Sunday, March 25, 2012

We Went shopping

The actual flower is the plants highest fulfillment, and they are not here exclusively for Hebraic, courtly floras and plant geography: they are here first of all for delight.  John Ruskin

We went shopping Saturday, March,17,2012 for flowers, of course.  What else would any flower lover buy between now and May.   Carrel  finally understands you don't just have roses in your yard but try to have many different plants blooming at different times, so you will have color all year.  I really wanted him to buy a red one like mine because they bloom from late November to the end of February, he chose this one and would not listen to his Wife.  He also bought the Debutant like mine.  It is a lovely pink and it looks a little like a carnation.  When it was in bloom I thought about the song "White Sports Coat and a pink Carnation" with Jim Reeves.   Of course I spent the most money as always.  I want my yard to have flowers every inch.
Well maybe not that close, my favorite are  Gladiolas.  A very nice friend from face book sent me some bulbs. I am  going to get out early in the morning and plant them.  I want them to bloom in the summer when everything gets a little dull. I am well pleased that Carrel is finally planting to have flowers all year.  One of my purchases was a Gardenia, they smell so good.  I bought several smaller flowers.  A six pack of Tobacco plants, one red Carnation, and planted most of them around my roses.When I look down in between my roses I want to see flowers and not just pine straw.  We went to our favorite nursery Selmans in Eudora.  I want to plant some bright red Azaleas.  A friend across the empty lot has one in her back yard and I can see it from my door.  I also bought  five purple  cascading petunias, to hang from my Shepperd's hook.   I have ordered the passion flower vine but they have had to put it on back order. I hope I get it soon so it will bloom this summer.  One of my Parks order came in Thursday with ten 'Salvia greggli 'Furmans Red'.  They looked great on their site,  the picture showed a humming bird drinking  nectar.  However unless the flower is bigger than what they were when they arrived, I don't know  how the humming bird will find them.  I was not real happy.  But I need a red flower to put in this bed that will feed the humming birds and draw them to my feeders. I do not want to plant so many annuals.  It is getting a little hard on us in our "golden years.'



Gardenia
This is a tobacco  flower, at least that is what Liz at Selmans told me her Mother called it. They come in red and yellow.                                       
Cascading Petunia
Sheppard's Hook

I want to plant the Passion Flower vine and let it climb up this Sheppards hook.  We were a little early shopping there, as they did not have a lot of flowers but I always go early.  We usually buy Roses but Carrel had the Camellias on his mind.  We will go back in April for roses for Carrel, as he wants two more.  In the picture on the right is the red Tobacco flower.   I hope you have enjoyed this blog page about our shopping trip.  Thank you for watching my garden grow and bloom and hope you will grow one of your own.  Happy Gardening to you from me, Juanita.

Monday, March 19, 2012

Grandpa Washington

Grandpa Washington was a very secretive man.   He told me stories while we sat on the front porch.  I do not know whether  they were true or not.  I never knew of him ever telling a lie and so I think it is true.  One of his sons told me he had never told this to them.  However  that time may not have been a good time to tell anyone this story.  When Great great grandpa  Berry's children got married he gave them some land.  Grandpa's Daddy talked his Mother into selling the land, he  took the money to go buffalo hunting and he  never came home again.  Back then if a woman was a widow men riding the range would come by and eat and pay her.   This was the way she made her living, she always had pies and cakes.  Other people would come and buy her cakes and pies.  Grandpa said he did not know all the men who came by but one became their friend.  Back in the older days men respected good women and would help them all they could.  Grandpa was born not too long after the civil war he was ninety three when he died in 1954.  The man he got to know and came by fairly often was Sam Bass, the outlaw.  Sam Bass and his gang came by and ask Grandpa to go with them and hold their horses while they went into town.  He did not tell him they were going to rob the bank in town.  Grandpa never told me what town, I learn early not to ask him questions.  Grandpa said he heard shooting and Sam Bass came and got his horses and told Grandpa to ride.   When they got to the turn off to Grandpa's house Sam Bass told him to ride that way and said I ride this way and he was gone.  The story was told that only two got away and that was Grandpa and Sam Bass.  Grandpa told me not to tell anyone and I never did.  One day  after Grandpa  died and my brother Walter ask me if Grandpa told me about Sam Bass then I knew he told Walter.   Grandpa love to fish but he needed some one to petal the boat while he fished for bass with his fishing rod.  Walter went with him that is when Grandpa told him.  I don't know how Grandpa knew but he told me that Sam Bass changed his name and went to south Louisiana.   I hope you have enjoyed the story of my Grandpa and I thank you for reading my blog.   Thank you for watching my garden grow and bloom and I hope you will grow one of your own.  Happy Gardening to you from me Juanita.

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Booming the Fifteeth of March

                                   
                                        The flower is an Educated weed.  Luther Burbank
Clematis
I sure hope my weeds will go to collage.  You know most if not all of our flowers today was once wild flowers, and some people may have looked on some of them as weeds. I was so shocked when Carrel told me my Clematis was blooming.  I had taken pictures of them yesterday not one open, today I have 3.  I have another one I bought last year, it has 2 buds.  My lambs Ear bloomed and then died last year,  but it most have made seed they have really come up around the new Clematis.  I hope they will shade the roots.  I do not belong to the group that shows their flowers every month on the fifteenth but maybe some new people will accidentally find mine.  I have a lot of blooms today.  Lot of Daffodils.
I have lots of Iris, this purple one is from Carrel yard, he moved it because it was taking up most of his flower bed.  I like them along my back fence the neighbors in behind me have something pretty to look at.  I am going to move some to the front garden beds, because they bloom so early.  The ones I have in front will bloom  a little later.  The other two Iris I have blooming now where here when I moved here. 
Carrel has finally decided to plant something besides roses in his yard.  Last fall we dug up my yellow and orange Oriental lilies, he planted them in between his roses.  The rose bed is twelve feet wide, he has day lilies in front of the roses, now after my Camellias bloomed all winter,  he wants two.  This one has really showed out, started in late November and is still blooming.  Then he will have something blooming in the winter.  I had one to start last month it is small but has beautiful full blooms.
in earlyThis is a ground cover my neighbor gave me has pretty blue flowers in early spring.
My Azaleas are beginning to bloom, this is my favorite color.  I have eight bushes, six in front and two in back.  After they bloom I will cut them back and fertilize.  All the bushes have a lot of buds, they should be very pretty.  I have two of these on the side, in a four by eight feet bed.  I also have Hyacinths but I have to plant more.  I moved two Hostas so now the holes have to be filled with Hyacinths.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog page, of the flowers I have blooming the fifteenth of March.  Thank you for watching my garden grow and bloom and hope you will grow one of your own.  Happy gardening   to you from me, Juanita.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

My Son Frank and his son Joshua



 Frank and Joshua are Father and Son and have the same birthday.   Frank likes to ride the currant in his kayak.  Camping out in the woods is his cup of tea.   He and another man bought some land up in north Arkansas near Bear Lake.  I understand he has already built a cabin, don't have a picture of it.  Frank can do almost any with wood very talented.  I think Joshua goes with his Dad when he is in town. Joshua went to school in Phoenix to repair motorcycles  now he is working in Huston.  Frank married Carolyn Young and worked for Malone and Hyde and helped Carolyn go to college to become a C.T.    When Malone and Hyde moved their warehouse to Memphis Frank decided to go to school and become a C.T also.  He is right at home in a river dodging rocks, he goes as often as he can takes sons and son-in-law,friends whomever will go.  Frank is also the camp cook.  Frank has really been good to me, came up before I married Carrel and mad four flower beds for me.  Frank was glad when I married Carrel, he is out of the flower bed making for me.  Happy Birthday to Frank and Joshua hope you have a good day.  Love you both.  Hope you have enjoyed meeting two more of my family.  Thank you for watching my garden grow and bloom and hope you will grow one of your own.  Happy gardening to you from me, Juanita.


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Happy Birthday Samantha

              Samantha Evans and baby she delivered
Samantha is my granddaughter, the daughter of my third daughter, Lenora. Samantha has always been a very smart girl.  Always loved to read, when she learned how to read she always read more books than any one in her classes.  She finished high school  in the top  five and College also.   She already had one degree behind her when she decided to go to the State of Washington to become a nurse and midwife.  She moved back to Texas to practise.   I hope Samantha well in her chosen field.   The baby in the picture does not seem happy.
Samantha and sister Jen
Hope you have had a great and will have a great night love Grandmother.   Hope you have enjoyed meeting another one of my granddaughters.  Thank you for watching  my garden grow and bloom and will grow one of your own.  Happy gardening to you from me. Juanita.
Wish I could send it to you.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Another Surprise!!


                            The Amen! of nature is always a flower.  Oliver Wendell Homes Sr.
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Azalea
Same as above, Salmon?
Lavender
Is this Azalea salmon?  No?   It was last year when I bought it. What happened?   As near as I can figure out we put Aluminum Sulphate on it.  We were putting Iron on them to make the leaves green and Aluminum Sulphate raises the acid and azaleas love acid.   We put it on the Hydrangeas to change color never thought that it might change the color of the Azaleas.  I am hoping it will not change all of them.  I have one in my front called lavender, which is my favorite color.  I hope it was not changed.  You know we learn by trying different things, sometimes it turns out fine sometimes not.  We learn by making mistakes, if this Azalea stays this color fine, if it goes back to salmon, fine.  Now we know no more Aluminum Sulphate on Azaleas.   One year we fertilized them before they bloomed, mistake, new growth very few blooms.  If you read my blog you may learn something not because I am smart but because of my mistakes! Ha!  After awhile I should know quite  a bit because I make a lot of mistakes.  My Camellias are still blooming.  They have been since the end of November.  The ones that have finished blooming you can trim up, fertilize and put iron on them to make the leaves pretty and green.  Transplant any plant that needs to be moved.  Carrel moved a Hydrangea and two roses all are doing good.  Plant Gladiola bulbs in two week intervals from now to May.  We can leave ours in the ground here.
Red Camilla
My red Camellia is a late bloomer, there are different types.  I want the early type, but it is nice to have some blooming now.  I really like this full one.  November through February is when we need blooms more than any other time.   March we have Spring blooms (some of my daffodils and Hyacinths have bloomed) this has been a crazy year.   Usually the roses start in April, it would not surprise me if they bloomed in March.   Some of my Gerber Daises are budding but some bloomed just about all winter.


Old Iris
Carrel moved these Irises out of his flower bed and planted them in my back yard against the fence.  I am going to move some of these to my front flower beds.  They smell good and are neat don't get so heavy they fall down and they bloom earlier than the others I have.  I also need dark purple in the front beds.   It is a while before any of the others bloom.
Red with yellow
Red with yellow
Does this Daffodil look pink?  I order pink, they said they sent me pink.   Brecks is bad about this.  Last summer I ordered one purple Phlox they sent me two, that was nice.   I ordered six mixed Phlox, they sent me twelve, that was nice.  I thought they would send them in the fall in containers.  They sent them in the summer bear root.  All  of them that lived are purple.  Some one there can not read.  I am going to call them about these daffodils, and order any thing that matters what color it is from Parks seed.

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog page.  Thank you for watching my garden grow and bloom and hope you will grow one of your own.  Happy gardening  to you from me. Juanita

A Green Frog Mean Warm Weather

February 28, 2012
Red Breasted Robin
A green frog means winter is over.  This will be the forth time I have tried to write this post.  I hit the publish key with a picture of a Robin on it and Charlotte asked if the bird ate the frog.  No, I was having mental problems.  It is all this pain, got to have some excuse.  In the North when the red, red Robin comes bop, bop bopping along it means spring. Not here, we have Robins all year.  The sign for  warm weather coming at the Sheffield corner  is the Green Frog.   I went out on February 28, to see what was blooming, lo and behold this little frog was under one of the pink Debutant blooms.   Over the years I have found lots of  green frogs in my garden.   I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog page about my  green frogs.  Thank you for watching my garden grow and bloom and hope you grow one of your own.  Juanita
October,2008
September 17, 2009
September 17,2009

October 10, 2011