Sunday, April 24, 2011

This Weekend

We had a good weekend.  Saturday morning, I left 50 minutes early to stand out in the cold in line to get into the annual Spring Fling plant sale.  Our son, T.J., took K.J. to our house, and Grandpa watched him so T.J. could join me in line.  We ended up being 5th and 6th in line.  I stuck to my list, and missed out on some things I would have liked to look at, but my goal was to check out before a long line formed, and I did.

I like the way they organized the cashiers this year.  They went back to the old way of folks getting their plants priced, and then moving up the same line to pay.  The last few years, you had to stand in a line to get priced, and then find another line to pay.  It was a mess, and provided for people to cut in lines.

I don't have my list with me now, but there is lemon grass, 3 kinds of liatris, a euphorbia of some kind, a couple asters, and some agastaches.  I had already planted the 2 pasque flowers I decided I needed to put in the side bed where the other ones are.


 There was a plant on my list that I was very excited about, rudbeckia 'maxima', but they didn't have it after all.  Another I was tickled about was seeing on the list is what Gail calls PPP, "perfectly pink phlox".  The plants are small, but they will find a nice home in the new flower bed.


When I got to my car, I saw a dear friend, Jo, who I hadn't seen for awhile.  We hugged and talked briefly, but noticed cars were waiting for our parking places, so I got into my car, but then, she came over to my passenger side, and asked for a ride home.  She had locked her keys in her car!  Well, of course, we did a yard walk, and I remembered her having a tall yellow plant I was pretty sure was a rudbeckia, and maybe even the maxima I wanted.  She was happy to share.  This evening, she called to tell me she enjoyed the newspaper article, and we talked about the plants she gave me.  She said her grandmother called this plant golden glow.  The plants she has are from her grandmother, so this is a wonderful passalong plant!
 

Jo was so thankful I was going to take her back to her car, she gave me this beautiful trilium.  I call the events of the day a God thing.  I kind of caused Jo's keys to be locked in the car, due to sidetracking her, but then, I was able to take her to get her keys, and then she provided a great substitute for the plant they didn't have after all.  Then, to get this lovely plant, was an added blessing.  She said they are wild, and endangered in some places.


She also gave me some Solomon's Seal.  I didn't get it planted yet.  Hopefully, I'll be able to tomorrow.  The plant on the left is one I moved to plant one of the pasque flowers.  I don't remember what it is, but it gets floppy, and I am not very fond of it.  My son forgot to take it and the spiderwort that I had divided and didn't need all of.  He did rescue some plants I had dug out of the area under the tree Friday, and not taken care of.


I went out in the rain before it got dark Saturday evening, and got the bicycle basket planted.



Another awesome thing about the weekend, was getting the rest of the chicken wire around the vegetable garden!  When I saw that we were going to get it done, I was so excited, and yelled at any rabbits that may be in earshot, that they were no longer going to be entering MY vegetable garden.  Larry cut a flap out of the gate area so we can step over the fence.


We ran out of the coated wire we were using, and I went to the closest hardware store, forgetting it was Easter, and got some little pull tie deals, because I couldn't find any wire.  As we were working, some Bruce Springsteen lyrics kept going through my head, "You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're alright, and that's alright with me."  LOL  Now, we need to put a fence around part of the garden across the street.


Larry told me we had a coupon for a free 4 pack of annuals, so I chose this viola.


Baby C.J. and Mom weren't feeling good today, so K.J. and Dad came over for him to find the hidden Easter gifts in the house.  We spent some time outside, too.  Our son loves to look under rocks and stepping stones to see what critters may be there.  I love this photo of K.J. holding the millipede. They also talked about centipedes not being good to hold, because they bite.  Later, K.J. was talking about how some bugs are good, and some are bad.  He's awfully smart for a 3 year old!


Here's a link to an online version of the newspaper article.  The article in the paper had a nice photo of Ben's garden, and one of one of my hellebores, and a large photo of Heidi and me.  My pink tulips are in the online version.  I just noticed that you can see more of the photos she took on the online version, and one can buy them.  That's weird, because the one of me and Heidi could be bought, too.  I don't expect anyone to do that!  

I told the reporter that I have so many blogs I love, that it was very hard to come up with a list of favorites.  I said if I did the list another day, it could include other blogs.  I don't know if I really have favorite blogs, anyway.  I don't keep up with any of them well, but try make an effort to visit as often as I can.  I think that's true of a lot of us.  Also, I haven't kept up well with Linda from Scotland or Catherine from France.  That's who I was thinking of when I told her I had blogger friends from those countries.  I mentioned other countries, too.

Well the weekend is over for me.  I need to get myself to sleep so I can get up for work.  I hope you had a blessed Easter.

17 comments:

  1. What a lovely update! Those plants are going to be gorgeous in your garden. cute photo of the kiddo and looks like your veggie garden will be safe now!

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  2. Looks like you got some great plants at the sale, and from your friend! I have to find some pasque flowers somewhere, I am seeing them on several blogs, and I am totally wanting them.

    K.J. is so cute with the millipede on his hand!

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  3. Another really fun post, Sue, full of all sorts that made for a thoroughly enjoyable read. You bought yourself some lovely plants plus those you acquired...you garden has so much variety! I love the planted bicycle basket. It's so cheerful and welcoming!

    Hope baby CJ and his Mommy feel better today and that your working week gets off to a good start.

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  4. That bicycle planter is marvelous-what a cute way to display!

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  5. That was a very nice article about you and your garden blog. Glad you got some plants you were wanting.

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  6. Sounds like you had a great day gathering plants and catching up with a gardening friend. So many nice things coming together for your garden right now.
    The article was well done. Thank you for including the link and you and Heidi look happy together in the garden.
    Enjoy that rain and hope you get all your new plants settled in.

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  7. Very nice to see a link to your article, I looked in the Journal Star online without any luck. I found 3 kinds of black petunias this weekend along with lots of other treasures such as a begonia called Escargot.

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  8. A great weekend of gardening and enjoying the resurrection of our Savior. .does it get any better??

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  9. Hi Sue,
    I saw the article in the paper and decided to pop on by -- I absolutely love that bike basket with flowers. So cute! And it sounds like you made a lot of great purchases at the Spring Affair. I didn't make it there this year...but I've been busy in my garden nonetheless.

    Lovely to meet you here...

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  10. I love your Saturday with meeting your friend and getting even more plants. You'll love the PPPP. Mine is just starting to bloom. Last year was its first year in my garden and it started much later. I think we all just do as we can with the blog reading. I know I'm always behind in reading them. Your grandson is a cutie pie.

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  11. It is so funny how things turn out sometimes. Glad you were able to find some new plants. Golly girl I thought you had them all. LOL!

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  12. Quite a haul of new plants. That should pep up the garden a bit this year.
    Rudbeckia maxima is worth growing but it can get really tall.

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  13. Such a lot has been happening in your garden since my last visit, Sue. And what a surprise to read my name at the end of this post. I feel exactly the same as you - I think about blogger friends during the day and wonder what's doing with them, and then there's so little time to 'visit' when I get home from work. Especially now that things are moving along outside.
    Your bicycle basket is divine! And I'll be interested to see how your trilium fares. It's a native of north America, so not very common here. Happy gardening!

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  14. Sue, so we have a lot of things to look forward to from your garden. In a little while they will be sending flowers out. Your little cutie is already smart, great oldies teaching him!

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  15. Sue, I'm so delighted to see your blog and find out what a garden-lover you are! I also visited your Christian blog and was encouraged there as well. Thank you. I will be visiting often. (See you in the halls!)
    -Jana G.

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  16. I got plants at the Spring Affair, too. Got there about 10 and had to wait about a half hour in line. I also picked up a pasque flower and I am really excited about it! Also got a teeny little persimmon tree.

    Have you ever been to Bluebird Nursery in Clarkson? It is interesting, but their demonstration gardens were in pretty sad shape.

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  17. What a great weekend!! Cool new plants, cool bike planter, cool little helper:).
    Love your little one's face, kids don't hold anything back do they?

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