Rose, congratulations on your win!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, been out of town and came back late. We had rain on Friday so we stayed an extra day to see our outdoor drama before heading to Roscoe Village on Sunday and returning on Monday. I had to go to work and tend to wedding detail for my DD and I haven't had a free moment to get Shelly's package ready. I so apoligize because I am usually not late. I will send it out to you on Thursday. Please forgive me.

Have a good night everyone.

Sue N.

MORNING! :)

Nancy, isn't is amazing what a tree can do? Congratulations on the upcoming new bed :)..they are so fun to plan! And if you figure our how to stay organized let me know. :) I use plant tags, try to keep everything a little separated and sometimes I still have trouble!

Grace, How terrific you got a scholarship for riding. I don't really remember when I started riding. There are pictures of me at horse shows on ponies when I was 3 or 4. Have pretty much always been in a saddle. I had a really hard fall a while ago, years ago now. And that kind of put the slow down on a lot of riding. That is when I think my garden addiction really took off...I guess I have to be busy doing something :) My neighbor told her hubby that I have OCD, because I'm always doing something (can't really sit for a long time). My MIL calls it "my energy", lol!

How awesome that you walk by MSG all the time!! That must be amazing!

Sue, So glad you popped in. I know you must be getting incredibly busy right now :0)...still sending you my "happy thoughts" and remember to BREATHE! :)

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***
vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***
CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****
robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)
sue (suegardens2) sends to shelley (shred98)
grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****
shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*
liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008)
shelley (shred 98) sends to vina (flowergirl34)***SENT***
rose (rosemctier) sends to grace (celeegra)

Only a couple more days to get your boxes flying...

Talk to you later!
vina

Hi everybody. Vina thanks for your well wishes. I just got home. I was taking care of last minute logistics today for the reception, and I must say I have a headache, lol. Who knew this wedding planning could be so much work. I have to update my spreadsheet tonight with everyones duties and time frames for the big day! I think wedding planning is a job I wouldn't enjoy. Love my job all the more after this experience, lol.

I came by to post that I received my box from Nancey (trovesoftrilliums)today! What a lovely box she sent me!

Here's what she sent:

Pulonaria (lungwort)- great shade plant - I have lots of shade!

Variegated Japanese Iris - I always wanted these, thanks!

Iron Cross Shamrock - what a cool plant!!!

Brunnera - also on my list of wants, love it!

Tiarella cordifolia - aka foam flower, grows in dry shade, great! I have some of that too.

Allium - curly blue foliage, very cute and interesting

Veronica - Crater Lake Blue and Waterperry Blue, I love them both!!!

Trillium erectum - red trillium, how adorable this little plant is, and my very first trillium. I have a special place all ready for it!

Corydalis lutea - This plant has such cute foliage. I am going to find a nice place in my shade garden for it!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I love everything!!! They will all make welcome additions in my garden.

Have a good night everyone.

Sue N.

Holy Weirdness! Just got my box from Vina-WOW! Everything was well-packaged, got here in great shape! Loved the stickers on the front of the box too!
Vina's Box of Weirdness included:
Clasping Coneflower, Painted Daisy, Yarrow Cloth of Gold, Hibiscus Turn of the Century, ROS Blue Satin, a chrysantha Golden Columbine and an Egyptian Walking Onion! Now that one is really strange!
And lastly- 15 Iris Fans-Vina, these are kind of special to me-I've been playing with the idea of growing a "few" of these in memory of my Mom, who passed in March. These were among her favorite flowers. Thank you, this means a lot to me.
The Iris are: Florentina, Snowbrook, Batik, Indian Chief, Kochii, President Pilkington, Mother Earth, Ola Kala, Quaker Lady, Alpine Storm, and some NOIDS. I need to do a lot of research, know practically next to nothing about Iris's. I'll probably be emailing you a few times, Vina!
I've already thought of "garden space" for most of these, want to get them in today-gee, does this mean no time for weeding? What a shame!! Thanks for that too, Vina!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! Great Box!
Shirley!

Hello my fellow MNFers! It's my birthday today.
You know it's also been just about a year since I found Garden Web & I wanted to thank you guys for making it extra fun to fill up my new garden. Hope for many more years to come!
Grace
p.s. Happy 4th of July!!

Happy Birthday Grace! I've enjoyed getting to know you through the MNF swaps! I hope you had a wonderful day!

Shelly

Got my box from Grace...thank you! I've really wanted Egyptian walking onion and Jerusalem artichoke! super!!!Thank you so very much.
Question...this swap was nice because it was a smaller number of people whom we kind of got to hear about and kind of know a bit (versus the swaps with 100 people). Will this group do this again...or is there some way to tell? This was really nice.
CZ

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE! Yup! It's Friday! :)Woohoo!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY GRACE! :)

Sue, your box sounds wonderful! Variegated Japanese Iris! Wow!

Shirley, so glad you enjoyed your box. I had such fun packing it :0) Iris' are so easy! You pretty much can't mess them up. Email away if you have any ??? I started my iris' with my grandmothers iris (which could very well have been my great gramma's iris as well). And the addiction took off from there...your doomed! :)

CZ, Dan has already started the MNF's for July. And there is also the OBF group (Our Bloomin Friends). That is a year long swap group and you have to sign up for 4 or 5 swaps during the year. I'm a member, so is Sue, Grace, Liz and Rose. It's a fun group! :)

I wanted to post that I received my superly weird box from Shelly yesterday afternoon. LOVE IT!
In my box was:
Daylily- Night Blooming (how weird is that?)
Cuphea-Batface ( I have to honest, don't think this will last long at my house. MIL is coming over Sunday, and have a funny feeling this will probably be leaving with her...she loves cuphea!) :0)
Iris: Spiced Custard (woohoo!)
Citronella...I love this plant! It looks awesome and smells like my horses fly spray! :) (which is a really good smell in case your wondering)
Blackberry Lilies :0)...I have some of these already and was waiting and waiting till they were big enough to split because I wanted them somewhere else in the yard as well...SO HAPPY THESE WERE IN THE BOX! In fact I planted these first :0)

and...you had a stow away in your box... a root of yarrow was in with the iris. I potted it right up. I love yarrow and have about 10 different kinds. Would you happen to know what kind you have growing by your iris? :0) Can't wait to see if it makes it.

Shelly, thank you so much for my wonderful box. I can tell you put a lot of time into selecting each plant. Thank you so much! :)

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***REC'D**
vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***REC'D***
CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****
robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)
sue (suegardens2) sends to shelley (shred98)
grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****REC'D***
shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*
liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008)
shelley (shred 98) sends to vina (flowergirl34)***SENT***REC'D***
rose (rosemctier) sends to grace (celeegra)

Everyone should be mailing or be in contact with your swap partner making arrangements. If you haven't been in contact with anyone please post here and let me know.

Hope everyone is having fun 4th holiday!
Talk to you soon!
vina

Vina-so glad you enjoyed your box. I am not sure what color was by the iris. I dug them from our old house, and I had several. I am thinking it is either Pearl or Cerise Queen? My all-time favorite plant is the Night Blooming Daylily. It smells wonderful! I am trying to spread it all around the pool. It's not as heavy as datura, but does waft nicely.
The cuphea are such cute plants. They fill pots quickly and I love the little faces! Spiced Custard is an unusual color, and I find people either love it, or hate it. My mother in law hates it! She doesn't like the creamy yellow and mustard. I do because it is different!

I was hoping you didn't have blackberry lilies, but I'm glad you have room for them. My guineas love the seeds, so they keep the seedlings from popping up everywhere! They stand in a line up and down the front sidewalk and just eat and chatter! They are such funny birds!

The Citronella is a must-have at my house! And you're right...it does smell like the Bronco spray! Lol! It seems like the hotter and more humid it is, the better it grows. Plus it roots easily from cuttings and will overwinter.

I didn't send a huge variety, but I know with someone with as large an area as you have, that the smaller plants could easily get lost. I decided to send larger portions of a few favorites. I hope that was ok. The lilies grow super well and you'll have a nice sized clump from each fan by next year!

I've really enjoyed seeing what everyone has been getting! I can't wait to get my box!

Shelly

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes!

CZ, I totally agree. It is really nice to have a tight group of chatters this month! I joined July but I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the conversations.

Vina, I got the MINE yesterday on my birthday!! Thank you thank you!
Btw I'm not a member of OBF but keep meaning to join. That's really sweet that you already think I'm one of the group. :)

Rose contacted me a while ago that she would be late with her box to me & I told her to take her time. I'll post here when I do get it.

Happy fireworks, folks! Thanks for being a super hostess as ever, vina!
Grace

oooo i'm so excited! what a wonderful surprise to come home to! i thinkk i would like the nora barlow columbine-- i ie the white and pink petals. thank you so much!! do you have my addy still?

grace, assembling your package this weekend and mailing it out on tuesday!

hope everyone has a safe and fun fourth of july!

Happy 4th EVERYONE!! :)

Grace, so glad it made it there!

Rose, I'll send out your Nora Barlow Columbine tomorrow. :)

If you haven't heard or been in contact with your swap partner please post here or contact me. We are getting down to the wire.

Talk to you later! :)
vina

Sue posted she was sending Thursday. I have only talked to her through here, except for sending my address the day you matched us up. So I don't know if there's a DC# yet, or not. I am hoping she didn't send Thursday, because it been so hot here (103-109) and with the long weekend, I'm afraid they wouldn't make it! If she sends tomorrow, when the PO is open, I should get it Thursday or Friday.

Anyway, I know she's posted about being busy with her daughter's wedding and that is time-consuming! I know there are a few others that haven't gotten theirs either. Just wanted you to know I'm still here!

Shelly
Sred98

Morning!

Hope everyone has survived the 4th weekend, I know I'm a little tired and need some recoup time...unfortunately this week starts the county fair and I'm in charge of the Plant Swap on Saturday. SO, I'll be running around all week getting donations for our raffles and setting up tents and crazy things like that. Last year we had about 20 people show up...I'm hoping this year we get more. I'm bringing 100 potted plants with me to get the ball rolling :)

My daughter and I are also signed up for the hay bale decorating contest. She wants a rainbow butterfly! So for the last 3 days whenever I get a free minute I'm working on
4 foot long wings that I made. Painting rainbow wings did sound a lot easier in my head than how it turned out. Today, I have to make a head out of a beach ball. Wish me luck! When he's complete I'll try and post some pics, but if they turn out like the master gardeners tour...I don't even want to discuss it...the computer won and I lost.

OOOOHHHH Shelly! I hope its The Pearl! I have Cerise Queen, but my pearl never came back :(...a new start of that would be awesome! And I've never come across an iris I didn't like, lol! That's my curse, and the reason I have a couple hundred of the darn things :)...they are all my little babies.
And I was correct about the cuphea. On Sunday we had our BBQ, my MIL was looking over all the plants on the deck and on my plant racks (there is like 150 plants out there!) and low and behold what does she zoom in on???? :) I was watching her the whole time giggling to myself. She picked it up and put it down. Never asked about it again and walked away. YESTERDAY WHO should show up at my house around 3...my MIL...she came in and walked right out back and mentioned she had forgotten something yesterday...YUP! The plant is gone! :)...I was laughing so hard and then told her I was watching her the whole time. She told me she thought I had it out on the rack because it was going in the plant swap and she didn't want to take it. But, by Monday she thought better of it and realized she didn't want anyone else to have it...LOL! So she drove all the way out to come and get it.

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***REC'D**

vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***REC'D***

CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****
~~~~Liz, Have you received?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)
ROBIN, have you sent our your box to Rose?

sue (suegardens2) sends to shelly (shred98)
SUE, have you sent to Shelly?

grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****REC'D***

shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*

liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008)
LIZ, have you sent to Robin?

shelley (shred 98) sends to vina
(flowergirl34)***SENT***REC'D***

rose (rosemctier) sends to grace (celeegra)
ROSE, have you sent your box to Grace?

I know Rose has been out of town for a week and that Sue is running like crazy for her daughters wedding. Those boxes will be going out. But I am wondering about Liz and Robin? I haven't heard from you. Have you sent your boxes out? You may have been waiting for after the long weekend to mail. Please post when you do.

Have a super day everyone!
vina

i asked robin to wait until i got back to mail mine. giving my bf a box of plants to tend in my absence is dicey at best. i got grace's box mailed out today, finally! i hope she likes it. i tried my best on the "weird" theme :D

vina, that story was HILARIOUS!! i can see myself doing the exact same thing. i have danced that dance many times at various greenhouses and usually end up going back the next day LOL

Too funny, Vina! I guess I should have sent two. You called it, didn't you? Lol! My MIL and I share and steal plants from each other, too, so I know what you are dealing with! Haha!

No package today, which is kind of good, because it was abnormally hot this weekend. I'll email her and see if I hear anything. I hate to bother her...I know she's busy and running herself ragged!!

Shelly

Happy Wednesday everyone!

LOL! I got a good laugh out that too :)...I think what is most funny is that we have ALL done that at sometime or another. I know I'm guilty!

Rose, too funny! Having my DH watch a plant for me is CERTAIN DEATH! I would never do that to poor harmless plant :)...you can't even hear it cry for "HELP"!

Shelly, Sue is sending to me for another swap and I haven't received from her either. She is a super nice lady and is probably running crazy right now. You might want to drop her a email because with all that she's doing she may have forgotten. :)

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***REC'D**

vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***REC'D***

CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****
~~~~Liz, Have you received?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)
ROBIN, have you sent our your box to Rose?

sue (suegardens2) sends to shelly (shred98)
SUE, have you sent to Shelly?

grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****REC'D***

shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*

liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008)
LIZ, have you sent to Robin?

shelley (shred 98) sends to vina
(flowergirl34)***SENT***REC'D***

rose (rosemctier) sends to grace (celeegra)***SENT***

Well, today starts the county fair! And I have to say the beach ball head came out better than I thought it would! I have to go to Lowes today and pick up my donations I got for the plant swap. Last year they donated a bird bath, hanging baskets, sheperds hooks and 2 absolutely gorgeous Pee Gee Hydrangeas. Too bad I can't win any of this stuff, it sure was nice! I got 7 pre-registrations yesterday over the phone. I'm pretty excited. One lady is bringing strawberry plants and another lady is bringing...drumroll...mystery iris! :) I know I NEED a couple of those!! WHERE I'll put them is another story, lol!

Talk to you later!
vina

well, jim is pretty good once a plant is planted-- he usually remembers to water it which is usually all i need him to do. forget about weeding. but with new plants, all that potting up and labeling and careful attention for the first few days is beyond him. he means well, just gets distracted, especially if a dog wanders by. he is such an animal person. his mom told me that he was that kid always bring home stray whatevers, it followed me home,mom, can i keep it? the woman must've been a saint! he is totally puppy-whipped by our beagle.

i, on the other hand, have vowed to all things green and growing that we will not get any more animals. let everything live a happy life and get no replacements as they begin to disappear. alas, i think i will be thwarted. he once found a bat on the steps of the library and brought it home for my daughter to keep as a pet. when i objected (and won! can we say RABIES?!?!) i was forever more labeled as the b*tch who wouldn't let her keep the bat. then i had to track down a professional bat rehab specialist in wv to take care of the blasted thing. apparently you have to massage them to get them to digest food and stimulate appetite-- that's why they all mass together in clumps. i think not! hat if i do it wrong and it bites me? i much prefer plants. they don't poop or pee on your stuff or get hair everywhere, and the worst thing a plant has ever done to me is grown out of control or perhaps died, and then i get to buy new ones!

you ladies are hilarious! Vina, your MIL is so cute. But I'm also glad that you have a good sense of humor about it. My SIL would have been peeved & held a grudge if my mom ever did anything like that.

Every once in a blue moon, I find that my partner has watered the indoor plants without prompting. This is usually a good way to butter me up for some other motive. :)

Well Rose, you know I love the weird & unusual, & I know you have a good stash of such, so I'm sure I'll be thrilled with anything you send my way to add to my menagerie.
Stay cool, everyone! Grace

I`m going to pack up Rose`s box tomorrow and send it on it`s way.I haven`t heard from Liz since june 16.she emailed me and said she wanted to mail my box by Monday,june 18.It looks like there`s some great boxes flying around to new homes!!It`s all very exciting!!!!

Happy Thursday!

My MIL makes me laugh so much with her antics. I don't know how anyone could get upset over a plant? There are so many other things in the world that can just crappy up your day...plants and friends should never be one of them :)

My hubs is just a PLANT KILLER! He can't even help himself even when he tries to use his powers for good they come off bad. After all these years of us being together... I know better than to entrust him with certain things.

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***REC'D**

vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***REC'D***

CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****
~~~~Liz, Have you received?~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)
ROBIN, have you sent our your box to Rose?

sue (suegardens2) sends to shelly (shred98)
SUE, have you sent to Shelly?

grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****REC'D***

shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*

liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008)
LIZ, have you sent to Robin?

shelley (shred 98) sends to vina
(flowergirl34)***SENT***REC'D***

I'm going to drop Sue and Liz an email...they may have forgotten about us. :)

Robin, post the dc when you mail, please. :)

Have a super day everyone!
vina

I emailed her the other day and haven't heard back yet. I hope she's just busy, and that nothing is wrong!

Shelly

Rose, you are awesome! I really really really wanted sea holly & tried to start some from seed. In fact the blue hobbit was one that I plopped in my WS leftovers mound hoping it would take but it didn't! Thrilled to have it!

What else? Cuban oregano. Helleborus seedlings. Hens & chicks (so simple but I just never got em!) Stonecrop & Faucaria Tuberculosa. Creeping phlox. Daylilies - cat dancer & wigged out. How weird & funny is that!
Love em all. Thanks!!

Grace

Liz sent me an email today.She mailed my box on july 5th.I packed Rose`s box tonight and I`ll mail it tomorrow and post the tracking number. Robin

Grace, so glad it got there safely and you like it :D Robin, I can't wait :D :D :D

Good morning everyone! Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Shelly, sent you an email :)

Rose, guess what???? I bet you $100 million dollars that you don't have your Rose Barlow Columbine yet...know how I know... because when I was loading up my hubby's truck for the plant swap at the fair yesterday what should be in the back seat????? YOUR BOX! I had asked him to drop this off at the post office a week ago. Needless to say YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW what the inside of that box looked like. I am re-sending your columbine out tomorrow myself! SO SORRY!

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***REC'D**

vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***REC'D***

CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****REC'D***

robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)***SENT***

sue (suegardens2) sends to shelly (shred98)
SUE, have you sent to Shelly? ***We have both been trying to contact Sue for about a week now. I only have to assume that she is very busy with her daughters wedding and hasn't checked her emails. So I am sending to Shelly. :)****

grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****REC'D***

shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*

liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008) ***SENT***

shelley (shred 98) sends to vina
(flowergirl34)***SENT***REC'D***

Our plant swap was awesome yesterday. 4 more people showed up than last year. Had a super day, and I got some really neat new plants! Can't wait till next year! :)

Have a super day!
vina

oh, no worries, vina! i just feel bad for the poor plant LOL i am such a sucker for invalid plants. i am the one who buys the 99% dead plant on the clearance rack in the hopes i can nurse it back to health! what really neat new plants did you get at the swap? i wish we had more of that going on in my area. there was a plant swap posted on a church bulletin board in town but i had to work the farmers' market that day. thank goodness for gardenweb!! and facebook-- a lot of gwers are on there and i've met some other gardeners through them :) none of my friends garden, really, so it's so nice to have this loving, generous, quirky community to share and laugh with :D

I sent Rose`s box out on Friday!The dc number is:03100480000247452590.

Happy Monday everyone!

Rose, I feel the same way when I go out shopping and see some poor, crunchy leaved little baby sitting there. He started at $19.99, now he's like .75 cents...I keep telling myself "the roots are still good...the roots are still good" lol! I am such a sucker. I just bought 3 daylilies at Lowes for $1.00, you don't even want to KNOW what they look like. They are all potted on the back deck, so I am still hopeful.

When I saw your box...I think I turned a shade of purple not even red. And then looked in the box...well, I won't scare you with those grisly details. Let's just say its been in the mid-upper 80's and the box sat in a closed truck for 5 days...can you say EEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

At the plant swap I got a couple of neat new plants to try. Since I put it on, I can't go in and pick what I want when everyone else does. I standing out collecting my plant bucks back and counting how many plants everyone has at the checkout. So I get the left-overs :)...I'm good with that. Some things I have and didn't even know I wanted till they just showed up :)

I brought 100 plants for the swap myself. I always try to make a nice mix for people to choose from (and I must admit it helps to feed my seed sowing addiction if I know they are going somewhere! :0) ) We had more plants this year left over than in the last couple years. SO, I picked out what I wanted and brought the rest over to the Agricultural Awareness Tent and they gave them away for FREE :0) This one lady brought 50 tomato plants.

I only brought home a few plants. I got Foxy Foxglove, Ostrich Plumes, Hostas and Feverfew. OH! And I can't forget the huge wicker basket of NOID iris this one lady brought. There is like 30 or 40 rhizomes in this huge basket. She didn't even know what color they were, since they came from a house she just bought and they were growing in the front yard. Some people took one or two and left the rest. And when it came time to take everything over to the other tent....well....I just didn't have the heart to let them go. So I brought the whole basket home with me! I think it will be interesting to see if they are all the same or if there is a rainbow waiting to be discovered in that basket! :)

OH!!! and drum roll please********** Our rainbow butterfly for the hay bale decorating contest took 1st Place!!!!! Taylor also got a first in the Junior flowering arranging class (with the help of my asiatic/oriental lily bed from the garden :0) )). I took a second in the adult flower arranging class with my Annabelle Hydrangea's and Russian Sage. Taylor got a third in the Junior Photography class! They compete from 6 to 13. I was so thrilled she was competing with the older kids and took third (she's only 7).
And I took a third, fifth and sixth in the adult color photography class. My third place came from my picture of my iris Thornbird that I took this spring :0)

Taylor also competed in the basketball free throw competition. She made 3 out of 11 baskets and was the only girl in her division. She won a certificate, a t-shirt and a ribbon.

We had such an awesome weekend!!

This coming weekend is the Garden Tour one town over from me. It's to benefit the Library. I'm helping out here and there. And the library is having a plant sale that day to raise money. So I have some more plants to drop off for a great cause :0). And Sunday is my little boy's 3rd Birthday Party!!! I can't believe he's 3! This time is just flying by way too fast for me...

Hope everyone has a great day and talk to you soon!
vina

Shelly, Sue just emailed me that she had to have emergency surgery and just got home. She is probably emailing you too.

Poor lady!!! I thought she was crazy, busy with her daughters wedding, and now THIS!

Please everyone send her your prayers and happy thoughts for a quick and speedy recovery. :0)

Hugs to all!
vina

Vina,

I just got on to tell you that Sue had emailed me! Apparently she can't get into GW, either. Sounds like a rough and hectic time all around!

Shelly

oh no poor Sue! i hope she is recovering nicely and not pushing herself. and right before her daughter's wedding too? wow. when it rains it pours i guess. sending you much love and support sue! get better soon.

i got my box from robin today :) we had a new delivery guy and i guess he got really confused LOL he recorded in the tracking thingie that he left a notice, which neither i nor my neighbors were able to find. so i called the post office and they couldn't find the box but tell me to come in and they will look for it. this is at 4:30 and the po is 15 minutes from my house. so i drive to the po and they still can't find it, tried to tell me it wasn't even their tracking number, and just when i was about to totally explode i voice pipes up in the back, "found it!" i left the po at 6:15-- can you believe it? my regular post office dude must be on vacay because he's usually very good but things just seem to disintegrate when he's gone.

oh but what a box!! totally worth it! she must be a mind reader because i've been wanting a lot of these :0) i got a red hot poker lily, money plant, black eyed susan, pink spirea, black raspberry, elephant ear, and lamb's ear from her granddaughter abigail's garden :) i am so excited :D how sweet that you get to share your gardening love with your granddaughter. what else is she growing in it? how long has she been gardening? is there anything she is looking for? i'd love to contribute to her garden! thank you so much, both of you :) as soon as this nasty storm stops i will be getting them in pots until i can get them in the ground

Storms must be nice!! Lol! I got to worrying today how I'm going to plant mine when they come. I think I'll have to put them all in one spot and soak it overnight with a hose. We've had 2 weeks of 100+ temps. The past week it's been 105-109 every day, so the ground is baked.

If we do get a really hard rain, it'll just run off and flood the streets because it's so hard. We have fissures running through the ground, close to a foot deep!

It's crazy. I don't remember it being this bad. I mean, we've had month long droughts before, but not with consistent super high temps, too!

Your box sounds great! I can't wait to get mine!

Shelly

I'm really sorry to hear about Sue-I hope she is doing okay-sending prayers and good thoughts her way.
Vina-It sounds like you had a great weekend! What fun!
Shelly-guess I shouldn't complain about 89-90 then!
Rose- I agree about the great people that are on this forum!
Gotta go unpack-later!
Shirley!

the storm broke a dogwood tree off at the base! i though a big branch had fallen and then realized that the tree was not there. it took me a minute to put it all together LOL

robin, i forgot to ask-- should i dig the elephant ear up in the winter? what zone are you in?

Rose,I`m so glad you like your box of plants.Abigail has been helping me since she can dig with a trowel.She has a yellow miniature rose her Papaw(my husband that passed away last year)bought for her birthday 3 or 4 years ago,purple clamatis,stargazer lily,purple garden phlox,lambs ear,orange butterfly flower and pokers.She would be thrilled to get any new plant for her bed.

Oh Rose,I do take the elephant ears in for the winter.I live in zone 6.

robin, does abigail like surprises and is she patient? i have daylily seedlings from very cool crosses. they MIGHT bloom next year but it won't be a true bloom until the following year, from what i understand. and who knows what they will look like! it will be a mystery LOL what's her favorite color for flowers?

Good morning everybody!

Rose, that box sounds great! and with that tree gone, maybe you have room for a new sun bed? I also CRINGE when my regular mailman goes on vacation. Once I did a large seed swap with this lady and the bubbler never showed up. And I'm thinking...I got burned. Then, about a week later my neighbor from up the road drops off this huge bubblie envie that he had had for over a week! He said it was stuffed into his mailbox and he had the arrow up for a few days thinking the fill in mail lady would see it. She just kept dropping off his regular mail and leaving the bubbler.

Robin, Abigail's flower bed sounds very pretty. I bet she's really proud of it too. How awesome! Future gardener in training :0)

UPDATED :0)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BOXES SENT AND REC'D~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

trovesoftrilliums sends to sue (suegardens2)***SENT***REC'D**

vina (flowergirl34) sends to shirley (sjc48)***SENT***REC'D***

CZ (pinenuts) sends to liz (lovesherflowers)***SENT****REC'D***

robin (robin1962-2008) sends to rose (rosemctier)***SENT***REC'D****

sue (suegardens2) sends to shelly (shred98)***Has sent an email and is in transit of sending :0)*****

grace (celeegra) sends to CZ (pinenuts)***SENT****REC'D***

shirley (sjc48) sends to trovesoftrilliums ****SENT***REC'D*

liz (lovesherflowers) sends to robin (robin1962-2008) ***SENT***

shelley (shred 98) sends to vina
(flowergirl34)***SENT***REC'D***

Robin, have you received your box from Liz yet? Or heard from her this week?

We are getting down to the nitty gritty and are almost done with this swap. I just want to thank everyone for signing up and sharing your gardens this month. It has been hot, dry and did I mention HOT! and you ladies all came through with flying colors :) THANK YOU SO MUCH for making my job so easy peasy mac and cheesy :)!

Have a super day!!
vina

My box still hasn`t arrived.I emailed Liz last night but no response yet.I don`t know what has happened.Vina ,thank you for hosting.
Rose,Abigail is very patient with her flowers and her fav,colors are pink and purple.

Good morning!

Hope everyone is staying cool! We actually had some rain yesterday. The wind was blowing so hard it blew over my husbands crazy grill over. Propane tank and all! The worst part is it landed on top of some of my plants I had potted up :( They look kind of smooshed, but I planted them last night in the ground (crossing my fingers they make it).

Shelly, Sue emailed me with my dc # for my box from another swap and was wondering if she did the same for you? Her hubby packed the box (with Sue supervising). I can't wait to see what's in there. As I told her in a email if that was left to my husband there would be a rotty, smelly, bare-root box headed someones way :0)

Robin, when Liz emailed me that she sent your box out that was like 2 weeks ago! She also said in her email that she sent out a bunch of boxes and none of them have been received. And I haven't heard from her since.

If you don't hear from her by Friday, we'll consider her not sending. And I'll get a box together for you...as I told Shelly, I have a lot of weirdness to go around :)...and its not fair that you have been waiting till the middle of July for a box you should have received in June (with no word of what is going on). I would rather send to you this coming week then wait till it gets hotter out...August is coming...and I can only imagine MORE HEAT! Please send me your mailing addy :) and I'll start making a list of this and that's for your weird box :)

Have a super duper day everyone!
vina

Vina,Thanks so much.I don`t mind waiting.This has been a great swap. Robin

Vina,

No. I never got a DC#, or a box.

Thanks,

Shelly

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all trying to stay cool!! I saw 115 for Louisiana and Texas today...HOLY MOLY!

Sorry I've been MIA for a couple of days. My son Billy had his 3rd birthday party on Sunday. It was wonderful! :)

Shelly, I re-emailed Sue about your box?? I received my box from her from the OBF swap. So I assumed that yours was going out with mine. Don't worry, one way or another your getting a box! :)

And on Friday a wonderful surprise came in the mail for me!! Shirley sent me some Partridge Peas!!!!! They arrived in super shape!! and are already in the garden right out front! I had them on my want list for seeds to look out for this fall! and I can't believe I already have a plant!!! :)
It was so thoughtful and generous of you and I can't thank you enough!! ((((BIG HUGS :0)! )))))

Have a great day everyone! And really, try to stay cool! This heat is just oppressive!!
vina

Just wanted everyone to know I received my box from Sue today. It is full of a large selection of iris starts and some daylilies. I can't wait to get these planted this fall! Thanks so much!

Shelly

Hey everyone!

Shelly!! WOOO HOOO!!! You got your box! And full of iris...how awesome is that! :0)

Robin, your box is in the mail... :0) Your dc# is 0308 3390 0002 0057 1072
Please post when it arrives, and I hope you likey :0)

Have a super night everyone and try to stay COOL! :)
vina

OHHHH I CAN`T WAIT!!!!I LOVE GETTING SURPRISES IN THE MAIL!!!!

Morning everyone!
Hope you all had a great weekend...and stayed COOL!

Robin, I was wondering if you have your box? It says it was delivered on the 22nd. I'm just hoping its your house :)

Have a great day!!
vina

Vina,YES,YES,YES my box is here and I am sooo lucky that you had to send it to me!!!!!I absolutely love it!!I have moved in with my mother and now have a huge bank I am trying to cover with TB iris,day lilies and other perenials.Here is a list of what she sent me:
7-noid mystery iris
1-iris-crimson king
2-iris-snowbrook
2-iris-president pilkinkton
1-echinacea-paradoxa(yellow coneflower)
3-daylily crosses
1-columbine-tequila sunrise(an 1800`s heirloom)
1-coneflower-tennesseenis
1 siberian iris-dark purple,blue
1-bee balm-pink lace
WOW ,THANK YOU SO MUCH,VINA

Good morning!!

Robin, so HAPPY you like your box. I'm excited about the NOID Iris and the NOID daylilies myself. The iris I got from my plant swap at the fair and the lady who brought them just bought her house and has no idea what color or combo of color's they are. And the daylilies are ones I started from seed this February. They are all different color combos, so I've been told, and can't wait to see what they look like :0)!

I just want to thank everyone again for sharing their gardens with new friends :0).

((((HUGS TO YOU ALL!)))))

And...I declare this swap officially closed! :0)
Happy Planting!
vina