My, its May already. Since we've never had a frost after May 12, I'm hoping gardening can soon start. But, who knows, this is a strange year. I do think my plants are getting tired of moving to deck, then house again!
I have radishes, lettuce, peas, carrots and kolarabi in the garden, and up pretty good. I must remember to go back to my regular seed-starting mix when I start seeds in July. My pepper plants are only about 2" high, and tomatoes much shorter than other years.
What is everying growing this year that you havent before?Mine is Swiss Chard, and Kolarabi. My second year for Kale, if you can count the one plant I had by accident last year.
One of my new fruit trees isnt alive, so they're replacing it. Have 8 raspberries not alive, they're replacing 2.
I must prune spring flowering shrubs heavy this year, and mulch. Armadillo's trying to uproot some.
I'm going to kill my ornamental grasses this year, cant dig because of the close proximity to daylilies and peonies, and its just too hard to take care of, simplify life.
Good Gardening to Everyone.

I am trying the Black Pineapple tomato you like so much and two new varieties of pepper, Anaheim and Serrano. Everything else is pretty much the same. My potatoes are just now coming up, lettuce was very disappointing since only the Black Seeded Simpson came up. Radishes are up. Tried swiss chard last year and didn't like it at all! Same with mustard. I didn't plant spinach so my go for a fall crop instead.

I hate to hear that about ornamental grasses, I have planted several thinking they would be very low maintenance. I just had one large one to cut back this year....you may be right.

My raspberries came back but very spotty; don't think I will replant until I see what I have; none have fruited yet. What has survived will be what I keep. Maybe I can fill out the patch with some of them. Same with strawberries. I will try to even out the rows with runners from what is thriving.

Today is 48° and windy so I am inside!

First clematis bloomed, lost the tag so don't know the variety. The first is not quite open and the next fully open. Lots more buds on all the clems...and I think we totally escaped frost this time!

Hope the frost missed me too. I didn't cover anything last night. For some reason I was thinking that tonight was the night that was going to get cold and when I looked at the forecast at 11:00 last night and realized I was wrong, I didn't want to go out with blankets and boxes.

Pretty blooms GLD. I have a double white one about to bloom. It has beautiful flowers but never very many.

I have a zebra grass that's getting pretty large and I may have to kill it someday. I think I could get a start off of it first. When I got it in a trade, it was three blades of grass with a single one inch piece of root attached. I laughed when I saw it but now it's huge. It's just so much work to transplant things when they're big like that especially if they're in a rocky area. I transplanted a shrub yesterday that was only about 18 inches tall but it took me two hours because there was more rock than dirt where it was and I had a lot of trouble getting it out without breaking the roots. Every time I do that I swear the next time I will spray it with Round-Up and just buy a new one instead. It better not die.

The late freeze last year completely killed some of my iris rhizomes but the survivors have spread a little and I have quite a few buds waiting. Spring must've come much earlier last year. I'm sure my oak trees were leafed out when that freeze hit and they are just now starting to look green here. It would definitely be a record if it got down in the teens this time of year.

I think I'm going to have lots of raspberries this year. They've spread a bunch and I'm questioning where I planted them. There are little raspberry plants popping up in my yard. Ceresone - Why are they only replacing two of your raspberries?

This is my first year for kohlrabi too. I only have five left of the nine I planted but they're growing. I'll have enough to try them at least and will plant more next year if I like them. Mine were purple but I don't know if there's any difference in the flavor from the white.

My dandelion crop has been excellent this year. : ) If they find me dead, it could be my neighbor to the north because all our seeds are blowing toward his yard. Actually he hasn't complained but I feel a little guilty for having so many. We need to Weed&Feed.

Well, at last got the three s-d apple trees planted, not staked yet, but in the ground.

Took down the leaning bird house, got the new sprayer up and had to charge the battery before I could spray. Hope it works today.

Christie, it seems every time I plant something...I realize later that was the wrong place...I now have a bleeding heart directly in the middle of a clump of daffodils. My eragrostis still seems to be totally dead on one side, but have several babies near that I can move around some.
I have more weeds this year than grass in the lawn but am not willing to put the kind of money required into keeping it weed-free. I will attack some thistle that blew in from the neighbor's pasture across the road.

You all have peaked my curiosity about kohlrabi now. Must check into that.

Still haven't planted the basket of growing iris in the barn. So much to do; so little energy!

Definetly so little energy, I hurt my back last fall, and just this morning getting to the chiropractor(?), bout to lose the use of my arms, so must go.
This grass is miscanthis(I cant spell it, and too early to look it up!) that I ordered from Whites Flower Farm, it did the job I wanted, which was to make a screen for the front of the house, but it's just gotten too hard to take care of, with the trimming and all.
I have decided I need to simplify life a bit, wishing I had a way to turn this big yard into pasture, with the price of deisel.
Next two week, the main garden will be going in, I'm planting a patch, small, of corn this year, the Ball Blue Book has a really good soup recipe , mixed vegetables, that I'd like to put up at least 50 quarts. I found it was the first thing I ran out of.
Enjoy this weather, Folks, it may turn hot now.

Glenda, loved your pics. clems make such pretty plants and i've never been good at growing them.

My container veggies are coming along. Already looking forward to the first tomato,cuke,and pepper. Think i may be rushing things.LOL

I put in a couple of marigolds with the tomatoes. Maybe keep some bugs off. Speaking of bugs, we have a tremendous crop of ticks this year. Does anyone else?

Christie, my dandelion are doing great this year too. I have a guilty secret to share. Got my dandelion seeds from my bank and planted them up here. By next year may have to forage the leaves to eat.

Wild blackberries are starting to bloom. Going to be alot of them.
Ceresone i hear you about making life simple. I am so slow. Have only got 2 flower beds done. If i don't get anymore done, i'll still have my container plants to injoy.

Here is a pic of one of my Asao blooms. I have 2 of them and both have a few blooms open. This one is growing up into a Ninebark.

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My white Henryi is almost ready to open and has a lot of blooms coming on. I have at least 12 differant ones ( I forgot how many). They are all growing dispite the awful freeze last year. Several had to start over from the ground. I have tried 3 times to grow a Nelly Moser, and have finally succeeded! It is growing up into a large Glossy Abelia by our front porch. It will join a Multi Blue that I have had for several years.

Marian, that clem is beautiful. I think one reason I am appreciating the flowers so much this year is that I had none last spring!

I noticed a small bloom on my montana reubens yesterday, so it survived.....it is on the ground, still haven't got a trellis up for it.

I left the tomato, peppers, and eggplants out last night and had to dump water from the flats this morning...now have them just sitting in the slatted flats so they won't float away.

My Nelly Moser was huge, but had to be cut way down and looks like a baby this year, but at least it is alive.

I just planted a Jacksonii superba by the front porch; hope it does well. I think I have 12 too.

Another iris is blooming,

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It is Fragrant Lilac, one of the few fragrant ones I have.

Glenda, I don't lnow if you were reading the Off Topic side of the Perennial forum 2-3 years ago when jain in California was posting there. She sent me several of her gorgeous Iris, at that time. They were all frozen down last spring....not one bloom on them. This year there will be several blooms ( if a hail storm doesn't get them ! ).

Your's is sure pretty. I took a pic of a dark purple one yesterday eve., but it looks blue in the pic. :-(
I have some huge white ones blooming, and old fashioned blue ones.

I am like you, so many of my things were frozen last year. This year most of them are doing extra good. All of the surplus rain has't hurt them...yet. We have good run-off in our yard, so there isn't many places where the water stands very long.

Here is a pic of my latest clem to bloom. It is apparently a Carnaby, but wasn't supposed to be!

The large white Iris ( I don't know it's name):

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And an Iris reticulata that has just opened:

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I do remember Jain.

We got another 2.5 inches of rain overnight. I think we are 12 inches ahead for the year already. That will delay my veggie garden and bit!

Beautiful flowers, Marian. I don't have Carnaby, but it is a standout.

Iris are amazing plants...last fall when mine began to rot, I dug up most of a nursery row and discarded all the soft rhizomes and put the others in a box and put it in the milk parlor (to be planted out in that fall, didn't get it done yet). I noticed that they are now putting up bloom stalks and that is in no dirt and very low light. I hope I can determine what color they are so I will know where to put them. Think I will set them outside today in the shade and let them open before planting them.

Ooops, I misnamed the bottom iris. It is a Dutch Iris, Miss Saigon. My Iris reticulata are long past blooming for this year.

Yes, Iris are amazing. I have thrown unwanted old fashioned tubers out into the edge of our woods and they grow and bloom!

We apparently got less than an inch of rain yesterday and last night. That is fine with me! The county finally graded the road, and I hope it does not wash out again this year. Our driveway still needs help. I think the county will do it if we pay them...:-( .

gldno,

I think your clematis is Miss Bateman. They're so pretty - I have two of them up by my front gate. It's one of my favorites.

- robinia

I been enjoying everyone's photos. I have a couple more iris blooming. My daughter picked out the first one called 'Jesse's Song' when she was with me at Wal-Mart at least a couple years ago but this is the first time it bloomed. I didn't even know it was still alive. There's a yellow bud below it that's a mystery to me. I may have gotten it in a trade and it's never bloomed before either. I'm anxious to see what it looks like.
Thumbnails -- Click to enlarge:

May Night salvia, Homestead Purple verbena, and my dark purple columbine is starting to bloom now. Lots of purple in my yard right now.

I've been planting out some seedlings. I'm hoping all this rain will make them take off - if something doesn't eat them first. They're very small.

I direct sowed all my old zinnia, cosmos and a bunch of other seeds in a big area where I had sprayed the grass with Round Up a couple times. Hoping the rain will bring those up as well. I think I sowed them on the 5th so I might start seeding some seedlings soon if they were still viable. The Round-Up killed the weeds just fine but I could see some grass seedlings coming up in a few places. It may be a big weedy disaster by June.

robinia, you may be right..I looked one up and it looked exactly like the one I have. I have absolutely no recollection of buying that one, but could have. I am loving it so far. It blooms from the ground up which I really like. This is it again, second from last; hope it shows how the blooms start at the base.

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The two middle iris are Dashing and Clarence...once again not sure about the pink.
My yard now looks like a hay field...needs mowing badly.

few flowers here but some squash and fennel and a few tomato plants. can you believe it is going to be in the forties this weekend? tough start this yr.

william

We are at a very windy and chilly 43° here this morning. Before the rain (1/2 inch) hit yesterday evening, I carried in, once again, all my plants and put them under lights. I am ready for this prolonged blackberry winter to be over!

Blooming here are lunaria, iris, lamiums, a yellow columbine, a clematis, the blackberries are starting to bloom, and linum.

Of course, these winds may blow the iris over.

Glad the storms missed us last night. Did anyone have damage? Found a few things in my yard, pieces of a cookbook, some insulation, and a formal looking invitation that says:

Please join us for:
Tracey's Sweet Sixteen Celebration
August 22, 2008
The Copa Restaurant
311 Holden Drive
Oklahoma City, Ok
Maggie and Brian Murphy

I was feeling really bad for this girl who must've had her house blown away before they got a chance to send out invitations (birthday not until August) but I googled the restaurant name and there isn't one called Copa on Holden Drive so I think someone's printing business got blown away instead.

Hope everyone is enjoying Mother's Day with their families. My sweet hubby is at Lowe's buying parts for my new arbor and I'm being lazy today.

Christie, glad you mentioned Jessies Song. I've got that one and had forgot it. It is the solid blue is'nt it? I've got the purple and white one too. infact i've two. one is smaller and spreads rapidly. The other is large with ruffled falls.
One red iris,one brown and yellow(Rustler),some light blue fragrant(Skywalker)some yellow and white,lavender,pink,dark blue,pink and white. Don't remember the names of these.
Tomatoes have started growing. Peppers and cukes
looking good too. I found a ripe strawberry i did'nt pick off when i planted my strawberries. There's a place near Clarksville where i can pick strawberries for $6.00 a gallon I may go pick some tomorrow. Would'nt hve been tempted if i had'nt found that one strawberry. Life is hard sometimes!!LOL

Am finding out it's really great to have your garden in containers and be able to move them about on a whim, almost as much fun as rearainging (SP) furniture.

Hope all you in Mo are ok.after the storms yesterday. Don't remember anyone from Neosho. Some of our OK friends were hit. Hope they're ok too.

Happy Mothers Day!!

Today turned out to be a wonderful day for working out in the yard. I mowed some. Planted maybe 8 or so foxgloves around the foundation; moved some salvia up front too. I finally planted the tub of iris that had languished in the milk parlor for a year and pulled the odd weed or two.

Found more RRD on another rose.........Still haven't sprayed the multiflora rose that must harbor the mites, must do that as soon as possible.

In bloom: Beauty Bush, pink wiegela, a cream colored iris, and a rose bud or two are showing color, blue flax, a new white iris and the other iris I posted are still blooming.

I had planted bronze fennel for the butterflies last year and thought it had died out....it did, but I have dozens of babies all around...even great distances from the mother plant. Pleased about that. Tons of self - seeded poppies and petunias. Glad of that and will move some around here and there.

The fruit trees we planted are already budding out.

I took a chance and planted one tomato. I think I will hold off until the next storm system goes through.

Let's all hope and pray it isn't as devastating as the last one.

Hi Oakleif - In my post above with the two types of iris, the top one (purple and white) is Jesse's Song if I don't have the name wrong.
I don't have a name for the group of smaller light purple ones.

I have a bunch of bronze fennel seedlings coming up too Gld. : ) They need to be thinned out. My mama plant came back as well.
I finally found some verbena bonariensis seedlings coming up and it looks like I will have PLENTY of those. I also have a bunch of beauty berry seedlings from 'Profusion'. In fact I'm worried that it's going to be invasive and wish I had planted the native one instead.
Sunday - I found a little sprout coming up from my second salvia guaranitica that I had given up for dead. Still no life from four 'Black and Blue' plants though.
The big area that I sprayed with Round-Up and then broadcast a quart bag of assorted seeds is already looking like a failure. lol Lots of seedlings coming up but they're not flowers. (Mostly grass seedlings)

Hoping those storms will fizzle. We've all had enough of that.

Lots of things blooming here now. The recent hail did some damage, but nothing serious. Most stones were the size of shooter marbles, and a few were about golf ball sized. Thank God it didn't last long.
This Earnest Markham Clematis survived in good shape:

That is a Pyracantha in bloom to the right behind it.

Some of my potted plants were damaged, with holes in leaves,and broken off stems. Hostas have quite a few holes and torn leaves. Azaleas blooms are pretty bedraggled.
Lots of tree leaves all over the ground and on the deck. I don't remember having hail that big.

Last week I bought a new Digital TV to replace the old set that the lightning ran in on about a month ago. It zapped my VCR and DVD players also. Today, I bought a new combination player, and a new Surge bar!

When is all this wild weather going to stop!!!

Marian

Doesn't it seem like HUGE hail is more common than it used to be. It seems like every spring for the last few years, someone gets baseball or softball sized hail in our area. We just got our roof fixed this week from the hail damage we got in January.
What a pretty color your clematis is! Sorry to hear about your storm damage.

Marian, the worst Ice Storm caused us to loose the TV, VCR, and MW. Glad you got your things replaced.

Love the clematis. I used to have it at the other place. I need to get another one. It covered a fence post completely when in bloom.

I finally got all my garden plants in...need to plant corn and beans next. I am trying to get it all done before the promised next round of storms hits.

christie, I notice some of the bronze fennel seedlings aren't bronze and some are. I need to remove some of mine too.

Strawberries and black berries are looking promising and I have a few surviving raspberries that have some blooms.

Have a good Sunday.

May is almost gone after glancing through this thread seems like things have changed so much thru the month. It was cold. I turned the AC on this morning for first time, not for heat but was having trouble breathing because of humidity.
The iris are almost gone and saw some daylilly buds this morning. The transplanted petunias and marigolds are blooming away and growing.Lettuce, onions and radishes coming along too.

Saw 2 big non-poisonous snakes last week. decided to keep my little dog inside the pen and house,one snake looked big enough to eat her.Probably just paranoid.

I've had chamomile come up for several years but have'nt seen any this year. Hope i have'nt lost them. Catnip has spread everywhere,Yarrow also.

Planted a mockorange bush 3 yrs ago. It decided to take off growing this spring. Maybe it'll bloom next year.

Oakleif, sure hope your mock orange is fragrant. The ones growing here aren't.

I haven't seen any snakes yet, but DH has out in the field. We are getting way too much rain and the weeds are growing in my garden like crazy. I think I have german chamomile here and I don't see as much as I usually do..maybe they don't like all the moisture.

The rains wiped out my beautiful peonies overnight. The iris are finished. A few self-seeded petunias are beginning; the salvias are in bloom and some roses are starting. Two are really diseased and I think I will cut them to the ground.

My GD picked the first quart of strawberries this weekend. They sure tasted good. I will have a few peaches, lost most of the apricots in a drop and the blackberries look really promising.

Colorado potato beetles are here! I tried hand stripping and gave up and sprayed with some orchard spray (all I had on hand). Of course, it then rained it off.

Corn is up. I still have room for 4 more rows...don't know what I will plant there; maybe more corn.

I need to start mulching things.....maybe I can get caught up this week.

Well, I'm caught up!!I've mowed for the last 2 days, this morning its raining again.
Some of what I mowed was as tall as my tractor.
I spent part of yesterday putting my beans back in the ground, rain had washed them out.
Need to thin more on the peaches and nectarines, plus prop them up. I've never seen everything so loaded. Even plums that are 10 years old and never bore fruit are loaded.I've even picked blooms off several of the new trees I set out.
Tame blackberries are just now starting to bloom--wild ones cover the field-wonder if anyone would bother to pick if I offered them? Probably not, would want ME to pick and give them!
William, you'll be tickled to know my tomato seeds came up TRIPLE!LOL--anyway, have out about 50 plants.
So, mowings done, gardens in, orchard is in--oh, yes, I have 4 more blueberries and 25 more strawberries coming--going to plant in 30 gallon pots as a trial. Pots are ready and waiting.
Its raining--so today going to rest (till sun comes out)
Hows your day?

ceresone- good to see you post.

out of 50 plants, how many different varieties?

william

Vickie - I hope a snake couldn't eat a dog but I would be careful too if it's a very small dog. I was reading an article not too long ago about Arkansas having Boas which was news to me. Hope that doesn't become a common thing.

I'm still waiting on one of my iris to bloom. I don't know why it's so much later than the others but it has a few buds so I guess it's just taking its time. My variegated iris bloomed and it's very fragrant - one of my favorites.

There's a mock orange at the Master Gardener's display garden in Springfield. It smells good but I couldn't smell it from a distance, only if I stuck my nose in the blooms. Very nice orangey smell though.

I planted just a few strawberries last year and they didn't return as I hoped. My dad has been sharing his Surecrop strawberries though. I'm craving strawberry pie but need to see if I can find a sugar-free recipe.

Ceresone - If my dad lived close to you, he'd take care of those blackberries for you. He LOVES those things and knows the good spots around here to look for wild ones for his blackberry cobbler. I'm going to have a lot of red raspberries if nothing happens to them. Violet gave me a start of those and they really took off. I don't know anything about how to maintain them.

I've got baby cardinals hoping around my yard. We had a nest in our burning bush that the kids and I had been checking on and the babies left the nest yesterday. I saw one fly a short distance across the yard and went to look at it but couldn't find it. I know I was very close but it must've been hiding down in the grass - so I skipped mowing yesterday.

Gld - Do you thin out your verbena bonariensis?

Christie, I didn't have as many plants as I did last year so thinning wasn't needed. They may be hidden among the violets and perilla.....no bare ground anywhere.

Mowed yesterday and the grass was still too wet. Today plan to use the trimmer in the garden and mulch the blasted dock that is everywhere there is bare ground.

I spread some ag sulphur around the blueberries...still have three in pots to get out. I will have a few berries to taste.

Most of the apricots fell off the tree...drat! but will have more peaches than I thought on one tree. The other got peach leaf curl so bad the fruit dropped.

I quit picking asparagus after eating all we could and freezing a few bags.

Finally gave up and bought a wrought iron trellis for the Henryi clematis. I have wrought iron around the porches so thought it would blend in. Found it at Wal-Mart for around $20.

Ceresone, I don't know anyone anymore who goes blackberrying. I remember those times fondly. My mom, grandmother and two great aunts would all go. We looked hilarious as everyone tried to cover all exposed parts to keep off ticks, chiggers and briars, but it was lots of fun.

I quit feeding jelly, so most of my orioles have moved on...a jar a week was a bit much. The squirrel chewed threw the nylon hanger on the feeder for the other birds....haven't replaced that yet and may not. Bugs are here and worms; they may have to fend for themselves.

I did put out more thistle seed, but so far, have only seen one gold finch. Does anyone else have lots of them?

Still not many butterflies.

Last day of May! reading back over the post's, its been a strange month, hasnt it?
I'm finally caught up--if I dont think of the things left to do--like cleaning out the chicken house, pruning the lilacs and mock orange. This winter, I'm going to severly prune in the orchard too--a heavy fruit crop sure points out the weak places.
Sent starts of Rose of Sharons, starts of iris, and assorted plants to my daughter in Spf. yesterday. They have bought a place, and she wants it more like "home". Several years ago, my sis and I ordered hundreds of dollars worth of iris from Calif. (seems I lost the most expensive) with plans on trading with each other havent yet--she has one called "Baboons Bottom" thats beautiful.
William, I have about 20 kinds of tomatoes this year, mostly paste, but a few of my favorite slicers, Glenda, I sure hope you like the one I raved over, Hope its not a "aquired taste"-LOL. I think you will tho. A new one I've tried is "Raspberry Giant".
I have a new snake this year--unless my old one changed its spots-new king snake is definetly dark black with green speckles, saw the brown one again too (I'd like a close-up of him to be sure theres no pattern, Not too close)
All but the last 8 raspberries are putting on growth, strawberries and new trees are fine. Gardens coming along good,
Hope its the same in your world!

I am not caught up....but working on it.

We got panels up for the tomatoes this morning before the rain (once again) stopped up.

I can't catch a good day to spray the fruit trees and I had such plans to keep a good schedule.

Everything is looking good.....so far.