I was thinking pussy willow! but wasnt sure. i dont know why i didnt think clematis--i will wait for it to (hopefully) flower. i believe i remember seeing a flower or two on it last year. i am boggling my brain trying to figure out what that bush is. i cannot find anything even remotely similar to it online

well i posted on a gardening forum and found out the "bush" (its a flowering perennial) is called a Hellebore "Helleborus x hybridus" and that its a very nice one!! lol. nice to know what i have in my yard!

Can you post or PM me the gardening forum you're on? The one I'm on (HelpfulGardener) is okay but I'd love to find another that I might like better.

Btw, love the flowers in the front bed. Our Phlox out front are blooming away and noticeably larger already than when we planted them a couple weeks ago.

http://www.gardenweb.com/ i find heaps of great info on there!

ok so i got two tricolor stonecrops "sedum spurium" today to plant around the giant rotting stump in front of my sidewalk. i plan to do all of that area in flowering groundcover type stuff.

a view of the stump area: its on the left in this picture


i wonder if i can use the rotted center of this stump to plant some kind of groundcover that likes to grow over things?

Hmm, that's a good question. That would look cool if it's an option.

Do it! take an ax to the center and see what you can dig out of it to make it like a pot and put something in it! Great idea.

i bought more stuff tonight .....ahhhhh! what am i doing?? haha. i have no money!

It seriously might SNOW here in Central VA on Sunday!! What in the world?? It's almost April! Hope your plants do well in these crazy temperatures. I've got perenials up a couple of inches. I think the evening primrose, the daisies, the black-eyed susans and the dianthus will be fine. I don't know if the hostas will suffer. My guess is that the leaves that are up may turn brown but they'll grow new ones and be fine. I just divided and moved some of the hostas and some astilbe. *cross fingers* "Live, little cold plants, live and be healthy!!"

ohhh i didnt even think about my little bare root hostas i just planted...luckily only two have sprouts coming up the rest are still under ground. i'm glad i waited to plant my gladiolus and stargazer lilly bulbs. i think all my other plants will do just fine. if stuff happens, it happens. can't trick mother nature! i hope it doesnt SNOW though..that'd just be ridiculous..

so here's a glimpse of what i picked up tonight

first off, along the front of my house where the big ugly tree stump is (in between the road and my sidewalk) i am going to construct a big groundcover bed with some low growing junipers. (yay for no more mowing there!) anyway here is what i got for there: (i will just slowly add to it when i can)

sedum spurium tricolor x2


emerald blue creeping phlox: x1


scarlet flame moss phlox: x1


white cupflower: x1


blue mazus: x1



and for along the shady side of my house (seriously no sun at all) where i planted my hostas:
japanese painted fern: x2


irish moss: x6 (to use as groundcover for the hostas and ferns)

Love all of it! Hoping it does okay in the upcoming cooler weather!

Love the Japanese Painted Fern, I have been seriously considering picking some up for some of my shady areas that literally get no sun at all. Hubby wants some ferns and I love the look of the Japanese Painted Fern but there are so many options it's so hard to choose.

We're getting hit with a sudden round of cooler weather too but not quite as bad as you folks. Still, after all this planting and new growth it has me a tad concerned. I think everything should be fine for me though, looks like nothing lower than the mid-40's in our forecast for the next week.

ETA: I put some Emerald Blue creeping phlox in my front yard too and it's blooming and already spreading out nicely! Love it!

ahhhh we're predicted 2-4 in of snow...WHAT??? ugh! the japanese painted ferns are really nice i'm glad i picked them up, i may get more but i think i'm at the extent of my buying as far as plants this year. now i just need to work on cleaning all of the rest of the existing beds up and mulching everything else that needs it. phew.

We had a dusting of snow this morning. Did you get any? Sabaka was born in November, so I assume he saw snow when he was a puppy with his breeder, but it was so fun to see him jumping and sliding and, of course, EATING it!! LOL
Even though I'm tired of the cold weather, I think it would be fun to get the 2-4 just to see what Sabaka would do!

luckily we did not get a drop that stuck to the ground. I didn't see any fall but other people around here said they did. All my plants seem ok so far lol

Hope your plants are okay, it got colder here too unexpectedly and even I'm worried about how my plants will take this. I know I don't have to worry as much as you folks though.

well ive decided that an ugly lawn does not match pretty flower beds. so i've decided to start working on the lawn. yesterday i bought scotts turfbuilder with halts crabgrass control and put that down. its the first of a 4 step process you do over the spring-fall months. luckily my yard it small enough i only used half a bag so i can use the rest for next year! i cant wait to see the changes in my lawn this year

Huskyluv wrote:

Hope your plants are okay, it got colder here too unexpectedly and even I'm worried about how my plants will take this. I know I don't have to worry as much as you folks though.

they seem to be doing alright so far. i brought in all my plants i haven't put in the ground yet. its snowing right now but just flurries. its too warm to stick to anything. we haven't had any frosts either so thats definitely a bonus

little volunteer dogwood growing in my garden bed


my, what i believe to be, clematis and the new trellis i bought for it. im hoping to let it grow into the lattice work on the side of my porch


still working on the garden bed so it looks a little unkempt, haha

Oh, my boyfriends mom gave me a Siberian Iris! its going to be beautiful. im going to plant it in the back along the fence somewhere. can't think of anywhere else to put it

(this is not the one she gave me but what it looks like matured)

Oooh, that iris must be pretty! One of my neighbors has 3 different irises staggered in her garden bed and they look phenomenal. I need to learn more about irises...maybe it's something I can put in another year.

Huskyluv wrote:

Oooh, that iris must be pretty! One of my neighbors has 3 different irises staggered in her garden bed and they look phenomenal. I need to learn more about irises...maybe it's something I can put in another year.

mine is just tiny still! they really are pretty

well, i bought a composter today!!! it was $50 at lowe's and holds 115 gallons. (i know, cheap. i read reviews and they are horrible for it. apparently the seams fall apart so i plant on gluing it together with liquid nails).



i plan on composting dog poo in it along with everything else (i don't grow vegetables for human consumption so the poop won't affect anything). this will definitely help cut down on how much trash goes out of my house (50% dog poop i think, ha!) i'm super excited and have been researching how to do it properly for the best compost if i ever do decide i want to grow veggies i will probably take the time to build my own dog poop composter. it sounds like a LOT of digging but a really cool idea!

as far as planting goes i've been doing some things. i will take pictures when it stops raining for one minute outside...ugh.

i bought a lawn core aerator and did that today. took a while but hopefully will be worth the time. since i've fertilized my lawn this year i can definitely tell the difference in color between mine and my neighbor's. hopefully by the end of this year it will look pretty decent haha.

My son raises red wiggler earthworms in a styrofoam cooler in the garage (should I have put a picture of them in the "Other Pets" forum?). Don't really know why he has them... just for fun I think...lol. BUT you may be able to do some worm composting. I think the "stuff" will decompose quicker with worms in there if that composter is suitable to sustain worm life. Our worms eat fruits and vegetable scraps (no citrus, onions or potatos), cooked egg shells and coffee grounds.

that sounds like fun. worm composting, lol