watering, watering, watering... planted three peonies, snapdragons, alyssum, lantana, mexican heather, sunflowers... dug three new flower beds and uncovered the raspberry bushes under VERY tall weeds. So THIS is ownership... makes me tired!

been growing grass in all the lawn's bald spots... slowly... slowly... slowly... IT HATH SPROUTED!!!!! yeah! only about 50 square feet left to go! Harvesting daily... raspberries and roses! Always fresh flowers from the garden!!!

those last three lines resemble song lyrics...

go on...

just saying, convalutedly(sp?) it would seem, that they are lyrical

ok, now back on subject: my fushcia has buds. now i must say that as the bud opens to reveal the unique blooms, one may be discouraged and think the buds are dying. NOT.....so i'll let you know how they're doing. and the roses had all their black spotted leaves removed after a hefty spraydown with fungicide. and all of them are blooming! irises are still popping up out of the ground including the ones i planted earlier this year.

Did I ever mention that I live in THE PLACE for a rose-appreciator? People here breed them, like they do with cattle down yall's way!

yup, i know about that. loved germany's rose gardens!

i liked their corner flower vendors!

don't the thorns hurt?

Not if you relax and lose all tensions... Dear Wolf, I live in a village where roses are a big crop, like wheat, sugar beets, potatos or maize (we call it Mais, the rest of the world calls it much the same, but US-citizens tend to appreciate it as "corn"...) in other villages of my county. So, in this rather rural setting, roses are everywhere, especially in the show gardens of the bigger growers. On weekends, we even have some rose-tourism: people who shop for plants or visit the worlds only museum dedicated to roses. Growing roses here as agricultural product has a 125+ years tradition. Every two years, we have a big celebration with amusement park and ten thousands of people coming to see the parade and the rose-covered floats.

Or did I tell you this already, Wolf? Anyway, cherry blossom is getting nicer and nicer by the day. And soon it's time for the asparagus that is grown here, too (the region southwest of Frankfurt - in the Rhine-valley and around Darmstadt - is especially famous for its asparagus; tobacco, too... sandy soil).

i didn't know about the asparagus, but i loves the stuff. my roses will never compare to germany's. it's so humid down here that the hybrid teas (very finnicky anyway) don't get to dry off at night so black spot sets in quickly. i've been working on expanding my rose garden with more disease resistant roses like old roses, grandiflora, floribunda, and the like.

Aah, I love the old english ones! What did I sow? I wonder, because today, I harvested snow. It's still laying on the ground, and now it's evening. Wonder how long it stays...

I 'planted' grass seed in some of the bald spots in the lawn. I've been coming home and watering dilegently. Yesterday I watered diligently (again) for 45 minutes. And then it poured down rain. Now all my grass seed is sitting in a puddle at the corner of my lawn. *frown*

sounds like my yard. rained cats and dogs today and i watered everything last night.

i'm gonna have some really thick grass when that puddle of seeds takes root!

I woke, and the snow was gone. A cat screamed outside. Went to town and later to Frankfurt, through showers of sleet and hail. What DID I sow?

the snow came here last night. Six inches. After I shoveled this morning I sprinkled grass seed over the whole mess. Ideally, it'll soak down into the ground when the snow melts and plant itself. we'll see!

Nice trick - if the cold wetness doesn't destroy the seed. I'm right now sowing ideas into some peoples minds about contributing to superstar. I'm curios what will take root, and what will blossom.

superstar? oh, i promised a follow-up on my fuschia. she's blooming profusely (i'm talking buds are opened and everything). her petals are a very pale pink and look kinda dirty (like they were dropped in mud). it's too early for hummingbirds so i hope this gal will bloom all summer.

superstar is Alexander's publication... read all about it in media and music!

Erh, yes. superstar. My labor of love. Even got a topic here: http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/music/59 I plant ideas in people's minds, and reap a rich harvest in creative contributions! Some topics sow themselves, and a friend finds them along the way, and brings them in, for us to admire them and for our readers astonishment, too! There is a rose called Superstar; no immediate relation.

what kind of articles you looking for, Alexander? (and, don't forget, you can always take up space with an ad for The Spring and/or your music conference...)

woo woo multimedia advertising!

Nice try, Wer! I might rather need some serious advertisements myself, and I don't have any funds left after printing (sales-$$$ come in only by early July). For the kind of content, see the superstar-topic (no need to fill up every single topic around here with my successless sale pitches...).

How do you tell poison ivy? What does it look like and what are the telltale signs?

poison ivy has sets of three leaves. they are not attached to each other but are on the same stem (like rose leaflets). the rash can be slight to quite big, raised and very itchy. it oozes too. and is contagious.

here are some pics: http://res.agr.ca/brd/poisivy/pois.html

They are deep green glossy on woody stems and the young leaves are RED!

ok, my plants survived my mini vacation. yup, even the office plants thrived. i'm so glad!!

Can't get to my raspberries because of wasps!!! Must do something about that. Strawberries are finished and the bed looks a mess as the rain has brought up the weeds and there are masses of rasberry suckers. The house male has finished the rose arch and is now working on the raised bed by the side of it. However, rain keeps stopping play! When I get fed up of studying (ha ha) I'll go and do some weeding for fun ....

Weeding for fun??? Your life cannot be so uneventful that you weed for FUN?! No wonder the English invented the rock garden...!!!

oh, don't talk about rock garden - that has the WORSE weeds!!!!!! Have decided to pull up the rasberries, maybe when they've finished fruiting...... Strawberry bed needs to be sorted out again. Need to clear it, take the best runners and replant. Think I'll put some weed suppreseent fleece down first and then gravel on top. That should help. Rhubarb is ready to be picked - just nice for Sunday Lunch with custard.

Ooooh...You are eating incredible fruit and I am suffering here with mangoes... House male planted two little podocarpus trees right in my line of sight to Mauna Kea. The remain small for a nanosecond then take over the entire yard! Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Suffering indeed!!!! Haw! haw!