I will send some mid-May. Also, just connected the dots in my head...the person who gave it to me in the first place lived in Arkansas.

Betty, thanks for sharing that tip about using pliers for pulling tree seedlings- good idea! They drive me nuts, some develop a deep, woody tap root while they're really small and they are so tough to pull.

One that I didn't pull just because it was hiding behind other plants, Now it's about 15' and it's a hickory. When we had the Boxelder/Acer Negundo, it had millions of polly noses and we'd each pick out 300 at a time that were growing between the bricks. In April I don't miss that tree (taken out by a storm) but I do miss the shade in summer.

Debra - beautiful close ups of the iris!! Your gardens are really springing to life.

Beautiful pictures, Debra. I love the virtual walk through your garden.

Thank you, everyone. I am looking forward to seeing what opens up in the next weeks.

Tom, my sister loves Dark Crystal. Thank you for sending it to add to the memory bed.

Debra the wedding arrangements looked beautiful. You have a beautiful family and that includes you.
Very impressed with all the various flowers that are blooming all around the garden. I am enjoying the show.

Thank you.

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Some of the wildflower seeds that I sowed in the driveway have germinated. These are in bloom.

Spurred Snapdragon/Toadflax



Wind beat up this first of the season bloom, but I like the beards and base.




Joyce Terry. My first bud showing color, but...look at the neighbor's house (which is where I got it from four years back). Sun exposure and microclimates make a big difference in bloom time. Obviously, the owners need to mow, but I am proud of the nice foliage on those roses. Happened to be a day I had some real energy and was outside when the owners came to clean out the house for sale. Offered to prune them back, which I had been itching to do for some time and, being at least averagely intelligent people, they jumped on in a microsecond.




Need to get out with a fork and grocery bag to dig up all these grass plugs. Went to store today and potted up some daylily seedlings and I are tired, so mebbe tomorrow.




Bonnie, this is pretty close to the actual color. // Grace Ward Lithodora really is this oddly pastel electric blue.




Onions. Community garden folks brought me starts(is that the right word?) and I planted them in any open area I could find. Why not?




Salvia lyrata Purple Knockout // Very low growing weed/wildflower. Love, love it. Tiny delicate star-shaped white blooms just cover it. It burns up in summer, and it doesn't interfere with anything else growing.


Patriot Hosta in the Story Circle. I love this hosta! It does exceptionally well in our climate. // Rose fence


Raspberry Sundae Peony. Wasn't sure it would bloom this year, but it has at least three buds. // THIS peony has not bloomed since I got it in 2011. I am giving it until next year before rehoming to what I hope would be a more congenial environment for it.

Overcast and windy again this morning, but the sun seems to be making an effort to shine through. If I have enough oomph this afternoon, will try for brighter photographs.


Anyone recognize these ants? Terrified of having carpenter ants again unnoticed, the house has enough damage as it is. // My poor Pope John Paul. Every single year, no matter what I try, the buds look like this or have that nasty brown gook all over.




Tis a Dianthus day.


New series: Sunflor "Chocolate"


Dianthus "Passion" with Lemon Thyme. I like the vibrant green of the Thyme and it is really nice to cook with fish.




Dark Crystal SDB // Tracy's Sunshine TB. MASSIVE growth on this one.



These blooms still astound me. It is almost as if they are too bright for the camera to capture with any clarity.



Malaya Garnet Clematis. Much less deeply colored this year than in the past. Still pretty, though.



Tantara SDB. Snails and slugs are wreaking real havoc in my garden this year, sigh. This bloom is beautiful, though a tiny bit chewed.




I am in love. Scarlet Flax

Stunning!

Beautiful! Sorry, I do not know what kind of ants.

I have tried many times to grow Scarlet Flax with no luck. It is so pretty.

Love your Tantara. Let me know if you ever have extra! (you can keep the snails though (wink)).

The Scarlet Flax is very pretty. Does it stay small?

Thank you.

Leslie, you were already on the share list.

Don't know how big it gets, this is my first year with it.

Lovely blooms Debra, really like the flax.

From what I can see in your photo I think they are just the regular red and black ants like we have here, be careful as those devils can sure bite.

As long as they don't eat my house, they can run around here all they want.

Carpenter ants are usually very large and black. Usually twice the size or so of most other ants, so you should be okay.

As for Tantara - guess I really want to be one that list!

Lovely thread, Debra.....not only your pretties, but also the photography Thank you for pointing me here

Debra, I hate to say it but they look like Carpenter ants to me -- at least like the ones I have seen here in FL. Here are some links to ID:
http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/...

http://www.orkin.com/ants/carp...

And from Texas A&M:
https://insects.tamu.edu/exten...


I love scarlet flax!!!!!

Okay, time for the exterminator, I guess, then, Ann. Thank you all for answering.

Debra, I guess your right, time fo the exterminator, I always thought that carpenter ants were black.