Wascawy Warmf And Wabbits!!!

The Friday before Memorial Day I planted 300+ coral and salmon magellan zinnias at a client's house... These were plants that I had seeded in mid-April and was SO looking forward to be planting for them. My client LOVES coral and salmon and these zinnias are absolutely beautiful in those colors (as well as the yellow, orange, and red).

However... I should have known things weren't going to go well with them when I started to install the first group. The soil had become rock hard in the area that I was going to plant. I didn't have time to go get a tiller and work the soil, so I just started planting.

By the end of the 300+ zinnias I had a large bleeding blister on my right palm, another on my left thumb, and a third on my right index finger. It was 90 degrees, I was thirsty, I was tired, my knees hurt... They were done, I watered them in... I decided I should set the irrigation to come on every day for the next several since it was suppose to be in the 90's over Memorial Day and into the next week. I felt proud I got it done and thought ahead of the heat with extra watering.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning... I got out of my truck and walked over to the zinnias... burnt to a crisp. And the ground around the zinnias was bone dry. I walked over to the perennial beds... bone dry and new perennial plantings were drooping, others browning. I quickly walked to a series of four identical beds filled with annuals... also dry (but miraculously still looking ok).

I ran down to the irrigation controls... It was set correctly. I tried to turn it on manually... nothing happened. Then a little red light caught my eye... Beside it read "Rain Sensor." WHAT??? RAIN??? It hadn't rained a drop, but the crazy sensor had decided it had. This meant that the sensor did an override and told the irrigation system NOT to turn on.

I shut off the sensor and manually turned on the irrigation system... I drenched all of the beds, hoping I could save the dying the plants... especially the zinnias I worked so hard on just a few days before.

Well... most of the zinnias could not be saved, but I did see positive results within a couple of days of about 1/4th of the zinnias.

And then...



The rabbits hit.

I knew rabbits liked zinnias, but... really???

So, most of the remaining zinnias became snacks for the rabbits in the neighborhood.

What to do... What to do...

So, on Tuesday of this week I spent a few hours removing 300+ mostly dead and/or decapitated zinnias and installed 180 penta 'butterfly lavender shades' ... Not exactly what I was planning... and definitely not the color I was wanting to display along the road of this home. I was able to save about 15 of the zinnias and transplant them into the  perennial beds.

Also... before I planted the pentas, I worked the soil very well :-) Amazing how easily they were to plant compared to the zinnias :-)

All is well... Thank God for "Plan B."

Father And Son Time

Had an awesome three hours fishing with my son Andrew on Sunday...

We didn't catch a darn thing... but, that really didn't matter to me at all.

Pure White Peony

I love this peony in our front yard perennial bed... it is pure white and smells like Ivory Soap :-)

New Running Shoes

For the past few months my wife and I have been reading a lot about what is referred to as "minimalist" running shoes. We become interested when we started seeing information about Five Finger Shoes, but I had my concerns about them (for me) and began looking at other minimalist shoe options.

Then I recently ran across a magazine ad for the new Merrell Road Glove, and became immediately interested.

On Saturday I stopped at Often Running in Uptown Normal to look for knee bands for Laurie. While there I went ahead and asked about the Merrell shoes, talked in depth with the salesman, glanced at and talked about other possibilities (Saucony, Brooks, New Balance, Nike), tried the Road Gloves on, and walked out with my new running shoes...

I wore them for the rest of the afternoon/evening on Saturday and to church this morning/afternoon to start breaking them in. Then this afternoon I headed out on a run (with my lovely wife riding her bike... she had her run early this morning). I wasn't sure how far I was going to run... I was anxious but also excited about trying the new shoes because they are quite different than what I've used before.

In preparation for this move to a minimalist shoe I've worked really hard with my running form... less heel... shortening my stride and landing mid-foot and not on my heel. This isn't an easy thing to learn, especially at 46 and being a very bad "heel lander" when I'm running (and walking).

So my run... was excellent!!! I was amazed with how well I felt. I ended up running 4.39 miles in 40:52, which averages out to a 9:30 pace. I'll probably run in my Nike Free shoes next, then back to the new Merrell shoes... I don't want to rush my change to the new shoes and risk injury.

So a final few words about the new Merrell Road Gloves... Check them out!!! I'm hooked!!!

Stella's New Toy

Our cockatiel Stella found my necklace tonight while sitting on my shoulder... She was very intrigued by it as you can tell by the video below. The barking and growling is not from her, however... That was our jealous dog trying to get me to come play with him and put Stella back in her cage. :-)

Iris Show (continued)

As promised, a couple more irises have bloomed over the past two days...

Iris 'dazzling gold'

Iris 'harvest of memories'

Iris 'harvest of memories' has become my absolute favorite for it's scent... such a sweet sweet smell.

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Iris Show

If you REALLY know me, you know how much I LOVE irises... so, needless to say I'm in heaven seeing all of my irises, my client's irises, and any other irises I see blooming right now.

Here are my current irises that are blooming:

Iris 'pallida'

Iris 'wench'

Iris 'copatonic'

Iris 'immortality'

Iris 'blue staccato'

Iris 'blue suede shoes'

I'm looking forward to three more irises blooming within the next couple of days; my siberian and ensata irises will then follow.

My peonies are close to blooming, but there will probably be a few more days of waiting.

My tree peony had three beautiful blooms on it this year... It's still quite small at only three years of age, but I should see a lot of growth to it this year.

I start planting annuals in about 10 days... Because of our warmer spring it feels like I'm late planting annuals, and I'm sure it feels that way to my gardening clients, too. I'm very ready to start seeing that splash of annual color in beds and containers!!!

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78:365 IWU Walk

When Laurie and I bought our home, we were very specific in locations we were looking... Near Illinois State University or near Illinois Wesleyan University. Eleven and a half years later we're thrilled that we bought just east of IWU... Because now one of my favorite things to do is walk around IWU's campus with the kids.

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77:365 Go Fly A Kite

Was doing a little cleanup today around my desk and came across a sketch tablet that belonged to my oldest sister... Her name was Caryl Beth. I had borrowed the tablet from my parents back several months ago to scan a few of Caryl's pieces, but my intentions were better than my actions, and I never got the pieces scanned. I remember so vividly sitting and watching her work on her drawings and watercolors... I always wanted to be artistic like her. Silly me... I'd be better off to just go fly a kite.


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Chicago Flower & Garden Show 2012

I ran my iPhone battery completely down to 0% while taking pictures at the Chicago Flower & Garden Show on Tuesday... Below are a few of my favorite pictures I took...































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My Garden Happenings

Here's a peek at what's happening in my gardens right now (and probably yours, too):

Daffodils are in full bloom

Garlic Chives (ornamental, non-edible)

Peony eyes are starting to show

Iris foliage of all types are growing like its the last half of April

My oriental poppies never really died back this winter... I'm hoping for a good show from them this year

I'm taking advantage of our out-of-the-ordinary high temps to start some of my summer bulbs (dahlias, non-hardy anemones, and brodiaea) outside in some nursery containers
Hydrangeas are also really leafing out ... A lot less dead stems this year on all of my hydrangeas.
If you haven't yet, walk through your perennial beds today and see what's happening... And make sure day lily and iris plants are uncovered and free of leaves and other debris.
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76:365 Friday Bloomers

March 16th and there are some beautiful flowers, trees, and shrubs blooming here in Central Illinois. I can't remember when it's been this summer-like in mid-March... LOVE IT!!!

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