I LOVE that last flower!

my stargazer lilies are budding already! can't wait for them to open

Question for you gardeners. It's now May and getting warmer and we're hitting temps in the 80's already, is it a bad idea to keep planting new flowers? Should I plan on wrapping up the new addition of flowering perennials for the summer pretty soon?

None of the bare root coreopsis, sedum, or blue boy phlox that I planted in March are doing anything and I'm ready to just dig them up and return them and just fill in their spots with clearance flowers from Lowes. But I'm wondering if summer planting of flowers is not a good idea as the temps continue to climb.

I think "real" gardeners will tell you the BEST time to plant perennials is in the fall. None of our local greenhouses must subscribe to that belief because their best selection is always in the spring. You need to get those roots established before the heat really kicks in. I think you are finding those good deals on the perenials because you are at the tail end of the optimal planting season.

If you are physically able, Val, you probably should stop planting soon

Everything is looking so beautiful! Since Shannon won't come hang out with you and your delightful dogs in your stunningly beautiful yard, perhaps I will!!

Val I would wrap it up real soon for any plants you really care about and cost more money. I shop the clearance rack all summer long cause they are so cheap I don't care if they make it or not! They take extra watering and love but u can do it...

Thanks ladies! I will try to wrap up my planting soon...hopefully

Weird, I would have thought spring would be the best time to plant perennials. And come on down to Charleston!

I went to Lowes yesterday (they FINALLY got butterfly bushes in stock but hubby said clearance ONLY!) and checked their clearance section. I was totally disappointed, almost all their clearance plants were stupid annuals and the few perennials they had left looked like they were past the point of saving. They did have some nice primrose which I wanted but some other lady grabbed the last ones before I could. Grr, if I had been 5 minutes earlier!

I did pick up a nice pair of Yoshino Japanese Cedars (Yoshino Cryptomeria) that were on clearance though. So that lifted my mood a bit after the primrose incident.

My two new Yoshino Japanese Ceders:


And a shot of 3 of my 'By Myself' daylilies blooming.


Of the 4 Easter Star Dianthus that I bought on clearance, 3 of them have completely rebounded and are doing great. Sadly, one of them did not make it so I asked the people at Lowes if the 1 yr guarantee applies to clearance plants and they said yes. Call me cheap (I am unemployed after all!) but I'm taking the dead dianthus back so I can get more clearance flowers!

Here's hoping they have more clearance selection the next time I go. I've got my fingers crossed that since they got a shipment of butterfly bushes that maybe some of them will go on clearance. Not likely that I would have the perfect timing to be there even if they did go on clearance but a girl can dream, right?

Holy smokes I had a landscaper here today to give me an estimate for adding another zone to our current irrigation system as well as adding onto an existing zone. WAY more than I was expecting.

Claudia! My sunflower will be opening soon, I can already see the hints of yellow!

I can't wait to see your sunflower!
Is it the really big, gianormous kind?
In any case, I love sunflowers! Any size!

No this one is normal sized.

I still can't wait to see it full bloom!

SabakaMom wrote:

Since Shannon won't come hang out with you and your delightful dogs in your stunningly beautiful yard, perhaps I will!!

hey now!! i didnt say i wouldnt say hi i just said i couldnt bring the furball!

I HATE squirrels!!! Sorry Claudia, the darn squirrels destroyed my sunflower! Did I mention that I hate squirrels?

The horrible creatures uprooted my sunflower plant then popped the head/flower off of the top and proceeded to rip it to shreds in order to eat the seeds in the flower. I tried to replant the remaining portion of my sunflower plant but it just keeps falling over. 3 months of growing, watering and waiting for NOTHING! I HATE HATE HATE squirrels!

My flower bed is covered in scattered yellow petals.

RIP sunflower!

thats so sad Val im sorry, how come Dakota was not on guard duty?

OH NO!
@&$(ing squirrel!

jbealer wrote:

how come Dakota was not on guard duty?

Because it hit 89 degrees outside! I told hubby we need to adopt an outdoor cat from the shelter to patrol our backyard!

Huskyluv wrote:

I told hubby we need to adopt an outdoor cat from the shelter to patrol our backyard!

A couple years ago a tiny cat adopted us and soon gave birth to 4 adorable kittens. I knew I couldn't take her, an unwed mother, to the shelter or they would put her to sleep. So we found loving homes for the kittens and kept her as our fearsome outdoor (and basement) cat since I am VERY allergic to her. She weighs only 7 pounds but often drags whole, dead squirrels to our back door! So she not only patrols but KILLS as well!

That's fantastic Lisa! The hubby and I have been talking some more about it this afternoon and we are seriously considering checking the local SPCA to see if they have any cats for adoption that would fit the bill. Of course it would have to be indoors for a little while at first so it learns where "home" is but after that it would be an outdoor cat. No decisions have been made yet but we might see what our local shelter has. If we do adopt a cat it would have to have it's claws and I'd want it to patrol and kill squirrels. Only down side is I don't want to send the birds away too...always a catch.

Is there such a thing as a squirrel repellant I wonder?

I finally planted my Yoshino's yesterday! And the stupid squirrels literally completely dug up and tore apart one of the creeping Phlox I had planted in the bed near the black aluminum fence. I really don't think the Phlox is going to make it but I did my best to replant it...fingers crossed.

Any suggestions for getting rid of or repelling squirrels from my yard? I'm all ears! These things are a total menace. They also broken a number of the plastic flowers on my hummingbird feeder and I've had to completely remove my bird feeders and my hummingbird feeder because of the squirrels. Those horrible rodents have figured out how to drink the nectar out of the hummingbird feeder and are doing their best to destroy it and emptying the thing in a matter of hours.

I'd like to put some rat poison out there but I know that isn't an option because I don't want to harm other creatures or send poison into the environment. I'd really like some safer, effective methods to keep them in the woods and out of my yard.

Damn, those squirrel rodents!

Pellet gun!

my Poppop will sit on his porch with a BB gun and shot the damn things, he is very into his birds and feeding the birds!

He he, I just had another unrealistic idea but I'm relishing the thought anyway. Electrify the aluminum fence. Just a fantasy though, the birds land on the fence too and I actually like them.

In all honesty, I'm thinking about greasing up the pole holding the feeders so that they have a hard time gripping it...don't know if that would work. I looked online and see squirrel repellant sprays made of fox urine...that'd probably just serve to drive the dogs nuts though. While I would have no problem using a pellet gun I know some people in my family might view that as cruel.

Huskyluv wrote:

That's fantastic Lisa! The hubby and I have been talking some more about it this afternoon and we are seriously considering checking the local SPCA to see if they have any cats for adoption that would fit the bill. Of course it would have to be indoors for a little while at first so it learns where "home" is but after that it would be an outdoor cat. No decisions have been made yet but we might see what our local shelter has. If we do adopt a cat it would have to have it's claws and I'd want it to patrol and kill squirrels. Only down side is I don't want to send the birds away too...always a catch.

Is there such a thing as a squirrel repellant I wonder?

hey I have a couple of ferrals that are very good hunters ( I found a partial squirrel in my compost pile and bird remains show up every week or so). I will be happy to ship them down to you! The squatters showed up last fall and took up residence in my shed. I have a soft side for all thngs fuzzy so of course I started feeding them, they have been with me since. Unfortunately since they have been with us my yard has become a hangout for all the cats in the neighborhood.

LOL Becky! Well the hubby does not want a truly feral cat. He's adopted several feral cats before and most of the time they don't stay when they are given their freedom outside so he wants to stay away from that right off the bat. The other thing too is I don't want a ton of cats hanging around, just one!

I've been looking at the online listings of cats at our local shelters. My goodness, they have adoption fees of $100 for a freakin' cat! I would think that since they have so many they'd have a lower adoption fee to encourage more people to adopt. The hubby even said maybe we should keep an eye out for "free to good home" kittens but I'd hate to do something like that when we could potentially save a life.

Then the other thing is I'm not really a cat person so I don't even know if I really want the added responsibility of a cat...especially considering that we have a sibe and two guinea pigs. *sigh* I'm very undecided on this right now.

I do have a soft spot for this adorable little 6 yr old female named Amaiko that is up for adoption. She's spayed, litter trained, and has claws so she can be outdoors. I've looked at tons of local listed cats and the moment I saw Amaiko's profile pic, info and description she's stuck in my head...kinda like she's the "one". It was the same when I found Dakota in a shelter listing, I just knew he was the one and it happened the same way as I am feeling about Amaiko right now. Amaiko has been at the shelter since April 13th. I'm really torn. Plus, I LOVE LOVE LOVE her name!

Amaiko:

Hey Val, use caution when you are adopting for an outdoor cat. If the facility does not know if the cat has a history of being outdoors it may not be the right cat you are looking for, claws or not. And the nice things about he adoption fees is that they cover spaying/nuetering, rabies, lime, distemper and feline luekemia testing.