Beautiful photos Mizellie! I have that honeysuckle and I've found it rather easy to contain. It's not nearly as invasive as the wisteria I grew (and later killed). In fact, I find it well behaved in comparison to it's wild yellow cousin, don't you? Mine is just now beginning to bloom.

Love those irises! Mine have just started blooming, and maybe later I'll show you some. Right now I'm replacing the kitchen floor with new tiles. Wouldn't you know my AC quit working and it's rather warm in here. I'd rather be outside but it's raining. And you know what they say, "The rain comes so the chores get done." LOL

Back to the floor...unless you've got more pictures to distract me with...anybody?? LOL

NancyAnn

LOVE THOSE IRISES!!! And your columbine looks nice, too.

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!! Oh, what a lovely garden you have, Ellie!

Thanks for showing these pictures! I've just gotten home from work, very tired...and these pictures were such a treat.

Great pics - I do love looking at the pretty iris blooms, wish I was successful at growing them.

I agree the pink honeysuckle isn't invasive but oh the cousin, it take strong stuff to eliminate that except you never really eliminate it - it just pops up somewhere else. I have my pink growing on one side of an arbor that has fence wire between the posts and I have to push the new growth through the wire after it gets some length on it. It definitely is hard to train.

See those almost solid green leaves on your variegated maple - pinch those off. Because they are all green, they are going to deprive the less vigorous varigated leaves of nutrients and the tree can and will revert if they are left on their own.

Thanks for the tour - it is cool and damp here and it was like a stroll through your garden.

Brooke

Tammy,
This is the virburnum I rooted. It actually has 5 bloomheads on it but I couldn't capture them all. They are really hanging over.

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I have different columbines but that is the one I like. It has double petals..

NancyAnn, That honeysuckle is kind of and orange red, Flame I think. The trunk on it is about 2 feet tall now and no, it isn't invasive at all. I also have the Alabama Crimson that I grow on a trellis but my favorite is the one I let grow on my deck...Pink Lemonade. I have a yellow, ( not the wild yellow ) that I have just gotten started. It's climbing a little now.

Butterflychaser, I had a wisteria that I trained into a tree, It was a gorgeous shape and I trained it about 5 feet from the ground to the lower limbs. I kept it ( the runners ) trimmed off for about 5 years. It would get so full of big beautiful buds, then it would freeze. Not once did I get to see it in full bloom so I dug it up and gave it away and dug suckers and spouts for 4 years. Yech !!

Hey brooke, in the back of the buckeye, on the right, if you look closely you can see the anise tree in bloom. I set those out in the edge of the woods so they would be aunatural. If I get time this year, I will clean the edge of the woods there where I have the white and red flowering anise. fothengilla( did I spell that right ?) a white buckeye that blooms later and in the far back, ROYCE,I have a craapple tree. very small apples on it though, hard as a rock but I love them. Makes my mouth water to think of it...Where is the salt???....Ellie

Ellie, I think the Buckeye blooms are neat. The first time I saw a Buckeye bloom, I had no idea what it was. Liked it well enough that I planted a couple. I also like the leaves. Mine are only about 6' high and are not blooming yet this year. I had several small ones potted up and the frosts zapped them.

Did not know you could train the Honeysuckle into a tree. Great idea. I like the Viburnam. Yours is different than mine.

My orange Native Azalea is now blooming, but have been so busy that I have not taken a picture.

Very nice pictures.

Royce, you know the picture of the viburnum that is so strongly scented,? I have one of those too!! I actually have 6 or 7, all different. The old fashioned snowball is also a virburnum. Mine is just beginning to bloom.

My red buckeye is only about 4 ft. tall. It has lots of blooms for it's size.

I don't know why I thought you could make a tree of the honeysuckle. I guess because I did it with the travelers vine, you could do it with honeysuckle. It's not invasive so you should be able to control it. I am also trying my hand at a forsynthia tree. I saw one in a garden catalog once so thought I would try it. I just started it last year so there's not much progress yet.

I had a couple of the japanese peonies come up from seed last year. I didn't know that could happen but I am letting them grow this year and will move them in the fall.

Happy gardening ya'll.....Ellie

Hello, I just love the Maple and the rest are beautiful!

I do have a question? My "PG Hydrangea" looks just like your Viburnum. Not just the bloom, but the foiliage as well is the small pointed leaves. I bought my PG about 8 years ago from one of the biggie catalog companies. I've always wondered if it was really a Hydrangea. It only bloomed last year, six years it was unhappy and I finally got around to moving it and it bloomed!
Do you know the variety of the Viburnum in your picture so I may look it up?

REally doesn't matter, I just love the blooms. Thanks for any info, Mona

I have a PGee hydranga too!! This tree gets about 10 feet tall. The pg has a slightly pointed flower head where this is perfectly round. Not pointed but more of an oval I think.

Japanese Maple and Hosta Bed.

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Mildred Seaver & Carnival Time. Shogun in the back.

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Hosta seedling and Old Glory.
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Another seedling.

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Hosta bed.

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Another Hosta bed. All of the white on the ground are dogwood petals that the wind blew off..

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Fluctans and Iris..Nigrescenes on the right. Spelling..

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Rose'.

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Blooming in the woods.

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Beverly Sills or Damsel ?????

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Finally, she's gonna bloom.. Enjoy...Ellie

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Beautiful Ellie - loved the tour. Your hosta seedlings are gorgeous but do you remember the parent(s)?

Brooke

Piedmont Gold and Green Piecrust. On a couple and Blue Mammoth and Piedmont Gold on the other. I got 1 gold one of all of them but the BM came out for sure. They get huge. The gold one ( seedling ) is a very slow grower, but the one pictured with Old Glory gets really big, really fast. I have another Blue one that cups but it's a late riser. I'll take a pic of it when it gets a little bigger. I have one that looks like green Piecrust but is MUCH larger. My dh used to say that the bed by the front porch looks like a jungle. I have no color there..It's all Hosta and ferns.

I have a couple that came out of Surf Rider and S. Elegans. It's right nice too!! No varigated one, I'm sad to say...Ellie

Thanks for the info!I'm really getting into Viburnums. If you ever have anymore rooted babies, I'd love to work up a trade. THe Hostas are wonderful! You sure do have a beautiful garden and make some great pictures of it.

Ellie the big seedling with Old Glory is gorgeous and gee, a blue that is fast growing is great. The late riser blue probably is taking after the Tokudama side of the pedigree. They don't wake up very early - I guess they are smart.

To get variegated seedlings you need a streaked pod parent and then you only get a percentage of streaked seedlings. Then you have the fun of watching all the changes the streaked seedlings go through trying to decide if they want to settle into a stable pattern or remain streaked. If you would like a streaker or two, let me know and I know I can send you a couple of my seedlings to dab.

I had quite a few gold seedlings this year but they are much weaker than their sibs, even the streaked sibs. The substance is thin,the crown areas are weak and the root systems are weak. I give them time to toughen up but eventually pitch them. I only have two or three gold seedlings this year that have made the final cut.

Royce is bragging about all of his pods already so I guess I can brag too - I have pods that I dabbed in the building this year using my seedling x seedling.

If you label your hosta in the garden, Fluctans is now officially Sagae.

Brooke

Ellie, I too enjoyed the tour. Very nice.

Mona mentioned rooting Viburnums. Wonder how difficult it is to root them. I think I am going to try to root some Azaleas and if Viburnums are easy, might try a few of those.

This is blooming here today. The common name is Bottlebrush plant. It is barely cold hardy here and will survive only in a protected spot. Mine suffered quite a bit of cold damage in the winter of 2004/2005. I left the damaged limbs until this year and have now done drastic pruning to cut out all the dead limbs. The Hummingbirds love it.

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That's lovely royce. my sister has bunches of those. She lives in Orlando. I brought a small one home to grow but , alas, it bit the dust. Virburnm are very easy to root. I cut my piece of the limb, ( old and new ) then I skin the bark and beat the slop out of the end where I have pealed. Usually a hammer. Then wet it and dip it in some rooting hormone and stick it in the ground. I use my wildflower garden as a rooting bed because, I always leave the leaves to rot in there and the ground is very rich. Actually, my dh vacuumns the leaves, chops them up and we just throw them back in there..Usually..

Brooke, I'm glad you like my hosta seedling. The leaves on that one get as large, sometimes larger, than a full grown Sum and Substance. That's pretty big.

I haven't done any Hostas in a year or too. When they changed the name of Fluctuans to Sagae, I Kept the old name because it was Fluctuans when I bought it ( very small ) and will always be that to me. I have a beautiful Inneswood too!! She is prettier every year.

I have two Christmas Trees, one is a tissue culture and not nearly as pretty as the other..

I have a black iris blooming but am too tired to go and take the picture. I am always sleepy on Sunday afternoons.. Must be because I take a break from work outside and just go to Church...Lazy me....Happy days...Ellie

YUMMMM! Beat the heck out of them with a hammer. Well that explains it. I took cuttings of "Shasta" Vib. and Euoperian Snowball Vib. Ireally wanted to save the ES Vbs because they came from my D-i-L first house and she wanted some of it, atlast they all died. Every one of the Shastas lived since I have several in my garden already. Ain't that the way it goes? I did find some of the ES Vibs on Ebay for $4 and order us each one. They are small, but well rooted and should take off once we plant them.

This year, all my Vibs will take a licking before starting the cuttings.

Thanks for the great info. Now if I can just manage to remember it. Mona

Mona, that is the way I root things. Some folks do it the proper way with just the right kind of mix for rooting, etc. My sister brought me a couple of limbs from two different hydranga's that she picked from a friends yard. They were the lace top petal kind. I forget what they are called but that's what I did to them too and now they are about 2 ft tall. I have transplanted them from my wildflower bed. By the way, I think the proper way to root those kinds of shrubs is to skin off the bark and split them on the ends with a knife, then wet them and stick them in root tone and put them in the ground.

I wanted to mention that the flower heads on the Virburnum are to heavy for the little fellow to hold them up.

2 more Iris pictures. The first one is Dusky Challenger and the other is Lacy Tutu...I don't have new ones here because they freeze out. ( the buds). So, I have gotten rid of the other 400 plus that I used to have . Now I have about 100.....Ellie

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Wow, Ellie - you sure had a lot of irises!!!!
Lacy Tutu is very frilly & pretty :)

Here's a pic of my tree peony.
It's several years old, but only gives me 2-3 blooms/year (this year it has 2).
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And this isn't a flower at all......but it's what took up most of my evening. I adopted 2 feral sibling kittens from work last year. The really bad thing is, I could never get them to let me pet them or pick them up. Therefore they never got fixed. I have just found out in the past few weeks (by evidence of swollen bellies) that they are both females...........and here's the result of litter #1 (4 kittens - the youngest was about 45 minutes old in this pic), born Sunday evening.
OMG - what have I done????
And the other cat isn't too far behind this one, I'm sure.
Now I'm going to have to look for a group discount on getting them ALL fixed!
Mom cat is pooped - she just opened her eyes for the picture, then shut them again.
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Oh me, Kittens were the love of my life when I was a very young girl and your pictures just moved my heart to remember that love. Thank you! Sometimes, the animal shelters around here do give huge discounts to adopted pets from the wild. Give yours a call, they should know of others that offer this.

Oh so very precious and innocent. Thanks again, Mona

Ok Ellie, I have a carlessi vibernum that I want to root so we're trying your method this year. Wonder if it works on smoke trees too? I don't have a really good bed to sink them in but I have a mini greenhouse that I could put in the shade this summer and plant them in the biggest pots I have. I'll let you know how we come out.

Janet

My kids loved the kitten pictures (and I did too). We have two cats, both adopted from shelters, and both fixed (much to the kids' dismay - they would love to have kittens in the house). Of course, the kids also want a puppy - maybe next year, if I can talk my husband into it.

I can hardly wait for my irises to bloom, and that's weeks away yet. But, my sister is moving closer to us (from St. Louis, MO, to Zanesville, OH - I'm in central upstate NY), and we're going to swap some plants when we visit her later in May. She has an iris for me she says is called 'Camelot'; I've got 'Edith Wolford' and 'Honey Glazed' for her. (I gave her a handful of TB historics a couple years ago, and I thought one was 'Camelot Rose,' but she says hers is just 'Camelot,' and is truly purple - now I have to go look it up and see which one of us is confused more. Probably me!)

Laurel

Janet, be sure to keep it watered and good luck. I also rooted a Vitex tha was in the way so I rooted the one and cut the other down.

Laurel, I used to have Edith Wolford and Camelot Rose. CR is pretty old but the colors are fabulous. They always froze in the bud here so I no longer have them. Today I have Lacy snowflake , Superstition , The Very Old Hold That Tiger and a few others blooming.. Post some pics. when your start...Ellie

If anyone gets the chance they need to add Dusky Challenger to their gardens. That particular plant draws me to it everytime it blooms. I used to have over 50 different cultivars but over time I've lost the labels and some have died out. DC is definately one that I keep track of though.

Janet

Janet, I have had it for years but my favorite of the blacks, ( well almost ) is before the storm. It really is the darkest I have ever seen. I think the breeder was Shriener but really don't remember. It has buds but is a late one so I probably won't get to see it bloom since I am going to Mo. If I should see it bloom, I will take a picture of it.

BTW, does anyone know how to adjust my camera? The pictures come out so light and the colors isn't as dark or rich as the actual flower. I was going to post a picture of Blue Moon ( clematis ) but when I looked at the picture it was white. I have a Sony Cyber Shot. 5 mp....How about you Gerard?? Ellie

Ellie, I don't have a Sony and can not specifically help. However, a couple of general suggestions are: 1)Most cameras have an exposure compensation adjustment. Instructions can be found in the camera manual index under "exposure". 2)The pictures you have posted are excellent. You might take a look at the background of the unsatisfactory pictures. Do you perhaps have a dark background and a light flower that is the subject you want to show.

The following is a picture I have shown before. The daylily bloom part of the picture is light and washed out. The reason is that the background was dark and the bloom was basically white with a bit of light yellow and very small amount of light pink. Originally, the picture had more of the dark background and I cropped it off. However, in setting the exposure, the camera read the exposure of the dark background and the light flower. So, because of the dark background, the bloom part is overexposed.

I am not sure that helped, but it sure was long winded.

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That does help Royce..I will get into the manual and see what it says. I have noticed this with several pics. One is an orange dl with a reddish eye. The bloom is bright pumpkin like orange but when taking a pic. it really comes out pale and you can barely see the eye. I will post it when it blooms ( a seedling that you haven't seen) again. It is a 4" bloom w/ 18" height. Thanks for your help.

BTW, I love the seedling....Ellie

Ellie,

I love 'Superstition,' one of the first irises I bought. I've got it planted by my light post, in front of a huge clematis 'Henryi,' and surrounded by sedum 'Autumn Joy' on the sunny side, heuchera 'Palace Purple' on the shadier side, and geranium 'Ballerina' in front, with a froth of white alyssum at the edge. Sure makes a nice combination with the clematis! This spring I added a daylily ('Olive Bailey Langdon,' an impulse buy/bargain from a local store, so we'll see if it's true to name) to carry the purple into the summer. There's another daylily there, too, but now I'm kicking myself for not labeling better - it's either 'Siloam Ury Winiford' or 'Gentle Shepherd,' and I'm leaning toward SUW. I'll see when it blooms, at least.

So, if I'm going to get a digital camera, what amenities/bells and whistles should I be looking for? Just a pointer, since I don't want to highjack the thread.

Laurel

Blooming today...........

Honey Glazed
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John
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Laurel, I think royce, gerard or brooke could tell you more about the camera. be sure you get one you can talk to so you don't have to carry a notebook and paper with you when you are taking pictures of your flowers.

I have a picture for royce..since he LOVES the Beauty Bush so much!! Hehehe!! Also some hosta seedlings and my very gorgeous Iris seedling. The others in that pod were dogs..

The cluster of Iris' ( white and orchid ) are seedlings also . The white is my sisters and the other is my friend Nell Naylor. Enjoy..

Beauty Bush.

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Blue Hosta Seedling

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Hosta Seedling ( Green )

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Gold Hosta Seedling

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Rooted Rhodendron & look at the hosta seedling peeking out.

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Iris Seedlings. ( not mine )
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Fiction and Pandora's Purple.

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Firecreek

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Lacy Snowflake

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The collectable..Hold That Tiger.

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And last but not least is my Beautiful seedling..Back pat....Ellie

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flower Lover, your iris' are as bright and welcome as sunshine. Good job posting. Some of mine are blurry.

I have been messing with my camera and trying to get the color right. It's a little better but still not the right colors. They are darker by a little..Lovely flowers...Ellie

Ellie, just play with it some more - you'll get the hang of it.
Your pics are beautiful, it just looks like the camera is focusing on the background instead of the flower.
Do you have it on auto focus?
And if so, are you holding the button halfway down to allow it to focus on the flower before taking the pic?
I'm by no means a camera person, but that's something I had to learn to do.
Tammy

Beautiful hosta seedlings Ellie - I can't imagine how big they will be at maturity! I also need to whine again I just can't grow iris and envy those that can - they are lovely.

I can't help you with the camera - I'm the one that is going to have hubby teach her this summer to do more than point and shoot on the A setting. Right now I can't even put the stupid card in the camera but I do know how to turn it on!

Brooke

Nice iris seedling, Ellie! You must be very pleased with that one. I also like the green hosta seedling with the strong upright form.

I've never tried growing hosta from seed, but this year I just might. Nothing fancy, but why not? I've got a handful to play with - 'Minuteman,' 'Francee,' what I think are 'Fragrant Honeybells' and 'Albomarginata,' and I have a few coming from Bluestone ('Piedmont Gold,' 'Krossa Regal,' and 'Gold Standard'). I have NO IDEA what hosta hybridizers are looking for - hosta are totally terra incognita for me. But if it can be winter sown, I'll give it a try. CAN hosta be winter sown??

Laurel

Mine were winter sown in pots that I stuck in the woods.

Those hosta seedlings were blue mammoth and Piedmont gold. The green was from Green Pie crust and piedmont Gold. or visa versa, I will have to get my notes out.

Brooke, both the green and all three of the blues are 2 ft tall or more. One of them is about 2 and 1/2 feet.

The gold is about a foot and a half. I think it would be more gold with more sun. It get's nada..none. In the shade all day long. It gets plent of light though.

I have a really pretty S. Elegans seedling and a nice one from Birchwood Elegans.. One from Potomac Pride too but it isn't special at all..

Flower Lover, My camera is set on auto focus but I think I got to close on a couple.. I have several black iris' getting ready to bloom but won't see the first ones. I am gonna be outa here. I'm picking my sis up at the airport tomorrow and we will on the way fri. morning.... talk to you all in a few days....Ellie

Have a good, safe & fun trip Ellie!! Talk to ya when you get back (I hope you don't miss too many pretty blooms while you're gone :)
Tammy

My camera has a setting for close ups and it's not for shaky hands like mine. Every picture I take with it on close up, is blurred. I talked with several people about it and was informed that I must have a tripod to use that setting. I believe it. So I just live it on normal and have ok luck, some better than others. I'd love to have a really good camera that was true to color and the brain to use it. I'm sticking with the one I have for those two reason, no money and mo brains!

All the pictures look so good, even a little fuzzy you can still see the beauty of the Iris. Thanks for sharing, Mona

Brooke, I don't know why you can't grow Iris' there. My daughter ( one of many ) lives in Lakeside Park, Ky and hers do beautifully. Course, they all came from Alabama, banjo on the knee thingy. Hehehe!! I also grew them in Mi in which they did much better than here. See Ya'll. Ta ta and all that stuff.....Ellie

Laurel remind me at the end of September and I will be happy to share some hosta seeds with you. Hopefully I will have tons of streaker seeds and if I give you some, I won't be tempted to try to plant them all.

Ellie I can't imagine how big those seedling will get with maturity if they are that size already.

My problem with the iris is I grow great clumps of iris but very few blooms. When you have a dozen fans and three scapes, it po's me to take up that much room. When I planted them of course they didn't bloom the next year - the next year I would get a scape so I thought year three would be outstanding. Nope, another three scapes and by that time, the clump was so huge it was going to have to be divided. Too much work for so little color - hubby dug them up and had to use the frontloader to move them out of the garden! I will just live vicariously through everyone else's great photos - and pout.

Where is Lakeside Park? Which side of MI does the other daughter live? (Hoping to get mizellie to stop for a visit).

Brooke

Brooke,

Thank you, I'll try to remember your offer of hosta seeds - I'd love to try growing some. Most hosta seem to thrive under my hemlock trees, so that's as good a plant to start a new interest in as any. How many kinds of plants can one gardener love? Many, as it turns out!! I'm just about maxed out on peonies, and have NO more room for lilacs. I can squeeze in a few more daylilies and an iris or two if I'm creative. BUT I actually have PLENTY OF ROOM for hosta!

Laurel

Lakeside Park is just this side of the river from Cinci. About 3 miles would be my guess, off I 75. Very nice there.

My daughter that lives in Mi is just across the street from Flint. Grand Blanc. I also have a sister-in-law who lives in Central Lake and our cottage is in Elk Lake. About 20 miles from Traverse City.

So all you northern Kentuckians, send me e-mails and let me know where you live as I will be up that way July 4th week...

My sister is in bed and I told her we are leaving EARLY in the morning. She is a slow starter so I will have to jump start her....Night All....Ellie

Safe trip Ellie and start making out your intinerary for a stop at my place. I am 80 miles south of Cincy and I can spit on I-75 from my front porch! Kydaylilylady is maybe, 40 miles from me and is only a slight jog out of the way.

Brooke

Thought I would give this thread a "lift" and post a few more iris pictures.

Best Bet
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Celebration Song
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Erleen Richeson
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Thornbird
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Tammy

Beautiful!

Brooke - still sulking

Tammy, those are beautiful. I had Tornbird once upon a time..That is the first time I have seen Best bet except in a catalog. Celebration song is my fav though. I love the mauvy, grayish, brownish edge. it is different. good job, gal....Ellie

TOOK FOREVER TO GET THROUGH THIS THREAD....I'm so far behind!
LOVE THE PICS!
Tammy, I am drooling over those Iris pics!
Here are some more I have blooming now:
BOUDOIR
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COMPETITIVE EDGE
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EVENING DRAMA (Aardvark Lark in background)
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SOTTO VOCE
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Finally, I can go to bed dreaming of wonderful blooms to come!
Nancy

Lovely Nancy. those are some gorgeous Iris' Ellie

Nancy, LOVE THOSE IRISES! My faves are Boudoir, Competitive Edge and Aardark Lark. I planted a few more this week. I bought one labeled Chasing Rainbows, but when it bloomed it was this ugly brownish-red thing. Maybe I'll figure out how to post my own pics and you can I.D. it for me.

Oooh, Nancy those are beautiful!!!

Here's today's iris blooms:

Bevery Sills - oldie but goodie
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Breakers
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Dusky Challenger (love this one - it stands tall & very vigorous)
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Luxor Gold
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Ringo
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Silverado (another vigorous one)
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Victoria Falls
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Sorry Brooke..............
Tammy

Haven't checked this thread for a while because it takes so long to load. Lots of new pictures and all beautiful. I have a couple of Irises left. Had perhaps 50 or so at one time. Voles made a home under them and ate at their leisure. I remember having Beverly Sills and Superstition and liked both of those.

Mizellie, I do like the Beauty Bush. I bought one of those years ago and don't know for sure what happened to it. I have one shrub that has never bloomed and another that died. BB was one of them, but not sure which.

Again, very nice pictures - all.