huggergirl said:
I did plant some Black Iris yesterday,found it on my Doorstep,with old blinds and a jar of cleome seed...I was hoping for a mason jar full of ApplePie...tehetehe

It wasn't me that left it there - I'd have brought the pie too (well, at least the filling).

Black iris will be wonderful! Is it the grassy type?

Well. lots of plants are tagged around here and others I just remember what they are. But I am certainly not about to tag the shrubs around here. I do know what many of them are though not that I remember them all.

The blinds make the best tags. You have a good friend. So nice. I get empty pots, some are mine that are returned, save me a bunch of money in the greenhouse.

Yeah, I wish someone would leave plants on my doorstep!
I'm always snitching seeds from any and everywhere.

thank you Chelle...for the Pie filling... and the croco`s...We got to meet in person yesterday Cant wait to see her place Now..

Chelle brought homemade apple pie filling

The other apple pie I was referring to is, ummm a drink... The girl that dropped off the blinds and Iris,makes this apple pie drink,and its always in a Mason Jar...like the jar my seeds came in... Was mostly kidding ...I would have kept it tho...

Oh Tam I LOVE that stuff. My cousin up north makes it.................................... Tastes just like apple pie, but oh oh you don't want too many shots. Its not your grammies apple pie. Ya know?????

The tulips have started here but there are still daffodils blooming. These first three pictures pictures are in the backyard.









And now off to the right side of the front yard-

Love these, Rita!

Like a walk in a Botanic Garden!

Thanks! Now the other side-

Looking at the left side of the front yard.

Holy Moly Rita,are you sure that is not a Garden center.... Your stuff is GORGOUS....


cece,your soo very right,Not Grammas apple pie... Going to have some on the 21st...playing euchre..

Thanks. Last spring it looked even better as the tulips shown were planted the prior fall, this year not all the tulips came back so it is not as many as the year before. But the daffs of course come back well and always look great blooming. But still looks pretty good. I have decided to replant tulips over on the left side this fall so that hopefully more of them can get established.

I had a great visit at Tam's place, and I can tell ya that photos just don't do it justice; fabulous riots of color everywhere! I left with far more plants than I brought, but I hope to catch up later. Thank you for the water iris and the wonderful ajuga! I think we could have talked a few more hours...



Rita, amazing bulb displays!

Well then now you all know why I ordered all those 700 new tulips to add this fall. I want it too look even better next spring. The problem with tulips is that you have to keep replanting them. Although those pictured are on their second spring now. Not as dense as they were last spring on their first year.

Surely you've been gardening at this property for several years to get a spread like that!

I am happy to see that at least ONE of my 'orange emperor" tulips have survived the deer years. Was quite surprised to see its leaf there! Maybe if I put some bunny poo around it it will bloom next year. Ya think?

Also surviving are 4 "maureen" (leaves only, so far) and one Tubergen's gem - flowered this year!

Oh those darn deer.
And oh my inability to get the fence fixzed for so long!

But finally they are shut out. It's not a pretty fix, but it's a functional one!

Oh, we cross posted.

I had one variety of tulip "Cassini" that multiplied like gangbusters.
Until the deer got in....

I had squirrels popping the heads off of my tulips, so I covered them with bird netting. Of course, I only have a few, so this is a feasible fix.

So glad you got your fence fixed, CG!

My first gardening season in this house, I put bird/deer net (the black stuff) over some of my flowerbeds. More than once, I had to go "open the door" for some mourning dove who had found her way inside it....

I started my garden redo from the typical suburban yard to what you see now in 2001. Always had afew tulips here and there as I would plant them, they would look fabulous year one and be almost gone by year three. These tulips shown are one year two having been planted not this past fall but the fall before that. I was told to plant deeply so I did at 10 inches. Decent return, not fabulous but decent. Honestly if you want tulips to be as thick and full of blooms as they look the spring after fall planting then you just have to keep replanting.

I have gotten things done pretty much in my garden now after all these years that I am not focusing on spring flowering bulbs to add.

Critter, don't give up. Buy more tulips and plant this fall. It is so well worth it to have spring bulbs.

Yep - I'll eke out the tulips as I can!
Lately though, I've focused on groundcovers that are evergreen.
I like to underplant them with tulips and other bulbs.

The deer thing really held me back but I've fixed their entry points now.
In a coupla years I'll be able to put up a prety camoflage over the patchwork barrier.

MEANWHILE, I now have more deer-free ground to plant!

WHoopee!