Betts's Blog

Greetings and Happy Memorial Day...know we all have our servicemen/women of the past and present in our thoughts, hearts and prayers..definitely a day of thanks.

 A quick question....I scored some black eyed Susan seeds (not the vine), if I plant them do you think they will germinate?? It usually is already in the 80's here, but we're having a longer and cooler spring.  I put up five little starter pots and keeping them in the sun..I'm keeping my fingers crossed they will grow.  What do you think??

I plan to pull out all our Penstemons, they have to be staked when in bloom, I prefer flowers that don't need it. If I'm right the Black Eyed Susan is related to the Echinacea and spread nicely (with control).  I'll have to find another flower for the hummers, although the Yuccas, Gasterias and Sages help (^_^)

Thanks, wishing you all well (^_~)

Heading in to San Francisco to put in new plants for Aurora...will take some pics

Howdy...hope you've had a nice weekend...

Okay, here is a pic of a flower I can't remember which it is.  If it is a Gladiola it will stay...if it is an Iris it is out of here!  We had something similar years ago and OMG!!  It got big and clumpy, had a tap root that almost went down to Aurstralia!!  Rick had to pull it out with his 'ol' Ford pick up and we said NEVER AGAIN!

This is mixed in (not in same area) with my 'real' Iris and Watsonias... I did have a Glad that was in my mom's garden, but not sure this is it...still trying to find a pic of it.

So what do you say it is???  Thanks and wishing you all well

Hi all,  Hope your weather is calming down....we've had a light mix of overcast skies and breezes this weekend.  We've counted our blessings and hope the best for everyone whose had to deal with a long winter and a rough spring. Just got an email from a friend in Shelburne, VT and they had a lot of rain too.  They'll have to deal with water in their basement, but they were able to get their items out in time.

Rick finished (for sure this time, lol) the shade over our front door.  Now he's putting in a new front door! Some of you may notice he went to darker panels on top....the sun really beats down on us during the summer and this will make a really nice difference.  I have a nice assortment of Pelargoniums in the shade with enough sun for my cactus...I like it (^_^)

 Below is the Arum in bloom..reminds me of a 'fairy' lamp...now I'm waiting for the stem to go to those bright red seed pods.

Wishing you all well...hope you had a nice weekend (^_~)

Greetings, Hope everyone is drying out and the rough weather has left your area.

We had a few rainy days and I decided to work with some beads...these are in memory of my Tia Charlene (Tia is Spanish for Aunt).  She had a hummer come into her apartment and feed off all the orchids she had.  My cousin Ron is a freelance florist/landscaper and always had flowers and plants for her. 

I did a lot of bead projects and posted them in the Arts 'n Craft forum.

The sun is shinning and I plan to get dirty this weekend (^_~)

Wishing you all well

Greetings all,  after saying our cool wet phase was over, it promptly got overcast and cold, lol.  We had lots of rain, a little bit of hail and a thunder or two.  

Needless to say the garden loved it.  Here are some of the latest openings we are able to see from our windows facing our back side fence.

 Dad liked Bird of Paradise and this was at his service 10yrs ago...it has only bloomed twice.

> This grew from a cutting a friend gave me over 10yrs ago and is a regular bloomer...they last two days

 This is the tiniest, I know it as a 'strawberry begonia', but it's neither.  Either way I love them.

I'm still getting pics of Rick's shade project.  Hope everyone is doing okay.

Wishing you all well (^_~)

Yep...we knew after Spring Break (3 weeks!!...don't ask) was over, those cold chilly winds would be a lot hotter.  It hit 92 today and will not go below 89 until after Thanksgiving.  Luckily we have hot ''dry'' summers, Rick already has our front sprinklers going off every two days!!.  We've gotten rid of a lot of grass, but what we have left is already looking a bit dry.

The pink penstemons are on the verge of opening in back and in front, there is another Arum flower!!  The Wullenjohn Iris are done and the Watsonia should be pushing spikes up soon.  A yucca is getting sending up three flower spikes, the hummers are going to like that.  My sweet peas are doing nicely too.

Over the weekend, I got some white petunias, planted them in five planters and have them on our front and side window shelves.  White petunias were my very first flower for Mother's Day, from Teri when she was in pre school.  I have wanted to have white petunias growing by Mother's Day for ever, but never got around to it.

 Rick just finished his shade project last week, give me a day or two to post some pics.  It's Teacher Appreciation Week and I'll be covering two morning recesses with two others so they can have a nice luncheon tomorrow.  Then, it will be time for our shift.

Hope your growing season is in full swing.

Wishing you all well (^_~)