyour post was helpful to me..

Hey Brenda, I could use a friend that would bring me 22 plants ! What a shame about the young man in the crop duster. Here there are many freeways that bisect the fields and crop dusters often zoom over as we drive along the interstatenot in Napa Valley, but to the east of us are many agricultural areas with corn, tomatoes, rice etc.

Ok, thats all for nowmaybe well get some pics from the IU folk tommorow ???

Kathy in Napa

Eden's mother's illness has evoked memories of my dear mother. She had breast cancer that was successfully treated, with a mastectomy, but nine years later was diagnosed with lung cancer, and given only a year and a half to live. She opted to not have any treatment except to have the lung drained as needed. She never complained, and lived those last several months to the fullist....traveling to other States to visit children, and other relatives. When she was finally reduced to having to have oxygen at all times, she still did not complain. The nearest she came to 'complaining' was when she said " The Lord is sure making it hard for me". She stayed with us at the last,until she had to be hospitalized. I was 43 when she passed.

Hi all,

Well I'm exhausted but I wanted to tell you all that we've had an AMAZING, FABULOUS, INCREDIBLE day!!!! Wonderful! I shot about 500 photographs and Ive just taken an hour or so to review them and only deleted a handfull. The gardens today were so amazing that you could not take a bad picture. What a treat to be able to tour the gardens with this group. Marvelous! I'm going to try to find a few pics to downsize and upload for you all but I might not be able to get to it until tomorrow morning. Until then all my friends, you are all in our thoughts and we are missing all of you who aren't here with us this weekend.

Night all
Deanne

Well Eden I tried. But I lost my post. Drats!
To tired to try again tonight. Norma

Thinking of all whether at home or traveling.

Kathy, you will surely want to attend an Idyllunion after you see the pictures and hear about the fun they have.

The more I think about how I treated my one rex last winter, I probably am overwatering. That thing stayed pretty dry.

Brenda, how sad about the 24 year old. We have alot of ariel spraying around here too. They were seeding the hiway ditches this spring. Interesting when you are driving and they zoom over the ditch.
We usually do the crop tour on the way home from church on Sunday, but we add a little weaving to the drive too LOL
I picked up a sedum 'Purple Emperor' that was dirt cheap. It was one tall stalk. I cut it in half and stuck it in the pot with the plant and watered about a week and then planted the whole thing. Too bad all plants aren't as easy to propagate as sedums.

Do you guys think Deanne is having a good time???? LOL

My son called and told us to tune in the news tonight as his GF was doing a live feed from Barnes and Nobles at the Harry Potter release party. I believe it was her first time going live.

We had 2 couples over for supper and a garden tour. I made chicken enchiladas, lettuce salad with strawberries and poppy seed dressing, garlic bread and a chocolate macroon pizza for dessert. Now its time to turn in.

Michelle

Good morning!

In a few minutes we're off for another day of fabulous fun. The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous and today appears to be no exception-sunny and dry-70s-80s F. If Deanne is true to her word she is posting a couple of pictures from yesterday as we speak. We visited three incredible private gardens and spent the afternoon at Longwood. Last night there was quite a party in V's suite. It was a laugh til you cry kind of time. We carried it over into breakfast this morning. The other guests here at the hotel must think we're all nuts.

Thanks Cynthia for subbing for me yesterday. I totally spaced on it. I was just having too much fun for it to be Friday.

Anyway, I'll catch up later. Wish you were all here. Cynthia joins us at some point today. More laughs to come I'm sure.

Sue

HI all, not much time here but wanted to post at least a couple pics from yesterday.
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OK I don't want the 'bus' to leave without me so I've got to run. have a great day everyone.

Deanne

Oh, you all look great. I wish I was sitting in that empty spot next to Monique in the last picture. Have fun today!

Eden

Thanks for the e-postcards. It looks like there is no lack of fun there, I wish I were there too.

Michelle

I am sick at heart today. As we went out for breakfast, there was a herd of goats in the road. They all moved to one side and we passed with no problem. Coming back home, they were all bedded down in the road. I approached them honking the horn. I THOUGHT they had all jumped up and moved out of the way....well one hadn't, and I ran over it's legs! Keep in mind, this is the place where the fence is in the road, and the road is hardly wide enough for one vehicle, let alone a herd of goats! It made me feel as though I was having a heart attack. I'm sure my BP shot sky high. We went to the cousin sheriff's house and reported what happened. He was very supportive ( even though the goatman is his brother) and said he would take care of it. I am still sick about it.

Good morning everyone. Another beautiful day here; it was 64 degrees when I got up. Brilliant blue skies with a few wispy clouds. The birds are chirping and twittering.

I've been to Longwood Gardens at least 5 or 6 times. No matter what time of the year there is always a spectacular display. During Christmas they string lights all over the trees and there are decorated Christmas trees every where you look.

Eden-I have some of the typical house plants also Star Jasmine, Night blooming Jasmine, some Orchids, Night Blooming Cereus (desert cactus-blooms only for one night). I have a problem with low light in my house. Some plants I keep under lights. Others I put outside during the summer.

Kathy-I do lurk around the Daylily Forum on occasion. I only have about 35 named daylilies. That's a pittance compared to those folks. I can't afford to buy daylilies from Maryott's or Marietta Gardens. Have to admit though I'd love to have 'Rainbow Over Marietta'. I do buy daylilies from Oakes, Ridnaught and Woodside. Darrel Apps is selling Woodside so they won't be around next year. He was very helpful by identifying a daylily for me. The daylily was given to me by my dad before he passed away.

Marian-I'm enjoying your Wildflower pics. I actually put the site in my Favorites so I can take my time looking at them. How much land do you have? To many people overlook the significance of wild flowers. It is part of our country's heritage. It gives me the willies to know that people treat them like weeds. I sympathize about the Fibromyalgia. Before I was diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease a Dr. diagnosed me with Fibromyalgia. As it turned out I didn't have it but I delved whole heartedly into educating myself about the condition. I joined the YMCA so that I could do an exercise program in the water. Non-weight bearing exercise is suppose to be good for it. I was surprised how prevalent it was in this country. How debilitated are you with this?

I hope everyone has great day. I'll be out digging up the lawn today and trying to tie up my huge tomato plants.

Mariann

How appropriate that Deanne would start with a bum shot!!!! LOL

Thought of you all heading in the opposite direction from me (heading back from New York City) and hoping that no one had drank copious amounts of liquid before leaving.

Isn't Longwood amazing??? Was there sometime back with Herbie friends and missed two other visits in favor of staying there to linger. It's such a peaceful place.

And hey, IU4ers, remember that it isn't truly an internet garden national gathering without leaving patches of potting soil and stripped leaves from cuttings around on the hotel carpets. Learned very early on that a tip the First Night will endear the cleaning crew to not report you to the management. For all HerbFests we just invited everyone on the floor to our parties and met some pretty incredible gardeners along the way.

So glad you're all having a good time.

Sorry, Marian, about the goat. Things like this just happen despite our best precautions. Was thinking about your red bluffs the other day. Not sure why, but the image of their peaceful being helped me through a calamatous moment.

We finally got more than a sprinkle of rain and am letting everything settle a bit before I go out to weed and deadhead. Good excuse, right???? Actually, I'm tired and am giving myself a break this morning LOL. Despite the dryness, everything looks okay. The benefits of mature plants is something I'd forgotten!!!!!!

Can't remember exactly who here experienced straight line winds at some point, but they came through Connecticut on Thursday and the damage was horrendous. I have a renewed respect for Nature all of a sudden.

Just got a call from a gardening girlfriend (The Best!!!!) and we're off to an impromptu Master Gardeners Group gathering for lunch. Guess everyone else wants to take a short break, too. YIPPEE!!!!

Thinking of all at IU4, and Eden and mom, of course. Good thoughts being sent to all.

Martie

I am so glad you are enjoying all my wildflower pics, Mariann. I had been giving a lot of thought to deleting those albums, but they took so much time researching each flower in order to have the correct identification. We have 20 wooded acres. Only one of it has been cleared...where our house and yard is,( well, more than another acre was cleared under the powerlines! Yargh!).
I must do a search on that lung disease. I am not familiar with it. I appreciate that you have researched Fibromyalgia. It is a very misunderstood condition. You are right about the exercise. It does nothing to cure it, but does help keep one able to move, as long as it is not over done. I have never reached the wheelchair disability, but close. The new gal at the One Stop told me this morning that her mother has it so bad that she was in a wheelchair for awile. She ( the mother) lives in Louisiana, but is coming to visit next weekend. I hope to meet her at the One Stop. We can compare notes, and perhaps I can give her some encouragement, since I am still mobile after haivng it for at least 40 years.
I was diagnosed with all sorts of things before the Fibro diagnosis ( I had already figured that out from my own research). At this present time, the fatigue and cognitive problems are my worse symptoms.

Thanks Martie. I appreciate your comforting words, but still feel terrible. So sorry for the poor goat. I hate the fact that there is absolutely no way for us to go out or come back in without running that fence and goat obstacle course, and passing the owner's house!I am hoping some good may come from this terrible thing...but why did it have to be me.. the inlaw relative, and perennial scapegoat( no pun intended) that brought it about?

We got a little better than a quarter of an inch of rain yesterday evening. Great for this time of the year!

Martie( again) I love those bluffs. It would be a good place for me to go today to find peace, but I've have to go through the obstacle course to get there!

Spent a pleasant morning at the Farmer's market where we joined the throngs devouring the fresh hot deep fried apples for breakfast. YUM. Then while DH checked out the musicians, I scoured for ...well you can guess! I came home with a large blue delphinium and several other things to fill in some blank spaces. DH also bought some fresh peaches.

Thinking of everyone's tough moments...but also the joys we find here too.

Dumb me has a question: I can't identify who is standing between Drema and Les in Deanne's 3rd photo. Can you help me? I should be able to guess but can't. Drema's daughter?

And now it is time to make DH a sandwich. I'll be thinking of your busy day in Pa!

(Marian) - what an upsetting start to the day! Hopefully some good will come of the experience - maybe the owner will do a better job of keeping them confined plus do something about that fence. Is there an appropriate official body to report the incident to? Clearly the goats + the fence are a major road hazard.

We stopped at the local farmers' market this morning and picked up our first local corn to have for lunch. When we got home Misty had taken refuge under the bed again and the top of the bed had lots of Copper-sized footprints!

Randy is off to buy hooks and misc. hardware to start arranging the inside of the shed this weekend. Since its been so dry I haven't got around to planting anything by the shed yet. We picked up our portable dog pen panels this week - we had loaned them to a friend and finally got them back. We're intending to use the panels to set up the new compost heap behind the shed. The panels are 4'x4' sturdy wire. There are 6 of them so we can make two compost bins, using the chainlink fence for the rear wall.

Also on the agenda for the weekend is planting another wisteria 'tree' on the front lawn. We like the first one so much we decided to do another with a W. floribunda 'Lawrence'. The current one is a W. sinensis which has shorter flower racemes. 'Lawrence' is supposed to be really hardy since it originated near Ottawa. Since the flower racemes are longer, it will need to stand tall as a tree. So I'm planning to tie the main stem to an 8' bamboo pole to see if that will help train it to have a taller trunk. It should be interesting to compare how the two grow.

Still no rain here and none in sight in the forecast.

In for a little cooling off break. Thursday night is the garden tour here, but things seem to be in pretty good order. I dug out a large clump of bearded iris and 2 large Stella d'oro and fed my compost pile. I'm getting less tolerant of things that get ratty foliage at this time of the year.

The oriental lilies are just getting started. I have some 'Casa Blanca' that have just opened for my morning tour today. 'Tom Pounce' and some 'Stargazers' are also blooming.

I do believe that must be Drema's DD in the picture. There are quite a few Idyll guests this year, but I believe she would be the youngest.

Marian, what an awful experience with the goat.

Martie, we had straight line winds that did a fair amount of damage to our farm 6 years ago. Were they in your area?

I'm trying to keep the home fires, the sprinkler and the washer/dryer all going today.

I think I will go and find a shady spot to paint the windows to the garden shed. The rest of the shed is fine, but the windows didn't hold their paint very well.

Later
Michelle

Marie, Glad you are having a good day. I hope it continues.

Susan,thanks. Yes the cousin that we went to is the County sheriff. He would be the only one to complain to. I am wishing he would get back to us, but he may not. It is a very uncomfortable situation.
LOL on the " Copper-sized footprints" on the bed, and poor Misty underneath! I had just been commenting to Nolon that the cats have never slept on our kitchen table...then lo and behold, the same day I said that, there was Trubby snoozing on the table! So, I have GOT to put a stop to that! I will not tolerate that! I feel like making some 'Chelone' comments on that cat ...LOL.

I will need to see pics of the inside of the shed when Randy gets it set-up for occupancy. Sorry that it is too dry to plant the exterior beds. Our rainy period has come to an end, according to the long range forecast.
I hope your new wisteria 'takes' and gives you years of pleasure.

Michelle, I don't envy you on the garden tour.
My Stargazer's one remaing stalk had 3 blossoms, but 2 have already fallen off.

Ooops, nap time!

Marian

Such a lovely day, but not much energy! I did plant this morning's purchases, swept out the garage, and tested a lock on the back of the barn for DH who is trying to keep the raccoons away there. Also threw away some hopeless things that I have no room for, mostly cuttings I took last year, old bulbs the squirrels played with, last year's mums that I never got to looking presentable. So that pretty much leaves me with my typical plant ghetto, clematis and coleus and shade plants yet to get in the ground. But first, weeding spots for them! Oh! I found three tomato plants I'd entirely forgotten about too. They were mixed with cleome plants while I was away.

I noticed a good deal of road kill this morning. Always unpleasant. Makes me think of Marian's experience. When it is pets I always feel badly for the children involved. Wish owners would try harder to keep their pets safe. Last night we had near misses with a deer and a cat both. :(

The Fall plant catalog arrived yesterday. Think I'll sit down a bit and take a look at it.

'bug

Woody, I just wanted to share a picture of the tool holder that I found for my shed. I love it. It is very sturdy and holds alot in a small amount of space. You buy the rack and then select the hooks that you desire. There's quite a variety. I like the longer ones since I can stack tools on them, putting the lesser used ones on first. I use it for my weed trimmer and edger as well. You can find them at the big box home stores.

Marian, the tour is only for our Bible study group and spouses. Could be up to 50 people but I'm sure will be less. Maybe I should say I'm sharing my garden with them.

Michelle

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Good Morning, Busy day planned here. No Bella today or tomorrow so I'm concentrating on getting my garden back in order at least a little. I've got a big pile of wood chips to spread and due to lack of space, I must finish that before I can order a dumpster for shed demolishen. But first things first, I need to go check out a nursery that always puts their coleus at bargain prices around now. Like I need more of those, lol. I went on the garden tour here yesterday. There were only two that I was wowed by. Honey, the lady who owns Detroit Garden Works had her garden on the tour. It was a quite formal garden with lots of cool containers. It doesn't look like my mom's coming home this weekend. Her white blood cell count is down to almost zero. They've determined that 3-8 hr. days of chemo in a row is too much for her to handle. You think??? So some reevaluation needs to be done. She's in good spirits though feeling better. I have to get started here and my computer batteries running low so I'm going to post before I lose this. Hope to hear some news from the IUers soon!

Eden

Yaaaaaaaaaawn. A perfect lazy morning here. Cool, dry, sunny and no inspiration to go food shopping. DH on a long motorcycle ride to Vermont and DS off to the beach with a bunch of friends. Think I'll add a quick stop at an overpriced but really good material nursery around the corner as impetus to move. LOL

We had a great lunch yesterday with old Master Gardener friends that extended into the afternoon. A few of the folks came by to look at the gardens and, I must say, there were actually oooos and aaaaahs. Got some really good suggestions for moving next Spring and placement of the remaining shrubs in the nursery. One of the gentleman is an original student of CT Master Gardeners, won't reveal his age, but when he saw a missed weed he was on his hands and knees in no time. Very cool to have perspectives of 20 - ?????90's year olds and the different ways we look at the same plants and plot. Got me thinking that I need to use my MG certification more often than I do.

Don't know if anyone remembers, but I sponsored a group of neighborhood now-12-year-olds for a garden to help the local food bank have fresh produce. Since May we've been delivering something each week, and the boys have really gotten into the whole thing to the point where we are third and fourth sowing leaf crops for Fall delivery. The garden ended up behind our local Senior Citizen center rather than in my yard -- a mixed blessing since there's always lots of help to identify weeds vs. edibles!!! The boys have really taken to the whole thing, as have the folks who have gotten to know them at the center. I'm really proud of them and if there's ever any doubt about the next generation, let it be known that there will be good people taking care of us all.

Today will be spent finishing up deadheading and planting the remaining 30 Campanula carpatica seedlings. When that's done, all babies will be in the ground! I vehemently refuse to have a ghetto this year!!! Yeah, right, until I hit a few more sales. LOL

Looking forward to more IU4 news. Think they were having too much fun to post last night?

Don't fret the garden visit, Michelle. Enjoy your friends enjoying your garden. If they're coming to you, they must believe you do something above and beyond what they do. They'll be wowed no matter what, and the gathering of any community is always time for celebration :-)

Marian -- Is there anyone in your town that you're Not related to? I'm sure, given the circumstances of fences in roads, that the owner will understand.

Eden -- Glad that cleanup is progressing. I don't envy you one bit at this point.

Yes, straight line winds came through Connecticut but not near me. Miraculously, they hit hard but there were no injuries. Didn't realize that they're just like tornadoes without the rotation. Scary!!

Woody -- the roses are still blooming their little heads off, and promised some seeds to a MG visitor yesterday. And the beat goes on!

Best -

Martie

Michelle - What Randy got looks something like that. It is called Smartrack. It came with two types of hooks. I'm not sure if there are other ones that fit it too or not. Hopefully he'll get around to starting to put it up today. We also need shelving too. We've got lots of that lying around in various places so we shouldn't need to buy any. Our shed is much smaller than your lovely 'cottage' :-) Ours is only 8'x10' and will, no doubt, look crammed full and messy shortly after we get it set up! (Right now it's the half of the garage where all the shed stuff has been stored that looks crammed full and messy!)

Martie - my little roses haven't been doing much in the way of blooming lately. It's the drought I think. I've taken a tough stand on water this year so have only given them water now and then. I think they are in survival mode and are busy setting lots of hips! I didn't collect any seeds last year because I didn't need any more roses but I'll be collecting seed this year because I want to use the roses as a sort of ground cover under the wisteria trees. Neat that one of your MG visitors wants some seed - it makes me think of the long chain of seed collection and exchange that goes back to China in some previous century.

We did get the 'Lawrence' wisteria planted yesterday. I'd better remember to keep it watered through this drought...! I'm sure it will be happier in the ground. It was a reasonably sized plant in the pot but there wasn't a lot of roots when I took it out of the pot. I put lots of the mycorrhizal fungi planting supplement for woody plants in the planting hole. I use the mycorrhizal supplements every time I plant and it really does seem to help things get established quickly. I hope this wisteria does as well as the one we currently have - and doesn't take too many years to get to blooming size! I don't think the floribundas produce and late summer flowers like the sinensis does. I planted two Henryi clematis on the current wisteria a few weeks ago. I'm hoping they will grow into it and add another show of flowers. If it works for that one, I'll do the same for the Lawrence wisteria when it gets big enough.

We had a nice walk down by the lake with the dogs this morning. The lake was very still . There was a sailboat anchored just offshore with the sails down - looked like they spent the night there. It was a very peaceful scene. Of course, as soon as we got home and there was not other interesting distractions, Copper went back to harassing Misty for amusement. Here are the feet that dance around (on...) Misty:
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(for scale, the strips in the floor are 2 1/4" wide...)

Sudden company expected in a little while so DH and I are tidying up the pig pen. He's on vacuum duty (you know how dangerous that is!) and I've poofed pillows, washed dishes, started a load of laundry, mopped the kitchen floor. At 7am I was weeding the clematis arbor and planted 2 roses and a clematis in permanent homes.

Thought about Michelle's well organized shed. Ours has good hooks from that yuppy hardware store...darn I can't think of the name when I need it. It will come to me as soon as I sign off....Anyway, you can order them on line. I'll try to photograph them for my next posting.

Now it is time to shower. I'm sure the travelers are sadly getting ready to part until the next gathering takes place. I hope there will be many more photos!

I think we are going out for dinner this evening, so I'd best phone in some reservations soon!

Happy sunny day here. Hope yours is the same!
'bug

Thought Id drop in early today-though most of you are probably thinking about lunch by now ! I having my coffee, did a little stroll about and will sit down and read a bit of the paper before doing my Trader Joe run at 9:30. That place gets so crowded I always go shortly after they open.
I started working on my Lady Banks rose yesterday. Every few years I give her an extreme new hair-do, shearing her locks back by half or more. If I dont do this she will eat my house in no time., plus she starts to throw too much shade .

Didnt all the Idylls look perky yesterday ?
Marian, how awful your tale of the errant goats ..Hope you are feeling better today. I also enjoyed looking at your wildflower album. How great to have a reference like that. It was interesting to see some plants that we have out here on the west coast too. When my children were youg we used to camp quite a bit and I always took my wildflower field guide with me.

Michelle, Im kind of jealous of your garden shed-wish I had one ! But what I really want is a greenhouse. Just no room to be had. Is it just my imagination, or have you had multiple tours coming through your garden this year ??

Eden, its always appropriate to prioritize plant purchases over and above any sort of manual labor , lol. Who cares if you already have about a zillion coleus- I have a pic I took yester day that Im going to post over on Marians coleus thread sometime today.

Martie, kudos to you on the garden for the food bank. Many of our restaurants here in Napa County have gardens for growing their own produce and herbs and the food bank here benefits from those. I didnnt realize that you are a Connecticut MG ;Im one too, Napa County class of 1999. Were a pretty active group, there are only about 115 of us but we like that number , and it seems appropriate for the size of our county. I get involved mainly with the educational seminars we give .

Hi Woody, bug, Mariann , and anyone else who is not gallivanting about in Penn.

See yall later..

Kathy in Napa

Hi again everyone, I hope this link works. I came across this over on the Cottage Garden forum gallery---yowzers!
Is this drama or what ?

Hello everyone,
I just finished picking a bunch of green beans for dinner. My DH promised me steak when the first crop of beans were ready. Yummy

Marian-I really enjoyed your wildflower pics. I looked at some of your other albums too. You may know this by now: your double orange daylily is Hemerocallis fulva var. 'Kwanso'.

I have no shed nor do I have a greenhouse. Our shed fell down but we haven't replaced it yet. I'm saving for a greenhouse though. I'll probably be 90yo by the time I get it.

I dug some perennials and a few small trees from my holding beds and planted them in pots today. I want them to get a few more roots before I put them into their permanent beds. All of the perennials are from seeds that I winter sowed.

Mariann

I just know Marie was in the shower screaming "Restoration Hardware!"

I'm home from IU4 and had a WONDERFUL time! Great gardens, great meals, great laughs with great friends.

Good night!

V.

Just popping in for a second to tell Mariann .... I got the start of that double Daylily from an elderly friend several years before she passed away. ( She has been gone several years.) I never figured it was a named variety, and if so, it would be a pretty old fashioned one.
I haven't looked up the stats on the variety that you mentioned.

TTYAT, I need to hit the sack now.... it has been a rather trying day.

V, it was Lee Valley Tools. So glad the weekend lived up to expectation!

Here we had good friends and good food as well. It's the garden part that I just can't catch up with! I'm still plugging away at it though, and dragging the hose about too.

Thinking of Babs and her holiday. Also wondering about Ei and the selling of her home. Then there's Honey and little Missy! I hope we hear from them as well as long absent friends!

One month old:
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'bug

Good gracious morning!!!!! Got up to an entire clan of baby rabbits bouncing around the lawn. I'd wondered where they were this year, and POOF! Just got back in from Liquid Fencing everything in sight.

Reed is just happy to be around, huh??? He is so alert!

I really like that red garden, Kathy, though I don't think I'd do it myself unless I had tons of room. One of the best one-palate gardens I've seen was purple, about 10'x20', to the point where the stepping stones were purple glass inlaid in concrete. It sure brings home the "I need just the right color _____" It's out there!!

Did hit a few sales yesterday and was thrilled to find some good quality PW annuals on sale for 1/2 price! Is that legal????? Anyway, also took a good look at my very sad container collection and decided this just wasn't the year. I do have bunches of stuff to winter over so 'next year'... I'm saying that and it's only JULY!!! Good Grief !!!!

Took some time and made a list of gaping holes in the garden and what I thought would work. Going into the fall with an actual list of what I need is a bit frightening. LOL

V - Good to hear from you and really glad you had fun at IU4. Still waiting for full reports and pics.

RECOMMENDATION REQUEST (In the "what the heck am I asking" category :-) Tall mid-pink (not shocking, not true pastel) daylily to mix with white coneflower and unnamed shasta-type daisy. Willing to spend $$$$ as this is a focal point. Will be interplanted with Iris to be determined.

Mary - Was thinking of you and Annie when an older sister neighbor came to tell me that she and her violin were elected into the regional youth orchestra, and would I be interested in having DH's business be her sponsor?? Of Course!!!

Thinking of everyone not heard from in a bit and looking forward to catch-up posts!

See you all later!

Martie

Martie - Hemerocalis 'Catherine Woodbury' If you don't mind waiting for it to get some size I can dig you a couple fans after it's done blooming this year.

Doug and I had a lovely drive home yesterday. Wendy NO traffic!!!! smooth sailing all the way through.

IU4 was awesome and then some. Ditto what V said. I took pretty close to eight hundred pictures and I'm still sorting through the stacks of pics. I've got to get ready for my seminar in CA as I'm leaving Wed. so I don't know when I'm going to have time to post any photographs. There were some terrific group shots taken at Chanticleer on Saturday that Monique will hopefully be posting. What a fabulous weekend!

Later all
Deanne

PS I want to rip out all my gardens and start over again! LOL

G,morning - another IUer checkin. Not so easy a drive home; sat in the usual Wilmington backup for over an hour last nite....
but glad to be home.

Fantastic gardens, company, diaper-dependent laughter (serious! we never stopped laughing I dont think except at sleep time). Gardens that made even Deanne & Sue want to do some ripping (isnt that amazing? I felt like that last year too!). It was so cool to meet other Idyllers I'd not yet met. And Deanne has one super-perfect DH who did stellar chauffeuring and forebearance of a lot of estrogen, to say nothing of just one heck of a guy!!!!

I've started downloading some of the pics & will put on a separate thread, altho my photography will not be anything to compare to some other Idyllers... but as Deanne said, it was impossible to take a bad photo at any of these places.

Gotta lug hoses around; no rain has hit here and things are looking pretty sad.

--Cindy

Glad to see IU4-ers checking in! Looking forward to photos!

Here's the URL for the hooks we use in our garage. I hang brooms, rakes, shovels, hoes, etc on these. Letter A is the type we use. We must have at least 20 of them.

Just wanted to apologize to all the IU4ers for not being able to say goodbye on Sunday AM. We had to rush out to try to make a standby flight at the airport at 930. As it turns out we got lost returning the car rental (I keep telling myself, DON'T rent from Thrifty even though they are cheaper since they often have off-airport locations) and there was only ONE standy spot on that plane. So I went home and Jim ended up waiting in the airport almost all day (the next flight was cancelled). Oh brother, nuf said.

IU4 was different from some of the past but had absolutely amazing gardens. Not often that one gets to see the best private garden (Inta's) and the best public garden (Chanticleer) that one has EVER seen. I too came home wanting to just rip out big areas and start over. I have never seen such imaginative displays of art in the garden on any trip. Totally inspiring.

And as usual, was BOATLOADS of fun.

Thanks to all for making this such a good time, and sorry we didn't get to wish our goodbyes to most people

David and Jim.

Another wayward idyller checking in. I decided to come home last night as well. Tossing caution to the wind I chose to drive right into the Sunday night frey and take the NJ Turnpike and cross over the GW Bridge. I lost about an hour in bridge traffic but because I was actually stopped on the bridge I had the opportunity to take in the sights you don't usually get to see like the NYC skyline backed by clear, blue sky.

At any rate, I didn't take all that many pictures but here's one for you all from the ruins at Chanticleer.

Name the idyllers...

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Sue

Good Morning, Good to hear that IU4 was a smashing success. So did you all discuss any ideas for IU5??? If David, Sue and Deanne came home wanting to rip out their gardens and start over you must have seen some pretty spectacular ones. I too remember feeling like that after past IUs. Can't wait to see pictures!

I came home with 18 new coleus yesterday. They were buy one for 3.50 get one free. I then began working on my gardens. I decided since everything was in such disarray to do what I do in the spring. So I started at the front and am working my way back. I did get all of my container gardens placed and today will be in the process of rearranging garden areas that were damaged and reducing that huge mountain of mulch in my driveway. I've started spreading some, not an easy task in my crowded July garden. I've got some new ideas. Now that the tree's gone and the shed must be demolished we're thinking of doing a lean-to design shed along driveway side of the house and putting a little greenhouse where the old shed was. Also we've decided to continue with the pavers out where we now have an area of just woodchips in front of the old shed. It'll be a much cleaner and neater look I think and there will be room there for more containers, lol. I think when we get everything redone the gardens will look even better. It'll probably take the rest of this summer and all of next to achieve that though.

Marie, Reed is such a cutey. I love those big eyes!

Kathy, I love the red gardens. I don't think I could live with that much bright color in my garden but love seeing it in others. I don't have much red and no orange. I keep seeing Idylls with orange in their gardens that I love though, so that may change.

Marty, I'm not a huge daylily fan but one that I do have in my garden and really like is Strawberry Candy. It's a pretty pink, not too pastel, not too bright.

Cynthia, wondering how Katie's doing?

I've got to get back to work. This is my last day until next weekend without Bella so I need to get as much accomplished as possible. Have a good one all!

Eden

Hello everyone

arrived back this afternoon after a good drive (no traffic!) thinking about all the wonderful things I'd seen. What a fabulous weekend it was! The gardens were spectacular, the company great and my sides are aching from so much laughter. We have company here tonight so I'll have to wait till tomorrow to post more about our adventures. I was pleasantly surprised to find the house cleaner than I left it so I just need to shower and make myself presentable.

Mary

I've got my fingers crossed for a bit of rain tonight - looks like Mary is trying to send us some as it's coming across the lake from the south. It'll probably miss us like all the rest has this summer. I spent two hours dragging hoses around this morning. I should let more of it just survive or die on its own perhaps although most of my hand watering is limited to the pots and the new plantings.

Yesterday we finally got the compost area behind the shed set up using three panels from the portable dog pen. So we were also able to dump a bunch of sod we removed in the spring that had been stored in various containers waiting for the compost heap to get back in business! It's none too exciting but here's the compost arrangement:behind the shed:
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While working around the shed to set up the compost, we concluded that we better not plant around the shed this year as we need to make sure the drainage improvements we made this spring are effective.

Yesterday we also picked red currants at a neighbour's. They have lots but never use them so we've been able to harvest them for the past few years. So today we made 6 little red currant pies. I'll take most of them to the long term care facility. Two of the residents there that we've gotten to know quite well really like desserts so I take them things when we do an excess of baking. I have enough currants to make another 6 pies tomorrow too. The pies are great - the currants are embedded in a in a merangue on top of a sort of lemon shortbread crust. Here's what it looks like:
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The Idyll reflections picture is great - looks like a good time had by all!

Admission to Longwood: $12

Admission to Chanticleer: $5

Garden chat and many laughs with Idyll friends, Priceless.

Haven't had a chance to read above yet. DH fixed a nice dinner for us tonite, DS helped me download my pictures, and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep my eyes open.

Back later!

-Wendy

How did it get to be Monday again? Didnt we just have one ? At least I can spend the evening on a leisurely tour of IU day one over on the thread that Cindy put up. Got a nice cold beer and leftover BBQ chicken , and no chores(ok well, postponed chores anyway) so I will bip over there after I post this. I looked at it for a few minutes at my office today and realized I needed uninterrupted time. Sounds like you guys had a blast !

On the red garden link I posted yesterday, I could never do that either, but oh how it made me long for the space to try ! I have a red and yellow garden that I started last year,but it isnt quite there yet. Part of the problem is the exposure and too much shade from a mature crepe myrtle.

Mariann, my late DH and I built a home-made hoop greenhouse several years ago, whicj I just dis-assembled this year. We used ½ pvc pipe, left-over and fall-down lumber, bender board and I ordered greenhouse poly sheeting that repels UV rays for up to three years . It lasted about 5 . However , my heating system was c-9 clear Christmas lights under the benches, and our winter temps here dont usually get lower than the high 20s, so it worked great for me. I would love to have something more permanent and climate controlled some day.

bug, what funny faces that young man makes !

Eden, 18 coleus ??? Will we see some pics? Were they 18 different varieties? I just strted putting some orange in my garden last year-I had that 60s shag carpet aversion ! Try it next to something purple

Okay, time to hit the IU4 thread , hi to those missed

Kathy in Napa

I'm home too.

I've been over the pix and I have to say that I'm a bit bummed....looks like half my pix are ruined. The thing is they look ok on the camera LCD screen, but have a problem transferring to the computer.

I quit for the night and will try again tomorrow.

So much to say, but I'll save it for tomrrow.

Wendy summed it up in her post. What a good time!

Saucy

LOL,Saucy -- who paid you to say your pics were ruined?!! Heehee... here's hoping you can recover at least your garden pics......

Glad to hear every one is home, we hope Chelone as well? She had a long long way to go.

I was so tired today I did nothing but drag some hoses around and unpack and pay a few bills. Uploaded more photos -- the beta feature on photobucket is really really fast - it uploads 100 pics in about 10 minutes.

But I think it's time to check out the bed again.
-Cindy

A few quick shots before I finish cleaning up the house.

Several of us were wondering what this plant at Chanticleer was:

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I discovered the name is Gossypium herbaceum nigra and that it is not very common. Very cool, though.

I have always loved umbrella pines (always as in ever since I saw Les and Monique's a couple of years ago) so here's my extreme close up for the day:

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We saw one oak tree on Saturday that was over three hundred years old, but I'm wondering how old the tree was that dropped these acorns:

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Okay, time to clear the kitchen. I'd rather be laughing with the idylls!

V.

It seems that everyone had a great time at IU4. To bad I didn't find this group sooner. IU4 was in my neck of the woods. I'm only 1 /12 hours from Longwood Gardens. I'm enjoying the photos.

Kathy-I did have a portable greenhouse for a while. It lasted 2 years. What a great idea heating your GH with Christmas lights. Clever.

Martie-What is a PW annual?

It rained here all day yesterday. I gave my car a poor man's car wash. My DH was concerned about me standing out in the pouring rain scrubbing down my car. Then when I was finished he wanted to know why I didn't do his. Hummmmm

Woody-those pies look scrumptious.

Mariann

YUM! Woody and I share the same Portmeirion dishes!

Glad to hear that Saucy enjoyed the break she needed. I hope Chelone did too, but perhaps she's already stitching away? She hasn't checked in yet. The contractor may be keeping her busy too!

Had a very few raindrops here last night. It sounded lovely and gentle, but it didn't begin to solve the drought problem. So hose moving it will be once more today.

Hi! Thought I would try to make the 100th post so my birthday cards wouldn't seem quite so late!!!

Happy Birthday Michelle!!
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Happy Birthday Eden!!!!

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I came back from idyllunion and I have lilies popping all over... those were some of them.... I hope you both had wonderful days! And we missed you at Idyllunion...

I have a pic to share. I don't think anyone posted this yet.

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We had a lot of fun!

Oh Drema, the tradition carries on! I don't see any green polish though....

OK - This post is my "maiden voyage", but the weekend was spectacular and I am compelled to say THANK YOU to my new perennial friends. I am so lucky to have a sister-in-law who is willing to share her passion for plants and her delightful Idyll friends... and I'm HOOKED! I appreciate the way you all welcomed me to the fold and my gardens and I will grow with your support. The pictures are incredible and I am inspired by all of you... thanks, too, for the laughs and for the knowledge and enthusiasm you shared. You are ALL wonderful!!

I've realized my gardens need an injection... too many daylilies and hostas and not enough "punch" or design. I'm looking to make a plan and start with a small area to develop something stunning. You'll hear about it! I also want to get some containers going... Thriller, filler, spiller~

Thanks again!!!