Yesterday was simply gorgeous, that is, before I almost got sent for a nice, warm welcome from "The Lollipop Guild" around 6pm! 
The DH left me high and dry to put away all my tools and get inside, when the wind started to increase, so he "....won't get blown away.", after he was done mowing, without a single thought to help me clean up so I wouldn't get blown away either! 
And no sooner did he get in the house, the sustained winds increased exponentially and the 50mph wind gusts blasted Dana! As I was putting tools away, the garbage can went flying, and I went chasing after the thing, (which the lid was off bc I was working outside 
) and the small amount of it's contents, including tissues! 
I'm sure it very well could've been a sight to behold! 
He was already upstairs washing up, so he didn't hear me hollering for him. Well, thanks for nothin', Sparky!!
Being that it was so nice for the majority of the daylight hours, I was able to get a few things done! 
I brought out and set up the hose extension, for the back yard hose, including threading it behind the planter next to the garage, dug out some dandelions, watered the recent transplants, and then began my work on digging up the Stella's to (sell locally and) make room for dwarf daylilies coming any day, now. 
The location is a tricky and very narrow strip garden, and the Stella's are a bit too big there, plus I'm tired of them bc they're in many a commercial garden around here. One clump was outgrowing it's spot, so it was quite challenging to get out, what with the brick borders around it, and it grew so close to the border behind it, I couldn't get the shovel in there! Tricky digging for that one, but I managed to avoid completely collapsing the border behind it!! I was able to split that clump into four nice size, smaller clumps! I dug out two more clumps, that I split in half, and there are two more clumps yet, to go! It will be very satisfying to get all that out and ready to sell!
I have 19 ordered CV's, coming soon, some of which are in duplicate and triplicate (I'll probably round out the CV's to an even 20, in the next day or two 
), plus whatever bonuses that come with I did assess the old tree garden, yesterday, for more spots to tuck in daylilies. The hollow tree stump is still there, and it's huge , but I think I can plant 10 more daylilies, 6 of which will be closer to the trunk (might have to sharpen the axe and put DH to work 
), so IF I can plant in all 6 spots, I'll total out at 27 daylilies in that garden alone, including 4 more empty spots further out from the trunk! I also have three 'Queen Josephine' hosta and a red yucca planted in that garden, and I sowed some Sea Holly there. No sign of life yet, though. If I get nothing out of those seeds, I sowed some in the jugs, and they're sprouting!!
Where the rest of my new daylilies will go..... I have no idea but in addition to all that, I temporarily planted 4 specimens in the veggie garden, last Fall!! Think I'm suffering from "gardener's block" 
It's going to be garden expansion year, whether the DH likes it or not!
So, I'm sore and content!
......that's a wrap, folks!
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We reached 63 degrees today, and it was sunny with a light, cool breeze, so I was able to get outside around 3pm, after the DH and I ran errands and visited Mom! I spent 4 1/2 hours out there, and there's a great sense of satisfaction, this evening!
Yesterday afternoon, I moved two 'Queen Josephine' hosta closer to the wall of the East garage garden, and divided one of them before planting in it's new location (they were moved just 18 inches, but it will make all the difference, filling in where it's needed most.) This will allow more room for daylilies in the garage garden!! I dug out 'Sum and Substance' bc it didn't have enough room to spread, in the corner by the AC, and I divided it into 3 large clumps. It's not my favorite hosta, and I'm going to sell at least two clumps on Letgo. I may plant the third clump in the NE corner tree garden, even though it's not my favorite hosta, bc it grows large, and I need something to take up a great deal of space there. The 'Queen Josephine' division was planted in the corner by the AC, where the 'Sum and Substance' was. It will grow to the perfect size without over growing that area, and the variegated leaves will bring some much needed color to that area. I had bought mixed Caladium bulbs, yesterday, and I planted three in one pot. 5 will be potted in the large turquoise pot and it will replace the Diamond Grass, by the pathway, that I'll move elsewhere. More color is needed there, and Caladium is just the ticket!! There's more hosta work to be done, but those two CV's were my first priority. 'Little Blue Mouse Ears' will be thinned out once I figure out where to plant the divisions.
Today, we're supposed to reach 65 degrees, and rain is expected after 7 pm, so I'll be out there at least by noon. Lots to do before the new DL's arrive! My first priority will be digging out the Stellas to divide and sell on Letgo.
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Monday, I took the DH over to the newly removed turf, shown in the last blog post, and, using a tape measure, I showed him how the mowing circles around the lilac, Zebra Grass, and Arborvitae will expand away from each plant and combine with each other, bc they've all finally ( ) grown large enough.
Well, knock me over and call me schnookered bc, when I physically showed him that it's inevitable there will be a triangular shaped mow area, with rounded corners, there, he agreed that I could do that, ONLY!
Baby Step #1.....Check!!
Before the DH got home from work, Monday, I fertilized everything (except for the daylilies in front and the east porch gardens, bc I ran out of fertilizer) bc yesterday and part of today, we got rain. I also spent the day digging out dandelions and a few other weeds. It was a long day, and my hands, especially the right hand, were still bothering me all day yesterday!! I just began taking Turmeric and Collagen supplements a week ago, to aid in reducing the Rheumatoid Arthritis flare-ups, but it's really too soon to tell whether it's actually helping or not. 
The dandelion fight will be a season-long thing, but I'm up to the task! Finally, on Monday, I surveyed the daylilies, in the gardens, and took photos of them. Some are very slow to increase and flower, and if they don't perform well this year, they're gonna go to the boneyard....
The next few days will bring on the Spring gardening work! Today, I'm going to plan where the new daylilies will be planted, and what I'll do about the arborvitae. There's three of them, and they're on the dwarf side, in size. I have 14 feet of space between the two Zebra Grass, and I'll be dividing one Zebra Grass to possibly place that division exactly between the two, and then perhaps place the two shorter arborvitae between those three grasses. They're shorter than the third one bc they hadn't had enough sunlight, before last year, when the NW tree was cut down. They also don't get much morning sun bc the neighbor's tree and garage cast shadows on them from the east. The other idea is to divide the Zebra grass, and place the third specimen somewhere else, but not sure exactly where, and then move all three arborvitae between the two Zebra Grass. The neighbor has that gap in his fence (shown in the last blog post), that I want to screen for more privacy. He thinks we own the lilac that is the reason for that gap. Not my responsibility to tell him! I'll be measuring that out today or tomorrow.
The next thing on the "To Do" list is to divide and move hostas around. I have to dig out all of the Stella's and get them potted up to sell, locally, bc I have some minis coming to be planted in their place. There's a couple other daylilies that I'll sell locally, and a couple to send to a couple NGA friends! Then I can concentrate on moving around a few daylilies, before all the new ones arrive. Good luck with that, Dana!
We are in desperate need of cleaning out the garage, but I'm not fond of the idea of wasting good weather on that, when I have so much to do in the gardens!
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So yesterday, the negotiations with the DH over the finalized patio size and expanding/installing the large border garden, have officially begun, and it's already a full blown battle of wills!! I said to him, "You know I really don't listen to you anyway, right?" I've been campaigning for this garden, for 6 years, and he hasn't budged!!
I've installed 7 anchor plantings for the border garden, back in 2012 (and there's more to come), but they all are still surrounded by lawn turf, so we have to circle every one of 'em with the mower which was intended to be temporary for only a year or two, but I've been stonewalled. He complains about the mowing issue, but he doesn't want me to remove the turf and make it all one large garden!! 
Keeping things "as is", trumps having less lawn to mow (and make him sneeze) in his mind, even though he knows it makes for more work! 
The garden would extend from the border garden around the closest corner of the kennel (in this photo).......
......sweeping left in a gentle concave curve, around, and in front of, the plantings, toward the back end of the yard.......
......and connecting with the rear corner garden.
Yesterday, I started weeding around the miniature lilac, and realizing that it has finally bushed out significantly, along with the arborvitae nearby, there's no choice but to remove the turf between those and the Zebra Grass nearby, making for a triangle shaped garden area, with rounded corners. (The perfect "baby step", right? ) Apparently, he didn't realize how they'd grow and fill out! When I mentioned removing the turf there, he shook his head in (what I thought was) understanding, and I then said, "With all this area of dirt, do you know what this means?" DH, "No." and I said, "It's a garden to plant more things! " "No!" he exclaimed! When I explained why the plantings are spaced a distance apart from each other, he seemed to have been finding it difficult to wrap his head around.
So, when he went over to the driveway to clean rusty brake dust off the car (the brakes are replaced now), and since his view to my location was blocked by the house, garage, and the car, I went to work and started breaking up the turf between the lilac and Zebra grass , but I only removed the turf around the lilac bc I knew he'd be over to talk I still have to break up the turf over to and expanding the circle around the arborvitae. (I'll do that tomorrow. )
The lilac itself is difficult to see, but circle of dirt is around it. When he came over to talk, he likened it to a Christmas tree skirt!
The removed turf is the little pile in the foreground. The cut down grass, on the left, is the Zebra Grass, which it's "circle" needs to expand, as well, and naturally combining with the lilac and arborvitae circles. The cut down grass, on the far right, is Maiden Grass, which will eventually be included in the garden, and the pathway, between the kennel and fence will come around through the garden, between the Maiden Grass and the kennel, leading to the back yard.
This is going to be a long, challenging Summer
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Okay, I confess.....I picked up 'Thumbthing Special' (THE most expensive DL I ever bought! )! It will be fitting in the garden, though, bc I plan to have a "family" garden to corral the CV's, I've already collected, that are dedicated to family members, and to add more
So far, I have the following to get the family garden started.....
* 'Mystic Pizza', for DH - He's a German guy with an Italian stomach and he loves red 
* 'Zoro's Blade', for DH - Another red
* 'Arachnidan Trap', for DD#1 - She's always been fascinated by creatures that scare most people
* 'Bat Flight', for DD#1- Ditto the above!
* 'Thumbthing Special', for DD#1 - She will crack us up with finding alliterations to say with a lisp, and she can go on and on until my ribs hurt from laughing! The more we laugh, the more alliterations she'll come up with, just when we think she's finished! (Usually she does that when I'm driving, though, and I have to beg her to stop! )
* 'Flycatcher' x 'Heavenly Curls' (a cross by Kim Klarner), for DD#2 - Her hair is naturally curly , and she gets obsessed with swatting flies in the house.
* 'All Shook Up', for DD#2 - She loves Elvis
* 'Moroccan Sapphire', for me - Sapphire is my birthstone, and the color of this DL reminds me of a Ceylon Sapphire
* 'Spock's Ears', for DH and I - We're Star Trek fans, and for me, especially TNG
* 'Lily Munster', for our family unit - It represents our love of retro TV.
It's a good start, I'd say
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