got strong winds and rain monday around dinner time but it only lasted maybe 10 minutes. the last order of the season arrived Tuesday-Iris from Tulip World. Victoria Falls and Innocent Star, both reblooming. I was inspired by Jeanne! Her iris look so pretty I thought I'd give them a chance. the first order is in the ground and doing well I'll get these grounded saturday or sunday-the weather should be good for outside activities. yes bulbs can go in until the ground freezes. and iris need the cold sleep provided by the winter months. their "beauty sleep". off of work today because I have no heat upstairs. it was COLD this morning. had the hvac guy here last night and he fixed the initial problem but I have 2 zone heat and the other thermostat never got fixed. a wiring issue. If I had to venture a guess I'd say one of the cats gnawed on something. In fact, I'd put money on it!

We got some good rain today. Finally!

Trim the rose climbers in the back after lunch. I want to wait until the sun is going down, plus I now have room in my bin to get rid of the trimming, it was full yesterday.

@breith95 Brenda, I hope your Victoria Falls and Innocent Star do well for you. Victoria Falls is a great grower and re-bloomer here. Innocent Star is a beauty and is fragrant. That one just went on my wish list.

The Iris rhizomes that I have growing in the garage are not going to get a winters nap until next winter. I am just hoping that they will grow under the lights this winter. I ran out of time and didn't get them planted soon enough. I hope the Iris that I did plant pot and all come through the cold winter okay. So far our winter is awful mild. A week from today it is suppose to be 60 degrees.

Jeanne putting on my gardening gloves right now. The sun came out and the threat of snow is gone. Thanks for the inspiration! Can't wait to see them bloom in the spring.

I planted 3 roses that I bought on sale from Heirloom for the Thanksgiving sale, Wollerton Old Hall, Viking Queen, and French Lace.
Then I went to Home Depot to get more chicken manure but they were out, so I bought 2 small poinsettia plants, I prefer this small version vs the humongous plants from Costco.
Hopefully it will be dried tomorrow so I can work in the garden again.

Over the weekend I wandered through (when available) or near other people's gardens. Went to a bunch of restaurants & attractions and most could have appended the name of their business with "and botanical garden."

I found a bag of bulbs I forgot to plant!

Liz, didja get 'em in the ground?

On Saturday I put up some lights, then admired some plants & took some pics before it started raining. IDK when it's coming but first hard frost is already late here.

I'm trimming the Podocarpus. It's taken me a couple weeks to get this far. I can only trim for an hour a day and I'm taking big branches off, and extra trunks. These bushes haven't gotten a proper trim in almost 30 years and the each had 3 or 4 trunks going. Plus, I'm trimming half a bush and then waiting for them to start sprouting before I finish so that I reduce the chances of killing them.

not trimmed


half trimmed


finished


I'm using a hand saw and a set of loppers.

Well today, I walked out to the edge of the garden, barefoot , and dumped coffee grounds into the hole I dug last fall for such things.
It is getting full and after a snow storm I have to dig , or blow with a leaf blower, the snow out of it, but it is still handy.
It is only 12 feet from the door but most days I at least wear socks, I am becoming a wussy in my old age.

wasn't too bad outside 36 and sunny. had some running around to do but I took the time to check on the iris's I planted in late fall and do some pre-season planning. move this there, move that over here. where to plant the lilies and dahlias. make the beds allot bigger this way , put a trellis over there for the morning glories. ya know, the usually cabin fever release. 38 days til the clocks go forward. RpR it was too soggy for stocking feet. I'da brought mud in the house.

Brenda, sounds like you had fun thinking about what is to be. I can't wait to start doing the same thing but still lots of snow here.

I have DH painting the master bathroom today. He used to paint professionally many years ago and although he is now 7 days from turning 80 years young, he still does a fantastic job. Hopefully, the walls will get started a couple hours from now. It is fairly small so shouldn't take too long. Then he will be able to soak his bad knee and sore shoulders in the jacuzzi when the room is put back in order.

Jeanne, the wheels are starting to turn. I'm getting ansty! you have a good man there, almost 80 and still doing the man things. Painting-the last thing I painted was the second floor of my house which is the main suite. my sanctuary. just me. the walls peak out at 15ft at their highest. the roof slopes front to back and the bathroom is under the rear slope. the painting took me from january until may. it was killer. every night I'd get home from work and start where I left off. I lived on that ladder for 5 months! but it was worth it. the walls still look good. the worst was trying to paint the dormer peaks. never gonna do that again! enjoy the new walls!

What an undertaking, Brenda. That was a lot of hard work painting up that high.

The master bath is done and looks great. Although not a professional job where ceiling and wall meet, who is going to see it. Just DH and I go in there and occasionally my SIL when we have a group party and the other 2 baths are occupied. :grumbling:

Now DH has decided that he wants to paint the inside of the pantry. So today I moved everything out off of the 5 shelves. It probably won't get painted until Wednesday since he has a bunch of errands tomorrow. Then he suggested doing the main bath in the same color as the master bath. Not sure if that will happen before the weekend because I am planning a surprise 80th birthday party for him here on Sunday. I need time to get the rest of the house cleaned without getting him suspicious about why I am deep cleaning.