Cheerful

 I saw this blooming shrub in town, it is a beauty...I made a u turn to go get a photo.

Forsythia! 

Yellow is such a cheerful color!  Spring could be here!

Far Guys weekly infusion went well,  I ran some errands while he was at the clinic. 

Far Side 

Yellow

The Gray-Headed Coneflower is in full bloom...it lends a sunny color to the wildgardens.  Some people call it a Yellow Coneflower.  It is Ratibida pinnata.

Twenty years ago I planted just a few of these plants...they reseed themselves. 

They are quite tall plants...the other day I watched a Goldfinch try to land on a bloom.

I washed the dining room window...it is that time of year when the little spiders go crazy with their webs and can spin their sticky webs overnight.   I took a broom outside and swept the webs away from the front of the house.  I suppose the kitchen window will drive me nuts someday soon. 

It was a quiet day...same old same old.  Stay safe...

Far Side

Yellow

Some of the brush in the woods is turning yellow.  Leaves litter the ground after the big wind we had a week ago.   I haven't mowed for awhile...the mower will chop up those leaves and sticks...a prelude to Fall work.

Yesterday I accomplished...not much...errands.   I dropped by the thrift store and got a skein of yarn for nests...I am the last of the big spenders at 50 cents.  The Walmart list had grown so that was accomplished.   Far Guy was dropped off and picked up...he is still real short of breath.

Good news this new Bill Pay seems to be working...bills are paid and money leaves the account...yeah!  Technology is great when it works!

A beautiful bunch of Rudbeckia

Far Side

Stuff

When Far Guy is at Pulmonary Therapy I have an hour to do "something."  Usually I run errands.  But he goes to Therapy 3 times a week. I have a limited amount of errands!   Monday is a great time to check out the Thrift shop for yarn...last Monday it was a gold mine...I spent 3 dollars and got 6 skeins of yarn....two were full skeins which might become a scarf someday. 

I wandered around in the local Yarn Shop ...and  bought something special.  Which I may or may not get done before Christmas.

I made a trip through the gardens outside the hospital. Took some photographs and then sat in the car and began winding yarn into balls.

It has been a stressful week.

 We still have a partially bottomless pit of money at the Credit Union...now some bills are paid and some are not.   I found this out quite by accident when I was setting up an alternate way to pay bills.  The Electric bill was paid and then 5 days later it was unpaid...go figure. So I paid it again using the alternate way.  I have spoken to The President of the Credit Union...she is as frustrated with it as we are...no solution is in sight.

A lost checkbook was found.  ( Thank goodness...it was all my fault.)

Lab Tests that were supposed to be ordered locally for Far Guy are now 10 days late.  Someone says they were ordered but the Lab has no such order.  They probably sent the order to the wrong clinic...who really knows.   He had a list of nine things that needed to be addressed...and it is all in progress...supposedly.

One day I was not adulting very well and just wanted to cover my head up with a blankie and suck my thumb.

Far Side

Yellow

I like yellow.  The color is so warm and welcoming.

Yesterday I looked at the bunches of roses on my way into Wally World…the coral and red roses were beautiful but I liked the yellow ones the best.

Perhaps that is why I smile everytime I glance over at the wild gardens this time of year!  I planted just a few plants about 17 years ago and just let them reseed at will.

Soon the Liatris will show some color..purple will just add to the yellow show!

I miss being able to bring flowers into the house.  From the years spent in the Greenhouse neither of us can handle flowers or plants of any kind in the house…we both come down with a scratchy throat/coughs and congestion within a few hours.  So we enjoy our outside plants even more because they don’t make us sick.

Today I am off to the Doctors Office for consult for a small procedure…at least I hope it is small. Perhaps it will require several office visits or one big visit…time will tell. Nothing to worry about just one of those old lady things. At least I hope it is nothing to worry about…I never wasted a worry about it until now.  I made the appointment about three months ago…some specialists are really busy.

Lamentation for a Forsythia

In the past 13 years my Forsythia has bloomed once. It was a happy couple of days..I think it had about a dozen little blooms.

Here it is in the yard..it is that dead looking thing.

The dead looking clump that is to the right and behind the oak with the Cardinal thermometer.  The Daylilies are looking good..but that Forsythia just looks dead.

The last time I threatened to rip it from the ground it bloomed.  One of my old Professors at NDSU is responsible for the selection of this Forsythia  ‘Meadowlark’.  I was thrilled to plant one in my yard.

I am less thrilled now.

This one is blooming in town in a parking lot. 

It was planted in a berm, it’s roots covered with rock, right out in the full sun.  Last Fall someone hacked the tops off of everything that was planted in that parking lot.  This spring they are full of blooms.

No one hacked off the top of my Forsythia.  Instead of rocks it had some leaves to help keep it’s roots from heaving during the winter.

Of all the shrubs out there in the woody plant world this yellow flowering beauty used to be number one on my list.  The first shrub in our area to bloom in the spring!  Oh..and the yellow flowers..liquid sunshine no matter what the spring weather throws your way. Oh I love me a Forsythia..just not the one in my yard:(

Pick Three!

Nope not the lottery..darn. Today I will share with you my favorite plants. Pick three!

Vines..
Morning Glory President Tyler..Purple very early bloomer.
Asarina scandens Joan Loraine ...not as vigorous as a morning glory.. but covered with snap dragon type blooms..and great looking foliage to boot. Will grow and twine three to five feet tall on a support.
Morning Glory Heavenly Blue..beautiful sky blue color!

Morning Glory President Tyler 2005

Bedding Plants, called such as they are usually used in flower beds.

Zinnia, Dreamland, Coral or Red...wonderful colors, and if you deadhead the old blooms it will bloom all summer.

Salvia farinacea, Victoria Blue..a splendid plant, in a pack it will not impress you, but it will bloom all summer and doesn't require dead heading to look great. Especially useful in perennial beds for a filler...you know until something smaller gets fuller!

Gazania...all of them are great..except they bloom only during the daytime, in the early evening they close up. If you have a hot spot, where nothing else will grow..try a Gazania!

Potted Plants

Geranium Tango Red..will out bloom any geranium out there. Huge blooms..especially if you give them some 1/4 strength Miracle grow every time you water.

Angelonia..wonderful bloomers!

Begonia..the Non Stop series says it all..Non Stop Blooms till frost. Careful watering is a must with begonias, keep water off of the foliage..they will either sunburn from the water on their foliage or get what I call soft rot..and the leaves will fall off one at a time..

Waves..or Spreading Petunias

Purple Wave..the first wave developed..and still the best.

Rose Wave.. excellent color.

Ramblin Nu Blue .. a wonderful deep dark purple..like royalty..and fragrant too!

Purple Wave on my Parents Oxcart 2008

Yellow Flowers.. My very favorite category..it is my blog and I can make up a yellow flower category!!

Rudbeckia, Indian Summer..huge blooms, might even re seed a little for you!

Dahlberg Daisy ( Thymophylla) , the tiniest little yellow daisies..with ferny foliage, hack off the spent blooms with a scissors.. adds a light and airy touch to a flowering basket!

Viola, Velour Yellow... simply put.. heaven must smell like this little flower. I could sell this little plant on fragrance alone..especially to the sensory women. I used to say "Are you a sensory person?" as I waved the plant under their nose..instant sale!

Rudbeckia Indian Summer 2008

Now make your list, check it twice, and when you are out there looking at plants..remember it is not always the best thing to buy plants in bloom..buy ones with tags in them of course, but non blooming is best. IF you buy a bloomer, after you have hardened them off..the blooms should all be cut off at transplant..it is a lot of work for a plant to put on new roots..and support a bloom at the same time. One last reminder..compost..if you use weed and feed on your lawn and then compost the clippings..your plants won't do so well...the same is true for areas that give away compost at the landfills..one never knows what chemicals have been used. Compost is great..just not with weed and feed in it:)