the weather has been great. have almost finished my greenhouse.

saw a grasshopper yesterday and think i have 2 chigger bites already!!! here we go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

william- in yellville

I spent most of day Saturday cleaning up and planting shrubs. It sure is good to get out and play in the dirt.
James

I did some yard and bed cleaning a couple of days ago. Gld, I wish I would see larkspur sprouting in my beds. Mine disappeared a few years ago. I think I'll get a packet of seeds and scatter them where I want them. I never can get oriental poppies to live. I think our beds are too level and retain too much water when it is rainy.I used to have the all-double poppies too, but they are all gone. :-(

Our yard is mined by moles. Almost every step we take, we sink into a ridge!

I am taking huge 'horse pills" for my sinus infection. Hopefully I will soon feel like one of the living again!

William, did you ever tell me about what kind of greenhouse? I am interested in having a very small one. I used to have a 10x12 hoophouse but the tornado winds took care of that.

Marian, I will save you some Lauren's grape poppy seeds this year if you want. They come up everywhere. I did see three clumps of a pink oriental I did from seed last year survived the winter and I have a monster clump of those common orange ones that spreads in an ever-growing larger circle.

We have moles too; the worst ever and the dog digs for them. Sure makes a mess.

We finised up the West fence row yesterday, three pickup loads worth.

Today is supposed to be 70° so I will be outside again.

My blasted lettuce seed has not come up, so I will try some more today.

Marian, hope the sinus clears up soon. It seems perpetual with me.

Sounds like you've been very busy. We can still hear chainsaws going nearly everyday in our neighborhood. We cut a couple of our big uprooted hedge trees into firewood yesterday. I found my oakleaf hydrangea underneath one of them. : ( It doesn't look too good.
I looked under the leaves in part of my shade garden and found little hellebore seedlings coming up. I didn't know whether to uncover them or not. I've had trouble with rabbits or something eating the seedlings even though they leave the mature plants alone. For now they're still under the leaves.
William - Congrats on getting the first chigger bites of the season. lol We've been watching for ticks but haven't found any yet. I'm sure it won't be long.

It's nice to not have to keep the woodstove going all night. I am restarting ours in the morning to take the chill off the house.
I failed to mention how awful it was for all of you who suffered the ice storm devestation. I'm glad that it is slowly improving around your homes. We have never had it that bad. Our woods were as bad one year before we moved up here. It took them about 20 years to get back to normal.
Now that we have sizeable shade trees in our yard I always dread ice storms, and heavy snow. It's not too late for either to happen to us this year.

Oh, please...not chiggers..yet! Yargh! I despise them! Our cats get ticks all winter and, either one of them or myself, brought one in the other day. I found it on my bedspread! So far none on my body. My DH deticks the bob-tailed cat every time it gets on his lap. The gnats are already out, and the wood roaches. I even had a flea jump on me yesterday. Bugs, bugs, I hate them!

A piliated woodpecker was on a tree back of the woodshed when I went out there Saturday. It flew off with loud protesting for being disturbed. We have been seeing more hawks than usual. Maybe it is migrating season. I look forward to seeing the return of the spring birds. I hope the towhees return. We didn't see one last year.

Gld, I appreciate the offer of the poppy seeds, but they just will not succeed here. My sister sent me a large envelope full a few years ago. I sprinkled them everywhere I wanted them. None grew! She has the lovely iceland poppies. They reseed all over her flowerbeds, in Idaho. We have very difficult soil, and very shallow. Our backyard and one side yard is covered with moss! A younger person could devote a lot of time and energy to improving the soil, but I am past being able to do that, so I will just stick with what is willing to grow. Over the 23 years that we have lived here I have lost almost as many plants as I have succeeded with, including trees...both deciduous and evergreen. There were some really interesting types, like a giant sequoia, and a cedar of Lebanon! Nothing ventured, nothing gained...:-)

Marian

I've been raking leaves off my spring flowers and they're in all my paths I can't burn them it's so dry. i've been bragging how much rain we've had but after raking,things are dry as a bone. Just too dry to burn.
William, just keep those chiggers at your house. We've never had much trouble with ticks,i think my neighbors guinnies(SP) keep them under controll. My concern is copperheads and have'nt seen any yet.

My forsythia is getting yellow buds. I have one creeping phlox with a few blooms. I can't think of the name of them but have a few of the blue daisy like flowers blooming too. The iris and daylilies are sending up green leaves.

I bought some red daylilies(Pardon Me) and some red bleeding hearts from Walmarts today. For the last week all i can think of is red flowers. Saturday i bought some old fashioned pink oxalis and of course some red phlox. Don't bright red dafodils sound pretty?LOL

My poppies are'nt up yet. Hope they will soon.I've not had any trouble growing them. but lost what i had due to my neglect.

gld, what tall perannuals have you cut back? I wonder if i have any i should cut back.

christie, i hope your oakleaf hydrangia makes it ok.

I've got a grass clump i've got to cut before it starts growing and some roses to prune and i'll get to play in the dirt too.
vickie

Vickie, is this what your "blue daisy like flowers" look like? If so,they are anemone blanda,
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gldno1- my greenhouse is about 8 feet square and the roof peaks at 9 feet. should take care of everything i need. need help lifting the roof onto the walls then eveything will be finished.

we have been very fortunate here with the weather. no ice storms or damage. snowed once about a inch and a half.

have a lot more to do in the yard. i have seedlings coming up all over the place and i have to construct 10 raised beds but am having trouble getting the wood from a local sawmill.

william- in yellville

Marian,Anemone blanda is it.thanks, a pretty picture.

I got my daylilies planted and dug up some yellow iris to give away. These particular iris don't know when to stop spreading. I wish some of my prettier iris would spread like that. My tulips are up. and the forsythia gets more yellow every day. There's still so much work to do and i did get to play in the dirt.

We have a small chance of rain tomorrow. I do hope we get some of it.
vickie