Over the past month or so I have been accumulating the things I thought I might need to plant my new daylily seeds for this season. Two bags of little ziplock baggies, two large bags of potting soil, two bags of sand, a bag of milorganite, a bag of 100 clear cups etc. I had vinyl blinds saved up I collected by the side of the road, so I cut up over a hundred plant markers during the past weeks. I drilled holes in the cups yesterday, found my markers and hope they will last on the plant tags I made. Today I mixed up a batch of potting soil along with sand in a three to one mix. I think that will be about right.
I was able to fill 18 cups with the first batch of mix and that is just the amount of cups that will fit into a flat. For now I am just putting the cups in plastic ice cream containers, they will hold water for the cups to sit in and allow the cups to be bottom watered for a few weeks if necessary. From the sound of the thunder outside , that won't be necessary today at least.
I had my best day of pod collecting so far, and it made me decide to go ahead and plant some seeds, could not resist the urge to plant any longer. There is just something about putting seed into the dirt. I only planted three seeds per cup and I had enough by selecting from the baggies with the most seed to plant 17 of the 18 cups I filled. I only selected from the baggies that had enough seed for me to plant some today and have some left to plant after they are stratified. I placed a small strip of paper in each baggie and added just a spritz of water and back into the refrigerator they went.
Last year the seeds I did not stratify did not fair to well when it came time to germinate. I am trying to provide them with a little more shade until they sprout this year.
I tired to leave a little extra space this year in the cup so it could hold more water when needed. Last year I pretty much filled the cup to the surface and the water tended to just run off instead of soaking down into the cup.
So I ended up with 4 of the ice cream cartons with 4 cups each and one cup with seed and one cup without any seed. I hope to collect some more pods tomorrow.
I had so many crosses to not form a pod, I just quit tagging them. So I'll only know the pod parent on most of my crosses. Now I am having a lot of pods abort and a lot with just one or two seeds. I have some very nice looking pods left to collect, but by the time they are ready they might also swivel up and have only one or two seeds, you never know what they are going to do.
I have a pair of hawks that have taken up residency in the neighborhood, they are here every year. I never know if it is the same or different ones.
My crinums are just starting to bloom and my agapanthus bloomed again this year.
'Bonnie Corley' is always photogenic, so I loaded it up with pods and hope to have a lot of beautiful seedlings.
'Laura Harwood' had sixteen opened blooms on it the other day, I think that it the most she has ever had. Many of them are down in the foliage, so I'm hoping to get better scape height with some of my crosses.
Abbreviations for Daylilies:
Accent On Style: A.O.S.*
Alabama Jubilee: A.J.*
All Fired Up: A.F.U.*
All American Chief: A.A.C.*
America's Most Wanted: A.M.W.*
American Freedom: A.F.*
Anchors Aweigh: A.A.*
Apple Tart: A.T.*
As Time Goes By: A.T.G.B.*
Awesome Blossom: A.B.*
Azure Wings: A.W.*
Baja: B.*
Bali Watercolor: B.W.*
Bas Relief: Ba.R.*
Beautiful Edgings: B.E.
Bela Lugosi: B.L.*
Bernadette Crossen: Be.C.*
Bertie Ferris: B.F.
Big Bertha's Sister: B.B.S.*
Black Fathom Depths: B.F.D.*
Black Plush: B.P.
Blonde Is Beautiful: B.I.B.*
Blue Moon Rising: B.M.R.
Blushing Octopus: B.O.*
Bonnie Corley: B.C.
Bonnie Fee Fi Fo Fum: B.F.F.F.F.*
Bonnie Holley: B.H.
Brer Rabbits Baby: B.R.B.
Brocaded Gown: B.G.
Buddy's Gloria: Bu.G.*
Buttered Popcorn: Bu.P.*
Carlotta: Ca.
Carnival In Mexico: C.I.M.*
Celtic Veins: C.V.*
Champagne Elegance: C.E.
Chang Dynasty: Ch.D.*
Cherry Ice Cream Smile: C.I.C.S.*
Chesapeake Bay: C.B.*
Chicago Apache: C.A.*
Chicks Dig It: C.D.I.*
Chief Four Fingers: C.F.F.
Christmas Celebration: C.C.*
Cindy's Eye: Ci.E.*
Circle of Beauty: C.O.B.*
Collard Dream: C.D.*
Color Flash: C.F.*
Corryton Pink: Co.P*
Crimson Pirate: C.P.
Darla Anita: D.A.*
Debbie Durio: D.D.
Divine Comedy: D.C.*
Dixie Land Band: D.L.B.
Don't Touch Me There: D.T.M.T.*
Done With Pride: D.W.P.*
Ed Brown: E.B.*
El Desperado: E.D.*
Elizabeth Salter: E.S.*
Empire Returns: E.R.*
Enchanting Esmerelda: E.E.*
Endowed With Beauty: E.W.B.
Erin Lee: E.L.*
Feather Woman: F.W.
Feliz Navadad: F.N.*
Femme Fatale: F.F.
Filled With Joy: F.W.J.*
Finally Letting Go: F.L.G.*
Fire On The Mountain: F.O.T.M.*
Flore Pleno: F.P.**
Fooled Me: F.M.*
Freaky Good: F.G.*
Geneva Firetruck: G.F.*
Gentle Shepherd: G.S.
God Save The Queen: G.S.T.Q.*
Gossip Girl: G.G.*
Grace From Above: G.F.A.*
Grand Palais: G.P.*
Great White: G.W.*
Gypsy Rose Lee: G.R.L.*
Half Moon Key: H.M.K.*
Handsome Ross Carter: H.R.C.
Happy And Blessed: H.A.B.
Heart's Treasure: H.T.*
Heat Lightning: He.L.
Heaven's Portals: H.P.*
Heavenly Island Magic: H.I.M*.
Heavenly Velociraptor: H.V.*
Helen Elsie: H.E.*
Helix: H.*
Hello Screamer: H.S.*
Highland Lord: H.L.*
Hot Wheels: H.W.
Hush Little Baby: H.L.B.
Inner Destiny: I.D.*
Irish Envy: I.E.*
Janice Brown: Ja.B.
Japanese Brocade: J.B.*
Jason Mark: J.M.
Jay Turman: J.T.*
Jedi Brenda Spann: J.B.S.
Jolyene Nichole: J.N.
Julianna Lynn: J.L.*
Julie Newmar: Ju.N.*
Kachina Firecracker: K.F.
Kindly Light: K.L.
Kissed Off: K.O.*
Lady Neva: L.N.
Laughing Feather: La.F.
Laura Harwood: L.H.
Lavender Stardust: La.S.
Lifting Me Higher: L.M.H.*
Lime Frost: L.F.*
Little Wart: L.W.
Lois Burns: Lo.B
Long Stocking: L.S.*
Look Here Mary: L.H.M.
Lullaby Baby: L.B.
Magic Lake: Ma.L.*
Magnificient Rainbow: M.R.*
Malaysian Monarch: Ma.M.*
Mandalay Bay Music: M.B.M.*
Mary's Gold: M.G.*
Masked Phantom: M.P.*
Mephisto Waltz: M.W.*
Mexican Sunrise: M.S.*
Ming Porcelain: Mi.P.*
Mini Pearl: Mi.Pe.
Missouri Memories: M.M.
Mister Lucky: M.L.*
My Path: My.P.
Nagasaki: N.
Night Wings: N.W.*
Nosferatu: No.*
Omomuki: O*
Open Hearth: O.H.
Optical Delight: O.D.
Orange Electric: O.E.*
Orange Velvet: O.V.*
Orchid Corsage: O.C.
Out Of Darkness: O.O.D.*
Outrageous: Ou.
Palace Garden Beauty: P.G.B.*
Palladian Pink: P.P.*
Panic In Detroit: P.I.D.*
Paper Butterfly: P.B.*
Parisian Adventure: P.A.*
Passion For Red: P.F.R.*
Pathway NOID: P.NOID
Peacock Maiden: Pe.M.
Persian Market: Pe.Ma.*
Persian Ruby: P.R.*
Peru-B-Baby: P.B.B.*
Petticoat Frills: P.F.*
Pharaoh's Treasure: P.T.*
Planet Claire: P.C. Sterile
Planet Max: P.M.
Pleated Perfection: Pl.P.
Power Surge: P.S.*
Prairie Blue Eyes: P.B.E.
Primal Scream: Pr.S.*
Purple Rain Dance: P.R.D.
Radiation Biohazard: Ra.B.
Rainbow Candy: R.C.*
Ransom Note: R.N.*
Red Apparition: R.A.*
Red Ribbons: R.R.
Red Squirrel: R.S.
Red Volunteer: R.V.*
Reforma Boulevard: R.B.*
Remembering Joan: R.J.*
Reminds Me Of Fireworks: R.M.O.F.*
Rose Emily: R.E.
Roses In Snow: R.I.S.*
Royal Eventide: Ro.E.
Ruby Spider:*
S#1:
S#2:
S#3:
S#4:
S#5:
S#6:
S#7:
S#8:
S#9:
S#10:
S#11:
S#12:
S#13
Sailing At Dawn: S.A.D.*
Scarecrow: S.C.*
Scarlet Gown: S.G.
Scatterbrain: Sc.B.
School Bus: S.B.*
Scottish Fantasy: S.F.*
Sherry Lane Carr: S.L.C.*
Siloam Double Classic: S.D.C.
Sings The Blues: S.T.B.
Smoky Mountain Autumn: S.M.A.
So Many Stars: S.M.S.*
Soothsayer: So.S.
South Sea Enchantment: S.S.E.
South Seas: S.S.*
Spacecoast Seashells: S.C.S.S.*
Spacecoast Tiny Perfection: S.T.P.*
Spanish Glow: Sp.G.*
Spanish Sketch: Sp.S.*
Sparks One Hot Mama: S.O.H.M.*
Special Ovation: S.O.*
Spider Man: S.M.
Suburban Nancy Gayle: S.N.G.
Sue Rothbauer: S.R.
Sunday Gloves: Su.G.
Super Purple: S.P.
T#01:
T#02:
T#03:
T#04:
T#05:
T#06:
T#07:
T#08:
T#09:
T#10:
T#11:
T#12:
T#13:
T#15:
T#16:
T#17:
T#18:
T#19:
Taj Mahal: T.M.
Take Me Along: T.M.A.*
Tar and Feather: T.A.F.
Tennyson: Te.*
The Jury's Out: T.J.O.
Tiger Kitten: T.K.*
Topguns Pinwheel: T.P.*
Trahlyta: T.
Tree Of Gascone: T.O.C.*
Tuscawilla Tigress: T.T.*
Victorian Princess: V.P.
Volusian Spider: V.S.*
Web Of Intrigue: W.O.I.*
Westward Wind: W.W.*
Whooperee: WOP*
Winged Migration: W.M.*
Wings On High: W.O.H.*
Wiregrass Greenstar: W.G.
Wish Fulfillment:
I have jury duty for the next two days, so I got out and took some photos this morning before I had to leave.
These are my three seedling beds that have the crosses I made myself:
The first bed planted with the most mature of the seedlings, I am hoping some of these actually bloom this year.
This is my second seedling bed with my own crosses, this is the one the raccoon got into and did the most damage in.
This is also my own bed of seedling crosses, the youngest and last planted of the three beds. I am doubtful of any of them blooming this season. The raccoon got into this bed too but did much less damage.
Just a few area shots of spots in the garden and how it looks today with all the blooms open, this has to be close to peak bloom for me.
These are the plants I had left over after filling up the seedling beds. I could have transferred many of them to the spaces the raccoon left vacant, but decided to let them grow on in the cups and see how they fared. I am wondering if any of them will bloom this year.
I have been on a learning experience! For at least the past two years I have been threatening to get rid of my expensive cable bill. My wife watches a lot of TV, not so much for me. So what ever I did had to satisfy her Fox News, and Price is Right, Westerns and a few more requirements. I bought a new Roku TV, from Sam's and three indoor antennas from Wal Mart one at a time, each coasting more progressively. I got the best reception with the cheapest of the three .I say she watches a lot of TV, not exactly true, she just keeps it on while she surfs on her Kindle, she can seldom tell me what is on when I ask.
Anyhow, I had to cut out a few TV's when the cable company starting requiring a box for each TV. So last year I bought her a small TV for the kitchen and an antenna. It picked up 5 stations. So when I turned in all my cable equipment I stopped by Wal Mart and purchased another antenna for the new Roku TV. Sad to say I could only pick up four channels with the antenna. So we tried that for a few days and everything was working fine for a while. But when I dropped my TV service, it was packaged with phone and internet service. The service rep told me that I was not actually with spectrum, but I was actually with Time Warner/Spectrum. If I would keep my service he would swap me over to Spectrum, it would only be $5.00 more. I would get more channels, including movie channels, and I would get faster (over double the internet speed). Well why in the %#$#@, had I been paying the higher rate in the first place for the last year or more? I told him no, I wanted to pay less and to drop me from the plan. So that still meant that being I had a package I would no longer be a Time Warner/ Spectrum customer I would now be a Spectrum customer. Oh....That did not mean that I would get those cheap rates you see advertised for 100 mps for new customers for the first year. No, even though I would be a new Spectrum customer I would still have to pay over twice that advertised rate to get that speed, which happens to be the slowest speed they now offer it seems . Well, I liked the idea of faster internet speed, being I had to cut cost last year, and went down to 30 mps. So over three times the speed really appealed to me, and with the Roku TV working of the wifi, and my grandson's TV and gaming devices and phone etc. the faster speed would be great.
I checked my internet speed a few times and saw no increase in speed, so I thought maybe they had to switch some things over. I started having sporadic internet service, as soon as they switched me over to the new plan. Plus it was causing other computer related problems, finally the internet went out completely. My speed did not increase either.
After calling customer service a few times, getting the internet to work, then failing again, they decided that a technician would have to come out on Monday, and I would be out of service all weekend. Thank goodness for the antennas!
So the tech came out today, checked the equipment on the pole, that was fine. Checked the wiring leading into the house, that was fine. Check the connection inside the house, that was fine. He
managed to get the internet up, then asked me to go online and register the new modem I had to get. Spectrum told me my old modem was not capable of handling the higher 100 mps speed. Well, they did provided a modem with the new service. So whether or not I got the new modem my bill was still $70.00 per month. So I go online register the new modem and he says that will fix your problem. No new wiring, no new equipment, no great technical diagnosis, just register the modem and I'm good to go. Now why on earth did the support people I spent so much time with over the phone know that!
I checked my speed and now I was up to 80 mps and the service guy said if I would hard wire my wireless router I would do even better. I might do that later, but for now I am satisfied with how things are working.
Now back to the antennas. After buying the third antenna, the last one for the TV in my study, I got no signal at all. I have decided that the only stations we can pickup are directly to the east and that as the signal progressive passes through the house it gets weaker and weaker. So I am thinking of taking the last antenna back and getting an attic mounted one and see how that does. By playing around with the little TV in the kitchen and learning that you have to move the antenna to just the right spot, the antenna wiring has to be adjusted along with the little amplifier , finally I learned that just by moving the TV an inch or so I could pick up two more channels clearly. It seems to be that digital channels come in clearly or not at all on this TV at least, but everything has to be just perfect or you will get pixelation.
Liking my new seedling:
'Paper Butterfly: It was so beautiful this morning.
'Long Stocking': This plant has really been putting on a show again this year.
'Irish Envy': One of my favorites each year.
'Royal Eventide': I thought I was going to divide this clump because it did not bloom very well last year. I never got around to doing it and it has bloomed like crazy this year.
'Suburban Nancy Gayle': Just added this plant last year and it is already a standout.
