thanks!

chelle only lives a few miles from me,she is a Dedicated Gardner forsure...Im not out planting bulbs ... ..I still need to wrap my hydragas, I have the support sticks in ...now I just need to wrap staple and stuff with straw,Id better Geterdone...

Good for you, tucking those babies in, Tamara!

I sure can relate to Chelle, as "late" is how you have to plant, if you want to get the best bulb prices.

uh oh I've never wrapped my hydrangeas. Don't tell me Now that my Twist n' Shout that I just bought this past summer should have been. Little late now right? Drat. They shouldn't die right? They are supposed to bloom on old and new growth.waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I wrapped my zone 6 hydrangea the year I planted it...haven't bothered since, and it's been just fine.


I noticed that squirrels were already after the bulbs I just planted last week....I'm ready for the ground to start freezing a bit, just to foil those little boogers!

Chelle, I solved the squirrel/bulb problem by sprinkling super phosphate where I planted them...on top of the soil. They won't dig there.
The rain melts the phosphate into the soil. Good fertilizer for bulbs, too.
(PS I know all the PC/environmental issues with phosphates, but like to save my bulbs!)

Oh! I planted all of mine with super phosphate too! Guess that's why the (squirrel) holes weren't very deep - I just figured they got spooked and would be back later to finish the job.....and eat

Squirrels and voles don't bother my freshly planted bulbs. I sprinkle the bulbs with cayenne pepper before I refill with dirt then sprinkle in on top as well. Haven't had a bulb dug up and moved or ate since the first time I tried that some 5 years ago.

Sounds like the "Ultimate Cure", Cherie!!

worked fr me.................... Just like the rabbit scram I found four years ago. I sprinkle it around my lilies after the ground freezes and the around the tulips and the lilies once they show new growth in the spring. Haven't had an eaten tulip or lily since.

Thanks, Cherie! that is a GREAT tip!

Would make a great tip of the day!

Just came in from a day of working in the gardens
.
It was a beautiful day, warm, in the 60's--no jackets required.
Bulbs done, except for new ones in the mail and on their way to us now....

DBH is laying mulch over all the front beds. Alot of cutting down and raking was done first.

Nice to have it done.....

Hope you can here the envy in my words

Just came in from out door chores 27 degrees...2'' of ice on the tanks I had to dump for winter storage. Captured all fish and put them in for the winter , removed hose (stiff and frozen) from house for winter storage and drug the last of the houseplants inside from the green house.
Predicted 16 tonight and a high of 29 tomorrow.

Yeah hubby tells me its predicted 10 here for tonight. I am purposely NOT watching the weather...........too depressing now

Eh - maybe I'm just getting old, but I am more and more fond of the idea that winter is a rest, reflect and plan time that I just don't get during the other 3 seasons.

Yup, gettin' old!

Cinda, I was raised outside of Detroit, so I do understand your pain. Except I didn't have horses when I lived there.

Cinda, and Cherie, I understand your pain, as Sheryl does!

I was raised in a suburb of Boston where Arctic, frozen winters are common, along with those nice New England blizzards!

We were 12 miles from the ocean, so all sorts of storms and chilling winds were always blowing in.

Before moving here I spent 18 years in Michigan (not far from Detroit) , didn't seem as cold but a lot more snow. Maybe it just seems colder the older I get maybe that is why so many people retire to Florida .

I just had to add the microbadge of the snowflake.

It looks pretty there, Cinda!

Cold seems less appealing now.