Nothing much, really, since it's 7:15 in the morning, except for putting out new water and feeding the bunnies and squirrels. Five bunnies in the back feeding station, and three in the front including one baby, and the squirrels are now emerging (they sleep later than the bunnies). Since I'm working today (although from home) there won't be anything more until evening when I'll do some watering and deadheading. I know, exciting stuff.

Well, yesterday I had a dinner party for 12 (traditional early Mother's Day celebration in our family), and took one of our nieces out for a tour of the garden. Usually several people come, but it was very windy and cold. It was her idea to go out. She is one of our older nieces, and I have actually succeeded in interesting her in old roses - she has several at her house which are clones of some of the old "family heirloom" roses from our garden. Anyway, what I found funny was that she was intrigued with the Valerian ("No, it can't be a volunteer weed?") which is all over, and also the Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plant. So glad she got interested in gardening. Her DH helps, too. The three kids (one in college now) are not interested, but I will get them when they are older...

Jackie

Ha you guys are busy bees this morning. I'm just chillin drinking my coffee and thinking about what I need to do/should be doing in the garden today "D

I planted my first Gallica!!!!!!! Ok, wait no. I did plant Complicata last week but that doesn't count really since it was in the wild slope does it? Let me start over. I planted The Bishop! In the front garden! I deadheaded piles and piles. Started cutting back some annoying tulip foliage. It's SOOOOO persistent. Why doesn't it just die back already?? I love the passing on garden love Jackie! I hope you "get" all of them!

Happy mothers day ladies.

Today I was finally able to weed my front walkway and get new mulch spread. I also found a spot to plant Nahema. I look forward to seeing how big she will get. Also got a bit of edging done along the front bed. I have filled 6 large leaf bags with weeds and rose cuttings since yesterday. At least that many more to go but it is a labor of love. I hope to have some rosey pictures to share with you all in about a month.

I love your verbascum. I have been searching for some in the nurseries around here. One of these days I will find some or find some seeds. They are beautiful plants.

Valerie

I am resting after cooking lunch for 6 people all morning and before doing the dishes after they've left. I hadn't noticed that the pike-perch I'd bought for the main course was not cleaned and before I could open and clean it I had to scale it and they were the toughest scales I've ever had to tackle. It took me so long that I had no time for any complicated recipe which was perhaps just as well. I'd already made the nettle and ramsons soup and the chocolate mousse so I had just enough time to remove the scales from my hair before the guests arrived and sprinkle on some scent to mask the smell of fish. Or so I hope.

Tomorrow I'll first water my seedlings, then continue to prune the roses. I am very much behind this spring because of the cold and windy weather we've had.

Discovered a) there are tree bees nesting in my incinerator b) one of the neighbours cats killed one of my frogs and c) bindweed has invaded one of my compost bins and the area at the base of Guinee. I have had better garden days. I think the frog was the worst thing although bindweed is damn inconvenient where it is. I'm wondering if mesh around the pond might be an idea.

Ahhh, Mother's Day! I slept in, drank tea, had some brunch, stood on the porch and surveyed the garden from afar and drank more tea. Tao of Tea Rose Petal Black. Yesterday we had a thunderstorm a la Texas with massive lightening right over our house! Plus a pile of hail that covered the walkways and the garden. Crazy! Today, more rain showers predicted until eve. Maybe I'll weed. And maybe not.

Fduk, I'm so sorry about your frog!

Carol

May is unusually cooler in my area this year, so I continued repotting some perennials I recently bought in trays at our local nursery. If needed, I'll repot them into larger pots again until ready for planting in the new beds that will be finished in June. Had it not been for this thread, I probably would not have counted, but just now realized that I did 60 (!) pots.: 12 pots of English lavender ('Hidcote' and 'Munstead'), 8 campanulas 'Telham Beauty', 12 echinaceas, no less than 20 delphiniums in my hope that at least a few will make it, a few platycodon flowers, and a couple of foxgloves (d. martonensis). My porch looks like an overstuffed nursery now! After all this repotting, I made alfalfa tea to 'brew' for a few days, thankfully a 2 minute job. And, best of all, often smelled my newly bought 'Mary Rose' Austin that keeps on blooming. It has a nice tea-rose scent. Other roses still have to start to bud as this cool weather seems to be postponing their blooms.

Spent the morning celebrating Mother's Day and the afternoon procrastinating about garden chores/tasks.

I didn't work a lot in the garden, as in the morning DD and I went on a walk. We don't do much for Mother's Day, but on the other hand every day is Mother's Day here, and Daughter's Day, too, with DH daily fixing us breakfast as we wait on the sofa, our mouths open like the beaks of baby birds. I'm spoiled. DD honored me with a ricotta cake in the afternoon which was delicious and also respected my rather strict nutritional requirements for desserts (and incidentally DD learned how to make a ricotta cake). I did get out in the afternoon and shear grass from a narrow path down in the sunny garden where the motor scythe can't go. The soil is absolutely terrible in that area, even after ten years of digging, weeding, and mulching, and I've just given up on it for the time being, though I need to remember to keep feeding it with old hay: it can't not improve eventually. The grass has overall been good this year, even with the drought, and the plants have flourished, even with the dismaying deer attacks that particularly damage the Italian cypresses. There's a wonderful garden shining through all the difficulties. The clouds piled up as I worked, and it was very muggy by the time I was called up to the house to find the almonds for the cake. We actually got a bit of rain: 2 millimeters.

I didn't get out into the garden at all yesterday other than quick glances out of the windows, admiring the growing perennials and unfurling leaves on the roses. Still early days here for the roses and no buds yet anywhere. I spent Mother's Day indoors (which was a shame with the beautiful sunshine we had) but I enjoyed it well as I was able to engage in wonderful conversations with my sons while they did chores for me; the younger who took me out to breakfast and stayed the morning to work on some electrical wishes of mine (thrilled with my new undercounter lights) and the elder who came with his family in the afternoon, bringing me dinner and tackling some electronics issues I had, plus did an overhaul on my bicycle. A good day. I like those kinds of gifts!

I do plan to get out there late afternoon today to plant the new Peaches and Cream honeysuckle I bought a week ago which took me all that time to decide where it should be situated. I knew I wanted it; just didn't know where to put it, LOL! Maybe I'll have time to do another walk through the roses and snip anything I missed during first pruning a few weeks ago. There always seem to be canes or tips of canes that looked fine and then don't leaf out like they should, or turn color when the plant really wakes up and starts growing. Envious of you who can go out and 'smell the roses' already!

I had a very productive Mothers Day. It doesn't quite look that way, but its progress. When my adult children asked what I would like to do/receive/go out, I chose the best option for me. I said, "Let's BBQ and all work in the yard". That's exactly what we did.

With four young men digging holes,( two sons, one SIL, and one "like a son to me"),I couldn't keep up with the planting, and I'm a bit particular about it. I rather do most of that myself when I can. One son knows what he's doing, and is allowed to plant once I have handed him a 5 gallon bucket of "a little of this and a little of that" to mix with my native clay soil into the hole. My 29-year-old daughter, (bossy little thing) kept the boys on track and put some organization to my tremendous pot ghetto. It is now reduced in numbers, as well. She cleared out a huge area of invasive bellflower punctata, although I know it will be back soon. Mine isn't even pretty. It has grayish blooms that are not attractive and they regularly take over the strawberry patch. I curse the day I purchased the stuff! Darcy Bussell was at last freed from her tangle of sweet peas, and is looking relieved. My DD did yank an entire cane off at the ground level, in the process, but I doubt Darcy will mind. Not much slows her down. That one cane provided 11 buds and blooms for the vase.

My Ageratum Corymbosum has been planted into an afternoon shade position, and I hope it fairs better than the first one. I so want to grow this dark leaved beauty, yet my first specimen declined rapidly upon arrival and I don't know why. I am really hoping this one does well.

Mini Rose "Diamond Eyes " went into the ground near the perennial Ageratum, as it tolerates a bit of shade and is also so very dark flowered. Impatiens sodenii 'Flash' (perennial for me) and Impatiens gandulifera candida(reseeding annual), went in there as well. These are both giant, 4' tall and wide plants. I have some empty holes, complete with gopher cages, ready to receive Iochroma cyanea 'Mr Plum' , Campanula vidalii (Azorina vidalii),and some other smaller plants. The edge of this area is reserved for my "someday dream Rose", "Annie Laurie McDowell". The plan is for this shaded corner to contain both dark and light contrasting plants. A new venture for me, as I normally stick to pastels.

Marlorena, I have two verbascum 'Violetta' that need to go into the ground ASAP. I grew them from seed(somehow lost the third) . Just how tall are they for you? It will be great to know you're experience before siting them. I know our climates are quite different, but still I somehow envisioned 2-3 foot spires in front of my purple hollyhocks, perhaps not? Thanks, Lisa

At least 3 foot Lisa, edging towards 3.5 feet.... I was hoping for a little shorter than that, as I have some white ones which are only 2 feet, so that's why I had to move them further back... didn't look right... still they're only biennial, so I hope they self seed..

You have some interesting plants... Ageratum's are annuals for me..

Thanks everyone for your comments so far, I didn't realise it was Mother's Day yesterday in the States, we have it in March here, so now I know why the red Azalea 'Mother's Day' that I have in bloom right now, got its name, obviously meant for the U.S. market..

I haven't done much today, as I made Lemon Meringue Pie, and Spicy Rock Buns..

Deadheaded the three 'Bishops Castle'. It took an hour. Made the trip around the garden checking for gopher hills. No gophers today, yay! Deadheaded all the Hemerocallis. Gave a couple of the proteas some soil sulfur.

We got an unusual, most welcome, totally unexpected, brief, but heavy rain shower, so I didn't have to spot-water any in-the-ground plants today. Spot-watering is a daily chore from May to November. Used the collected rainwater to water all the plants under the patio cover. Took a photo of the Sprekelia that opened yesterday.

Why March in England? Here in Italy we have Women's Day in March, but Mother's Day is the same day as in the U.S., the second Sunday in May. On the other hand, Father's Day in the U.S. is the third Sunday in June, while in Italy it's on the saint's day of St. Joseph, the greatest adoptive father of them all.

Commercial reasons I suppose Melissa... March is otherwise a cold quiet month, May is busy with people starting to go abroad, and we have two Bank holidays... perhaps not the best month to grab everyone's attention...

Marlorena, a good friend of mine from England, who lived in the US for a few years, told me that it has to do with an old custom related to the Lent season. Like other holidays, it got commercialized by now and probably changed the nature of its celebration but the background story sounded very interesting when I heard it.

aah I see, vesfl,... I wasn't aware of that, thank you... Rather cynically, my default is that money is usually involved in these decisions somewhere along the line... but like you say it's probably diverged that way... we have a Father's Day now too, that wasn't around not that long ago from what I recall...

In Sweden Mother's Day is celebrated on the last Sunday in May since 1910 and was inspired by the American model. Father's Day falls on the 2nd Sunday in November and has been celebrated since 1931. When I was a child we made pretty cards in school to give our parents but that isn't done any longer with changing family patterns. My husband's father died when DH was 4 years old so of course he drew a gravestone on his card, shocking his teacher. A friend of mine decorated her card with her father's favourite thing, a bottle. Perhaps both of them helped to abandon this tradition of cards for these holidays.

I remember when a really sweet boy in my 3rd grade class made a Mother's Day card for his aunt, his parent since the loss of his mother. A pile of kids told him he couldn't give his aunt a Mother's Day card, and he burst into tears and said, "But my aunt is my mom!" I'm guessing that other children in the class were also parented by adults other than moms, but back in the day, those households were culturally invisible.

Later, when I became a teacher, I held that painful scene in the foreground of my mind as I approached holidays and celebrations and worked to design ways for my students to authentically participate. The cards in my classroom covered the spectrum from mothers to aunts to dads and grandmothers and uncles and foster moms and older siblings and.... This picture of parenting isn't tidy, but it's very real and embracing. It also makes for great poetry lessons! :-)

I still haven't gardened. The rain continues with possible thunderstorms. My roses are FINALLY starting to open, though. Yippee! Carol