Monroe Chat

I love, love, love my yard! I come out several times a day to admire it. Isn't that funny? It's the first time in my life I've ever felt that way. I can't wait to go to the store and pick out some flowers to pot. For some reason I do ok with annuals. It's the perennials I can't seem to keep alive!

I love my yard as well, as do several neighbors. Actually, I love my landscaping. The yard itself needs some TLC, which I am working on this year. If no luck, I'll probably need to have the pros come out and spray and seed it.

I don't have many annuals, as I tend to only place them only in pots. I have tons of perennials and luckily only needed to replace 8 this year. Three of the plants were ones where we needed to have a mild winter for them to survive (a risk I was willing to take). We all saw how winter went this past year. Oh ya...I tend to put out Zinnias in the landscaping....that's really the only annual that I put in the landscaping. Although this year, I am including sunflowers so that I can gather the seeds for myself and the birds.

I'm out in the landscaping almost every night doing something. This is my form of relaxation.

Oh, my lawn isn't anywhere near perfect. I have a little boy who loves to dig! I have huge holes in my yard that need to be filled and seeded. But it is looking better than it ever has before.

I bought some clematis yesterday. I can't wait to get it in the ground and watch it start to climb!

Yeah !!!

I have all sorts of plans for mine now that I've had a helping hand.... of course now my impatience will take hold as I wait for everything to begin to grow and fill out!

My lawns are also far from perfect, however (I don't have a digger ) but have had bald spots created by children's play things. I purposefully leave the bald area where the swimming pool goes, so that the following year I can reuse the spot! (DH HATES this )

I'm going to give serious attention to the grassless (I made that word up!) areas and see if my 'pink' thumbs can't resurrect a little growth ... we'll see

Patey, you know how big our holes are! LOL! Your son fits in one of them, if he curls up just a bit!

I need to find a place for a hydrangea. I bought one because it was pretty. It needs partial shade and I'm honestly not sure we have partial shade! It's so pretty though. I don't want to just stick it in the back yard. The yard desperately needs something, but one lonely hydrangea is silly. What I want to do is plant it in the silliest spot in the whole yard which is just off the back patio because I could see it from my couch. Really though, there's nothing there to compliment it! And it's not likely I'd do anything to fill in the emptiness.

I'm very near calling our friend about my newest plants. I've been faithfully watering them and one in particular isn't look good, and it was fine when it lived 10 inches West.

Hydrangeas can go in full sun to full shade. I've seen them work the full spectrum.

Ellie wrote:Patey, you know how big our holes are! LOL! Your son fits in one of them, if he curls up just a bit!

I need to find a place for a hydrangea. I bought one because it was pretty. It needs partial shade and I'm honestly not sure we have partial shade! It's so pretty though. I don't want to just stick it in the back yard. The yard desperately needs something, but one lonely hydrangea is silly. What I want to do is plant it in the silliest spot in the whole yard which is just off the back patio because I could see it from my couch. Really though, there's nothing there to compliment it! And it's not likely I'd do anything to fill in the emptiness.

I'm very near calling our friend about my newest plants. I've been faithfully watering them and one in particular isn't look good, and it was fine when it lived 10 inches West.

A few will tolerate full sun. Most will get wilty in the heat.

Which one did you get?

kolby wrote:Hydrangeas can go in full sun to full shade. I've seen them work the full spectrum.

Ellie wrote:Patey, you know how big our holes are! LOL! Your son fits in one of them, if he curls up just a bit!

I need to find a place for a hydrangea. I bought one because it was pretty. It needs partial shade and I'm honestly not sure we have partial shade! It's so pretty though. I don't want to just stick it in the back yard. The yard desperately needs something, but one lonely hydrangea is silly. What I want to do is plant it in the silliest spot in the whole yard which is just off the back patio because I could see it from my couch. Really though, there's nothing there to compliment it! And it's not likely I'd do anything to fill in the emptiness.

I'm very near calling our friend about my newest plants. I've been faithfully watering them and one in particular isn't look good, and it was fine when it lived 10 inches West.

monroegardener wrote:A few will tolerate full sun. Most will get wilty in the heat.

Which one did you get?

Which one did I get? How well do you know me?

I don't know which one I got! I was lucky that the cashier asked if I had alkeline (?) or something that's supposed to make them retain their color. Had she not, I wouldn't have known.

I got the one at the big table with the sign that said "Buy me"...I mean it said "Official flower of Mother's Day". I picked one that was more lilac in color, but I have a feeling that has more to do with the stuff you're supposed to add to the soil to give its color.

I paid $40 for the beautiful thing, so I hope I don't kill it.

Ellie wrote:

monroegardener wrote:A few will tolerate full sun. Most will get wilty in the heat.

Which one did you get?

Which one did I get? How well do you know me?

I don't know which one I got! I was lucky that the cashier asked if I had alkeline (?) or something that's supposed to make them retain their color. Had she not, I wouldn't have known.

I got the one at the big table with the sign that said "Buy me"...I mean it said "Official flower of Mother's Day". I picked one that was more lilac in color, but I have a feeling that has more to do with the stuff you're supposed to add to the soil to give its color.

I paid $40 for the beautiful thing, so I hope I don't kill it.

Sounds like Hydrangea macrophylla, possibly even var. serrata (http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/146/).

Those will be more likely to bloom given some sun during the day, but I'd recommend a spot with afternoon shade. That's the time of day when heat peaks and most hydrangeas droop. A spot that give you that and some winter protection combined would be ideal.

I haven't gotten much personal satisfaction growing these so far. These tend to bloom on old wood, and are only marginally top-hardy here. This means that they may be winter-killed almost to the ground and you may not get blooms every year.

Still, many good cultivars have come on the market in recent years, and it's worth trying to see what you can get away with!

Hmmm....I should probably take it back. $40 is an awful lot to experiment with. I wonder what Bern's return policy is.

Ellie wrote:Hmmm....I should probably take it back. $40 is an awful lot to experiment with. I wonder what Bern's return policy is.

I should think that as long as it still looks good, they would be amenable. At the very least, perhaps they would allow an exchange for equal value.

Tell them the conditions you have, and when you want blooms (I'm assuming now, since the Hydrangea was in bloom, no?), and they should be able to fix you up.