I was perfectly minding my own business when I was doing some shopping
at the China supporting crap hole and I saw this woman with a cart
loaded with Asian lily bulbs. Originally 8 dollars, now SEVENTY FIVE
CENTS! I ran out there to the garden center, the knee all of a sudden
didn't hurt as much, and I saw this throng of grabbers and got in
there and bought about ten bags of things, Asian lilies, liatris,
Louisiana iris, etc. Okay, actually much more than ten bags, but in
case my husband is lurking we'll say ten...

Anyway, now that I have them where am I ever going to plant them? I
have a garden which encompasses a half acre and I have totally run out
of room; but when I get home tomorrow from my MRI I plan to get the
giant umbrella out which has a place on my garden cart (put there by
using tie wraps and some PVC pipe), put Mika Bird (our Hahn's Macaw)
into her outside cage, hang her on her traveling shepherd's hook, and
take out whatever is left of a teeny piece of St. Augustine which is
in the sun and plant my tubers and bulbs.

Every year I swear I am not going to put anything new in.
Every year I put new things in. I surrender.

I am a plantaholic and my life has become unmanageable.
I believe I can and will be restored to sanity.
I have turned my will over to however my knee feels on the day I want
to garden.
I will take a moral inventory of all the money I've spent and didn't
tell Mark.
I will share it with someone other than Mark.

I'm not ready for the rest, but I've done all 12 many times, at
different levels of sobriety, and have stayed sober for 24 years~

Carry on.

said with excruciating love of gardening and fellow garden addicts,
Victoria

Jangchub expounded:

Every year I swear I am not going to put anything new in.
Every year I put new things in. I surrender.

I have surrendered, also. The one saving grace is that I'm now
(again!) out in other people's gardens, too, getting paid for my
addiction.

I am a plantaholic and my life has become unmanageable.
I believe I can and will be restored to sanity.
I have turned my will over to however my knee feels on the day I want
to garden.
I will take a moral inventory of all the money I've spent and didn't
tell Mark.
I will share it with someone other than Mark.

It's the best addiction one can have, I do believe.

I'm not ready for the rest, but I've done all 12 many times, at
different levels of sobriety, and have stayed sober for 24 years~

And I want to cure!
Carry on.

said with excruciating love of gardening and fellow garden addicts,
Victoria

Absolutely. We haven't discussed sticky pots for quite a while! I
haven't made my pilgrimage to Hillbilly Acres over in Scituate where I
get into the most trouble. It's coming.....
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

On 4/25/07 11:01 PM, in article ,
"Jangchub" wrote:

I was perfectly minding my own business when I was doing some shopping
at the China supporting crap hole and I saw this woman with a cart
loaded with Asian lily bulbs. Originally 8 dollars, now SEVENTY FIVE
CENTS! I ran out there to the garden center, the knee all of a sudden
didn't hurt as much, and I saw this throng of grabbers and got in
there and bought about ten bags of things, Asian lilies, liatris,
Louisiana iris, etc. Okay, actually much more than ten bags, but in
case my husband is lurking we'll say ten...


And what gardener here wouldn't do the same. The only reason I wouldn't is
the ground is frozen!

C

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:40:50 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

On 4/25/07 11:01 PM, in article ,
"Jangchub" wrote:

I was perfectly minding my own business when I was doing some shopping
at the China supporting crap hole and I saw this woman with a cart
loaded with Asian lily bulbs. Originally 8 dollars, now SEVENTY FIVE
CENTS! I ran out there to the garden center, the knee all of a sudden
didn't hurt as much, and I saw this throng of grabbers and got in
there and bought about ten bags of things, Asian lilies, liatris,
Louisiana iris, etc. Okay, actually much more than ten bags, but in
case my husband is lurking we'll say ten...


And what gardener here wouldn't do the same. The only reason I wouldn't is
the ground is frozen!

C

Ah the days when I lived in the tundra! Around here we are soon
entering the "too late" category of planting. Summer blooming bulbs,
tubers, corms and rhizomes are easy to plant even in the heat, but
that's about it.

We missed the harsh storms the other night, but not too far from us
houses were blowing Dorothy about. I love everything about Austin,
but I freak out every spring with the tornado warnings (which means a
tornado was spotted).

I wouldn't move back up to New York unless someone paid me a lot of
money.

V

Cheryl Isaak expounded:

And what gardener here wouldn't do the same. The only reason I wouldn't is
the ground is frozen!

Still? You must be way up there in Cow Hampshire G
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

On 4/26/07 5:57 PM, in article ,
"Ann" wrote:

Cheryl Isaak expounded:

And what gardener here wouldn't do the same. The only reason I wouldn't is
the ground is frozen!

Still? You must be way up there in Cow Hampshire G


Nah - cold, but not frozen.

BUT - a few years back, one of the big box stores had those boxes of plants
out in November for cheap money and if hadn't just snowed, I'd have loaded
up. There were lots of lilies in the assortment and I've lost all of mine to
those damned red beetles.
C

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:04:52 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

On 4/26/07 5:57 PM, in article ,
"Ann" wrote:

Cheryl Isaak expounded:

And what gardener here wouldn't do the same. The only reason I wouldn't is
the ground is frozen!

Still? You must be way up there in Cow Hampshire G


Nah - cold, but not frozen.

BUT - a few years back, one of the big box stores had those boxes of plants
out in November for cheap money and if hadn't just snowed, I'd have loaded
up. There were lots of lilies in the assortment and I've lost all of mine to
those damned red beetles.
C

What red beetles? The Japanese types? Shoot. I never grow Asian
lillies. Even if they are eaten I only spent (put price here so I
don't incriminate myself) and they are aleady in the ground, greening
up and have growth from just last Saturday.

Jangchub expounded:

On Thu, 26 Apr 2007 21:04:52 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

On 4/26/07 5:57 PM, in article ,
"Ann" wrote:

Cheryl Isaak expounded:

And what gardener here wouldn't do the same. The only reason I wouldn't is
the ground is frozen!

Still? You must be way up there in Cow Hampshire G


Nah - cold, but not frozen.

BUT - a few years back, one of the big box stores had those boxes of plants
out in November for cheap money and if hadn't just snowed, I'd have loaded
up. There were lots of lilies in the assortment and I've lost all of mine to
those damned red beetles.
C

What red beetles? The Japanese types? Shoot. I never grow Asian
lillies. Even if they are eaten I only spent (put price here so I
don't incriminate myself) and they are aleady in the ground, greening
up and have growth from just last Saturday.

No, Vic, we have these wonderful fingernail polish red lily beetles
some idiot brought into Wellesley, Mass back in 1994 and have spread
exponentially since. I lost a wonderful species lily collection to
them (I don't use chemicals, and was working fulltime during the
invasion, I didn't have the time to keep up with the little feces
covered larvae). So far I still have them, they'll also eat hosta
(not to the point of death, thankfully) and fritillarias.
--
Ann, gardening in Zone 6a
South of Boston, Massachusetts
e-mail address is not checked
******************************

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:47:11 -0400, Ann wrote:

No, Vic, we have these wonderful fingernail polish red lily beetles
some idiot brought into Wellesley, Mass back in 1994 and have spread
exponentially since. I lost a wonderful species lily collection to
them (I don't use chemicals, and was working fulltime during the
invasion, I didn't have the time to keep up with the little feces
covered larvae). So far I still have them, they'll also eat hosta
(not to the point of death, thankfully) and fritillarias.

Oh Hostas...I miss Hostas. They are eaten to the nub down here with
the snails and slugs. Also, in summer they melt no matter how much
water I gave them. It was ridiculous, so I stopped growing them. I
even tried them in huge containers.

v

On 4/27/07 8:48 AM, in article ,
"Jangchub" wrote:

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 06:47:11 -0400, Ann wrote:

No, Vic, we have these wonderful fingernail polish red lily beetles
some idiot brought into Wellesley, Mass back in 1994 and have spread
exponentially since. I lost a wonderful species lily collection to
them (I don't use chemicals, and was working fulltime during the
invasion, I didn't have the time to keep up with the little feces
covered larvae). So far I still have them, they'll also eat hosta
(not to the point of death, thankfully) and fritillarias.

Oh Hostas...I miss Hostas. They are eaten to the nub down here with
the snails and slugs. Also, in summer they melt no matter how much
water I gave them. It was ridiculous, so I stopped growing them. I
even tried them in huge containers.

v


Hi V

I was glad Ann answered you about the beetles - hopefully they won't like it
by you. A friend just grows lilies as annuals now and considers anything
that makes a second season a bonus.

I'm just getting into hosta and find crushed shells to work as a deterrent.
But I can't help you with the heat.

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:10:30 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

Hi V

I was glad Ann answered you about the beetles - hopefully they won't like it
by you. A friend just grows lilies as annuals now and considers anything
that makes a second season a bonus.

I'm just getting into hosta and find crushed shells to work as a deterrent.
But I can't help you with the heat.

You heard the expression that everything is bigger in Texas, right?
Well, our snails and slugs are on steroids. Huge, thub sized slugs,
and snails. So, the combination of heat and stress caused the the
pest damage (whichever comes first doesn't matter) they simply don't
thrive here. I have very good soil, but the pH is still on the high
side of neutral at 7.4 and Hostas want it lower.

On the other hand, there are fabulous plants I can plant which are
perennial here, but up there would die in August from the cold! LOL
One such plant is persicaria. I have several lof them and they are
just beauties. I think I'm going to try and root some so I can plant
more of them.

BTW, I bought another plant today. I'm too lazy to get up to look,
but it is a new form of portulaca with an open flower, single, pink
with a darker throat. I'm doomed. I almost can't wait for the heat
when we hide indoors as you do in winter and I can get back to
stitching. I'm making the Winter Sampler for my MIL for LAST
Christmas! We're going up to Green Bay in September and we paid a
fortune for Packer tickets home opener.

V

On 4/27/07 5:34 PM, in article ,
"Jangchub" wrote:

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:10:30 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

Hi V

I was glad Ann answered you about the beetles - hopefully they won't like it
by you. A friend just grows lilies as annuals now and considers anything
that makes a second season a bonus.

I'm just getting into hosta and find crushed shells to work as a deterrent.
But I can't help you with the heat.

You heard the expression that everything is bigger in Texas, right?
Well, our snails and slugs are on steroids. Huge, thub sized slugs,
and snails. So, the combination of heat and stress caused the the
pest damage (whichever comes first doesn't matter) they simply don't
thrive here. I have very good soil, but the pH is still on the high
side of neutral at 7.4 and Hostas want it lower.
True there. But I have some HUGE slugs too.

On the other hand, there are fabulous plants I can plant which are
perennial here, but up there would die in August from the cold! LOL
One such plant is persicaria. I have several lof them and they are
just beauties. I think I'm going to try and root some so I can plant
more of them.

Yes - I have had those in pots.

BTW, I bought another plant today. I'm too lazy to get up to look,
but it is a new form of portulaca with an open flower, single, pink
with a darker throat. I'm doomed.

That does sound pretty
I almost can't wait for the heat
when we hide indoors as you do in winter and I can get back to
stitching. I'm making the Winter Sampler for my MIL for LAST
Christmas! We're going up to Green Bay in September and we paid a
fortune for Packer tickets home opener.

V
You should say hi to Dianne when you are there
C

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:54:23 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

You should say hi to Dianne when you are there
C

Said with a thick cockney accent, not bloody likely!

I'll probably be freezing there in September. We usa heavy blankets
when it goes down to 60!

I do hear from Pat now and then.

V

On 4/27/07 8:15 PM, in article ,
"Jangchub" wrote:

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:54:23 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

You should say hi to Dianne when you are there
C

Said with a thick cockney accent, not bloody likely!

I don't know if I would or wouldn't if I were to be near by. (Mind you, I'm
not getting another vacation until after DD is out of college)

I'll probably be freezing there in September. We usa heavy blankets
when it goes down to 60!
Wimp

I do hear from Pat now and then.

So do I! rctn is a quiet place of late.
C

On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 07:43:50 -0400, Cheryl Isaak
wrote:

I'll probably be freezing there in September. We usa heavy blankets
when it goes down to 60!
Wimp

Not a wimp, just getting old, thin blood; literally! I'm in the hot
lands for 14 years now. I doubt I'd ever move back up, unless it was
Canada on the Pacific coast. For beautiful gardening and jungles, we
may choose Costa Rica or Cancun.

I do hear from Pat now and then.

So do I! rctn is a quiet place of late.
C

I wouldn't know. After what was done to me with the Firehouse Angel
going there ever again is not something I'd do.

I wish them all peace and joy.
v