It's a beautiful evening outside. I was out earlier planting some of my summer-blooming bulbs and tubers. I got all the gladiolas, acidantheras, and dahlias in the ground, as well as one bed of tuberoses. I tested another bed, but it's still too wet to work the soil.

One sign of how mild the winter was-- the little bulblets that broke away from the glads when I lifted them last fall survived the winter and have come up on their own.

Glad your numbers are looking good, Dave.
Today, I spent the day helping a farmer plant different types of hickory seedlings. We got to try his Hickory syrup and Roasted Hickory powder.

We got more than an inch of badly needed rain yesterday and overnight! It was a good, soaking rain with little runoff. I'm very happy. It is cooler this morning which is a plus too. Hope it dries out enough to do some weeding this afternoon.

This has been a busy weekend. I planted another bed of tuberoses, and have only one bed to go. I cleaned out the tree roots and star-of-Bethlehem that had invaded the tulip bed and filled in the gaps with bedding annuals (marigolds and zinnias). I still need to purchase a few more bedding annuals to finish the job.

Today we ran over to Olathe, KS to celebrate Mothers' Day with Jonathan's mother. She's 93 and slowing down, but still functions fairly well. We ate a Golden Corral a few blocks away from her apartment. I don't think I've eaten that much in one meal since Christmas. So no supper this evening.

It was fascinating watching the crowd at Golden Corral. Black people, White people, Mexican and Asian people. Skinny people, large people. Lots of old people (of course!), but also lots of young people. I noticed one boy, maybe 13 or 14 years old, carrying his little sister (maybe 3 years old) everywhere. They both seemed content with the arrangement.

Then another family came in, with a boy about 7 or 8 years old solemnly escorting his grandmother to her table. He was dressed to the nines, wearing pleated dress slacks, dress shirt and tie, with a silver colored vest and a narrow brimmed fedora.

Some people had obviously come from church, and were dressed in their Sunday best. Others were in weekend casual (in some cases very casual) attire.

As my late grandfather would have said, "Just folks."

When I went out to the car to drive to work this morning, I noticed standing water near the house. Yep, another line break. This time we know within a foot or so where it's located. I think we can get someone out to work on it tomorrow. But for now the water is shut off. Oh well, I'll shower at the gym before going to work.

The passion vine (may pop) is beginning to bloom! The gulf fritillary butterflies will find a huge crop of passion vine waiting for them when they arrive in great numbers about the first of August. I've seen a few flitting around the garden and we already have a few caterpillars munching on the leaves. I assume these were the results of a couple of pupas surviving our mild winter.

Just gorgeous!!!

Sad news to share about John Beaulieu.

"This is a message, from me, John's wife Brenda, to notify John's Facebook friends that John passed away early this morning, May 14, 2024."

I have no idea what happened but he had posted a few days ago that he'd fallen and had to have the paramedics help him up but that all his vitals were fine. He's been using a walker for a while now.
This is sad news indeed.

Oh no, this is terrible news. I was so looking forward to seeing John posting his hardy geranium pictures and reports of his gardening season. He had such a lovely garden. I am glad his wife let us know, otherwise we would have always been wondering why we were not hearing from him anymore.

My condolences go out to his wife. May John rest in peace in the most beautiful garden promised to mankind. 🙏

First day lilies of the season!




These are called plum perfect.





These are ditch lilies we brought back from Vermont a few years ago.

Very sad news about John! Give his wife my condolences. I do remember his posts from GB. He was such a nice guy.

Beautiful and vibrant flowers, Alice! The maypop is especially nice.

This one is called Betty Ford.

Beautiful photo of a beautiful bloom!!!!

FYI - I added the link below if you would like to add this photo to the NGA database for this cultivar. Just click on the 'choose file' in the green box, select your photo, and follow the instructions that come up. You have such a beautiful garden!

https://garden.org/plants/prop...

Thanks Floridian! I love it. I did post the picture. Thanks for the link. It is rare that I keep up with the name of daylilies when I plant them. Every marker I've tried to use has faded and I have too many plants to use the high dollar ones!

I appreciate your kind and words about my garden.

I thought you all might be interested in this. According to this article, my zone has changed from 8A to 8B just recently.

https://apps.npr.org/plant-har...

Thanks for the acorn Floridian! I posted some additional photos today in the database.

You're welcome - I love your garden!

Floridian said: You're welcome - I love your garden!

I do to! As my Hindu neighbor says. It is my place of meditation!

Some of this morning's bloomers!

I received this email from Roelie yesterday. I included my response as well. I had noticed she'd been missing and should have reached out to her.

"readn the messaga about the past I am home again and everything goes not all the best but better thand it was. Love for both Roelie"

Have you been in the hospital? So happy you are home! Feel better soon! We've missed you!