Quad Cities Garden

Ornamental Grasses

2008-04-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

My shipment of ornamental grasses arrived packaged very well and looked great, but then Haley managed to run off with one. It was badly chewed, all dirt shaken from its roots but I planted it anyway. She's such a little monster.

The List of Ornamental Grasses

Acorus gramineus Variegatus
Calamagrostis acutiflora Avalanche
Calamagrostis acutiflora Overdam
Carex elata Bowles Golden
Carex morrowii Ice Dance
Carex oshimensis Evergold
Deschampsia cespitosa
Miscanthus sinensis Bluetenwunder
Miscanthus sinensis Gracillimus
Miscanthus sinensis Kaskade
Miscanthus sinensis Little Kitten
Miscanthus sinensis Little Zebra
Miscanthus sinensis Malepartus
Miscanthus sinensis Morning Light
Miscanthus sinensis Mysterious Maiden
Miscanthus sinensis Nippon
Miscanthus sinensis Puenktchen Little Dot
Miscanthus sinensis Purpurascens Autumn Red
Miscanthus sinensis Rigoletto
Miscanthus sinensis Sarabande
Miscanthus sinensis Silberfeder
Miscanthus sinensis Strictus
Miscanthus sinensis Super Stripe
Miscanthus sinensis Variegatus
Miscanthus sinensis Zebrinus
Panicum virgatum Shenandoah
Phlox paniculata David

Of course the Phlox isn't a grass but we lost our phlox a few years ago and that particular one has an amazing aroma, so I bought a replacement.

It looks like a pricey purchase but I actually bought these last fall during their year end sale when all the grasses were so discounted it came out to only a couple bucks per grass. I opted for the spring delivery because at the time I was too busy with other stuff. I feel like a stinker because of that option I got their spring inventory at the fall price. Very happy with the roots on these wonderful plants.

My garden is now full of ornamental grasses!!

On another note: Yesterday I finished spray painting the layout for the new walk way. For days Cliff has been saying, "This is BS. Blah, Blah It won't look good." After he could visually see what has been in my head he admitted that it looked pretty cool. At this point I'm really surprised he still doubts that I know what I'm doing. tee hee hee I guess I can't fool him, but it is turning out rather well. :)

Related Links

University of Illinois Extension - Ornamental Grasses - Understanding Ornamental Grasses, How to Plant, Care and Maintenance, and Types of Ornamental Grasses.

Some Bloomers

2008-04-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

It's overcast and 53 degrees right now, which is probably as good as it's going to get today. I started moving rocks around to the new beds but I got sidetracked by a few bloomers. So instead of working on the new beds, I took some pictures. I don't know if we'll see a frost so better shoot the flowers before they are mush, since the lows have been in the 30's.

Large tulips that we bought from Brecks 9 years ago.

A miniature thrift that is in my miniature conifer garden.

Here is one of my favorite bleeding hearts with yellow foliage.

Rock Island Horticulture Club

2008-04-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

or perhaps I should say Rock Island Horrorticulture Club? One of the many things I have learned about gardeners is just because you love gardening doesn't mean you're necessarily a wildlife lover, nor does it mean you're exempt from moronic behavior. This morning I was excited to attend the Rock Island Horticulture Club spring sale but soon I was an unwilling audience member to barbaric and inappropriate behavior. A bucket containing two mice was dumped onto the entrance and a dog was gleefully allowed to playfully, slaughter the animals.

Now I understand that mice cause havoc in a greenhouse but the disposal was so inappropriate!! News flash - torturing and killing small animals at the only entrance/exit isn't usually good for business. The lady in front of me had to look away in disgust & she made a comment about the poor mice. I can honestly say that the Rock Island Horticulture Club has lost at least two long standing customers.

Satan's Kiss & Wet Dog Smell

2008-04-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

I started a bunch of peppers this year, but I forgot to write down a row so now I'm not sure what was written down correctly and which line was skipped. I'm sure it was the pepper, Satan's Kiss, that wasn't included ( i think) so I'll end up planting them all. Maybe once they start bearing fruit I'll be able to tell what is what by a pepper line up.

The one year I grow enough pepper plants to share and I don't have a clue what I am offering. Ughh

It's raining here and temps are starting to cool down. The dogs weren't in a hurry to come in so they are now drenched and the kitchen has muddy paw prints stamped across it. The smell of wet dogs should be bottled and used as an interrogation technique.

No More Lawn

2008-04-23T09:19:00.001-07:00

The new beds are really starting to shape but I'm still unsure when I should start planting since we are expecting cooler temps. Every time I look into the dogs area I see something new that has been destroyed by the girls so I really think it's going to be the lesser of two evils. Frost or beagles?

Planted my new daylilies and have started setting out the tomato plants. It's going to be awhile before I can plant them but they need to start hardening off. The air is so much better than the musty basement anyway. The flat leaf parsley that I started from seed looks great. We love to cook with it but we also use it as a host plant for swallowtail butterflies. I've started so many many plants that we should have enough for both.

If I can pull everything together that the yard should look really amazing this year. It has evolved into a large garden instead of a couple beds around the parameter of a large grass area.

Well, I'm going to get out there and enjoy this beautiful day.

Quad Cities Plant Sales

2008-04-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again! Plant Sales!

Nonprofit groups in Q-C host plant sales

My personal favorites are Rock Island Horticultural Club, Silvis Garden Club, and Mississippi Valley Hosta Society sale. Those always have interesting finds. :)

Our Trees are Barkless

2008-04-01T18:09:00.000-07:00

The bark is rolling off our trees leaving bare, slick limbs. It's happening to most of the older trees in the ravine. I hope this doesn't mean we'll be losing them soon.

Thunderstorms

2008-03-31T08:12:00.000-07:00

This morning thunderstorms are beating down on the Quad Cities and it sounds wonderful. I think this is the best storm we've had in a long time. Perfect mix of spring warmth, rain and boomers. Another noise that started last night was the catbird announcing she was back by singing all night long. I saw two of them flitting around in the tree so maybe this year she will have babies. As soon as it stops raining a bit I'm going to introduce the mealworms to her although I still don't think she'll find a dehydrated worm appealing. Maybe they will puff once they get soaked by the rain. :)

I find it amazing how a good rain seems to green everything up overnight. Our muddy swamp is starting to look like lawn again and the green of the perennials are starting to emerge.

Bailey (beagle one) seems to be getting over her twisted ankle. Last outing she got a little too rambunctious and somehow hurt herself while chasing her sister. We had a three legged dog limping around for a day until we decided we had better take her to the vet. After being told to keep her off her feet for awhile and given some medication, I was wondering how we would manage. Apparently, Bailey was in so much pain she didn't mind being a couch potato for the week. To the dismay of her rowdy sister that tried to egg her on Bailey had no problem being spoiled and playing the the drama queen when anyone else tried to get on her couch. This morning she's walking fine and has even started her favorite pastime; taking cardboard boxes out of the recycle bin.

QC Master Gardeners' Perennial Plant Sale

2008-03-29T07:42:00.000-07:00

First plant sale that I've noticed in the paper: QC Master Gardeners' perennial plant sale that supports gardening programs. Plants are $12 and will be delivered fresh from Sunnyfield Greenhouse and Gardens. Plants can be picked up at Rock Island County Extension parking lot from 9 am - 2 pm May 10.

Quad Cities Master Gardeners are offering 3 plants for sale but you have to order by Sunday March 30. Tomorrow! Here are the 1 gallon plants that are offered.

MISCANTHUS s. 'Morning Light'

GERANIUM 'Rozanne'

HEUCHERA 'Citronelle'

Order yours:
QC Master Gardeners' Perennial Plant Sale

It was a tough decision but I decided to go with the HEUCHERA 'Citronelle'. I've had the MISCANTHUS s. 'Morning Light' before and although it is a gorgeous grass, it didn't overwinter for me well.

Quad Cities Rock Parties

2008-03-28T10:08:00.000-07:00

Hey Rock Lovers!

This is quoted from the Mar-Qui pamphlet they gave away during the Quad Cities Flower & Garden Show.

Schedule a Rock Party

Invite your friends for a unique and fun event at your location.

You receive 10% commission in product. Invite 25+ adults and receive a complimentary $50 Sponge Boulder. (now if their terms change don't get mad at me. this is current at 9/28/08)

We bring:

~ 10,000- 20,000 lbs of colorful, decorative boulders in all price ranges
~ Driftwood
~ Driftwood Planters
~ Feather Rock Planters
~ Stepping Stones
~ Rock Collections

We handle all deliveries for your guests at no charge.

Fun, fun, fun! I've bought a few beauties from them, including this one I got at the show.

Delayed Maintenance

2008-03-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

This afternoon turned out to be pretty despite the chilly morning. I took my camera looking for anything to shoot. Earlier the nuthatch was dive bombing me for attention but when I have the camera she disappears.

I noticed a lot of delayed maintenance in the yard. I'm not sure what happened to this birdhouse but it's missing pieces. I'll need to take it down to fix it because it is a favorite of mine. We bought several of them from an estate sale. The sellers were taking them down from their posts and selling the lot of them before the new buyers of the house moved in. The man that had passed away made them. I thought it was rather sad, but I was happy to give them a home. Not a very good one apparently. I'm so ashamed. lol Note to self: fix that!!

Ed, my indoor kitty, went for a stroll with me. He found the catmint.

This is the only wildlife that I found in the garden.

Now I have to go shampoo my two pups because they rolled in something absolutely disgusting & smelly.

Audubon Workshop Free Coupon

2008-03-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Last fall Audubon Workshop sent me a coupon for $25, no strings attached so I ordered mealworms and a coconut suet bird feeder. Today my order came!! :) I can't wait to see how the catbird enjoys these mealworms. They are dried, fried (?) ..well, they are dead. I'm not sure if that will be appetizing when she's use to me feeding her live bugs. I think I should probably move them from the kitchen counter incase Cliff gets the munchies. It really is such a cute little bag. Looks like organic chips bag you would find at the health food store.

The suet coconut bird feeder is basically a disposable suet feeder but it looks promising. I'm going to hang it in the cherry tree tomorrow morning & see if anyone comes to it. Of course I'll have to take it in at night or the raccoons will carry it off. I noticed they (raccoons) ate the last of my lily bulbs. A huge whole is left, so on the upside I guess I have room to plant something there. At least I have a few photos of the flowers.

The Move

2008-03-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

The blog moved, I didn't but what a headache! So here I am. Aug. was the last time I posted. Wow, I can't believe that. Well, a lot has happened as it should.

I got two beagle puppies last fall that ended up being two very sick puppies. After a lot of money and heartache they finally are better and are able to eat without being ill. My bad, I actually bought them from a pet store so there is a good chance they were from a puppy mill. I know, I know I should have went to a shelter. What can I say? I wasn't actually looking for a dog but then I saw one & fell in love. Her sister was attached to tail (literally hanging from the other dog when I picked her up) so I figured I needed them both. Crazy idea because I totally forgot that the cost of food & vet bills will now be x 2. Oh well, we really didn't need that new car.

Since I have new, rowdy puppies I'm giving up a lot..well, yes a lot but really a city lot of our yard. They need a place to run and I have too many plants that are toxic to chewers so I'll be moving my garden once it's safe to do so. Now the rest of our yard will be down to a single path & the rest gardens.

So I have to combine 100's of plants that I have in the dogs yard-to be and try to come up with space for all the seeds I've started. I've tried to stick with veggies this year and maybe a few flowers. I started 6 different kinds of tomatoes & 6 peppers. I would love to do more but no space. We're going to get a deep freeze so I can start freezing more.

I'm really excited that its almost spring!! Can't wait to see green.

Humid Weather

2007-11-16T17:22:00.000-08:00

Thu 2 Aug 2007

It’s a real muggy morning so I tried to get a lot done early. Planted the 6 boxwood bushes along the sidewalk border and pulled a few weeds. Looking through the plants I still need to plant there doesn’t seem to be many left, but at the same time I’m not sure where to put any of them. I think the rest of the annuals will be stuffed creatively in pots. Get rid of all the iris and all I’ll have a holding bed for my trees.

The blue jays are constantly begging (or demanding?) for peanuts when I’m outside, which is kind of nice. My squirrel seems to have disappeared.

Hawk victim or peanut overdose.

Little Water Feature

2007-11-16T17:20:00.000-08:00

Wed 1 Aug 2007

I saw this old postcard on ebay and had to have it. Not the postcard, but I’m lusting the waterfall because it would look amazing running down our ravine. Won’t ever happen but the dream keeps me from thinking about my foot.

My foot has been giving me problems so there isn’t much gardening going on. I’m waiting till the weeds are waist high so I don’t have to far to bend, nor will I have to scoot around on the ball of my foot while doing garden squats. I’ll have a lot of clean up to do once I’m feeling better. Until then here is a pretty hardy hibiscus blooming that I grew from seed… not all is bad.

Baby coons & Japanese Beetles

2007-11-16T17:18:00.000-08:00

Tue 3 Jul 2007

The biggest threat to my little oasis seems to be baby raccoons and Japanese Beetles. Oh, the baby coons are so cute but they are such curious little furballs and get into everything. They strip the leaves off our tiny ginkgo, pull the peppers from the plants and they love to dig holes everywhere ..oh did I mention pot tipping? Every morning I’m not sure what mess I’ll wake to but it’s still worth it having the wildlife. I’m surprised how many people haven’t seen a raccoon, groundhog, chipmunk or opossum in person. Now the Japanese Beetles are a bit of wildlife I could do without. What type of animal eats them? I’ll take two.

I’m still creating more beds. This is my new coral bell bed/mini hosta bed.

I’m so loving these dwarf/mini hostas but they don’t last long if there are earwigs or slugs around. I was thinking of setting out beer traps, but liquor and raccoons sounds like a bad combo. I also have gotten a few large hosta from a collector the split his. I’m not sure the area I have ready receives too much sunlight, so how silly is this; I purchased some shade cloth. Shade cloth tents, oodles of plants still sitting in containers. At any moment I expect the city to fine me for running a nursery in a residential area.

Busy Planting

2007-11-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

Thu 31 May 2007

I’m really horrible updating this thing. By the time I get in from outside I’m too tried to update my blog, let alone update all the software I’m suppose to be doing. I guess that’s what these rainy days are for.

Speaking of rain, wasn’t last weekends storm a riot? I don’t think its rained like that for a couple years. Of course we were traveling in it. I went to Sunnyfield Greenhouse & Gardens in Galva, IL. The plant area was very nice, plants very healthy, not sure where the gardens were. I saw a couple display beds as you enter the nursery so I guess those were it. Prices were good and unlike Hornbakers the plants weren’t a tiny plug among a gallon pot of dirt. I bought a couple perennials and a few annuals for the porch. It was fun but I’m not sure if we’ll take the trip again since Wallaces & GardenTown seem to offer a nice selection. It’s not like I really need anything anyways.

Spent the rest of the weekend with family that flew in from California.

Garden is really popping with color.

Poppy Bloom

2007-11-16T17:12:00.000-08:00

Tue 15 May 2007

It rained this morning so I’ve been out pulling weeds from the wet earth. Amazing how the little buggers seem to grow overnight when we get rain. My poppies are starting to bloom and Gary’s poppies are blooming after three years of sitting there. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The flower blossoms are huge. Thanks Gary! :) I can’t wait to see what other colors open up but orange is my favorite.

Terese’s peony has been blooming like crazy too. It’s one of my favorites as well.

Thank goodness I didn’t plant the two near each other.

I’ve been pretty busy planting all my plant sale finds and packing up plants for friends. I had to dig up one of my new maple trees because it started stressing for no apparent reason. I didn’t find a pest at the roots so I’m not sure what went wrong. I’m keeping it in a container until it shows improvement and then I’ll probably plant the container in the fall.

I received my lilac order of 5 different lilacs that say they need something like 15 feet of spacing except the dwarf variety. What a joke. I’m not sure what I was thinking but surely they’ll stay dinky until we move? Might have to bonsai the little guys.

One of the neighborhood children has discovered that their favorite toy is their dogs squeaky toy. Imagine listening to three hours of that while gardening. There is also a new puppy in our neighborhood, cute little hound dog that sounds like a sea lion or walrus barking.

So we’ve decided the perfect location would be an acreage in between a cemetery with no available plots and a public library.

Snake House

2007-11-16T17:10:00.000-08:00

Thu 3 May 2007

We have a snake living in one of our birdhouses. Kind of cute, I guess.

I’ve been busy planting as much as I can, ignoring that in 2005 we had temps in the 20 & 30’s. It’s easy to get ahead of myself with the warm temps we’ve had.

I bought a few plants at the Rock Island Horticulture plant sale last weekend. It was one of those times when I went in thinking that I really didn’t need anything, but left needing a uhaul. Ugh, my family’s packrat tendencies are not in my home, but they sure show up in the garden. Now I’m lugging pots of stuff in and out the garage until I find space.

I’m hardening off the flats of flowers I started from seed and digging up volunteer plants that have self seed. I can’t kill them knowing somebody out there is actually buying the same thing. I’m going to give them to a plant sale or send them off in ginny’s package. Yeah, I haven’t done that yet. {{{blush}}}

I was notified by a nursery that they are sending the lilacs I ordered last fall. huh? Must have been a full moon. Otherwise I have been very good with the online spending. After the rest of the local plant sales are over I won’t be purchasing anything more for the garden. Now trading is another story.

Quad Cities Plant Sales

2007-11-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

Fri 27 Apr 2007

Attention Q-C peeps!

The Times has listed the dates and times of plants sales around the Quad Cities area.

Plant Sale Dates & Times

Time to buy more plants. {{drooling on keyboard}}

You can call him Harry

2007-11-16T17:07:00.000-08:00

Wed 25 Apr 2007

So my little squirrel loves to pose, right? While gardening, I’ll often look over to see him in the most adorable spot. Sitting on a rock, peaking out of some flowers or begging with those cute brown eyes. I thought I would take advantage of his adorable self & shoot a few pics.

It turns out he is also one of the most uncooperative animals I have ever photographed.

But he is magical. Not only can he levitate his body, but he can also make a 2lb bag of peanuts disappear. I’ve changed his name to Houdini.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Weather here is wonderful. :) Yeah, it’s raining and it’s awesome. I was afraid I would have to gripe about a drought since we were 2 inches short for rainfall, but it’s been raining buckets. This is exactly what all my plants need. I bet the hostas will really start to come up once they get this needed drink.

New Roses

2007-11-16T17:06:00.000-08:00

Tue 17 Apr 2007

The last couple days have been absolutely gorgeous with the highs in the 60’s and 70’s so I’ve been out weeding and planting a few cheap roses I bought at Farm & Fleet. For $1.99 I don’t care if use them as annuals. Hopefully they will come back next year, but that’s really cheap for blooms. I picked up Queen Elizabeth, Angel Face, Sunny Delite, Camelot, Red Gold, Intrigue and John F. Kennedy.

Besides planting I’ve been doing a lot of ripping out. Naturalizing bulbs that I got with a Brecks sampler five years ago have been taking over my flower beds. I must have dug thousands of them and there are still so much more. Meanwhile I have this little black squirrel that follows me around everywhere and one of these days I’m sure he’s going to hop onto my back. I am at fault for offering it a peanut a couple days ago and I guess in return he’s decided to become my pocket pet. lol And I thought I would become one of those crazy old cat ladies. I call him my rat.

I’m going to create a new garden in the back part of our yard with some plants I need to move. Right now I’m in lawn negotiation with Cliff. I find it a bit confusing that someone who gripes & moans about taking care of the grass can so fiercely not want to give it up. I’m trying my best to help him out.

Plants “communicate”

2007-11-16T17:04:00.000-08:00

Thu 12 Apr 2007

The heading is “Plants communicate when they’re attached”. Could this be a typo? I assume it would mean attacked? lol Otherwise it leads you to feel sorry for all the plants out there that unfortunately can’t communicate because of their single status.

Anyway, basically it says researchers at Pennsylvania State University are discovering plants send out odors into the air attracting different bugs. If the plant is being attacked by a certain bug, the plant will release a scent to attract the attacking bugs predator.

Here is the full story

April snow showers bring..

2007-11-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Thu 12 Apr 2007

…chilled tulip tips.

I think this year I’m going to be blessed with the ugliest blooming tulips ever. Snow on top of the bitter temps a few days ago have made all new growth MUSH. This only confirms my belief that a rock garden is the way to go. Rocks look good despite whatever the weather is and the bunnies have a hard time chewing them down.

The only “dirt” I’ve been able to play with is contained in a jiffy pellet. Break out the champaign, seedlings have set their second set of leaves. Woohoo! If I wasn’t still wrapping myself in blankets I might really think it was spring.

The only seeds I haven’t been able to germinate is Dandy’s Lions Tail. :( Bummer, I had a tail theme going on with the bunny’s tail grass, donkeys tail.. and all the other tails that wander my garden.

Oh my gosh I’ve gotten inspired to write more poetry for the Dear Harley, Dear Harley poem. It’s John Prine Does it to me all the time.

Enjoy the snow everyone. It will probably be 90 degrees soon.

gotta go!

QCCA Flower and Garden Show

2007-11-16T16:54:00.000-08:00

Tue 27 Mar 2007

This past weekend I attended the Quad Cities QCCA Flower & Garden Show for a much needed dose of blooms. I couldn’t wait to see all the display gardens, browse among the 200 garden vendors and perhaps pick up a plant or two. Ok, I was also there for the rocks. - more later

Overall I would have to say the show was ok. Of course even without words Home or Lawn in the title there seemed to be the occasional booth that had nothing to do with gardening or flowers - squeegees & jewelry. Usually I stay away from Home and Garden shows since they rarely have much garden related. This years QCCA Flower & Garden Show did seem to have a few more garden related vendors.

Even with the garden/flower theme though, the majority of the show seemed to be waterfalls and concrete….lots, & lots of concrete block everywhere.

What the show seemed to be lacking were the blossoms. The flowers seem few & far between. I remember a few years ago when the displays were packed with blooms, but this year the sparse look must be in.

I thought the Rock Island Horticulture Society had the most interesting packed display showcasing all sorts of bonsai, conifers and a fat little Buddha.

edit: Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to Where Waldo anyone. The Buddha isn’t actually in this photo.

Ok, so the real reason I go to the show every year is that I am a huge rock junkie. I love garden rocks and I know most of my friends think it’s extremely silly to actually pay for a rock, but I always go to the QCCA Flower & Garden Show because Mar-Qui has a display of awesome rocks. For the last few years I’ve picked up at least one rock from them and now I’m tickled to report they let people host “Rock Parties” now. Now I can get back at all the people that have sent me candle party invites the past few years.

To sum things up, the Quad Cities QCCA Flower & Garden Show was probably better than I expected vendor wise. The displays lacked blooms but most of them were still interesting. It was nice to see all the area clubs and feel like a purchase was going to help something locally. Will I go again next year? Of course! I’ll need to purchase another rock or two.