I'm playing it safe now by starting a new reply instead of adding to the previous one.

We did another 3.8 mile hike this morning. We are close to finishing (the rough stuff at least). My wife in a pink shirt is way ahead of me and sitting down on a bench. I like to play it safe going downhill - we got by the roots and rocks so far.

There she is with a good boy.

Jacks are everywhere.

May apples are kind of picky on where they grow. In this park, I've only seen two locations.

Royal ferns below me. It isn't worth climbing down there to get a close up.

We still have to take care going through this rocky area with a slow stream making it slick.

I used my 10x lens and then cropped into this stone full of turtles.

another shot of a young man on the other side -turtles in the middle, azaleas on the left of him (right of him if I was over there).

the ruins at 10X

and 1x

One of my favorite areas on this side of the creek/river. Jacks coming up and cinnamon ferns sending up long fronds.

The shoreline is lined with mountain laurels

very eroded part of this narrow trail.

a few native azaleas are still in bloom but their days are about over

mountain laurels go up the hill for a ways.

Yay, the bride is ahead. Half a mile or so to the parking lot.

Turtle on a log at the bridge

10x

crop

Whoops, I saw a typo - that should be bridge, not bride! HAHA!

Plants I moved out today.

First is Cecile Brunner in bloom. It smells so good when it blooms. It is a fast grower and will grow 20 feet if I let it.

After moving out some bigger pots, I decided to plant an old-fashioned snowball bush in the ground since the pot it is in was falling over and a root either invaded the drainage hole or the snowball bush had a root into the ground (I kind of doubt that).

falling over - about 7 feet tall at this point.

the root was easy to break

and being somewhat dry, it was easy to lift out of the pot.

the hole was not deep enough so I had to go get my post hole digger to dig deeper (no photos of that or the planted bush).

Looks a bit forlorn when I first move plants out.

I am going to use some of my bigger heavier clay and glazed pots as cache pots this year in hopes of keeping the taller bigger plants from blowing over.

My big begonia (on the right side) had to be cut because it was 8 feet tall and hard to move out of the basement. GRRR! A chance to make it look better this summer.

I'm trying to be grateful for my health and not complain but it's hard! lol..
my hostas and hydrangeas in pots have been out a few days..I think for good..the week's forecast looks good but I'm not sure the houseplants could go out for good yet..
the inground hydrangeas look terrible..I'm ignoring them..
GW is dysfunctional..there was a recent complaint on the hosta forum about it..it's not just us..it's everyone..
I don't know anyone with a weeping willow..I don't know if I really have enough space for it where the water stands..
I love the trout lilies and trilliums!!!..the lilies aren't blooming yet..yes there's muscari with daffodils close to the bloodroot..it's the patch next to the wooden walkway/deck..
morning coffee is a great start to my day 💕..
my foot is better but not 100%..
it rained hard last night..and still raining this morning..Rufus wouldn't be happy..
my neighbor has had brunnera seedlings..I've had very few..my brunneras are gifts from her..
the Clausa hosta that spreads is a problem in front..I've been ripping it out for years..my husband is disappointing me when it comes to moving the concrete circles 🙁..you can't really remove the hostas until the circles are out..we didn't have enough circles for the full length of the path..I don't want a mix of stones and circles..I want mulch..he doesn't..so he's procrastinating..I wish I could do everything myself..but I can't..see how out of control Clausa is?..

funny how hostas don't all emerge at the same time..
the new viburnums have blooms..

my old viburnum smells great 💕..

I like tall shrubs..I wouldn't cut the yellow azalea..
my very few wood hyacinths didn't bloom..just leaves..
I disagree that hellebores are weeds! 😂..I love them..they are kind of invasive..there's a hosta where these hellebores popped up..it's ok if the hosta goes..hellebores are evergreen which would be nice in this spot..I see no sign of the Blue Angel hosta..

Cecile Brunner is pretty..
10X makes a big difference in the turtle photo..
the inability to post videos on GW is a drag..
of course Chinese cucumber is back 😜..
your azaleas are beautiful..
your birches would look nice in my yard..I planted a multi trunk river birch soon after moving in but it died..I wish my beeches were as full as yours..here's the thing about pruning..once you cut you can't change your mind! 😂..to me my trees are so tall taller shrubs look better here..
haha 😆..both of us are afraid of edits on GW..
if I went on your hike it would take all day 😂..I'm really slow..especially now 🙁..
I love Jacks..I'm so glad to have a few..
the mountain laurel blooms remind me of my fragrant viburnums..
a cute typo!..bride instead of bridge fits..
I spent hours yesterday clipping dried flowerheads from my arborescens hydrangeas..I like them taller so I don't cut to the ground..of course that would be easier..

I'm surprised you didn't plant the snowball viburnum before now..it seems too big for a pot..just didn't get around to it?..

using your glazed pots as cache pots is pretty and functional..

you're tempting me to move out some plants..

a few pics from yesterday..

celandine poppy..I have 3 in 3 different spots..2 are volunteers..the first pic is the one I planted..got it from a neighbor's garage sale..

a volunteer..

my plants are returning..

Empress Wu..

back to add 2 pics from today..the episcia is filling out..

the hostas seem bigger in just one day..

I think complaining is human nature. Join the crowd. Live your best life to the bitter end. I hope we all go out on a good note.

I didn't do anything this weekend - no more moving plants outside, no hikes. Some grocery shopping and Easter dinner at our daughter's house yesterday. We will go hiking this morning and then I can get on the moving plants outside hot and heavy. Welcome to springtime gardening chores.

Well, that makes sense about GW glitches. If we notice it among ourselves, then it surely is present in other forums as well.

A weeping willow grows fast and large. I enjoy seeing them in other people's yards. If there was a dwarf form, then I might be interested in getting one.

That is a lot of trilliums and trout lilies. You could spread those far and wide, but they look great where they are.

An injury will never heal 100%, but if you can get around without too much pain or discomfort, then you are good to go. I feel pain whenever I start a hike, but I try to go slow to begin with to warm the joints and minimize pain. Old age kind of "sucks".

Rain is always between a blessing and a pain in the rump. We need it but don't rain on my parade (or my daily plans).

Concerning your Brunnera coming from your neighbor's seedlings; I usually enjoy volunteer seedlings until they become too weedy. Some are too invasive to even enjoy one plant (such as the tall Persicaria that I think was the Japanese knotweed). My money plant, purple perilla, and celosia are 3 plants I like to keep but also thin out the future seedlings/seeds. Painter's palette is like that - I like the leaf pattern and even the red seeds, but it just spreads too far and fast to be a well-behaved plant.

I would spray your weedy hostas around your circle pavers if you can't dig them out. Would you be willing to cover them with some kind of tarp, newspaper, or cardboard for a season?

Well, I am not going to get rid of my Hellebores, but they are weedy in their habit of spreading their multitude of seeds. At least I have not seen any evidence of them being deer or rabbit food.

Cecile Brunner is a great "climbing" rose for looks and smell, but it is such an aggressive grower. I don't know how many times I've cut it back hard to keep it from spreading everywhere.

The extra lenses on the phone camera do come in handy. I wish they had even greater zooms than 10X at times.

My wife is nagging me already about hiking. Geez - can't I have half an hour to finish my computer work? HAHA!

If autocorrect worked the way we would like it to. Bride and Bridge are a bridge too far to cross?

That snowball bush was a convenient leftover of my propagation efforts a few years ago and it looked good in the big pot. Oh well, it is in the ground now. I had two purchased ones from years ago and they both came close to dying in deep shade (trees planted too close to them eventually grew larger than the bushes).

Your Korean viburnum blooms blend in so well with the background that they are hard to see. I am sure they are much easier to see in person than a photo.

I haven't gone back to look at my Celandine poppies in a couple of weeks. The last time, there were several plants with one or two starting to bloom.

Hostas do seem to fill out very quickly once they emerge from the ground. I bet all of yours will be filled out in a week or two.

Gotta run, now. I will add photos later in the day.

I finally got back to this thread hours later. We did a 4.3 mile hike, then went home and had lunch, after that we did some quick shopping. I got a nap after we got back from shopping and then took two hours moving plants outside and planting all the hostas in the boxes/bags. Some of the plants were very disappointing from Costco and some were very good (Frances Williams was very robust). I didn't have enough nylon fencing to cover the area I planted all the hostas in, so maybe tomorrow I will pick up some more to cover the ground to prevent digging rodents. The things we do.

I went to Harbor Freight (just opened in our shopping area) to get a small battery operated water pump. We had one of these decades ago to transfer kerosene from a 5 gallon container to the reservoir of the kerosene heater. Now I want to pump water from my moss pole reservoirs to a trug to dispose of outside. I forgot to buy D cell batteries, though. It takes two. I wished it had a L-ion rechargeable battery instead.

baby turtle found today on our hike

Irises continue to open more blooms.

climbing roses smell so sweet #1

#2

hostas from earlier today

tiny and rotted

large and robust

Frances Williams were the best looking ones out of everything.

The big rex I bought at Walmart last week is on the front porch.

Rufus ready to go

Despite being chewed to the ground a few times, pansies are real survivors.

Heuchera plants are filling out quickly - getting ready to bloom.

Azaleas are starting to wind down. Hedging begins either later this week or next week.

Beautiful Caladium - I think this is another one of those trick photos where the person is at least an arm's length behind the potted plant.

at my daughter's house yesterday - I should have asked what this shrub is.

And I am guessing that rabbits are a problem.

very healthy looking Purple Heart

Pool time. My granddaughter is the only one who braved the water temps.

yes complaining comes naturally..we need to resist the urge!..that was nice to take a weekend off 👍..
I have trout lilies and trilliums scattered all over the yard 💕..I do my best to not step on them..

my foot is the same 🙁..I'm hoping for improvement..
perscaria is looking better..

Jack in the pulpits..

you gave me an idea..when the concrete circles come out I'll dig out the Clausas..then maybe lay newspaper before I use mulch..
I was out all day..I have hellebores everywhere..I really like them but if they're in the way I would remove them..Blue Angel came up..

do you try to leave to hike at the same time or just leave when it's convenient?..
I'm sure the snowball bush looked nice in a pot..it seems too big to keep in a pot..here it's a no-brainer..it would've died outside in a pot so I'd plant it as soon as possible..
my Celandine poppies are doing well..a new picture..

the baby turtle is adorable..🥰
I never tried an iris..doubt if I have enough sun..
your new Rex is beautiful..
my sister's dog could sense that she was leaving when she was combing her hair, getting her purse, etc..he would go wait by the door..she would take him to do errands in the winter..he loved it..she had a station wagon and he would just stand in the back and watch customers..nobody would ever bother that car..his winter weight was 110 pounds..he was huge..
your pansies look better than any I've ever seen here..
I say the Caladium is Photoshopped..
I know your daughter's shrub..Calycanthus..
awww your granddaughter was swimming alone.. when it gets hot she'll have plenty of company right?..more pics..Empress Wu..

Fire Island..

June..the one in the center is reverting..

a long view..

brunnera again because it's pretty..

the cold did a number on my macrophylla..it's going to be uglier than last year..🙁

The picture of the trilliums in bloom looks extra nice. What are the green weeds around them? Some kind of grass?

If only Painter's Palette did not spread as quick and wide, it would be a great plant.

Jacks are another weedy thing. I like them, but they are all over the woods we hike.

Yep, smother your weeds (block the sunlight) is the best and most ecological approach to weeding.

Hellebores are like Painter's Palette and other self-seeding plants - weedy, but pretty.

I'm not sure what you are saying about leaving to hike at the same time. We go in one vehicle, usually mine unless it is a day I don't want to hike. I get a parking pass for both of our cars just for these instances (instead of sharing one pass which can be a pain to remember to transfer the tag between both vehicles).

I guess I wasn't ready to plant that snowball bush at this time. At least it is done now.

Your poppies are doing quite well. Nice-going.

Irises are beautiful when they bloom. Then they are just fan strapped green leaves the rest of the year. I went overboard at our last house as I had between 120 and 140 different ones. They do love a lot of sunlight.

Dogs are very smart. They know a lot of our routines and are aware when we are leaving them at home or getting ready for a hike or a walk. I was surprised yesterday when Rufus was not frightened at all when we were walking in the rain and thunder was around us. At home, he would be trembling like a scared little puppy.

I don't know if that caladium was Photoshopped. I see it more as an illusion that we've talked about before. You can magnify small things by moving them to the very front of the scene (like a human holding the sun in their hand).

You're right about the shrub in my daughter's yard. It is a Calycanthus (Sweetshrub, Carolina Allspice, etc.).

I would imagine that the family jumps in the pool on hot days. The 16-year-old would rather go to the HOA pool and swim with his friends (larger pool and away from parents).

Don't you hate it when a variegated plant you paid good money for, reverts to its parent? What are you going to do with the reverted June Hosta?

You must take photos of flowering plants when they are pretty because a lot of perennials don't have a long period of bloom time (in this case your Brunnera).

That is pretty bad for your hydrangeas being hit with the cold. Do you ever cover them for late spring frosts/freezes?

Well, we lost our internet for most of the day yesterday. The automated telephone voice said it should have been restored at 2 PM. I called again around 5 PM and then the reply was 10 AM today. I tried it again around 8 PM last night and it was restored. Halleujah! Somebody hit a pole on a road a mile away and took power down in that location. Others thought this incident may have taken out AT&T fiber in our area. I don't know what happened, but I am glad it was fixed since we only have internet TV for the last 2 to 3 years.

I went shopping yesterday at Pike's, Home Depot, and Lowe's. I bought a few plants and some items at Home Depot. I would've bought more plants at all 3 stores, but I had to draw a line in the sand. HA! We went hiking yesterday and then it began to sprinkle and then thundering. I never saw any lightning, so I figured the storm was further away. We had one very long, loud boom of thunder and we thought about turning around at that point. I figured we already passed one mile and had another 1.5 miles left for this short trail so we continued on. YAY!

This morning after taking the trash out to the curb and Rufus for his first potty break, I saw al these tiny seedlings coming up. I think it is Persicaria/Polygonum pensylvanica (or whatever they are).

It looks like a thousand of them coming up.

I noticed that the Calibrachoa at the mailbox is blooming. I planted this two years ago and it has survived two winters now. COOL!

Another Caladium unfurling in the basement (yesterday)

I bought this little cactus at Walmart a couple of days ago in bloom.

First peony bloom (may be the only one this year as most of mine are too shaded to do well)

I let this aporocactus grow and grow. I think it would have done better if I treated it as a hanging pot instead of putting it on the ground each year.

I thought this cane was 'Torch' but I am not sure with these blooms. I put a piece in a pot of double blooming Brugmansia a few years ago and this winter I fertilized all my plants every time I watered.

Our hike yesterday.

I went off the trail because I knew this area had some very large Mountain Laurel blooming and very large Royal Ferns as well. I don't remember seeing this Green Arrow Arum the past couple of years.

close up - nothing spectacular but it is perfectly hardy and may be a native.

Rufus checking the water

I had to use the 10X to zoom in on the mountain laurels from the other side

The bushes can get to 15 feet or so, but they look larger since they grow up the hillsides - making it look like one large tree.

royal ferns (I wonder how plants got their common names)

Here is a laurel near the bench where we usually stop for Rufus to get a drink. We stayed on the trail since it was raining.

A lonely trillium with misshapen leaflets.

A wet bridge, shirt, dog, and hair.

I describe these shots from the bridge as serenity.

Some plants at the nurseries yesterday

The blooms continue to get larger with advances in hybridization of almost every plant including these Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)

Wow, I think I got my Frydek variegata for half the price on Etsy (but then it was smaller)

How about Monstera equeleto prices?

I picked up a White Fusion plant, despite the cost.

I am a sucker for pain.

While the Philo Snowdrift plants were larger than mine I got at Kroger's, I didn't pay as much as they wanted here.

Same thing for Syngonium Mojito (got one on Etsy, but it is half this size).

This is one of the plants I meant to go back to pick up

I picked one of these up (half price)

I like this speckled petunia.

This one was paired with verbena of the same color.

Dahlias in bloom. The price was $16.99 which isn't too bad.

I would buy some more rhododendrons but they don't do well for me.

I waited and waited for GW to update the last post, so I left and did other things. Anyway, it looks like it finally updated and I am back to show some photos from Home Depot and Lowe's.

Lilies by the dozens at HD. The yellow-black combo beckoned me to look at it closer since it was surrounded by a sea of orange-red combo lilies. I think a customer must've put the yellow-black one on this shelf.

Huge sempervivums for $8 or so.

colorful arrays of house plants used in the summer landscapes

terrariums already made up and ready to go (a tad expensive in my view - about $40)

I still like cactus.

and succulents

But this caught my eye and I picked one up even though I have a teeny tiny pot of it already. Callisia repens 'Pink Panther'

It looks different than my other one - a lot of time in the sun, maybe?

Then it was on to Lowe's.

Not as many plants, but some different things to choose from.

This variegated Calla lily caught my attention. I would've taken off the yellow leaves before putting it on the shelves, though.

The price was reasonable, too.

Lots of clematis to choose from at a decent price.

Lots of hostas at decent prices (not expensive and not cheap, either)

I guess this is a sport of Empress Wu?

I bought one of these Ficus Shivereana (I hope I spelled that right). Whew, I got it right!

Bright N.G. Impatiens. I might go back and pick up 3 to 5 of them.

They had a few begonias but not enough to entice me.

I had this one in my hand, but I saw it was dripping wet so I put it back.

celosia, zinnia, and marigolds ready to go

This ficus (Audrey) is $10 more than Shivereana. I don't understand the pricing.

Their display is not as nice as H.D. IMO

their orchids always catch my attention, but I am skeptical on buying orchids.

I woke up early for me (6:30)..I thought "after coffee maybe I'll go plant shopping"..but it started raining!..I might still make it later..
I have so many different weeds..I don't know all of them..I dug out a few wild garlic yesterday..ugh..

the spring bulbs are so adorable..I see more Painter's palette, Jack in the pulpits and hellebores scattered around my lot whenever I'm out..since my lot is wild I like the seedlings 🙂..

I was wondering if you have a "loose" schedule for hiking..maybe leave approximately the same time..that's all..

just recently on the hosta forum someone had a dog that was terrified of storms..

in the Caladium photo the head seems small..to me it looks plopped into the picture..

I've never owned a Calycanthus but liked them and considered them..

I loved using my sister's pool..to have the pool to your own family and friends was great..

I'll probably leave the reverted June as it is..it doesn't bother me much..there's always so much to do that I've lowered my standards lol..flaws are ok to me now..

you're absolutely right..I take my phone and wander around scouting for pictures..blooms come and go fast..

I should've covered that hydrangea I guess..but it was big..sheets etc smash them...I couldn't get in the mood to bother with it but I paid the price..it looks awful..

yes no internet is an inconvenience for sure isn't it?..

at garden centers do you ever put plants in your cart and walk around?..I'm afraid somebody might take it while I'm making up my mind 😜..

I've worked in a nice soft rain..I do respect thunder and lightning though and go in..

isn't nature amazing?..there's no way you can keep a weed free property or ahead of a fast spreading plant like hellebores..

it continues to amaze me what survives in Georgia that doesn't here..a few degrees colder sure makes a difference..

I don't even look at cactus..my gifted succulent combination bowl has three plants..I'll get a picture and show you some time..I lost two of the plants..

my peonies don't bloom much either..

aporocactus is sure a unique plant..not quite the look for me..too much like a snake..
I like arums but I can live without them since I have Jack in the pulpits..

mountain laurel blooms are beautiful..to me the blooms are prettier than azaleas and rhododendrons..
wow!..the prices on some of these plants are too high for me!..you're braver than I am with plants..I kill more plants than you do..I'm happy with reliable "ordinary" reasonably priced plants..I paid $19.99 for my episcia but didn't want to Ha..but if it died tomorrow I enjoyed it so much it was money well spent..
I really enjoy deals on plants 😂..

if I had sun I would buy a dahlia..

yeah I'd skip rhododendrons if I were you too..I pass up less than stellar plants..
GW is giving me a hard time today..I'll need to post and edit this typing..grrr..

I like cactus but they don't like me..or maybe I should say they don't like my trees..

Pink Panther is very pretty..

my neighbor's mailbox clematis is south facing and is coming along nicely..

unless a hosta is outstanding I don't plan to buy any..I have a lot I can move..some good looking ones from yesterday..

Fire Island with red petioles..

First Frost is developing wide irregular margins..they're prettier than when I bought them on clearance for $1 each..

Great Expectations has grown..more wild garlic sigh..

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and Virginia Waterleaf..

a volunteer..either sweet cecily or rough chervil?..

the ficus (won't spell it) is beautiful..

the begonia you put back isn't as pretty as the red one you already have!!..I really am in the mood to go to a garden center after your post..

'Alice' is doing well..

the potted macrophylla has flowerheads..I'm going to put it in the concrete urn by the splashblock with the daffodils..it'll be on view from the street..

it's raining harder..bummer..I don't want to shop in the rain 😢..

I can't recall if I got up at 4:30 or 5:30 this morning. That is typical.

I guess the names of weeds is not important. It is more important to recognize a weed from a treasured plant/seedling so you get the right ones out of your garden and yard.

We try to be flexible on anything we want to do at this stage of our lives. No set schedule on anything (except for doctor appointments, family events, etc.) Yay, no bosses.

We went to drop off the recyclables today and then on our way back to our hiking park, swung into the DDS building to get our vision check for DL renewal. The line was out the door. Lots of booths inside, but it looked like a lot of those were empty. People in chairs just waiting for their name to be called. My wife waited in the car with Rufus and I was supposed to text her if it looked doable today. Not today. I told her we would wait until Monday and try again without the dog. Well, our DDS and the county next to us are closed on Mondays and work half a day on Saturdays. So, it looks like it will be Tuesday before we try again, but this time I hope we will be waiting at the door for them to open. Anyway, we did over 4 miles today and that was pretty rough. I guess I should be thankful that the trail we used to do is closed for maintenance, so we had to turn back after we got so close to continue.

I think most dogs are scared of thunderstorms and fireworks. Not all, but most. It was strange that Rufus was not bothered in the rain with thunder around us two days ago. Indoors is another subject.

I think there are two native bushes here that look similar. One is the rose colored Calycanthus and the other one is Illicium (Florida Anise plant).

We had almost private use of the apartment poll at two places we lived at. The first one was my last two years of college. We had my wife's sister and brothers come to swim in the pool with us. Then our third apartment in GA was very large (and crowded on the weekends), but at the end of the weekdays, we had almost exclusive use of it. Our neighborhood pool is often deserted during the workday. I used to take my grandson there when we would "babysit" him in summer. If my wife swam, we would go all the time.

I would let the reverted hosta alone, too. I would keep an eye on the others to see if they started to revert. Crazy thing about variegation.

Sorry about your hydrangea getting bitten from the cold. I hope it still has some blooms for you.

Isn't that the truth about the internet - we can't do without it today. We have become too spoiled with "modern life".

Yes, I have put plants in a cart and left them in a spot to go look at something else in another section. I've not encountered anybody snitching plants out of my cart, but I seem to remember some people on convention having to tell another customer that they took a plant out of their cart. Most will apologize and turn it back to the first customer. Some can say, "Sorry, but you abandoned it so I am keeping it." Reminds me of Christmas shopping on Black Friday. UGH!

In Florida at any public place, they make the customer come into a shelter during an electrical storm. And they have a lot of short term pop-up thunderstorms. At home, I make up my mind on what seems to be safe and what is too dangerous to stay outside.

Nature abhors a vacuum is a good adage to apply to any plant material. If the conditions are good, then no bare soil would be spared.

Wouldn't it be crazy if every plant could survive at any place in the world? Palm trees in Alaska, Redwoods in Mexico! Or begonias that are hardy in Indiana and hostas that thrive in Thailand?

C&S do need a lot of light compared to most other houseplants. When I had a greenhouse, my C&S were on top shelves and stayed in the greenhouse during the scorching summers. In the GH, it could be 130 degrees which was stifling, but C&S loved it.

I have the Italian arums which are kind of neat but the leaves disappear in summer to be replaced with red berried stalks. That is weird.

Mountain Laurels do have some appeal, but it is hard to replace azaleas and rhododendrons.

I hope the prices continue to come down on some of these new fad plants. There are still a few I would like to get one day, but for now I will be happy with all I've got.

I saw a program on HGTV long ago (maybe it was PBS) where the show went to some Midwest state like Kansas to see some of the folks there growing Dahlias. Wow, they are just as crazy as the rest of us. Except they have large farms and put in a bed of dahlias that are at least two carport sizes. They buy the portable carports (that is why I said at least two carport sizes) to shade their prized flowers from the rain (not the sun). Some put umbrellas on a stake over their prized ones to keep them looking great. I wonder if they had a competition later on for bragging rights. As I recall, dahlias come from Mexico originally (like the poinsettia).

Rhododendrons are stellar but I hate it when they die a year or two later. They seem picky on their needs, but if you get that right, they are like queens in the landscape.

Your neighbor probably has a lot of luck with his/her mailbox clematis. I had two on our mailbox at the last house. We would cut them down twice a year and they would come back stronger than ever and bloom again.

How low do you go to get those hosta shots near the ground? Do you get on your knees or just bend over as much as possible? I do not want to get on my knees these days, so I have to bend over the best I can.

Your photo of First Frost is one of those dizzying angles. The rows are now diagonals and the shadows on the second row line up perfectly with the 3 hostas (on a diagonal).

Yellow Polka Dot Bikini looks interesting. Is that a VA waterleaf with the blue blooms above it?

I wouldn't know what that volunteer is. Google Lens gives several options with Sweet Cicely as the most favored.

How tall is your Alice now? I think mine finally bit the dust. A lot of my oakleaf hydrangeas are not what they once were. I saw some very healthy, 3 foot tall Ruby Slippers at our local chain nursery store a couple of days ago. I resisted buying 2 to 3 of them.

Your potted hydrangea looks very good. I guess this is how you will have to grow the big leaf hydrangeas from now on.

Well, rain can drive away most of the crowds. Not the best way to shop, but having a store or nursery to yourself is kind of cool. I did that my last time I visited PHOE in Miami. Now it is gone. It was sold and I guess the business was torn down to build some mansions in its place.

May 2013 when it was pouring at PHOE. The background looks like a whiteout from all the rain coming down. You can see some drips that are actually little streams due to the holes in the canopy.

The first time I saw Episcias grown this way.

I think it was the next year when I found out (too late) that they had closed their doors to the public. I don't remember if I went to another person's garden since I went down with 2 days planned.

Getting back to today.

We saw this on our way to the recycle center, DDS, and hiking trails. What happened to cause this.

I spotted this soon after getting Rufus out of the vehicle for his sniff and pee. I hadn't seen this plant in a long time.

Another one that looked a little more mature. I wished they would grow and sell this in nurseries.

the milk thistle is up and blooming all over the place. This one was close by, so I didn't have to traipse across the meadow(s) to get another photo.

Beautiful color but so spiky and weedy.

a solitary man came up behind me at this point and went down to the water to talk to my wife about seeing a couple of copperheads around this point a day or two earlier.

I finally got down there to join the conversation and he proceeded to cross the creek on the big fallen tree. I told him he had better balance than me (and confidence). He might have been in his late 50's or early 60's.

I didn't take a lot of pictures today. We've done these trails so many times over the years/decades.

1 of 2

I can understand why dogs would be scared of thunder and fireworks..

we don't have a pool in our neighborhood..it's not a big deal to us..

it's common for a June hosta to revert..the reverted leaves are pretty so it's fine with me..

I'm not going to cut the damaged hydrangeas (I have 7?) and see what happens..
I take the cart with my maybe/maybe not plants with me as I shop..your cart's probably too full with what you know you want to add the maybe/maybe not plants 😆..even if the cart has a sign saying "hold" it wouldn't surprise me that people would take something off the cart..some people aren't nice..
rain and wind at my house (and yours) could be dangerous..we have trees that could kill us if they fell..
I have red seedheads on my Jack in the Pulpits..the first one I saw here did seem weird..
yes azaleas and rhododendrons are pretty..and very popular in the south right?..
I saw a show about a dahlia grower..he was very protective of his plants too..
for ground level hosta shots I just bend over holding the phone low..
the logs edging First Frost had stones leaning against them on one side..I was trying to keep the stones out of the picture..so the shot was angled..
yes that's a VA waterleaf with Yellow Polka Dot Bikini..
Alice is 7?8? ft tall..wouldn't it be great if plants never declined or died?..
yes in Indianapolis pots are the way to grow macrophyllas..
people today are such reckless drivers 😥..

there are interesting plants everywhere..👍

copperheads would scare me to death..I'd only walk on that log if somebody was on the ground walking along with me holding my hand 😆..
now for my plant shopping..pics taken at the first Lowe's..I thought the rain was gone..wrong..it started raining on my way to Lowe's..see the geese in this photo?..

love these but don't need them..

the Golden Crocodiles had damaged leaves so I passed..they look better in the photo than in person..

the most expensive plant that I noticed..

hostas..I did find one I liked..the name is Voices in the Wind..I bought one..$20.98..

my new hosta..the serviceberry had a funny limb..I put it back..then I grabbed one Boston fern ($10 on sale) and went home..

this plant made me think of you..reminds me of orange dragon?..flying dragon?..forget the name..

there was more that I didn't take pics of..after awhile at home the rain stopped..I decided to go to another Lowe's..I'm glad I did..I bought 2 serviceberries..I knew they had 5 of them..a girl at the first Lowe's checked for me..I had her check for the hosta too..they had zero..so I bought the best imperfect hosta from the first store..the second Lowe's had Golden Crocodiles but they were flawed too..my new serviceberries..

I want to go to more Lowe's, Walmart, Home Depot, Menards and Meijer for nicer looking Golden Crocodiles..and other plants 😀..

2 of 2..I don't trust GW today to add pics to the first comment..it's Monday morning..

Walmart had 2 Golden Crocodiles..I didn't want either one..this begonia is the only thing I bought from Walmart..it was on an unloaded cart wrapped in plastic..there were only 3..I ripped the plastic..took them out..picked one and put the other 2 back..

fern from Lowe's..

Lowe's hosta..lantanas and a mixed begonia from Menards..

more annuals from Menards..

a shot of First Frosts with the stones and logs showing..

If we still had kids living at home, then a pool is a big deal. But, since my wife doesn't swim and we don't have children living with us, yeah, not a big deal.

I would wait on cutting your hydrangeas as well. If they don't do anything in a few weeks, then cut them or let them be.

If I placed a valuable plant in a cart and it was the last one at the store, then I would guard it from other customers. What looks like an abandoned cart is not necessarily true. When I load up a dolly at Home Depot or Lowe's with bags of soil, mulch, and plants; I do not want to push it around the store trying to find a box of nails. HAHA!

Big trees can be very dangerous, but mostly they are not. I was looking at one of our neighbors' tree and how tall it is. While it is on the other side of their lot, it is still tall enough to go the width of their lot and possibly fall across our fence or even scrape the wall of our house.

You have seeds on your Jack-in-the-Pulpit already? I see lots of flowers on our hikes, but no seed heads yet. That is weird.

Azaleas are everywhere in the south. I think you said you watch "The Masters"? Their azaleas are what the southern landscape is like in April.

Low angle shots with a phone camera is more difficult than a camera with a tilt screen, IMO. At least the phone is lightweight and you can try, try again. The olden days required good photographers to get on their knees or possibly on their stomach to get a low angle shot.

Isn't it funny how we angle our shots and never think about how it will look until it is uploaded and someone comments on how it looks a bit "wonky"? I don't mind wonky shots at all, but to my brain it just seems off, abnormal to my way of visualizing things. At least it isn't wonky colors or swirling tunnel of lights (at Ripley's Believe It Or Not museums) that can cause me some nausea (at least those are not as bad as seasickness).

My oakleaf hydrangeas have receded in recent years. I don't know if it is due to more shade, deer grazing, or me not fertilizing them. Snowflake is dead but I cut the last remaining stem off of it and put it in a pot (hoping for roots) and my Snow Queen has been nibbled on so much, that it is a pitiful looking thing. I wonder if there is a critter nibbling at the roots as well (like voles). I think Alice checked out. Ellen Huff still looks decent and Little Honey is doing good. Harmony seems okay, too.

I agree on the log walking (at my age). I just don't trust my balance, or confidence. We have come across several copperhead snakes in recent years. We let them go their way and we go on our merry way. The big rattlesnake last year was a big surprise to us.

Don't pass up a philodendron for damaged leaves such as golden crocodile. Pass them up for price.

I bought a big bulb of the giant elephant ear from Walmart weeks ago. Yesterday I put it in the ground. I watch a lot of YouTube lately from political to plants. One guy from Nigeria (Plant Dad or something like that) had a recent podcast about crazy Americans buying plants for houseplants. It is just unfathomable to him that we buy these and think they are good for the indoors. One such plant was the giant elephant ears. Others were banana trees, fiddle leaf Ficus, crotons, palm trees (most palm trees), and a few others. He said they need full sun as in Nigerian full sun (is it on the equator?)

Those tree peonies are something I would never buy again. I had two at our last home and the blooms are so short lived and the bloom period is very short as well. I got termites in one of them and the other died from something else - probably got shaded out or neglect on my part.

Interesting name of the hosta you bought. "Voices in the Wind", what will they come off with next?

That euphorbia is not winter hardy, right? It has some visual interest, but if it isn't hardy, I wouldn't buy it for wintering over.

There is no way to take pictures of everything in a nursery that looks interesting, else you would need several hours. I watch some videos on YouTube where the speaker is videoing the areas of interest. What I hate is the person pointing to each group of plants with their index finger. That is one practice they need to do away with. Just go over the plant and pick it up or put your hand near the plant.

Ouch-a-Roni on the accidental fall. That reminds me of my fall down the stairs 12 years ago. I don't recall the number of stitches, but I was glad there was no broken bones as I am sure you are too. What is going on with your bad foot? I know my left foot/ankle have issues but I keep plugging away.

Your bruises and stitches will be a thing of the past in a few weeks, but the mental aspect of it will always be there. I had an ache above my eye for years. I always wondered if it did some damage to my sinuses over that eye.

It looks like you are gearing up for summer with all the new plants. Annuals, hosta, and service berry trees. What are the logs for in your last photo? Letting them rot where they are? We stacked our logs near the back line and they all rotted away in 3 to 4 years.

I cut this begonia back hard a couple of days ago. Talk about "wonky".

One of two Walmart grab bag hostas.

Penny Mac is loaded with bloom buds. It should look great in another two weeks or so.

My red mountain laurel is having to fight for some sun.

I give up for now on loading any more pictures. Maybe later today when I have more patience. I noticed that a lot of times when GW glitches is when I added a photo and then hit the return key twice to add some white space. GRRR!

I will type returns slower if I remember. I will add one photo from my Golden Crocodile when I bought it last year at Walmart.

This was July 5th last year

and my last photo of it on the 13th of this month.

I'm so disgusted..Houzz just dropped my comment grrr..I'm doing a voice to text and then fix it..

I get your point about hauling a heavy cart around the store to look for small things..

we have the same situation with big trees on surrounding lots..they could reach us easily if they fell..

I don't have seeds on my jacks yet..was trying to say they develop seeds like your arum..

April is beautiful in the south..

when I try to cut off ugly things in photos my shots look wonky..🤷‍♀️

I have beautiful and less beautiful oakleaf hydrangeas but I'm keeping all of them!..I'm sure you'll keep yours too 👍..

absolutely no log walking for me!!!..I thought I was careful and yet I fell 😭..

since we have so many stores I think I can find a better golden crocodile..

unless a peony was nearly free I won't plant anymore..I don't have enough sun for them..

I love the name "Voices in the Wind"..so poetic..

I didn't look up the euphorbia..it's dramatic and seemed like something that you might like so I showed it to you..

yes I have a horrible image of the moment of impact on the driveway 😩😩😩..my forehead is so sore..as long as I don't touch it or make a big facial expression the pain is bearable..only time will heal my foot..there's a tendon or muscle that's inflamed..it was doing better and then my fall stretched? pulled? sprained? it 🙁..

the new annuals are outside..sitting close together under a bush to catch today's rain..

the logs are to finish the wall to the end of the property line (just on one end)..and then excess logs could be used for edging..my husband is really disappointing me delaying working with the logs 😕..that is not a job I could ever do myself..especially now!!!..he does have sore knees but he needs to toughen up and get it over with!..

I know you're up to the challenge but that begonia would go in my compost bin if I owned it..😃

the return key has been giving me problems too..and even if I type slow the letters don't show immediately..no pics for now..

Sorry to hear you are having problems with GW, too.

I can usually hide a cart in another section, hoping customers don't think this is a 50% sale cart. HAHA!

Ah, I guess I didn't get your point on the Jacks earlier (being like the Italian arums). You had me going there.

I'm too lazy or too busy to make the scene as beautiful as possible before taking the shot. Cropping and with editing tools today will handle a lot of ugly photos. I understand why the old photo shooting ways was to remove any and all clutter in the background (and foreground) before a photo shoot.

I will keep as many living plants as possible, but at some point I can say "this one has to go!"

Good luck on finding a better G.C. The first photo you had of some had some good choices. If you want one fully grown and perfect, you will probably pay a lot more than taking a few months of growing it to a big size and almost perfect shape.

Peonies are overrated IMO.

I can see SNL having a funny skit on plant names "Voices in the Wind", "My Dark Desire", "His Heavy Heart", "Dark Shadows", "Fairy Tales Can Come True".

I will pass on that euphorbia - there are some that are very cool looking. One of the houses in our neighborhood has a very large and about to bloom Opuntia (I think yellow flowers) that is hardy and very impressive. Since they had the two pear trees cut down, the Opuntia has really kicked it into overdrive.

You may still have some soreness and pain after all the visible bruising and scars fade away. Hopefully, it will soon fade away like a bad dream.

Maybe you need to hire someone to do those logs for you and give your husband a break from all the work you make him do to earn his keep. Just Kidding!

That begonia will turn out to be a beauty in a few weeks. All the cuttings will go into separate pots to give away at a club meeting this fall.

Anyway, I'm back from our 3.7 mile hike. My wife went to the doctor's office this morning to have blood pulled for testing. I would've demanded that they give the hospital orders for blood test instead of making an appointment at the office to get it done. When she got home, she had enough time to drink her two cups of coffee, grab a bite, and head over to our daughter's house to babysit while our daughter went to PT. After she got back home, we went to vote (one item on the ballot), and home for lunch. I may plant my dappled willow and take a few plants outside before dark, but it will be a short day for plants.

I moved all my caladiums outside yesterday. I think it was 18 pots or so.

See my fingers?

I got around to planting the giant bulb of Elephant Ear yesterday, too.

I put this wire frame basket over it and a concrete chunk on top to keep squirrels from digging while it puts roots down.

This looks like the single bloom mock orange I had at our last house that I saw on our hike today.

the fallen petals is what caught my attention

A lot of the forest tree is covered in ferns. They never get large though.

Before all the afternoon hullabaloo, I took some photos when I took Rufus out this morning for his first potty break.

All the pansies had been chewed to the ground at least once, some twice through winter. The little one in the front right corner was probably peed on by some neighborhood dog.

The pink flower is starting its 3rd year in the same spot. I never knew calibrachoa was hardy in our area.

Lilies are getting ready.

Johnny Jump Ups are delightful.

The cucumber vine is back! Creepy creeper!

I'm attempting to write on Houzz..
I've heard of people hiding clothes 😂..a cart of soil, mulch, plants etc doesn't seem like something someone would take..😀

Houzz annoyed me..now on GW..

cropping photos is wonderful isn't it?..

the GCs looked better in the photo than in person..I thought "Indy is big..I'll find a better one"..

plant names and paint names are fun!..

cactus can be huge and impressive..they're not a good fit for me..

yep all I can do is try to heal and forget it..

is this wrong?..use my fall as leverage so my husband will work on my projects..I could say "I would do it myself but I'm weak" 😂..

I'm sure you can do wonders with that begonia..

that pink caladium IS transparent..I do see your hand..

the wire basket and rock to hide a new planting is a good idea..

your Johnny Jump Ups do look nice..

it's almost May but technically still April and the cucumber vine is going strong..

today I sat in the driveway on the garden seat my husband uses clipping debris..it's higher than my garden seat..I might never use mine again if my knee doesn't recover..even before my foot problem and the fall it was getting tougher to get up and down on my low garden seat..

I dumped the pot of clipped up sticks in one of my low spots where a shrub was removed..I'm not replanting there..

it wasn't a huge accomplishment but every little bit helps..😉

It isn't the soil or mulch I was concerned with on the big dolly. It was the plants I selected that were on the same dolly I was concerned about. Sometimes, I've left my wife with the cart/dolly to protect my finds while I went to find something else in the store.

What do you mean by "Indy is big"? I hope you can find a better Golden Crocodile. Remember that most are from Costa Farms and they produce thousands upon thousands of them at a decent intro price. I saw only one at our bigger Walmart today.

Cactus need the right conditions to succeed. Usually that means hot and dry, but not always.

HAHA - pull the guilt trip on making your husband do something you can't do or don't want to do. As much sweating and grunting that I do, I cannot guilt my wife to help out.

The concrete and wire basket are still in place earlier today. Once the plant puts roots in the ground and produces some larger leaves, I will remove the basket (and concrete).

I cannot kill that cucumber vine. It seems as strong as my wisteria vines. Oh well.

I think you have "stumbled" on to the old age problem - crouching is never going to be the same. I wish I could crouch again to pull weeds, plant seeds, take photos of objects on the ground. My granddaughter at age 2 had more muscles in her little chubby legs than I did at 67. Up, down, up, down. Geez, put a rock on that kid. I can't crouch, but I can get on my knees to work around a bed, but it sure is hard to get back up.

I agree that every little bit does help. Rome was not built in a day (or so the historians say).

Well, I got my DL renewed this morning. The building was 13 miles away and the last time I was there was 8 years ago to get the Real ID DL that needed my SS card and BC to get the new, improved DL. What BS that was. Well, in GA if you are over 64, you must have a vision test (even though we had a complete workup at our eye doctor a couple of weeks ago). So, after signing in at the Kiosk and waiting 10 to 15 minutes to be called to a booth; I got my photo made and a quick vision test - read the top line (there were 3 lines and I could see each and every one as plain as day). Whoopee Do, big deal. A waste of time and money for that sorry excuse of a vision test. My mother sends in her check for her license renewal and gets her new one a week or so later - no questions, no tests. She will be 93 in June.

Anyway, I didn't do a lot today. Watered the plants still in the basement with a promise to move them out (hope this weekend); planted my dappled willow; watered some plants I moved outdoors already; and went shopping after we went to the car wash with my wife's car (I did mine 2 or 3 days ago). I ended up buying 3 different color calla lilies and a rex begonia at Walmart. I got a bigger pot as a cache pot for my monstera (hoping it is not too big). Oh, and I took Rufus to the dog park after all of the above.

I picked up a yellow, orange, and pink calla lily today. I got the black one last year and they are coming up as expected where I planted them last year.

This was nice, too. Hydrangeas and bougainvillea.

The dappled willow out of its container. The roots were circling the pot and I attempted to break them with the shovel. They were pretty tough.

Peace lily, Stromanthe tricolor, Regal Shield, a pot of 4 or 5 different dracaenas.

I saw this blooming small tree yesterday on our 3.7 mile hike. I think this must've been planted by long ago home owners in this park. It reminds me of my old single blooming mock orange.

These ferns are always the same year after year - not very big, but spread over large tracts of forest land.+

some Jacks at the base of a tree.

another area of ferns that have spread quite a ways

the Ruins look no different than the last few years we've been going

A new trail was put in last year (on the left) but we prefer to take the older established trail on the right. If they would cut the trees down at this location, then we could see the raging water hundreds of feet below us so much better. HAHA!

Rufus is breathing a little hard from running (maybe chasing a deer or squirrel)

I can see someone swiping a special plant if it caught their eye..

Indy has lots of stores..multiple locations of every store..

I was looking for a GC with great foliage..not necessarily big..

I need my husband's help!..I'm injured..I just noticed that a non connected irrigation pipe (white pvc) was showing..been here 20 years and have never seen it..I mentioned it and he cut it out today..we've removed pieces of others..

I used our higher garden seat today..it's much easier to get up from it than our lower seat..

we had to take a vision test too..I wonder now that we have real IDs can we renew online the next time?..

this weekend we have nights in the 40s..I might bring the annuals in..this is why I wait until Mother's day to put my plants out..

my calla lilies and dappled willows died..Indiana is too cold..

I love the ruin..I like the ferns too..

I saw quite a few Jacks in front today..

Rufus can always take a nap when he gets home!..

I had a great day..out for several hours working and I was unaware of my pain..pics today..2 in front..

my damaged macrophylla..

4 backyard shots..

a robin's egg..cute..

bloodroot is big..

Instead of shopping off the racks, just use someone else's cart. Makes it easy if they put all the right plants in their cart, so I don't have to transfer the plants I want to my own cart. HAHA!

Do you go to all the nurseries in Indy? I only shop in a small circle where I live (12 miles is the outer edge of my circle). I will shop at other locations if I am in the area like TN. I hate nothing worse than driving 30 miles to see and hopefully buy new exciting plants and come away very disappointed because they sell the same thing as most other places (I'm looking at you Boston Fern). Florida was always nice to see what the big 3 stores sold there (certainly a lot different than here) when I made my annual trek to buy a truckload of begonias at the wholesale place, but I wouldn't want to drive 1,000 miles on a theory that there is a better looking plant than my local Walmart store.

Good luck on your quest!

I feel for you on getting help on your garden tasks. My wife has another landscape company coming to hack things down in her quest of "law and order". I will not offer any help or suggestions (except DO NOT CUT MY LARGE YELLOW AZALEA). I may have to dig up several plants because a lot of companies have no idea what a plant is unless it is blooming.

Is the higher garden seat on wheels? That would be nice if it was. I see a lot of older people using their rollators to carry small tools and pick up debris. I think I'd rather sell and move to a small home where the landscape was cared for and it was tiny. I just need enough space in the backyard to squeeze in a large GH.

If Indiana is like Georgia, you will have to take a vision test each time you are up for renewal. Oh well. Old age is for suckers and losers.

Annuals should be able to take 40's but if you are getting closer to freezing, then I would play it safe by moving them inside or close to the house, too. Been there, done that.

While a warmer zone usually has bigger and better looking plants, there are some that will not survive that much heat (and humidity). I doubt Hostas would survive Florida.

It sounds like your recent injuries are coming along if you worked outside for several hours. Even though today is a hiking day, I doubt I will go because I have a haircut at 11 and we got some heavy rain this morning (it's going to be a bit muddy).

Is that a viburnum in your first photo? It looks neat being so low to the ground.

What is the little yellow ground cover in your second photo? It helps accent your yellow hostas.

Your woodland looks like an inviting stroll. Are there any hidden treasures behind some trees or shrubs?

Your bloodroot is big! What do you feed it? Or is it a selected cultivar of the species?

"just use someone else's cart"..that's hilarious!!!..I AM guilty of looking in other carts 😜..and I've said "where did you find that?..do they have any more?"..there are some nice nurseries here where I intended to go and never made it..my sister has been to 2 of them that are on my wish list..

I bet I can score a GC someday..

you must love your wife to keep the peace and allow hired help into your garden..😊..I don't think I'd let a contractor do anything but tree work..I just can't ..😟

it might be too late for this..could you get a recommendation from the extension office for a better than average landscape company?..

no wheels on the higher garden seat..looks like a table..some of the safest most comfortable garden seats wouldn't fit where I need to go..my small low one fits..it's a dilemma..a pic showing both..

that makes sense to continue vision testing as we age..

the annuals should be safe but I hate the idea they could be sightly damaged..my neighbor pulled the trigger..she called me over yesterday to see her 6 new hanging baskets..2 combinations and 4 begonias..a yellow, an orange, a white and a dark leaves with pink (not exactly like mine but similar)..they're on shepherd's hooks and I doubt if she'll move them..

it's true that my hostas look nicer than ones in Florida or Texas..I've seen pics on GW from people in those areas..

I'm doing great considering how hard I fell..it makes me cringe..😖

I didn't know it at the time but the Newport viburnum by the living room was an excellent choice for that location..the tag said 3 x 3..short compared to my other viburnums..

creeping jenny is prettiest in early spring..I agree that it's pretty with the yellow hostas..eventually they both go chartreuse and still match Ha!..

yep I find "garden surprises" everywhere..it's a plant factory here 😜..

jacks..in front by an arborescens..

seedlings..hellebores and a hosta..

hosta seedlings..probably Elegans..

a Jack by the birdbath..I have them in lots of locations..

Spanish bluebells..

Empress Wu..

First Frosts are bigger..

volunteer False Solomon's Seal..

Blue Mouse Ears and weeds Ha..

the bloodroot has been mulched with my compost..I can't remember if I ever sprinkled some organic 10-10-10 fertilizer that I used here and there a few years ago..but no regular fertilizing..

no blooms on the trout lilies..

Ah, if someone has already filled a cart and it looks abandoned, just take it and remove the stuff you don't want. Thanks for picking up the stuff I wanted, Random Stranger! Speaking of that exact thing, only worse, was a video clip I saw yesterday (I hope I saved it in my playlist in whatever app I was using) where the lady in line was looking at items at the checkout stand. The lady behind her took one of the items from the cart of the lady in front. Then went back and got the identical 3 items still in the cart. She acted innocent looking away. The lady in front never saw the theft and inched forward in line pulling her cart behind her. The thief moved to another line. I don't know if this was real or staged. It looked real. I know at Christmas that some folks will take away items in other's carts and claim it was unattended - losers, weepers?

What's stopping you from visiting the other 2 nurseries? Time is getting short! NO more excuses.

I'm sure you can score a Golden Crocodile some day. The market is flooded these days.

We shall see how the landscape company proposes to do my wife's vision (whatever that is - chop everything down?) and how much.

Seems like the extension office should stay out of private business, seeing how that may appear biased (government recommending one company over another).

I think I would want a garden seat on wheels, so I wouldn't have to carry it in my arms/hands.

Here is a seat/kneeler I had considered.

The prices vary on the wheeled garden seats.

So, did your neighbor's new annuals survive the cold temps?

I doubt any or hardly any hostas are grown in Florida. Texas is another matter since the northern part is further north than the GA-TN line. I don't really worry about hostas or any other state for that matter.

Falling does put some fear in a person. We hiked almost five miles today and my legs felt like jelly. I went slow coming down the long hills with roots and rocks. A slight thunder storm went overhead and we got some light sprinkles. I'd rather be soaking wet and safe than rush and fall face first down a steep incline.

That is a very short, compact viburnum. There are so many species of it, that it would take some time to learn them all or most of them.

My wood hyacinths (Spanish bluebells) are over for this year. They come up so fast and bloom.

April 9, 2024 (if you snooze, you lose - taking pictures that is)

Your Empress Wu is putting some size on. It will shade out those trilliums if you aren't careful.

The First Frost hostas are looking very nice.

Is that bedstraw weed near your Blue Mouse Ears? Kind of grabs to one's clothes if it is the same thing.

The bloodroot likes whatever you are doing for it. Good work!

Trout lilies bloom very early here. When does yours bloom normally?

I had to go back to 2021 to catch them in bloom. This was March 2nd that year.

March 14th 2020

Asian jasmine blooms when it grows up a tree.

Birch seeds are everywhere

Most of the brown stuff is birch seeds

Mountain Laurel on the other side this morning.

Once we were on the other side, it was easier to see the size of the bushes.

A slight pink tinge on this bush

Thank goodness we are not claustrophobic.

The cinnamon ferns come on so fast. And the Jacks

I've gathered some of the fertile fronds in the past, but never had any to germinate.

Saw this giant cinnamon fern on our way back to pick up the trail.

too many thorny bushes between it and me - blackberries and saw-briers.

a 3-part and a 5-part Jack seems a bit strange.

May Apples ahead!

rattlesnake ferns in a burn area (controlled burn on the other side of the access road - not state park land or at least I don't think it is)

On the park side where it is often hot and very dry in summer. Yet these ferns persist.

On our way back down the high hills, we saw this massive tree that had broken off from our last trip.

took out a top of a neighboring tree and slammed into a very big tree and splintering it (must be rotted inside)

Back to the bridge and seeing the Mountain Laurel where we were at 2 hours earlier.

There is a fisherman on the banks as well, but hard to see in this wide scale photo (that was resized for posting and email purposes).

isn't it sad that we need to watch out everywhere we go?..

some videos are staged 😉..

I have an excuse not to plant shop now..a busted face and knee..who knew I'd fall exactly during the prime time to shop for the summer? 🙁..

has your wife described the look she wants?..

it didn't occur to me that an extension office might avoid a private business recommendation..

wheels are convenient on a garden seat..it's hard to find perfect features and the perfect size..

the cold nights begin Saturday night..after last week I'll ask my husband to move my plants in 😜..

falling is horrible..I was in a very slight hurry and it was a disaster..😩

I've had the sticky weed you mentioned but this weed is different..I'll try to get an ID..I nicknamed it "mushy" weed..it's soft to the touch and pulls out easily..very weak roots..

I found a pic of my trout lilies in bloom..look at the date!..did I miss the blooms?..they're not in my flood zone but it was wet and muddy where they are and I didn't stroll much in that end of the yard..

I saw this about Jacks..

I had a 5 leaf plant in front years ago..I think it disappeared..I'll look..a neighbor called it Green Dragon..I have lots of 3 leaf Jacks..

I saw a Mayapple in back..no pic yet..

I planted the hosta..but not the maple tree, persicaria, violet, "mushy" weed and Jack!..

a few more pics..

hard to see but there's 4? 5? volunteer doublefile viburnums near the big one..center on the left, bottom right..a day or so ago I saw them mentioned as invasive in some areas?..I'm not removing them..I need to keep what lives here for privacy..

I thought my comment disappeared 😭..I added this pic to the first comment but it didn't show up..a False Solomon's Seal in front by the driveway..a long way from the others..

the Clausa hostas need to go..again!!..they're as relentless as your cucumber vine..🙁

the plant app result on my weed..

I dug up a few wild garlic last night..this is literally a drop in the bucket..just a small clump on the surface gives you so many cloves? bulbs? 😭..

Well, it is not sad that we have to watch out wherever we go. It's just a part of life and gets worse as we get into our latter years. We can't watch out for everything coming at us, but we can watch our feet and where we place them.

Some videos and photos are staged. It is up to us to decide whether we like it or not. I'm sure you heard the old adage about believing nothing you hear and half of what you see. With AI today, nothing can be believed.

Wow, that's bad that your fall interrupted your spring plant shopping. I'd still go out and do window shopping.

The feeling I get from my wife about yard cleanup is cutting back almost every bush and tree. We've worked on this over the years, but trees and shrubs continue to grow each and every year.

There is no perfect garden seat/tool. You just have to find what works best for you. Either they are too expensive or so cheaply made, that they fall apart after a season or two from a lot of purchases over the decades (for me, that is).

How many pots need to be moved in each night? Would a row cover work if the temps are hovering around freezing? We used to cover our azaleas with sheets, quilts, and towels. That got ridiculous every year, so we let nature have its way.

I've had many falls over the years. The worst one was falling down the stairs. Fortunately there were no broken bones or broken neck.

Your mystery weed isn't chickweed, is it?

I bet you missed your trout lily blooming this year. Try again next year.

Thanks for the info about the Jacks. This is the first time I saw a 3-part and a 5-part leaf on the same stem (that I can think of). I do see a 4-part leaf here and there. Weird thing about nature.

The Persicaria will shade out your Jacks in that one photo in another year or two. They grow large and spread rapidly.

In the next photo with the Hosta and Jacks around it, is that a poison ivy growing up the tree behind the scene?

Not only will you get volunteers from your double-file viburnums, but suckers from the mother plant as well. As I recall, my mother plant died after suckering at least 10 offsets over a few years. They got so big and dense that I had to take half of them to the ground so I could get between the remainder for maintenance.

Here is the mother plant in early April 2016

Lots of seeds developing but thank goodness, there was not a lot of volunteer seedlings.

all the trunks you see in this photo are D.F.V. This was in 2021

I bought variegated Solomon's Seal long ago. I put them in a big pot and they survived maybe 3 years, tops. I doubt I will ever buy them again. They just weren't my cup of tea.

Walmart this morning.

I seriously thought of getting one of these dahlia pots. We had some heavy rain and the pots were a bit heavy. I wanted to get several bags of potting soil, too but I'm not buying heavy bags of rain soaked potting mix.

I couldn't believe they had mums for sale.

At home before we went out shopping, I took Mr. Rufus out for his first potty break.

I am smitten with this Calibrachoa due to its winter hardiness.

The daffodils I planted in December (or January?) are starting to bloom. There were only 15 bulbs in all.

Strawberry Pie (all gone, but I got some more strawberries, pie crusts, Cool Whip, and strawberry Jell-O at Kroger's today)

I got some Raspberry Oranges at Target a day or two ago. The first one was turning bad, so into the compost it went. The second one was so thick in the rind, that there was not much in the way of fruit. Not that great a taste either.

This one was going bad.

This one was okay, not great.

I have no goals in life other than live as long as possible and enjoy it the best I can.

Huh? Privacy? I think my wife is concerned with the amount of space she would like when walking down the side yard(s). She rarely ever goes down a side yard as it is. If she wants to change something, then get out there when I am out there and discuss ideas.

Garden seats can be a blessing and also a way to lessen our resolve to get out and about our own yards. When we finally give into sitting all day, then we will lose our ability to garden anymore.

I have not heard of False Mermaid before. Weird name but I am sure there was a good reason behind the common name.

Ah, good thing you planted the Boston Ivy and knew what I was talking about.

I picked up some more strawberries, Jell-O, Cool Whip, and pie crusts at Kroger's yesterday. We used to have a lot of strawberry pies back in the 80's when my parents grew lots of strawberries.

Are you shuffling limbs this week? From the "east" to the "west" side. The joys of gardening.

I had (maybe still have) Abiqua Drinking Gourd hosta until the deer invaded. HAHA!

Empress Wu is the biggest Hosta I had and she was a very quick grower.

I don't see how the neighbors' sun room ruined your shot of the hostas. The BIG chair sticks out a lot more than the semi-shaded neighbor's house. What is the purpose of the upended log for?

I like the variegated hostas (is that June?) better than the yellow hostas. They just seem to blend in better with the cool greens of the woods.

I try to pull out every volunteer poplar since we had a lot of our large ones cut down over the years. Same thing for sweet gums and pines. Are you going to keep the volunteer poplar? I let a sycamore alone for a few years until it got too big. I had to cut it down several times to eventually kill it.

I love the blue hostas and Krossa Regal is hard to beat.

Wouldn't it be nice if all blooming plants disappeared after blooming? And came back the next year to repeat. My bearded irises are over but the fans are a reminder of where they have been for many years. Oh well, wishful thinking and dreaming.

The iris bloom stalks could be cut off at this point but I will wait another week or so. I noticed the shot is wonky as I got down low to shoot across the grass.

Straightened against the road way means "no road way seen". At least the iris and lilies are straighter.

Some of the sedum is blooming in the bowl I got from Walmart a few weeks ago.

I didn't do anything yesterday - recovering from our nearly 5 mile hike on Friday. I must get out to see if any pots were overturned from last night's storms and move more plants outdoors.

your goals are true of most people..incl me..

when we moved here we had a tall tree canopy and a few ground level plants..we started planting to create privacy..

seems logical to walk your yard and discuss what's good and what could be better..

I need a seat for low garden chores..if I had to squat I wouldn't stay out long..

a better view of the Boston ivy..

sounds like strawberry pie is a summer tradition for you..we had strawberry shortcake sometimes in my family..

the dead hedge idea turned into logs instead..so the branches I collected needed to be moved..

Empress Wu is considered the largest hosta..I like owning one..I hope it keeps growing..

the white plastic during construction stands out..I deleted the pics..I wish the big chair's wood was weathered..I appreciate that it hides the ugly tree trunk..the log holds a shepherd's hook..

I enjoy the yellow hostas until they fade to green..I might not like them yellow forever..but it's not my decision lol..

I leave every tree sapling that's not in the way..keeping the poplar..

I agree that blue hostas are beautiful here..

I ripped out my daylilies..didn't like the leaves..

the sedum bowl is pretty..

today was cloudy and chilly..I took a few pictures..I had a nice nap..which is good for my recovery..

the tidier woods..I'm considering moving the concrete urn fragment..I think I can find a better spot..I planted a clump of variegated vinca to appear spilling out of the urn..it died..yet in a path where I don't want it I can't kill it..

the guys that delivered the logs had moved the log edging creating the paths (understandable)..we fixed it..there's 2 paths side by side..useful..I like it..

Autumn fern and Jacks..

an unfurled Autumn fern..bottom of photo..

We didn't start planting immediately when we moved here, as we were paying for two houses at the time. Yikes! I brought all my houseplants and several outdoor plants that were small enough to dig up, though. Then we started having tall trees taken down near the house. The rest of the landscaping came about slowly. The trees that were left alone have created a canopy beyond measure (no competition from neighboring trees so they could stretch their limbs in every direction).

Do you remember the days when we could crouch/stoop for hours weeding or picking fruit such as strawberries? Yeah, those were the days - hahaha!

We got into strawberry pies when Shoney's was a place to go eat on the weekend. Most Shoney's have been shut down due to poor management (upper management). We used to buy a whole pie from them until we found a recipe that was identical in looks and taste.

I always liked the looks of Boston Ivy on brick buildings but I know it can be problematic for the house and owners. We have its cousin - Virginia Creeper that I try to remove when I see it. Parthenocissus tricuspidata vs. Parthenocissus quinquefolia.

Maybe you could paint the big chair into something whimsical or nature inspired to hide the bare look?

I was like you in leaving every sapling but it got to be too much. Not only poplar, pine, and sweet gum; but now all the redbud saplings that came from our own planted 3 trees. Too many! Weed whacker to the rescue unless the sapling got too big, so loppers to the rescue.

My favorite hostas are blue and variegated yellow (and tri-colored hostas - blue, light green, and some yellow). Green hostas are too plain unless they are huge like Empress Wu.

Aww, I guess you never got daylily blooms due to too much shade. They are beautiful when they bloom.

It is chilly this morning - 44 degrees! BRRR! I had to run the trash out this morning (after 6:30) in my shorts and tee-shirt. I could've sworn my wife said she put it out last night. What she really did was take our bathroom trash to the kitchen trash. Yikes! At least I got it out in time.

Naps are always good for us senior citizens. We need our beauty rest or power naps.

Try something different in your spilled urn since the Vinca didn't take. Succulents would be good but it would need some sun to live.

That is a lovely scene off your new deck.

Your ferns are not that far behind us.

We hiked yesterday (2.5 miles for me since I took a shortcut twice to my wife's disdain). I didn't want to go, but what the heck. After lunch, I moved a few more plants outside before hedging the climbing roses, picking up the mulberry and Kerria cuttings I cut yesterday, weed-whacking the Asian jasmine, and digging up my hardy amaryllis and daffodils that were too close to one of my wife's bird feeder poles. GRRR! That took some time to dig up a lot of bulbs. Today, I must find a new spot to put them back into the ground.

This is one (and only one) bottlebrush buckeye that has spread at least 8 feet.

It has swallowed up several of the Celandine poppies going to seed.

I think this Mondo grass needs to be corralled as it slowly has spread over the years. It was on the property when we moved in 21 years ago.

Pinks on the other side of the Mondo grass.

Two hydrangeas here.

Lady in Red

The hike - our favorite spot on this trail (and Rufus as well) that I call Duke's watering hole (after our last dog)

The water was high after severe rain storms the night before. Usually you can see the rocks at this point.

Rufus could not go out on the rock bar yesterday.

Which view is better? Landscape view.

or portrait view?

Hiking out of this spot was a bit daunting (this is the normal trail but I hiked out from the water over rocks and overgrown briers and trees). I dropped my walking stick at the rock ahead (hard to see the drop in this photo) which made it more difficult to step down (I don't jump if I can avoid it). The knees are what they used to be.

This is not a bad trail but there are still plenty of trip hazards with roots, rocks, limbs, and hidden holes.

yes being young and feeling good was great!..

but we're still active so yay!..

we loved the breakfast bar at Shoney's!!!..

I didn't say it but I knew the botanical name for Boston ivy..it's fun to say..I've seen very little Virginia creeper..I ripped it out too..

thanks but I'm not interested in painting the big chair..I've thought about adding a shelf..hooks..plants..but haven't done it yet..

the squirrels destroy some of the saplings..a pic today of 5 doublefile viburnum volunteers..

my favorite hostas are plain blue, plain green and plain chartreuse..

I did have daylily blooms..pretty but short lived and not worth it to me..

yep it's chilly here too..I paid a price (my fall) trying to spare my new plants from the cold..as I worked today I noticed my soreness..but I kept going and tried to ignore it..👍

it won't be hard to plant something by the urn fragment..at the time I was removing vinca and thought aha..

thanks for the "lovely scene" comment..if only my husband would work on the stones..

your Mondo grass is covering quite a bit of ground..

I like the portrait view..

I lifted my phone to get a shot of viburnum blooms today..

the only mayapples I've seen..

a plant app says Great Waterleaf..a volunteer in the middle of coneflowers I planted by the mailbox years ago..

the same plant in back..

wild geranium..not sure it it bloomed or will?..

from a crow?..

Empress Wu is catching my viburnum..

I ripped out a bunch of false mermaid..and dug out more wild garlic..I keep saying "every little bit helps"..😉

Those were the "good old days" - when we were young and invincible (and poor/stupid).

We used to go to Shoney's on Saturday or Sunday, but their service and food went downhill. Our Shoney's closed and a Mongolian Beef place took over the abandoned building. We went to a Shoney's 2, maybe 3 years ago in Nashville after doing the Santa Hustle. I did not want to go, but I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was in both service and their buffet. If they were all like this one, then they would still be a great place to stop - no matter where you were at.

I agree on just using the common names on a lot of plants and that includes Boston Ivy (why is it Boston?) and Virginia Creeper.

Your Big Chair could be used as a potting bench (have a piece of plywood or counter top ready to put on top when you need a bench) or add some shelves above and use it to display your smaller houseplants. I would still like to find a stainless steel table with sink for my "ultimate" potting bench that is somewhat affordable.

It is chilly again this morning. I checked my weather app and Detroit is warmer than us (morning temps). Blackberry winter, for sure. I turned the heat back on to take the chill off the house. We will go for our hike in an hour and probably turn out air back on this afternoon.

It is hard to ignore soreness. As long as it is soreness and not pain, you will be good to go.

Is the urn broken? What about turning it back to its normal position and planting it?

I have 3 spots of Mondo grass and it slowly spreads through roots and seeds. I think I mentioned that I dug up my hardy amaryllis (I dug those up at a friend's house last year) and some daffodils we put out 2 to 3 years ago. The Mondo grass in that area had started to engulf one daffodil clump and one of the amaryllis. I think I am going to start trimming back "overreach" of these 3 beds starting this year.

I preferred the portrait view of the water, sky, and rocks over the landscape view, too. The sky with some clouds made it so much more vibrant. If there were no clouds in the sky, then I might have deleted it.

What did you mean by "I lifted my phone..."? Is it your injury that made it sound like the phone was heavy? The trees look a bit wonky due to the tilt, but nonetheless, it is kind of cool looking.

If I ever wanted to buy a Mayapple, it would have to be the Chinese version(s) since they are so colorful and the shape is oddly pleasant to look at.

Is Great Waterleaf a weed or something that stays well-behaved?

If your wild geranium has wonderful blooms, then that would be great. If it is like the Carolina geranium, then dig it up as fast as you can. I can't seem to get ahead of this pervasive weed. There are a ton of worse weeds, but the C.G. is not a desirable geranium. At least Painter's Palette has some great looking foliage.

"from a crow?" I don't know. I would say a blackbird. We had a crow the other day around the feeders - they are really big birds compared to all the other birds that visit the feeders.

Ah, Empress is a giant of a girl, isn't she? And YOURS is just getting started.

My Empress a short 4 years ago.

Yes, every bit of weed removal helps (ultimately), but we must remove it before it goes to seed. If we could only get our neighbors to join the fight. HAHA!

I planted the dug up daffodils and amarylllis, the red buckeye I bought last month, and my 3 calla lilies yesterday. Weed-eating the Asian jasmine, cutting down the mulberry volunteers, moving the debris to the back of the lot, etc. I still have many plants to move outside, but thought I would work on some yard maintenance every other time I work. I donned long gym pants and shirt yesterday due to how cool it was and keep mosquitoes from attacking me.

The red mountain laurel is still growing very good despite the crowding.

A huge poke weed popped up in the same place it was last year plus hundreds of seedlings. GRRR!

My box of amaryllis and daffodils I plugged with my cordless drill and auger bit.

The 3 callas are planted around last year's black one I got last year at the same Walmart store.

Odd that my black colocasia 'Illustris' is not up yet - it should be to the left of this plot. My other colocasias are up (Jack's Giant and some NOID that I forgot the name). My ginger plant is not up as well, yet the same plant is up (behind the giant ferns in this photo). Nature is funny, isn't it?

Illustris from last year. Ah, it still has plenty of time. This was from May 27 last year.

and August 29

My ginger last year in full sun did better than its older sibling in shade. The one in shade was planted years ago from the same friend's yard.

This is hard to believe, but this was November 7.

September 15. I just scooped out a little hole and dropped the rootball on top of the hole.

May 9 last year. Not a peep from it this year and today is the 6th? Really?

Okay, not black but dark purple. HAHA!

Temps this morning

Who needs Empress Wu, when you can have a GIANT anthurium year round (provided enough space indoors in winter, that is).

young and dumb but we thought we were smart!..😝

I don't remember my last time at Shoney's..it's been a long time ago..

typing a common name on GW is bad enough..a Latin name..forget it..

I consider our project a potting bench..I didn't notice it resembled a big chair until you mentioned it..

when I'm outside it's a great distraction from the soreness..

the urn is broken..

the blooms were above my head so I held the phone up to take a pic..

the Chinese mayapples are really different..

Great Waterleaf is a bit weedy..I ripped out a couple today..

a geranium today..not especially beautiful..

a crow feather is logical..we see crows daily and the feather is large..

I pulled so many weeds today..yet there's a million more..the spots where I worked sure look nicer..

we were warmer than you according to your list of cities!..

some pics..butterweed..

jewelweed..found the ID on a plant app..

Regal Splendor..Krossa Regal..and a couple of NOIDs..

a neighbor's cat in my yard..

a volunteer hosta..no ID..maybe Feather Boa or Quill according to a Facebook hosta group..

some tall trillium..

another oak sapling..

Sun King aralia..almost perfect but has a ripped leaf..

Young and dumb = Invincible! "Those were the days, my friend. We thought they would never end." I forgot who did that song.

Well, my dad has been gone 10 years and the last Shoney's I recall was in NC (because he was still smitten with them) and that had to be many years before he became incapacitated. I am going to guess 20 years since our previous visit to a Shoney's. The last visit was again 2 or 3 years ago and I was impressed.

You should hang some pots and tools on the back of your "potting bench" so it doesn't look like a big chair.

Maybe turn the urn over a bit so the broken side shows some of the damage? As it is, it looks like it got overturned and hasn't been turned upright.

I bet you keep a few great waterleaf plants around, though. Weedy, but has some appeal.

At least your volunteer geraniums are better than the weedy Carolina ones we have.

Okay, I am going to take your word on the feather. HAHA!

It is very difficult to get ahead of weeds. We hiked this morning and after lunch I geared up for tackling the overgrown shrubs that has my wife in a dither. Azaleas, camellias, prostate blue deodar cedar were not spared the hedgers or saws. I had my regular hedger, my pole hedger that came in very handy for the very tall camellias, my pole saw, my chain saw, loppers, and hand pruners. Gloves, hat, safety glasses, mosquito spray, Thermacell on my waistband, water in my thermos like container, etc. A large tarp and two ratchet straps for binding the clippings in the tarp (it will take more than one trip to take everything to the very back. Talk about hurting after a couple hours of hedging. The landscape company wanted between $500 and $750 to do this job. Maybe it will be worth it in a few more years.

Yes, the temps can vary a lot from day to day. Usually we are warmer than our mothers in TN, but if it is raining here and sunny there, they are warmer (makes sense). We can't change the weather so we must adapt to it (which most of us have if we lived in an area for many years).

Ah, that is a cute name for the yellow flowering plant. We have something similar blooming in the meadows where we hike. I don't know if they are the same thing, though.

Good old jewelweed. We see them on our walks along the swampy areas. Did you know that they are used to suppress the itchy feeling from poison ivy? I never felt the need to try that theory out.

I like your Krossa Regal hostas. I had or maybe still have it. I also have or had the Regal Splendor. Cool names.

That is a pretty cat and your photo of it is extra-sharp. Did you do any editing or special thing to capture it? The eyes and fur really stand out from the foreground and background.

I would've mistaken the slender hosta as a weed. I would be guilty of cutting it down like my wife cuts a lot of my seedlings down.

WOW. That is all I can say about your Trillium - WOW! That is some very tall stems. Is it reaching for the light? And you have so many, too (short and tall).

Do you keep your oak seedlings? I don't even know if we have an oak on our property here. We planted a small sapling at our last house and in ten years or so, it was quite the tree.

Is there a way of having a perfect plant outdoors? It would be very hard to keep any plant outside to perfection. Anyhow, the aralia looks very pretty and maintained.

I bought two new caladiums at our Home Depot yesterday. Too pretty to pass up.

I passed on these this year (so far).

The oriental lilies are about over and smelled wonderful, but I passed on these as well.

Some good sized hostas.

I passed on the Brunnera as well.

terrariums ready to go?

Ready for mother's day.

They are starting to look like a florist shop.

Golden Girl? Looks very similar to Ring of Fire.

Cool planters of Hens 'N' Chicks (sempervivums - house leeks).

I thought of dahlias, but I prefer to grow them from tubers.

I want the dual tone flowers when it comes to florist azaleas.

Walmart had nicer selection of dahlias, BUT it was raining pretty good so I stayed under a roof.

I saw this at Kroger's and it immediately drew my attention. I thought it might be Heather but I've not seen any like this before.

We didn't meet a soul today until we got to the ruins.

Almost to the little pond

The pond level was high enough to start running through this little outlet.

the overflow running to the creek several hundred feet away.

The water was like a mirror today.

I looked up the "those were the days" song..Mary Hopkin..released in 1968..never heard of her lol..I do remember the song..

on a trip to NC (aunt's funeral 2006) with my parents and my nephew we went to a Shoney's..my parents had been there on other trips..that could be my last Shoney's meal..

the urn is in 2 pieces..each side was placed in the soil with the outside edge exposed..I'll take pictures when they're finished..

yes for sure I'll keep some waterleaf plants!..

to me pruning yourself was the way to go..you saved money, had complete control of the work and you made your wife happy..

I've never noticed jewelweed..could've been here..it's possible that I looked it up..if so I didn't remember it..I had no idea it has an anti itch effect..

I completely agree that Krossa Regal and Regal Splendor are great hostas..

I did nothing special taking the picture of the cat..the light and orientation must've been good..🤷‍♀️

you would've hacked down my skinny hosta?..to me it was a hosta!..I didn't know the name (if there's one) but I've seen a few that look like mine so I knew it could be a hosta..

we have trillium everywhere..I love them..

yes I keep oak seedlings unless they're in an impossible location..we do have mature oak trees..

what a bummer to fall on the first day that I went shopping in 2025!..I haven't been shopping since..

the last 2 days were great!..my husband worked on the logs..your wife and I both had help! 😊..

the beginning of the log fence on the east end..for now there's 2 here on the ground to get them out of the way..

more newly installed logs..he set 32 logs..he's going to recut some tops..they came that way from the tree trimmers..he didn't want to get the chainsaw out today..

I tried to capture more of the length..when I saw this pic I thought "now it's time for edging logs and to move the stones"..the work never ends does it?..

the east end woods will have logs to edge plants and create paths..no stones..the stones are for other areas..

the center of the backyard looking west..

hellebore seedlings..so many it's crazy..

a pretty Autumn fern..Jacks..

another Autumn fern..

my husband removed 4 of my 5 stitches today..we have a pair of curved scissors used to remove stitches..1 stitch needs more time in my opinion..my husband said "I can get it..I'll cut through the scab!"..I said "no"..he cut the other 4 stitches and I pulled them out..it was faster (and cheaper Ha) to remove them ourselves..we wouldn't have tried this without those scissors..we thought we'll try one..but then kept going..

Oh, I remembered the name after you looked the song up (I was too lazy or forgot to do that). Mary Hopkin. My sister was the one who followed all the pop songs back then.

We quit Shoney's probably 30 years ago or so. My girls were either in their teens or close to it. I remember answering the cashier when she asked how was it by saying "Not good". She asked was it the service or the food. I said "Both". I might've ate by myself at the Shoney's in southern AL when I worked down there since the town was small and there was not a lot of eating joints. It was okay, just not as good as it used to be.

I don't know if my wife was happy with the pruning, but it was something that saved money, had full control over, and it felt like an accomplishment as an old feller.

Did you ever see jewelweed in bloom? I know I've seen it for years on our hiking forays, but mostly along swampy or creek banks. The way to make a lotion from it is cut it, bag it and let it stew in the sun (or someplace very warm). Once it becomes a liquid mess is how it should be applied. I think I prefer the old calamine or Caladryl ointment.

Your cat photo may have been serendipity - the right spot at the right time. You can always say you planned it down to the right moment after pre-arranging everything including the cat's pose. I won't tell.

Yes, I would've probably mistaken the skinny hosta as a weed (my wife would hack it down in a micro-second). Maybe it will look better when it gets a few more years on it.

You are lucky on the trillium. I guess they love your wet ground and colder temps?

The only oaks I've kept were willow oaks due to their tiny narrow leaves. But after many years, I had all 3 of mine cut down.

My sister's friend fell a day or two ago while walking her dog on the sidewalk. She called my sister for help and I heard it took lots of paper towels to stop the bleeding. They went to the ER after that. Face plants can be hard.

I'm glad your husband helped you with the logs. Nothing beats some good old fashioned help. It looks like a short stockade fence or fort you have going on. It certainly contrasts with your neighbor's modern steel black fence. HAHA! The 3rd photo of your log fence shows how it fades in the background (I guess that is due to the canopy or so far away that it looks tame)

The center of the yard photo looks like everything is set in rows/straight lines. Is that happenstance or planned?

Were you supposed to see your doctor for stitches removal or was it recommended to remove them yourself? I usually go with the doctor's recommendations.

Jewel weeds over the years. Most of my photos of it are called wild impatiens.

The next two photos are from my first Samsung smart phone (the original Note)

My how the quality of photos has improved since then on smart phones. This was November 2013.

I hope to attend this next month.

I ordered and received a new gimbal from Amazon yesterday (how cool to order in the morning and receive it early afternoon). It was about half the price as my first one from years ago and is lighter weight and does so much more.

I found a dead bunny in our garage yesterday. I wondered what it died from.

my newest caladiums (2) from HD

blooms on both

this next one must've gotten some cold or sun damage

Knockout roses (I can cut these to the ground twice a year and they spring back and bloom.

Painter's palette, anyone?

Mexican hydrangeas are up and at it again. I think cutting the strays and dabbing some brush killer on them last year helped. I still have some where I do not want them, though. I might've missed those.

Penny Mac is starting to turn color.

my one and only Astilbe looks promising.

I wonder what kind of fungus is on this old oak stump

and finally, a wall of staghorn ferns I saw on FB this morning.

We went to the airport this morning to pick up our granddaughter. She flew in to surprise her mom for both Mother's Day and her birthday (they landed on the same day this year) except her mom is working the entire weekend (she doesn't know about her daughter flying in). It is hard to tell her to find a sub for tomorrow and spoil the surprise.

I bet your wife was happy that you pruned..it's a start..👍

I don't think I've seen jewelweed blooms in person..when the plant app result was jewelweed I saw photos of the blooms..I thought they were pretty..

isn't photography often a matter of chance?..an animal or human does something unexpected and you have a camera and get the shot..

there are hostas where the skinny leaves are the look..have you heard of Electrocution? (fun name)..it's variegated unlike mine but has a similar leaf shape..

face plants are terrible..I've had 2 😭..

the log fence is pretty well camouflaged..it covers 2 of 4 neighbors that we back up to..both have told me they like the logs..we don't need more screening so we don't need to worry about the other 2 neighbors..

the free pavers created straight lines..so yes it was planned..to be honest I like straight lines more than "fake" curves..my neighbor has a wavy sidewalk in open grass..I hate it..I would find it annoying to go left right left etc as you walk down it..

I was not advised to remove the stitches myself!..but we tried it and it was fine..

everyone I know loves Amazon..

awww poor bunny..can they die of fright?..

I hope my Painter's pallet is as thick as yours someday..

we moved 4 peace lilies and 1 alocasia out today..😀

we didn't feel up to moving more today but will soon..tomorrow?..

I'm going with my sisters to my aunt's house tomorrow..my cousin is here from Missouri..it should be fun..

I hope my wife is happy with the pruning, but I don't really know. We still have the other side yard to do, but it can wait for a week or two.

Wild Impatiens (jewelweed) in bloom is not as pretty as the domesticated ones, but I wouldn't evict it from my garden unless it became aggressive.

Yes, photography is often a "lucky" shot. There are so many shots that are prepared and posed. Then there are the rare shots that make us sit up and take notice.

A variegated skinny hosta leaf would be more exciting than a plain green, skinny leaf.

Accidents are a fact of life. That includes face plants. If we could go through life without injuries or illness, wouldn't that be grand?

Don't the logs stick out more in winter than summer, though? Kind of like going on our hikes in the same locations through the year. In winter, we can see a lot further but it is boring and some scenes are too ugly to take a picture of. In summer, the leaf canopy and forest floor hide the ugly stuff and that includes potential tripping points (rocks, roots, hidden holes which can be hidden in winter with fallen leaves, vines, and other stuff we miss seeing until it is too late).

I like curving paths with large shrubs hiding what is around the bend. It is creative to hide jewels of the garden behind curves and other larger plants. Straight lines are so formal, like an estate that goes on for hundreds of yards. Reminds me of The Biltmore or some of the other famous estates I've seen over the last 20 years or more.

As long as your stitch removal came out fine, that is all that matters. The hidden stitches from surgery are usually left in place to dissolve by the body (weird, huh?)

I'm sure animals can die of fright, but I would think it would be very rare. I have no idea what killed that juvenile rabbit. I put its body under our tall camellias so it could become food for other critters or worm food.

Give it time on the painter's palette. While it is pretty, it is also very easy to spread far and wide.

I almost got all my plants out from the 3 rooms I wanted to move. I should finish today the last of these 3 rooms. That will leave the room with all the aroids and moss poles. I still do not know if I want to move them outside but it would be easier to care for them - just a lot harder to move back inside due to growth. Due to rain since Saturday, and our daughter's birthday and her youngest daughter staying with us since Saturday, I haven't had a chance to work on my plants at all. We haven't hiked since Friday nor taken Rufus to the dog park (poor Rufus - haha). We had Mother's Day and a surprise birthday event at Cracker Barrel yesterday. I drank too much coffee and paying the price since yesterday. Foolish of me, I know. UGH!

I hope you had fun at your aunt's house. How often do you get to see your cousin from Missouri? Once a year? Mother's Day?

Our youngest grandchild climbing the furniture yesterday at our house. We don't mind as long as she doesn't fall.

What a huge anthurium. I wonder where this is at? Miami? Further south?

we had a great time at my aunt's..we had 2 generations..my aunt and her cousin..then 7 cousins from my generation..2 guys 5 girls..we had lots of laughs..and we always hear something we didn't know..it's fun..we call but see each other once maybe twice a year..

my husband moved the plant stands out when I was gone..I hope to move my plants out today..it's a piece of cake to move my plants compared to yours..

I love this quote..someone once said about the amount of outside work here.."you know how to eat an elephant?..one bite at a time"..

do your pruning bit by bit..

remember - to me plain is beautiful..remember my bare bones living room?..I love plain hosta..the plain skinny hosta appeals to me..

even in winter the tree trunks and leafless shrubs still fill space and block the view..plus the stumps don't bother me anyway..

we have turns throughout our garden to walk around landscaping..just one "clearing" with the paver path..I'm happy with it..my neighbor's "snakelike" sidewalk is so unattractive to me..but it's his home his choice..

my stitches weren't dissolvable..very tough..like fishing line!!..

your granddaughter is growing up!..cute..

I'd love to take a trip to a tropical location and see some huge tropical plants..my husband doesn't travel well with crohn's 😢..poor guy..it's sad what some people have to live with..we feel blessed to have this home that we enjoy..

I zoomed so this pic is fuzzy..a Carolina wren in the garage..

if I take any photos I'll add them later..

hat's great that you had a family reunion with cousins and aunt. It sounded like an adult-only reunion.

I finished up my 3rd room yesterday - 3 hours and 3.2 miles plus I planted my holdover dahlias (3 - lost 2) and the two cannas. The only thing left is my "aroid" room - monstera, philodendron, alocasia, syngonium, etc. I will have to devise a system to hold the moss poles upright before I move them outside - thinking of putting them next to my fence and tie them on to the fence with rope or some other steady system.

Well, there is that - eating an elephant one bite at a time - that might take a few months/years and then it might spoil or get boring. I like this adage, to travel 1,000 miles all it takes is one step at a time (or one foot in front of the other).

If I did pruning one bit at a time, it would never get done. Some plants that might work, but others it just needs to be hedged and then shaped some after the "gross" cutting.

The only green hostas I like are the giants. If they had some other unique factor, then I might consider it.

I just watched a YouTube video this morning about the top 20 gardens (it is an opinion piece) and a lot of the famous gardens (formal palaces and English gardens) have a lot of straight line vistas. The other gardens have layering with curves, rocks, and water features. They all are very cool looking and I've been to Nong Nooch twice. The top garden is in Singapore (they had two gardens in the top 20). Brooklyn made it as well as the Arizona garden (weird?)

Most outside sutures must be removed the old fashioned way - scissors. Butterfly stitches usually fall off as the adhesive gets weak. What about the metal staples for deep incisions? Would you remove those yourself?

Time marches on - kids become adults, adults become senior citizens, senior citizens become...

I hear you on travel. I might still travel but it is different in old age. I do not want to become house-bound (yet). I told my wife that we should go to Singapore and then on to Australia (they had a top 20 garden as well).

That wren is probably setting up a nest. I hate it when that happens because a lot of times, they get trapped indoors and exhaust themselves to death (or starve to death). I have had several pots over the years that were wren's nesting sites. Fortunately, we haven't had a wren die in this house garage while our last house we had 2 or 3 birds die in the garage.

Time to go shopping (groceries, but I will see if there are any new garden plants that are exciting).

yep our lunch was just old people Ha!..the oldest (my aunt) is 87 and the youngest is 47..

I like the "journey begins with the first step" adage too..it's the same principle..

when I said bit by bit I meant do what you can when you can until the job is done..

we can appreciate all garden styles right?..

my husband might be game to remove staples but I wouldn't!..if I had staples I'd go to a medical professional..

Singapore and Australia sound dreamy..

we had a wren building a nest in an old plastic dishpan on top of a cabinet..no eggs in it..we removed the nest and then always kept the garage door closed..

my husband mowed the grass..I swept the curb..I used a dustpan and brush then dumped the dirt and grit into a Target bag..it went out in today's trash..

I dug out lots of dandelions..we were too tired to move plants out 🙁..hopefully tomorrow..

It sounded like you had a good lunch with a wide range of ages (middle age to senior age, that is).

That is how a lot of jobs are done - bit by bit. Rome was not built in a day, or so I have heard over my lifetime. HAHA!

That is what makes the world go round - lots of variety and that includes gardening. Variety is the spice of life - another old adage.

There are some things that shouldn't be done by non-medical people, but outer stitch removal should be fine if the skin looks like it has healed over. Maybe even staple removal, but that might anger your medical "professional".

A lot of gardens are dreamy. Reaching these gardens takes a lot of preparation and $$$, though. Oh, to be young (and rich) would be a dreamy thing today. The internet has made the world seem so much smaller and connected than it did while I was growing up.

We have a bird (probably wrens) build nests on the inner side of our porch column almost every year. By the time we notice it, they have laid eggs. We had nests built in our front door spring wreaths in the past. Awkward going in and out of the front door.

Yikes! You threw good compost material in the trash? HAHA! We blow our yard clippings back onto the lawn. "Dirt" and grit get blown back onto the lawn as well.

Good old dandelions. I think most of the ones here are over with. There are many weeds still blooming and more coming up.

I feel like I am almost done with my spring chores, but not really. I still have one more room in the basement that needs to be moved out, pruned, cleaned, etc. I bought 8 packs of seeds at Walmart yesterday that needs to be planted, but I need to buy some more potting mix - this year I will use some of my new pots to grow flowers from seed. I have a wedding to go to next weekend in TN and this Saturday is a begonia meeting. Ah, the things we do. Next month is a baby shower to go to in TN. Birthdays to address and attend to. ARGH!

Wren nest back in 2021 (a woven nest from one of our daughters as I recall)

gathering nesting material

I don't know this bird (2016)

This is where the birds usually build a nest on our front porch

I had one built in my orchid pot (2007)

my yucca pot

last year I found one at the dog park in one of the dog poop bag centers.

we made a very nice memory at lunch yesterday..

"Rome was not built in a day" is a great expression..

I'm such a nerd I'm a little surprised that we removed my stitches!..we had the right tool for the job..we were very careful..so the outcome was perfect..

my parents had the same situation..a bird's nest (swallow) by the front door..they sure made a mess..

the area with the red line collects a mix of dirt, street grit and granules from the neighbor's roof..he collects water from his gutters which is pumped through an underground line to a pop up drain by the curb..the mess at the curb is too imperfect to use in my compost..remember I have high standards for dirt Ha!..I'm considering moving the hostas and laying stones in that area..not small rocks big stones close together..basically "pave" the ground with stones..I think it would hold back some dirt..it wouldn't look exactly like this but you get the idea..

I have more weeds now than I've ever had 🙁..

I bet you'll enjoy all of your plans 👍..

awww the sweet little birds work so hard building their nests..🥰

I clipped the macrophylla by the curb/rock yesterday..I have a few flowerheads!..it was obvious some stems and stem tips weren't going to leaf out..

I'll take some pics when the rain stops..we're getting quite a bit of rain today..

back to add pics..see the neighbor's water draining in the street?..it's wet but can you see the sediment by the curb?..there isn't much dirt at the moment..I cleaned it yesterday and the water probably rinsed away any new dirt..

see the flowerheads?..you can see some leaves have frost damage..

7:41..we just finished putting the plants out 😀..

It's a good idea to take a few photos of any gathering - it reminds us of who was there. I often forget to take photos of people, though. We had a birthday party/Mother's Day breakfast on Sunday. I got a short video clip of a tearful reunion of our oldest daughter and her youngest child (they both left mid-morning to Lafayette, LA for a college graduation ceremony - whew, that is a long drive). Last evening we gathered for a farewell to the youngest child (she is 22 and married last year in TN) since we don't know the next time we will see her.

That sounds like a great idea on taking the stitches out - no doctor visit, saving time and money.

Nature can be messy at times, can't it? I hope I captured a very good nature scene on our way to the recycle place and to the other hiking spot when a family of groundhogs tried crossing the road. The mother was holding her two kits back while watching the traffic. I stopped, hoping she would cross over, but she did not. I think she thought she would try another time (and day?) as she turned back to where she came from. Now if my dash-cam caught it.

You should not call silt "dirt". Grit is another natural product, isn't it? It helps aerate clay and other fine particle "dirt". For such a small amount, I wouldn't toss it into the trash where it goes to the landfill.

That area with all the rocks is what I call a dry stream bed. BTW, is that your yard with the dry stream bed? We had one put in 18 years ago and I softened the rocks with the Asian jasmine and florist ivy. I have to "weed whack" the middles and edges to keep the vines in check, though.

Weeds are nature's way of keeping bare ground to a minimum (my theory).

Birds have to raise the next generation in a few weeks. I never knew that a lot of birds raise a few generations in summer. I thought it was one and done per year.

I will be in hydrangea heaven next week. Friday high's will be 90 degrees! Summer is here.

Aww, a little "dirt" won't hurt anything. I have more issues with leaves that accumulate along the curb in winter than a little dirt the rest of the year, but we blow it off every time we mow and edge. One thing I find ugly is the weeds that grow in the cracks between the blacktop and the concrete curb. I typically spray our roadside to look neat and tidy. Now if the rest of the neighborhood would. Funny thing is in New Mexico (Santa Fe), they let the weeds grow, probably to keep erosion down.

I don't really see the flower-heads on your photo of the macrophylla. Maybe in a few days, they will be big enough to see.

I fell on our hike today. We were close to the end of the hike, walking alongside the small creek when we had to go around a very large tree. My wife took the steeper approach (deeper knee bends) and I took the little slope and that is when I remembered that wet mud is like a greasy spill. My left foot slid down the small slope and my knee buckled. I fell on my behind and I was in all kinds of mud. I sat there for a minute or two, trying to gather myself - mud, hurt knee, and how to get up without too much more mud. There was no easy way out of this predicament. I finally rolled over on to my knees and pushed myself up with my hands. Muddy shoes, socks, back of my shorts, hands, knees, and maybe a few other spots. Luckily I had my "cooling towel" with me as I used it in the creek to soak, squeeze, wipe mud off where I saw it, rinse; and repeat. When we got home I emptied my backpack as it had not been laundered in a few years, I rinsed my shoes off in the deep sink using a stiff brush, sprayed my towel(s) and clothes with Shout!, and finally tossed it all in the washing machine and set it for the heavy duty cycle. It all came out in the wash (that is what she said). We put in 3 miles in 1.5 hours, so it was a good walk despite the fall and subsequent cleaning at the creek.

I saw these JMs at Walmart yesterday. It is a good thing I don't need anymore JMs.

I saw this hosta yesterday online. Weird looking?

Front yard this morning before heading out for our hike and recyclable run.

I am very smitten with this calibrachoa. A real survivor of heat and cold.

It is lily time, now.

Just starting.

Hilda Niblett azaleas are the last ones to bloom and these are just starting up.

Clasping milkweed at the national battlefield today

big leaves

This is what I strayed off the path to see - a kidney-leaf rosinweed.

This one looks like it is getting ready to bloom. I find that really odd as I recall them blooming in the heat of summer - July where they are gasping for water, usually.

We reversed our route today. My wife and Rufus in the background.

I was trying out my new gimbal for my phone. I think I need more practice following Rufus and the stream. I wish I could post a video here.

I fell a little further up stream. GRRR!

Well, shoot! I checked my memory card for the dash-cam and the last video was back in early Feb. I thought I set this up to write over the oldest videos. Apparently, I was wrong.

My daughter and granddaughter should be getting close to their destination by now. They left here at 10:40 and it is nearly a nine hour drive. We haven't heard a word from them so far.

too bad we didn't take pictures..🤦‍♀️
I wonder if anyone thought they shouldn't since I have a black eye?..
no the dry stream bed isn't mine..I took a screenshot to show my husband..I'm going to refer to him from now on as D..his initial is more private than using his name..
hmmm..I can see the flowerheads..you can't?..they're on the left..

the potted hydrangea has flowerheads you can see..I hated to cut the single tall stem since it has a bloom coming..

oh no you fell?..glad you didn't need to go to the ER..
I've seen photos of the striped hosta..I prefer a plain one of course 🙂..
lots of color at your house..
I took a video today but deleted it..everything was wet and droopy..I decided to try again..
the big mess with my plants out..I wedged the gray plant stand slightly against the black table which is why it looks crooked..it won't be staying there..

I did think of dirt and soil as the same..

a screenshot..

I saw a definition of dirt where the first synonym was excrement 😮..

so where would you find dirt?..below topsoil?..

At the next event, you need to write a reminder to self to take pictures.

I didn't think the dry stream bed was in your yard. My wife wants to remove all our rock, put down a rubber liner, put the rock back in, and have a pump at the bottom of the run to circulate the water back to the top of the stream bed. Sounds good, but a lot of work and money.

I really can't see the flowerheads in that hydrangea shot. I saw a couple of possible buttons there, but not really what I would call a flowerhead.

I definitely can see flowerheads on your potted hydrangea. I would keep the tall stem until it is done blooming, then cut it for propagation.

I would have to be bleeding a lot or really hurt to go to the ER. Falling down the stairs and gashing my forehead was one trip to the ER I will never forget. Another time is when I cut my index finger in the wood chipper. I thought they might amputate it when I saw it the first time.

That is one strange looking hosta with the stripes. It doesn't remind me of a hosta - too strange looking. In another plant family, it might fit in very well. I guess that means I am biased to certain looks for certain plant families.

I keep most of my photos and videos - they are a lesson on what NOT to do and sometimes they came out very nice.

Gray plant stand? Is that the cylindrical object that looks like concrete? Is it made of plastic or some other material? It looks very sturdy in that photo.

Dirt has so many different connotations, don't you think? Dirty, rotten, good-for-nothing, etc. Fill dirt, dirt-poor, filth, scum, etc. Dirt can be made into soil, but like you posted, it will need a lot of amendments to bring it up to good soil. Grit has structure and is a good amendment to soil. Debris is nature's compost. Manure is a great amendment (but smelly).

You can find "dirt" where a housing or building development has scraped the top of the earth into piles that the builder needs to get rid of. Often it is advertised as "free fill dirt". Good luck on finding "free top soil".

I read a NG article long ago about soil. Iowa has 80 feet of top soil while Georgia is lucky to have 6 inches. It isn't fair! HAHA!

Speaking of soil, I bought five bags of potting mix and three bags of shredded cypress mulch from HD this morning. At Walmart I bought a big hanging basket of double flowering calibrachoa. No photos of either store today. I was a lazy bum for the most part today. Sleep deprived, recovering from the hike yesterday, etc.

I was wondering when my Penny Mac looked the best last year. It was May 24th. Here is a photo of it that day (2024). I am hoping it will look even better this year.

we just got home from a get together at a neighbor's across the street..it was nice..

a water feature would be nice..

I zoomed and circled the hydrangea flowerheads..they are small..

it seemed possible that I could have fractures so I headed to the ER..a finger in a wood chipper sounds horrible 😮..

the plant stand looks like concrete but it's plastic..they've been useful..

I was 70 before I knew that soil and dirt aren't the same..

I was tired too and didn't do much..I rearranged a few pots..I'm so happy all of my plants are out of the house 😀..

my sister is having a garage sale Sat..tomorrow I want to look for things that I could get rid of..

you would never see a macrophylla with that many blooms in Indianapolis..

on Lowe's website..it was so ridiculous that I decided to show you..$1494.85?..

That's good that you have get-togethers with the neighbors. We used to do that in our old house and apartments.

Yes, those hydrangea flower-heads are very small (right now). I need to take some photos of my Penny Mac as a lot of the blooms are blue now.

It's always a good idea to go to the ER after a bad fall. This morning, I read something about the time it takes to get treated from a snakebite in Florida averages six hours. Most people won't go the ER for at least two hours, thinking they can treat the bite themselves. Four hours more because most local hospitals are not equipped with anti-venom so it has to be flown in. The report said that two-thirds of the bites could've been prevented if people didn't encroach on the snake. The total bite victims was around 500 and only 3 died from their bites. I guess my point is that most of the bites could've been prevented and that a lot of folks think they can treat their bites at home.

I know a lot of people still say "plant it in some dirt" or get some good dirt for your potted plants. I don't know when or where I picked up to quit referring "soil" as "dirt".

It's always good to get your plants outside and start the summer off right. We did a 3.6 mile hike and the humidity is very high. I felt like a wet rag when we got back to the car. I didn't do much after that.

We tried some garage/yard sales in the past. That is not our cup of tea. My sister on the other hand, loves them to death. Anyway, good luck on the garage sale for you and your sister.

Tomorrow is our begonia get together. My wife made four strawberry pies a short while ago. I will take 3 to the party. I will be so glad when it is over.

At least you can grow paniculatas and arborescens in Indianapolis. Does your region ever have a good year (here and there) where the macs perform nicely?

Holy Cow! That is a ridiculous price for a pot. How many did you buy? HAHA!

I worked on my batteries for my cameras, flashes, remotes, flashlights, etc. last night. I found batteries had leaked in my photo light meter and caused corrosion. That set up a panic to check all my battery type devices. I typically keep them out of the device if I don't use them often (like a keyboard/mouse, nose trimmers, etc.)

This battery in my underwater light was bulging at the positive node (the other battery was the problem). I ordered a set of four with a dedicated charger from Amazon and it should be here tomorrow (not like I am going snorkeling anytime soon).

The double flowering Calibrachoa from Walmart yesterday is sitting on the driveway for now.

I renewed my tag today after getting my emissions done yesterday. My birthday is next Sunday. Yay, another year older. I think I already mentioned I renewed my DL a week or two ago (every 8 years now).

Golly Gee, what was I thinking. I was going to show all the downed trees this morning by selecting many photos, but then it dawned on me that this is GW and we can only insert one photo at a time. Silly Me!

This one has been down for a couple of years but I took another photo of it.

several trees down ahead, but for the most part they did not affect the trail

I love this little wildflower - spotted wintergreen (Chimaphila maculata)

so tiny

Royal Ferns I noticed today. I never saw them before in this area. Too much to see.

The steep part is almost over.

but the muddy part begins over stones and leaves.

The stream more or less pushed me into going right. That is when I noticed the May-apples and Jacks.

The last photo of the hike was these teeny tiny mushrooms. Kind of cool, in a way.

Whew, yesterday was a toughie. It started at 3 AM. I got up with a headache and had to get busy for the begonia party. Bringing up 2 large bus trays of canes and transferring them over to my new Insta-Crate that are stackable on a wheeled luggage carrier. Then out to the backyard to find the two plants that I promised my friend (a cutting of my pink episcia and some tiny Alocasia Bambino plants). I also chose a good looking cane to put in the plant swap area. Then to stack 3 strawberry pies and 2 Cool Whip containers in a wheeled ice chest. A lot of work, but once a year is not too bad.

I took a photo of the InstaCrate before discarding the information about them.

one of two bus trays of begonia canes

the other bus tray

some photos of the front yard before departing the house at 10:15.

Lilies

My wife has mowed the yard 3 times (or has it been 4?) already.

mailbox

This fall, I need to double the number of pansies (I think)

lilies close-up

Heuchera - mother plant in the pot and the two daughters are from seeds.

Hilda Niblett azaleas starting to put on their annual show. The ones on the side yard are a lot bigger (and older) with more colors than these 3.

Isn't it funny how the color changed when I moved in closer for bloom details?

The cucumber vine from Hades?

My Black Lace Elderberry that I bought last year is looking lovely for one year old.

Red Hot Pokers are getting ready.

I hate to cut the bracken fern, but it is starting to shade out my new calla lilies.

hydrangeas on the path to the back or middle of the backyard.

This is Lady in Red that I started from a cutting years ago.

Invincible Spirit II is pumping up its blooms. I should deadhead some of last year's blooms.

I should mention that there were thunder claps when I was out looking for those 3 plants. And it was kind of dark at 7:47 AM with some drizzle.

From the deck, I was aiming for Penny Mac in the middle of this photo. Ignore the 3 bird feeding poles and 2 bird baths if you can.

zooming in

I may have to trim up the star magnolia so it doesn't shade the hydrangea too much.

The volunteer dogwood may have to go on the left side as well. The purple perilla is nice, but it is weedy.

the birch has this one extra long branch that is annoying, but it will be hard to cut since it starts way above the reach of my pole saw(s).

I will include some photos from our begonia party yesterday as I know you are a big hosta lover, Jacks and May-apples, too. I stopped at Pike's on the way to look for a beautiful begonia in case I needed any extras to give away. I got one that I tried to cut a piece for myself in my SUV and made a mess, so I decided to keep the entire thing. I also picked up two Alocasias and the bamboo fern that I lost from Etsy. Pictures to follow sometime today.

I checked the inground macrophylla flowerheads today..still very small 🙁..

meanwhile a falling limb smashed 3 nice arborescens stems loaded with buds..I had to cut them off..😢

I doubt if anyone I know knows the difference between soil and dirt..

the garage sale was fun..we didn't have big ticket items..sales total was $109..I made $14.75 Ha!..

I've never seen a good macrophylla year here..

that was a crazy price for a pot!..

I take it for granted that D takes care of our batteries..

yeah GW isn't user friendly 😝..

our lot looks like your park..lots of green with trees 👍..

the mushrooms are interesting..

wow 3 is early!!..I hope you had a nice time at the meeting..

your front yard has so much grass compared to ours..

you need more pansies by the mailbox?..of course you do 😝..

your azalea looks more pink in the close up..

the cucumber vine is evil Ha!..

I like the black elderberry..

it's an ongoing problem that plants crowd other plants isn't it?..

the birds must love your place..so many feeders..

macrophyllas sure love Georgia..

I took pics today..my wooded backyard..

Empress Wu..at the bottom of the photo..

Krossa Regals..I'll be glad when the daffodil foliage is gone..

a White Wings peony bloom..I have 4 peonies..2 have no blooms..the other 2 have one white bloom as pictured..the other bloom wasn't as pretty so I didn't post it..

'Alice'..

this is sad..2 of 3 Snow Queen oakleaf hydrangeas are wilted!..they were fine and then poof wilted..they were flooded after a heavy rain..would that do it?..the nearby plants are fine..

Sun King looks nice..the ripped leaf (lower left) bugs me..

Painter's Pallet has holes 🙁..something is eating some of my plants..the ostrich and autumn ferns have been chewed..rabbits?..caterpillars?..the hostas are fine..👍

a surprise..allium cristophii..I didn't plant this..I wondered if it was in with bulbs that someone gave me..but it's growing in a different spot than where I planted them?..

That is so sad to hear your Hydrangea arborescens got smashed by a fallen limb. You could try propagating them. I'm doing that with some Invincible Spirit 2 (they were not hit by a limb, but more than likely by me passing through a small aisle broke some of the side stems).

I try to correct family and friends on saying soil instead of dirt. Some might get it, but others do not care.

If you had fun having a yard sale, then that is all that is really important. If you had to do it to make a living, it would be another matter.

That is bad that you never get a good year for macrophylla hydrangeas. You need a small greenhouse to house temperate plants that need some protection in early spring/late winter - no heat, but enough protection from late freezes).

I bet there are other pots that cost a lot more than that one, but yeah, that is crazy (insane) price on that pot. I bet they sell a lot of them (not!)

Remember the good old days when batteries were for transistor radios and flashlights? Those days are long dead. I got rid of any flashlight that had a C or D cell in it as the pocket flashlights with AA or AAA batteries are as bright as the old 3 D cell batteries. With all the electronics (laptops, phones, cameras, etc.) and cordless tools (12V to 80V batteries); the good old days are long gone.

At least the last two mornings I've slept in to 4, 4:30. Yay. I do take naps when I can. We took our granddaughter back to the airport yesterday afternoon - that kind of spoiled a nap in the afternoon (we left at 5 and got home after 7:30 due to road construction on the way home).

I had a pleasant enough time at the begonia party. Ate, got rid of lots of my canes I cut in November, took photos, had some lively discussions, and got home after four hours from the time I left home.

It is a small yard and the only one that we take care of the lawn. There will never be a mower in the backyard (weed-whacker for weedy grass and other weeds).

I like the mailbox area packed with flowers if I can help it.

Hilda Niblett has many different looks on the blooms; pink, salmon, almost orange at times, with some white in some of the blooms.

I had an earlier black elderberry but it got swallowed up with all the shrubs I planted around it - especially Hydrangea 'Phantom'. I have a golden one in the same location, but I have no idea if it is still living.

I think my wife feeds the neighborhood birds (there may be some other bird lovers, but I have no idea about that - certainly no neighbors close to us).

That is what gets me about the big leaf hydrangeas - I see other northern states where the big leaf hydrangeas are excellent. Why is that? I know I've seen arguments about zones on Dave's Garden in the past where gardeners in NJ and southern NY (close to the ocean?) swear they are in Z7. That doesn't seem right (this was 20 to 30 years ago). SC gardeners who listed their zone as 9! Really, that is mid-Florida zone to me.

Your Empress Wu is putting some size on, but still has a ways to go. Your Krossa Regal(s) look as big as the Empress (I'm sure if they were side by side, I'd see they are not).

Cool looking white peony. Usually I see the double blooming ones that do not show all the stamens.

Do you see any kind of ground disturbance around your Snow Queen hydrangeas? I wonder if some critter is gnawing on the roots. But the flooding may explain it all as I hear they like good drainage. Are they planted on a small mound to give them enough drainage?

If your Sun King's ripped leaf bothers you, snip it off. No one will notice one leaf with a small tear in it until you point it out.

I read that most mammals won't eat ferns. It could be caterpillars gathering food for their metamorphosis? If there is a slime trail, then it would be slugs and snails.

Well, you got a nice surprise on the allium. Now the question is will you leave it there or move it somewhere else?

My newest plants I bought on Saturday.

The rhizomatous begonia and the zebra bamboo fern.

two alocasias (a real Scalprum and the Dragon's Breath)

Around the yard yesterday

double flowering mock orange

Hardy amaryllis that I got from a friend last year and dug up this year since it was too close to one of the bird feeding poles (they were getting trampled by the bird lover)

Invincible Spirit 2 showing some color. So far, the blooms are kind of small though.

Lady in Red close up

I don't have a name for this one - I think I got it from a begonia club member a few years back.

This is one I started from one of my purchased ones but again, I didn't remember the name nor care. It is almost on the ground.

I asked the hostess of the begonia party if she had to lift her florist amaryllis before winter and she swears she does not. I put all my florist amaryllis in the ground after that statement, but I may dig them up this fall. There were 10 pots ranging from a couple of big bulbs to some pots having many smaller offsets.

This pot had 11 offsets and is a species.

On to the party yard on Saturday. I am sure you will find this most fascinating.

This is her trial hardy begonia area and has several wire baskets over smaller begonias coming up to protect them from rodents.

I have the same ivy but mine is growing out of control

This looks like a hybrid of Japanese painted fern or a mutation of it.

This azalea was extra nice.

This is another form of the bamboo fern planted in this dead stump. She said it is hardy to grow in the ground.

Big Jacks (as big as some I've seen on our hikes)

Blood-root under some Jacks.

May apples. I like seeing them in the woods, but never had a desire to grow any.

very tall bottlebrush buckeye

I thought she might've planted her florist type amaryllis for summer growing, but she said it survives our winters. Hmm?

Here is where I thought you might like to see.

Surprisingly, I didn't shoot many begonias at all. I guess I have become jaded?

I won't show any people or interior photos.

We hiked this morning - it about wiped me out. I had to take a couple of Tylenol arthritis pills when I got home. I was a wet dish rag and it isn't even hot (yet). We did 3.6 miles and there were some hills we had to up and down.

Rufus at the big pond.

My wife and Rufus walked right past this big black rat snake. I called her back to see it.

We estimated it to be around 4 feet long.

The sand bars keep shifting around. I could've walked to the small islet today, but there was no need to do that.

I kept this photo despite the rock blending in with Rufus' tail which makes it look really odd. (WONKY)

There, this looks so much better.

No dog.

The bronze color leaf between my feet caught my attention. It is sensitive ferns coming up despite this area being under water several times in any given year.

There was hundreds of tiny toads hopping around last week. They might've been here today and we didn't take time to notice.