Gardening In Helen Time!

[hagranger]

My hometown is near the middle of the mitten (Lower Peninsula of Michigan). I've been a Michiganian my entire life. I began gardening with my grandmother when I was old enough to pick off bugs from the tomato plants and later she taught me which plants were weeds that I could pull and later I learned how to hoe ... By the time I was 10 years old I was operating a family garden that covered approximately 1/2 acre with another half acre of berry bushes and fruit trees and grape vines. It was my job for the next several years until I left home (married) to plant and tend the garden. I always planted marigolds and nasturtiums and other flowers but it wasn't until I married in 1975 that I began to work with perennials. I knew about hostas for several years but it wasn't until 1975 or so that I realized that there was more to hosta than plantaginea.
I'm married to a wonderful man and for the past 30 years I've had a loving and helpful companion, friend and soulmate. We have two children, a daughter and a son. Both are young adults and are in college searching for their "passion" in life. Sadly, I don't have a gardening companion. Maybe a future grandchild?
I have three passions when it comes to garden plants: hosta, daylilies and tricyrtis (toad lilies) ... Daylilies for sun, Hosta for Shade, and Toad Lilies for late season blooms.
I have no desire to become a breeder, hybridizer or to open a garden center/nursery.
I've learned NOT to keep a plant in the garden that performs poorly or that forces me to fuss over it.
In my "real" life I am a journalist, writer, photographer for a local newspaper and also do some garden writing for other publications. I also help my husband with his business whenever possible.
In my "dream life" I'm an independently wealthy woman with a cadre of garden helpers and time to travel to see the gardens of the world.
I'm a member of the Saginaw Valley Hosta Society, the local Garden Club and occasionally I renew my membership to the state and national Hemerocallis and Hosta societies.
I garden on a small city lot in the historic district of our small city.
Helen

[hagranger]

MY HOSTA LIST
Edited August 14, 2005 (subject to editing periodically)
Since 2000 I've been shovel pruning the garden. I've given away duplicates and unknowns and I'm re-working two of the smaller hosta beds ... I've also been removing duplicate hosta purchased under other names and I've indicated that wherever possible ... and I have several seedlings that are marked as to the original source or as to the person who gave them to me; and there are unnamed seedlings and unregistered sports listed as well. And, I've been moving hosta to my sister-in-law's to help get her house landscaped. I am not interested in having the MOST hosta ... just the ones that do best in my garden.

Abiqua Drinking Gourd
Albopicta (see f. albopicta)
Alex Summers
Anne (debate that it's actually Twilight)
Annie
Antioch (see also: Moerheimii, also sold as Goldbrook Shogun and Spinners)
Azure Snow
Baby Cola (FreakyCola Ellen)
Big Daddy
Big Mama
Birchwood Parky's Gold
Blue Angel
Blue Arrow
Blue Blush
Blue Cadet
Blue Cadet x August Moon seedling (Phyllis Kedl)
Blue Dragon Wings from Phyllis Kedl
Bridgewood Streaky Seedling (Phyllis Kedl)
Bright Lights
Buckshaw Blue
Candy Hearts
Captain Kirk
Chartreuse Wiggles
Choo Choo Train
Color Glory (2001)
Color Glory seedling (Phyllis Kedl)
Crispula
Crown(ed) Jewel
Crowned Imperial
Crusader
Darwin's Standard
Daybreak
Day's End
Decorata (formerly Thomas Hogg)
Diamond Tiara
Dragon Claws (Bridgewood Streaky Seedling)
Dragon Eyes (Bridgewood Streaky Seedling)
Dragon Fire (Sea Fire OP seedling)
Dragon Tails
Dragon Tongue (Bridgewood Streaky Seedling)
Dragon Wings
Dragon's Blood
Elatior
Elegans (see sieboldiana 'Elegans)
Elvis Lives
Emily Dickinson
English Sunrise (all gold form of June)
Fancy Green (see undulata Erromena)
Floradora
Fluffy Yellow seedling (Phyllis Kedl)
Fortunei Albomarginata (Silver Band, Silver Crown,Silver Ring, White Ring, White Band, poss. Crispula)
Fortunei Albopicta
Fortunei aureomarginata (aka Gold Crown, Gold Ring, Golden Band and other names)
Fortunei Crowned Imperial
Fortunei Hyacinthina
Fragrant Bouquet
Fragrant King (Hallson's 2005)
Francee
Frances Williams
Fresh
Frosty Powder Blue seedling from Phyllis
Ginko Craig
Gold Edger
Gold Regal
Gold Standard
Golden Prayers
Golden Scepter
Golden Sculpture
Golden Tiara
Great Expectations
Green Eyes
Green Gold
Guacamole
Guardian Angel
Halcyon
Hart's Tongue
HG's seedlings (about five of these being evaluated)
Honeybells
Hyacinthina (see fortunei)
Island Charm
Jade Cascade
June
Kabitan (see seboldii 'Kabitan' and Ogon Wasei)
kikutii (from David Teager)
kikutii Kifukurin
King Tut
Komodo Dragon
Korean Snow
Krossa Regal
Lady Helen
Lady Isobel Barnett
Lakeside Cha Cha
Lakeside Dragonfly
Lakeside Prissy Miss
Lancifolia
Lemon Delight
Lemon Lime
Liberty (from Phyllis Kedl 2004)
Lime Ripple (Phyllis Kedl)
Little Black Scape
Lunar Orbit
Mama Mia
Maraschino Cherry
Minuteman
montana Aureomarginata
Moonlight
nigrescens Elatior (see Elatior)
Ogon Koba (formerly Wogon/Wogon Gold)
On Stage (poss. American version Japanese Choko Nishiki)
Osprey
Pacific Blue Edger
Patriot
Patriot's Fire
Paul Revere
Pearl Lake
Phyllis Kedl seedings (several)
Pilgrim (from David Teager)
Pineapple Juice
Pineapple Poll
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Pizzazz
Plantaginea (Autumn or August Lily, Grandiflora)
Plantaginea (Helen Hilliker, poss Plant. japonica)
Plum Dandy (Phyllis Kedl seedling)
Polar Moon
Potomac Pride
Prairie Fire seedling (Phyllis Kedl)
Praying Hands
Queen Josephine
Raspberry Sorbet
Red October
Regal Splendor
Royal Standard
Sagae (formerly fluctuans Variegated)
Scooter
Sea Lotus Leaf
Second Wind
Second Wind (sport)
September Sun
Serendipity
sieboldii 'Kabitan' (see Ogon Wasei)
sieboldiana 'Elegans'
Slick Willie
So Sweet
Spilt Milk
Squash Casserole
Stetson
Stiletto
Striptease
Sum and Substance
Sunpower
Tenryu (9 ft inflorescence)
Thomas Hogg (see Decorata)
Thunderbolt
Tokudama Aureonebulosa
Tortilla Chips
Twilight
Twist of Lime
Undulata (formerly medo picta and mediovarigata)
Undulata Albomarginata
Undulata Erromena (aka other names such as 'Fancy Green')
Undulata Univivitata (twisted form of u. albomarginata)
Ventricosa
Ventricosa aureomarginata (formerly ventricosa variegata)
Venusta (species)
Vera Verde
Veronica Lake
Veronica Lake sport
Whirlwind
White Wall Tires
Wogon/Wogon Gold (see Ogon Koba)
Wolverine
Zounds

[Marietta]

Helen, pleasedtameetcha! You must get Abiqua Moonbeam!
If all goes well I will definitely send you one later on.
My DH has been doing my garden chores since he retired:
he can now dump a plant out of a pot and plant it in a good
hole!! I am a renegade from the daylily society but still
have enough to show off in summer. Enjoyed your bio.
Marietta

[hagranger]

March 20, 2005
The first day of spring and my 51st birthday.
I may be a First Day of Spring Baby but it sure doesn't feel like Spring out there!
It was a bit on the chilly side today but I decided to tour the barren wasteland that is my garden.
It’s my birthday today and I usually make my first serious trip into the garden on this date.
It’s pretty brown and winterish looking out there and certainly the snow on the ground doesn’t help much.
There is the promise of spring in the air but it’s a cold one.
I’ve decided to re-name my Hallson’s Journal “Gardening in Helen Time” as a sort of double entendre of what I feel about my gardening and about the rest of my life which keeps me out of the garden more than I’d like.

[hagranger]

March 24
Just finished dinner and am having a cup of coffee.
I didn't have to work today ... all day …… so I took some time to pamper myself.
In other words it was a Helen of a Good Day ...
I also was in bed most of the day just resting and relaxing and doing what I needed to do to rest and relax.
For dinner I made potato salad.
It's a meal unto itself with all the eggs and such ... so I am content tonight.
My tummy is full, my hair now has its bouncy wave back and I've shaved and exfoliated and am smashingly gorgeous (yah right!!) again (smile)!
The only thing I have left to do is a thorough floss and brush and mouthwash.
I found the plant that I was thinking of in my garden book. It’s incaravella or hardy gloxinia ... I picked one up at the end of the season last year and am hoping that it is going to come back this spring.

[hagranger]

April 1, 2005
I think I’m going to dig up the garden and plant a lawn …
April Fool’s!!!

[hagranger]

April 7, 2005
It’s official, the gardening season has begun.
Just came inside from the garden.
I've been out there most of the day.
Wonderful working temperatures (around 60) with a cool breeze.
I pulled weed trees until I felt like my fingers were going to fall off!
Most of what I did was just pulling off the thick and compacted layers of leaves and mulch and fluffing up what remains.
I’m doing this almost three weeks earlier than I did last year.
I am always amazed by the “gardenage” – my word for garden waste that results from this endeavor every spring.
I now have two 4ft. by 4ft. cubes of the composter filled to overflowing and now need to start filling a third.
As for now I'm absolutely fatigued!
And my butt won't bend anymore!
In other words ... I've done a wonderful garden workout!
I get such a thorough workout when I garden and tonight I will have some muscles complaining I'm sure.
The oval bed in the tree lawn was thoroughly weeded and I got as much quackgrass out of it that I could find. This year there was less than last year.
I shovel pruned the last rose that was in the oval bed. The rose was completely dead except for one little green shoot … I just said "enough" and sent it to compost heaven!
All of the hybrid “fussy” roses are now on the south side of the house which is where they seem to do the best.
There is the Grootendorst rose on the south side of the backyard fence and several of the Green Ice and other miniature roses scattered about the backyard. They seem to be tougher than those fussy floribundas.
I were a flower I’d probably be a daylily or a hosta.
I weeded and cleaned the Civil War daylily bed and the beds on the south side of the garage ... and the dragon beds are cleaned and weeded.
I have to dig and spot kill dandelions yet but all the other weeds and grasses have been pulled and all leaves removed.
I did a second light cleanup of the perennial bed on the south side of the yard and cleared the Siberian iris area and planted a Snow Queen Siberian iris that somehow survived the winter in a pot. It was one of those forgotten pots that was relegated to a corner of The Dragon’s Lair potting shed and forgotten about … perhaps that is why it happened to a “Siberian” Iris?
I also pruned all but the largest of the miniature rose shrubs nipping back the obvious winterkill and then pruned all the other roses and trained them on fence and trellis.
All of the pots except the largest have been cleaned and refreshed and are waiting for warmer weather so I can plant the geraniums and annuals.
I also moved four of the feather-light pots to their places on either side of the two benches and in general picked up, cleaned up and tidied things up.
A good day in the garden!

[hagranger]

April 9, 2005
If I had a tube of "Green Stuff" I'd be lathering over my right hand and forearm!
I really overworked this 51 years old bag of bones today!
The day started out innocently enough.
Up early for a leisurely cup of coffee with Gary and then off to breakfast with friends. It's the first time we've been to breakfast with them since the first of the year ... Gary's been so under the weather that he always said "no" whenever I'd suggest going.
It was a wonderful time with just Dave and Carol.
Then back home and I made the mistake of saying "I'm going outside to rake out the front lawn one more time ..." That was about noon and I didn't come in "officially" until about 7 p.m.!
I have now taken a long hot shower and am now settled in front of the computer with an iced A & W root beer and Grayce (my long-haired fully gray cat) is again trying to find a spot for herself on the desk.
I mostly hauled and toted compost.
The front oval grassy area on the tree lawn needed to be de-thatched and I did my annual thorough rake out.
Then I noticed the oval bed had some more depressions in it and I hauled bucket after bucket of compost from the back to the front. The wheelbarrow tire is flat so I had to resort to muscle power. The nice thing about compost is that it's not as heavy as soil.
It was a good workout!
After that I refreshed the soil in ALL of the lawn pots except the three Greenman pots on the back deck.
That means that I did four that are by the benches and the three large ones that are just off the end of the deck; two of the four green hanging baskets; six of the ten front step pots and the four green marble pots.
And I also refreshed the two window boxes on the south side of the garage which overlook the backyard.
And all of the containers got a generous sprinkling of the pink baby's breath seedlings and seed.
I hauled more compost for the front raised garden and filled in holes near the mailbox and pulled weeds and tree seedlings in that area.
I re-raked the front raised bed area and pulled more weeds and tree seedlings.
Today I started the annual FIRST flip of the compost bins.
I have four, four-feet wide by four-feet high by four feet deep cubes that form my composter ... They are numbered from west to east .. 1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4. I sometimes refer to them as Moe, Larry, Curly and Shep (in the same order) ... but won't do that for the following explanation.
As I was hauling compost I dug out the east end compost bin (No. 4) , emptying it of all of its compost and digging it down to a depth of about 12 inches ... that's when I start hitting sub soil.
I then moved tree branches into Bin No. 4.
Then I started digging No. 3 ... the top layer is partially composted and is mostly wood chips and stuff from emptying pots ... so I pulled that forward and am now digging out No. 3 to a depth of about 12-inches. I even found a rectangular piece of soil that was still frozen ... interesting ... I put it on top of the partially composted stuff and it will be unthawed by tomorrow.
When I get No. 3 dug out I will transfer the leaves from No. 2 bin and do the compost sandwich thing layering leaves and the partially composted stuff .
BUT FIRST my dear one is going to put chicken wire on the inside of No. 3.
Once the leaves on top of No. 2 are transferred and I use up the compost and dig it down about 12--inches then my dear one will chicken wire the inside of that bin.
And so on ...
I hauled compost around the deck and have everything prepared for tomorrow.
My Prairie Moonlight daylily needs to be divided ...
My Orange Sherbet colored unknown daylily also needs to be divided and I'm going to give it more space on the south side of the deck.
And the Pleasant Hours daylily needs to be divided and I plan on increasing the clump size to give it more of a presentation.

[hagranger]

April 14, 2005
We've been on the chilly side here.
It was very cold again last night but I haven't checked to see if there is any ice on the birdbath like there was the other night.
Gary now has the skirting on the south and most of the east side of the deck done. Usually he'd have that much done in an afternoon. We are now on day three! I'm counting my blessings ... he could have died from that flu and pneumonia in February and I wouldn't have him around to ... so I’ll take his recovery as slow as it needs to be.
The kauffmania tulips (water lily type) are blooming.

[hagranger]

April 16-17
Had a bit of a busy weekend!
I worked on the path for quite a while where a tree large maple tree root is rotting and keeps slumping in that area.
Then I hand watered the pots.
And then the major project of the day ...
I dug out a 20 year old 'Elegans' hosta from around the base of the front raised bed crabapple ...
It was partially frost heaved this winter so I had to re-set it anyway.
What a chore.
Found huge crowns and a lot of eyes and roots going every which way.
I reset about 10 or so back around the base of the crabapple after I amended with compost and then watered everything in.
I also moved three nice eyes to a spot in the back and have about 10 more that are in a bucket that I'll probably pot up and take to my sister's house to ring one of her trees.
I am planning to dig up and re-set the Krossa Regal and the Ventricosa that are both about the same age as the ‘Elegans’. They were frost heaved this past winter ... And, if I have the energy I'll be digging and re-setting a Francee that has fairy-ringed and a large Green Gold.
My big job that remains is that I'll be hauling compost to the front raised bed.
That's the job that has to be done this year. I have to raise up all the plants in that bed, re-set most of them ... it's going to be a job ...
I have hosta coming up everywhere ... I'm getting concerned that we are going to have some bad frosts ... we've already had three below zero nights and that all adds up...
I am convinced that the feather-light pots are the way to go ... After woman-handling the terra cottas around The Dragon's Lair this weekend I'm converting to the feather-lights.

[hagranger]

April 19, 2005
It's 11:23 p.m. (nearly midnight) and I'm just getting done for the day.
The only thing I've done garden-wise is look out the window at the garden. The daffodils are blooming and I have one early yellow tulip that is out with more that are coloring up ... and an English primrose and the English wood hyacinths ... I'll have to get an up close photo of those ...
I’m always amazed how things progress in this tiny yard. I have sunny spots and shady spots and each area responds accordingly.
We've been having warmer days but still some very cold nights ... enough to put one-quarter of an inch of ice on the birdbath the other night.
Speaking of that birdbath a squirrel jumped on it, tipped it and broke out a piece from the edge ... so frustrating for me … it had these really cool looking leaves around the rim that have always reminded me of hosta leaves and we've already had to shorten the base of it because of another squirrel incident.
I have hosta coming up all over the place!
I'm constantly amazed how a couple of warm days can transform an area from barren brown looking earth to green!

[hagranger]

April 20, 2005
I didn't do much in the garden today except take photos of the emerging hostas, daylilies and other plants. The English wood hyacinth has always made me smile ... the packages said lavender/blue when I bought them ... I got pinks and whites ... go figure! So much for purchasing bag-o-bulbs at the local Home Depot! No wonder they were so cheap.
I took a photo of the ‘Great Expectations’ emergence from its long winter’s nap ... the color of that hosta emerging is one of my favorite sights in the spring garden.
I potted up four nice crowns/eyes of the Elegans that were left after I re-planted them. I rejected a few mushy or smushed crowns that are composting as I type this.
So, hopefully, the hosta will do well in the pots.
I have a few hosta that over-wintered in pots and am not seeing any signs of life. One was Thunderbolt ... sigh! I’ll check them out another day.
And my Sunpower and Squash Casserole hostas appear to have given up the ghost ... I moved them late in the season and there are no signs of life there either. Hopefully, they are just emerging late.
I've moved all the plants still in pots to the “sunny spot” near the garage and hopefully things will warm up there for them.
We had rain last night.
Not a good soaking rain like we needed but a rain and the plants seem to have welcomed the moisture by the way they are responding.

[hagranger]

April 21
We are about three weeks ahead of where I was last year.
It's been on the chilly side today ... since the rain we had last night it's too cold to go outside without a jacket ... we've been told we may be down in the low 40s with chances of snow showers by the weekend!
Only in Michigan! Near 80 yesterday and today in the low 50s.
I had my hair cut this morning. It's been a couple of months since the last cut ... and I'm wishing she'd taken off another half inch to an inch ... I had two inches cut and it just feels too long. I'm actually getting to the point that I'm seriously thinking BALD!
I chased a squirrel away from my Montana Aureomarginata. It was digging too close for my comfort to the clump and the last thing I want are shredded leaves on that hosta. It’s right in front where everyone passing by can see it.
I then pulled up some more of those dreadful maple tree seedlings.
One of the seedlings was very close to my Lady Helen hosta and I lost a nice fat hosta eye trying to get the tenacious tree seedling out. And, the seedling broke off below the soil ... so if it comes back I'm going to dig up the clump and make sure it’s DEAD. I really hate those seedlings! Yes, I'm in therapy for it (smile).

[hagranger]

April 22, 2005
I finally got around to getting my Journaling done.
I’ve been writing to friends and saving what I’ve written with the intention of journaling at the Hallson’s forum.
So today is the day that I upload the journal of this year’s gardening which I will update now and then.
The McClure and Zimmerman fall catalog came. It handles bulbs, corms, tubers, root stocks and books. I like their bulbs and they handle a large variety of rare and exotics as well.
And the High Country Roses 2005-2006 catalog came in and I've been looking that over. They are the ones that had the Magic Dragon miniature rose that I purchased two of last fall.
I love this time of year … I have to walk the garden a couple times a day because things are changing so quickly out there.
I know I’ve said this before … I just love watching the Great Expectations hosta emerge. The eyes/fingers are pinkish, cream and green and are such a pretty combination.
And some of the hosta shoot straight up while others sort of unfold ... it's so nice to watch things coming awake.
I still have not moved that Japanese maple. But first I have to dig out the hosta clumps that are around it then dig out the maple then add more compost and then replant everything. There are five clumps of hosta that need to be moved there. Thankfully they are smaller ones ...
Grayce (cat) is "helping me work" again. She likes to sleep in the window which is just off to the left of where I have my computer desk. I spend a lot of time working in the office and she's always nearby (sometimes snoring) in case I need help.

[hagranger]

Edited Aug. 14, 2005
MY DAYLILY LIST
DAYLILIES -- HAVE
Altissima
American Craftsman
Annie Golightly
Anniversary Keepsake
Antietam
Battle of Gettysburg
Beloved Returns
Benchmark
Best Kept Secret
Bird's Eye
Bitsy 1991
Blue Vision
Border Baby
Brigade
Carolicolassal
Chosen Love
Christmas Carol
Ciao
Claws
Cold Harbor
Court Magician
Creepy Crawler
Dark Castle
Decatur Double Dragon
Devil's Den
Dorothy Marie
Double Cutie
Double Dragon
Dragon Circle
Dragon Dawn
Dragon Dreams
Dragon King
Dragon Lore
Dragon Wings
Dragon's Eye
Dragon's Orb
Dragon's Token
Dragon's Treasure
Druid's Circle?
Easy Ned
Eenie Weenie
Ellen German
Emperor's Dragon
Enchanted Elf
Enchanter's Spell
English Witch
Fancy Illusion
Farmer's Daughter
Farmer's Wife
Feather Down
Flava lilioasphodelus SEE: ‘Lemon Lily’
Forsyth Flying Dragon
Fresh Air
fulva (species )
Galadriel
Gentle Dragon
Goodnight Gracie
Green Dragon
Green Light Beauty
Green Spider
Greenish Lemon
Happy Returns
Heavenly Dragon
Helen Granger
Helen Shooter
Helen's Gold
Hobbit's Glen
Holly Herrema
Hollywood Dragon Lady
Hoop Skirt
Hyperion
Ireland
Irish Elf
Jellybean
Jewelite
Jim's Pick
Jo Barbre
Joan Senior
Kwanso
Ladies Fair
Lemon Lily (flava lilioasphodelus species)
Lemonade Supreme
Leprechaun's Wealth
lilioasphodelus (SEE: Lemon Lily)
Leprechaun's Wealth
Little Business
Little Fat Cat
Little Red Dragon
Little Wart
Magic Dragon
Magician's Mask
Manassas
Mardi Gras Dragon
Mary Mercer
Mary Todd
Masterweaver
Milk Chocolate
Moon Witch
Music Box
New Age
Night Wings
Oliver Dragon Tooth
One Lucky Cat
Paper Butterfly
Paper Dragon
Pendragon
Pink Rocks
Pleasant Hours
Prague Spring
Prairie Moonlight
Prester John
Prissy (see siloam prissy)
Pure Bliss
Queen Anne's Lace
Red Ribbons
Reba
Rebel Boy
Rebel Land
Red Magic
Red Ranger
Ruffian
Runemark
Sammy Russell
Scotch Irish
Scotland
Shirley Wild
Siloam Frosted Mint
Siloam Prissy
Slade Brown
Smiley Face
Song Sparrow
Spell Fire
Spec Hem. Altissima
Spec Hem. Flava lilioasphodelus
Spec Hem. Fulva
Spec Hem. Minor
Spider Miracle
Stafford
Stagecoach Inn
Stately Sir
Stella D'Oro
Strutter's Ball
Sugar Cookie
Summer Dragon
Super Double Delight
Suzie Wong
Sweetheart Supreme
Three Wishes
Trahlyta
Tutankhamun
Twin Dragons
Unknown (Orange Sherbet colored)
War March
Whistling Dixie
Will Return
Yellow Bouquet
Yellowstone

[wishiwere]

Oh my you've been busy woman! But it feels so good to hurt that way after doesn't it! We need to name you busy beaver! I'm tired just reading your first several entries in to your journal and never got to the end! WHEW!

[toomanyanimals]

Helen, I didn't read your whole journal for April, but I got the biggest chuckle from your April Fools Joke. Do I have permission to use that one for next year?????

[hagranger]

May 4, 2005
The weatherman promises a warmer day today.
We were in the high 30s yesterday and today we are expecting to be 20 degrees warmer!
Guess it's time to uncover the hostas that have been hiding under the pots!
I took a photo of the lilacs too bad I can't package that fragrance.
It was soooo cold yesterday and soooo overcast and dreary that we didn't stick around the house. We went to Saginaw and visited Gary's sister, Joan.
Then we went to the Lafayette Township Cemetery to check on the one great-great-grandfather's grave site that we tend. We needed to see how it fared through the winter. The perennials survived but the yucca that self-seeded is really creepy looking. So, we are going to pull that and put in some daylilies. There was one self-seeded daylily at the site when we first arrived and I dug it and brought it home and now it has several individual fans.
I'll return that to the gravesite when we go back in a couple of weeks.
I'll then water it well and mulch in everything and Joan, will stop in and water it occasionally.
When we first started going there a lot of the graves in the old part were really overgrown and sort of abandoned.
We also noticed a large number of Civil War veterans were buried there and we made some calls. One CW vet's grave was so overgrown that his marker was forgotten one Memorial Day. We took one of Gary's grandfather's flags off and put it on that grave. The next time we visited they'd cleaned up the site and removed the brushy overgrowth ...
And several other grave sites that we worked on to removed brambles and old rose bushes and wild raspberry are also now cleaned up ... we think its either a CW group or a VFW group that is now tending that graveyard more.
So our little bit of effort has been rewarded.
After we got back to Joan's house we stopped for a moment (potty break) and then went to a large greenhouse where I found the dark green hanging baskets with the drain flap! They are made in Canada and I love those baskets. They are 12 inches across and I've been babying the remaining ones that I have (three and one that is badly cracked) hoping that I would find them again. And then to find them quite by accident and at a fantastic $2.99 price ... I bought six. The greenhouse also has Dragon Wings begonias and also the new variety called Baby Wings which are about half the size of the Dragon Wings.
Hope to get some garden time in today.

[hagranger]

May 5
Life continues.
Not much in the garden.
I spent a few hours outside weeding and pulling maple tree seedlings.
And then Gary finished two of the four compost bins so I worked on that for about an hour ... I now have a nice mound of compost in the second bin and once I get that dug and spread around I can transfer the top layers of the first bin and find another nice mound of compost in the first bin and then later this year ... you get the idea ...
And then Gary and 1 hauled hanging baskets back to the potting shed ... I won't try to over-winter those pots in the basement again ... too much fuss and bother.
I think the squirrels killed my Captain Kirk and my Floradora hosta ... I'm so frustrated by those rodents. Some years there's no damage but last year they shredded several that were in pots and this year I have a hanging basket that they won't leave alone and have damaged several that were in pots and in the ground.
Last year they dug near the Floradora so much I moved it and then they dug the Floradora up and I found it sort of gasping for water ... and I am not seeing it now ... I have another clump but that's not the point. The point is I don't want to have to keep replacing hosta that the squirrels have damaged.
We had a much warmer day today. It got into the low 50s and the temperatures should continue to rise into the weekend.
Tomorrow I have story work in the morning and then the afternoon is free. I plan to hang the sign on the door "In The Garden"

[hagranger]

May 7, 2005
The day started at 8 a.m. with a knock on the door and my daughter Anne saying "Come on get up and get going ... Aunt Joan will be here any minute!
Joan arrived an hour later and off we went to the Farmers' Market.
While at the OFM I put my name in for a hanging basket that was in a prize drawing for the first day of the farmers' market season.
I took photos for the local newspaper and resisted purchasing anything until I saw what my friend had at her place (more later).
At the market I saw our state representative and several friends and talked as I walked about with my sister-in-law, Joan.
Joan and I got some ideas for flowers for the family cemeteries.
After the walkabout and the photos were finished we went to breakfast with friends and after another 90 minutes of gabbing and more talking Joan, Gary and I went to Nash Nursery to look for something for my mother for Mom Day.
It was a wonderful drive in the country and we went straight south to Grand River Road that used to be an Indian Trail across this part of the state (going east and west) ... and we followed the twisty curvy road and looked at all the very old houses along the route.
A real treat since we so seldom drive that road.
Then on to a nursery owned by friends Bill and Jan Nash ... and their son Jonathan was there too ... he's a college student already!
I found a wonderful 12-inch basket that had this sort of fuchsia colored geranium that had a bunch of new buds forming. I was thrilled since I rarely find that lavender pink color in the geraniums here. My mom's favorite color is blue and this particular one is more lavender-ish than pink so I was thrilled to find something that she might like.
Anyway ... while there I found a hosta called Sea Fire and it is absolutely the most gorgeous yellow hosta!
I almost bought it and then said NO ... I have dragon hosta and daylilies that I have to pay for and get delivered ... so I will wait.
However, Sea Fire is now on my list of hosta to purchase.
Then we came home.
We were no sooner in the door and Gary took the call that I'd WON, yes WON that hanging basket of Proven Winner PETUNIAS in that wonderful fuchsia color from the Farmers' Market!!!!!
I was thrilled to get that basket of fuchsia colored petunias for the back deck ... and you know how much I love the color fuchsia in plants! I can even spell it!
I went to the OFM and picked up the basket and then brought it home ... it looks wonderful on the deck hanger!