Wild4flowers

[wild4flowers]

I'm Char, and live in SW lower Michigan. Up until a year ago, I was a RN in surgery, then retired with my husband. Being one with nature is where its at. It doesn't matter what type of day it is, I can always find something good about it. My flower gardens give me great joy. Even weeding is relaxing to me.
I have done a variety of things in the many years I have been trying to 'get it right'. My mother and grandmother got me interested in plants, and it blossomed from there. From 4-H to my own homes with my own gardens. Vegetable and then flowers. I have raised dogs, cats, rabbits, ducks, chickens, & goats. And my 2 grown children have helped me and learned from that.
I can knit(poorly), crochet, sew, draw, paint,do all types of crafts including stained glass, and always learning to do more. As a youth I had read almost all the books in the small town library and have kept on reading. The internet has opened a whole new world to me, as to everyone else. My friends here on this forum are priceless.
I never thought I would be so involved in hostas and daylilies. As everyone knows , its almost like an addiction.
Keep it coming, I love it all. CHAR

HOSTA LIST 2004
Abba Dabba Do
Abiqua Blue Trumpet
Abiqua Drinking Gourd
Abiqua Moonbeam
Abiqua Recluse
F. Albo Marginata
Albo Picta
Allegator Shoes
Alex Summers
AManySplendoredThing
Amber Tiara
American Dream
Angel Feathers
Antioch
Aspen Gold
August Moon
Aurora Borealis seedl.
Austin Dickinson
Azure Snow
Baby Bunting
Banana Boat
Banana Muffins
Big Daddy
Big John
Big Mamma
Big Sam
Birchwood Gold
Birchwood Parky’s Gold
Black Hills
Blonde Elf
Blue Angel
Blue Arrow
Blue Blush
Blue Cadet
Blue Ice
Blue Jay
Blue Moon
Blue Mountain
Blue Mouse Ears
Blue Seer
Blue Shadows
Blue Umbrellas
*Blue Umbrellas varig.
Blue Vision
Blue Wedgewood
Bobby Sue
Bold Ribbons
Borwick Beauty
Bridegroom
Bright Glow
Bright Lights
Brim Cup
Cadillac
Captain Kirk
Carriage Wheels
Cascade
Cat’s Eye
Celebration
Chartreuse Wiggles
Cherry Berry
Cherub
Chesterland Gold
Chiquita
Chirifu seedl.
Christmas Tree
Choo Choo Train
City Lights
Columbus Circle
Cracker Crumbs
Crepe Suzette
Crowned Imperial
Curlew
Dancing in the Rain
Dark Star
Dawns Early Light
Daybreak
Decorata
Dee’s Golden Jewel
Delta Dawn
Dewdrop
Diamond Tiara
Diana Remembered
Don Stevens
Dream Weaver
Early Sunrise
Earth Angel
El Capitan
Emerald Tiara
Engelerth blue*
Estrellita
Eternal Flame
F.stenatha(Fool’s Gold)
Fair Maiden
Feather Boa
Fire and Ice
f. Aureomarginata
f. Gigantica
Fragrant Blue
Fragrant Bouquet
Francee
Frances Williams
Fresh
Friar Tuck
Fried Bananas
Fried Green Tomatoes
Frosted Jade
Full Moon
Gala
Garden Treasure
Gay Blade
Geisha
Ghost Spirit
Glen Tiara
Golden Bullion
Golden Friendship
Golden Medallion
Golden Nugget
Golden Oriole
Golden Prayers
Golden Samaurai
Golden Tiara
Gold Drop
Gold Crown
Gold Regal
Gold Standard
Grand Prize
Grand Tiara
Gray Cole seedl.
Great Expectations
Green Kabitan
Green Fountain
Green Gold
Guacamole
Guardian Angel
Hadspen Blue
Halcyon
Heavenly Tiara
Hercules
Hi Ho Silver
Holly’s Velvet Piecrust
Honeysong
Hoosier Harmony
Hyden Sunset
Innisjade
Inniswood
Invincible
Iron Gate Delight
Island Charm
Jade Cascade
Janet
Jewel of the Nile
Jimmy Crack Corn
Julie Morss
June
Kabitan
King Tut
Kiwi Black Magic
Kiwi Gold Rush
Komoto Dragon
Korean Snow
Knockout
Krossa Regal
Lakeside Black Satin
Lakeside Cha Cha
Lakeside Elfin Fire
Lakeside Kaleidoscope
Lakeside Lollipop
Lakeside Premier
Lakeside Rhapsody
Lakeside San Kao
Lakeside Shadows
Lancifolia
Leading Lady
Leather Sheen
Lemonade
Lemon Lime
Liberty
Little Aurora/Sultana?
Little Doll
Little Sunspot
Little White Lines
Looking Pretty
Love Pat
Loyalist
Lunar Orbit
Marion Bachman
Mary Marie Ann
Masquerade
Maui Buttercup
Midas Touch
Midwest Magic
Minuteman
Moonlight
Moon River
m. Aureo Marginata
m. flavo circinalis
Monitor
Morning Light
Mount Tom
Mountain Snow
Niagara Falls
Night Before Christmas
nigresens
Northern Exposure
Olive Bailey Langdon
Olive Branch
On Stage
Oops
Otome No Ka
Pandora’s Box
Paradigm
Paradise Joyce
Parhelion
Pathfinder
Patriot
Paul’s Glory
Paul Revere
Peace
Permanent Wave
Phantom
Piedmont Gold
Piedmont Special
Pilgrim
Pineapple Upsidedown *Cake
Pizzazz
Plantaginea
Platinum Tiara
Polar Moon
Potomac Pride
Praying Hands
Queen Josephine
Radiant Edger
Rain Forest
Rain Forest Sunrise
Rectifolia Chionea
Regal Splendor
Reptillian
Revolution
Riptide
Rising Sun
Robert Frost
Rosedale Spoons
Royal Standard
Sagae
Scooter
(Ryan’s Big One (s)
Saint Elmo’s Fire
September Sun
Shade Fanfare
Sea Beacon
Sea Drift seedl.
Sea Fire
Sea Gulf Stream
Sea Lotus Leaf
Sea Sapphire
Sea Thunder
Second Wind
Shade Fanfare
Showboat
Sieboldiana
Sieboldiana Elegans
Silk Kimono
Silver Streak
Sitting Pretty
Snow Crust
So Sweet
Spilt Milk
Splish Splash
Spritzer
Squash Casserole
Stained Glass
Stepping Out
Stetson
Stiletto
Striptease
Sugar & Cream
Sultana
Sum & Substance
Sum It Up
Sum of All
Summer Music
Sunny Delight
Sunny Disposiion
Sun Power
Sunshine Glory
Super Nova
Sweet Home Chicago
Tambourine
Tattoo
Thumbelina
Thunderbolt
Tijuana Brass
Titanic
Tokudama
*Tokudama Aureo-Nebulosa
Tokudama flavo-*circinalis
Tortilla Chip
Touch of Class
Touchstone
Toy Soldier
True Blue
Twilight
Twinkles
Uguis
Ultraviolet Light
Undulata Variegata
Valentine Lace
Vanilla Crème
Ventricosa Aureo- *Maculata
Ventricosa Aureo- *Marginata
Veronica Lake
Warwick Delight
Whirling Dervish
Whirlwind
White Christmas
White Triumphator
Wide Brim
Winfield Blue
Winter Lightening
Wolverine
Wylde Green Crème
Xanadu
Yellow River
Zounds

[wild4flowers]

Something to remind me that spring really is coming. This is my back yard with most of my hostas. CHAR

[newtohosta-no more]

Char,
That is truly lovely!

[Marietta]

Char, you really have a yard to be proud of and to enjoy.
I see your chair on the deck and can picture you spending
some down time there admiring your work. Thanks for the
glimpse. Marietta

[wild4flowers]

Front yard looking out from the doorway. Summer and winter!! CHAR

[wild4flowers]

My furkids also enjoy sitting on the back porch with me. If I sit at the very corner, then I can see the road in the front, and also the lake. And most times there is a nice breeze at that very spot.

Mickey must have been bored with my picture taking. CHAR

[Marietta]

How well I can see that you enjoy your fur kids. I am
dogless/catless right now. DH developed asthma and
doesn't want a pet (he thinks). I am gimping with bad
knees and hip or I would get a dog anyhow. We do
feed the chipmunks and squirrels though, and I would
hate to lose a chipper or chase the squirrels. A hawk visits
and once in a while he does get a chipmunk. I had a
Lhasa Apso, named Fergie, and DH worked nights and
spoiled Fergie in the daytime. He used to walk down the
hallway with her at his heels and he chatted away.....now
Fergie has been gone for a few years and DH has retired....
and he still walks down the hallway chatting away!!
My hostas have to listen to me talking to them. Marietta

[wild4flowers]

Hosta wish list:

Bette Davis Eyes , ... Crystal Tiara
Center of attention , ... Don Stevens
Fan Dance ,... Flame Stitch
Lovely Loretta , ... Medusa
Michigan Gold ,... Moonlight Sonata
Moon Shadow , ... Royal Tiara
Old Glory, ... Royal Flush
Lime Piecrust , ... Stolen Kiss
Suns Glory , ... Sweet Sunshine
Yellow Waves , ... L. Beach Bum
L. Blue Jeans , ... Crusader
Camelot , ... Osprey
Sherborn Swan ,... Nancy Gill
etc. etc.,,,,,,

[wild4flowers]

I needed some type of focus in my retirement life, so I thought I'd try some 'farmers market' sales. Perennials and daylilies. I really dug into this. Researched, made lists and more lists, ordered flats of plugs. Repotted, relabeled, made signs, etc. etc, etc. What a lot of work but very rewarding. It just keeps my mind working in an orderly fashion.

I started selling in May and here at the end of June, my perennials are ready to be put back to earth and people are ready to stop buying/planting. I still have my daylilies to sell, since they havent' bloomed yet.

I even made some banners for one of the Farmers Markets to attract people.

And on top of it all, I think I'll do it again next year. I'll certainly never get rich doing this, but since it isn't a get rich quick scheme that I'm going for....who cares. This is for fun. And I have educated a lot of people on perennials, made a lot of them laugh, and even have given many of them a reason (the oldsters) to get out and about on a Wednesday and Saturday. They like to come and talk.

I have loaded and unloaded , packed and unpacked my car many times in the last 2 months. And have quite a tan now. But fun. CHAR

[JaneG]

Love your journal and your pictures, Char!

I think the Farmers Market sounds like fun, especially since you are doing in for enjoyment rather than the money. How is it going now that daylily season is here?

I go to a local Farmers Market for fruits and veggies in the summer and last year I bought a daylily from a gal with a booth there!

[wild4flowers]

Not too many veggie people buying daylilies. And I can only take them when they are blooming, because nobody buys daylilies if they can't see the bloom.

But, on the other hand, the perrenials I have for sale are doing quite well. I have no other competition there, because our farmers market is mostly veggies,honey, eggs. I have 4 different kinds of grasses, sedums x2, coreopsis, one mini hosta (lemon lime), liguilaria, lavender, annual purple fountain grass (not a big seller), some annuals in mugs, and planters ,. I also make bouquets of flowers, have a big jar of dill pickles, bags of chex party mix, mini loaves of zuchinni and banana bread, and ice cold water/lemonade. Also some of my hand made bags. And I just started making up bags of spice mixtures. Hows that for a little bit of everything? And people just love to stop, look, and talk. And if they buy something, they usually come back. Even to just tell me they planted it and how well it is doing.

Really quite fun. CHAR

[wild4flowers]

The saga of my my Farmers Market experience just keeps on going.

I am also selling Party Mix, for a snack, and homemake zucchini bread, banana bread, etc. Also I have put together some herb and spice packets for individual sales. E.G. Italian salad dressing, Vegetable Herb Chip Dip, Zesty Herb Seasoning, Mild Seasoning, Sage Stuffing Mix, etc. The spices are new, but I did a free sample tasing with the Chip dip, and sold out off all the packets I had ($1.00 ea). So next market, I am doing a taste test of 'Chili Popcorn Seasoning", and the "Italian Salad Dressing". If nothing else, it is fun.

And people keep buying my perennials even though it isn't planting season. I just give them instructions. Some of them even come back to let me know how their plants are doing.
Aren't people great! CHAR

[wild4flowers]

I also make up bouquets from my yard and surrounding roadside 'donations'(like cattails, sweet peas, daisy's, foliage). I buy a container for each from the 'dollar' store and sell them for $3. Now that people know I have them, I usually sell out, and yesterday, one lady actually brought back the container so I could recycle it. CHAR

[wild4flowers]

I think it is past time to get my potted up plants back into the real garden. Since I am using plastic bags instead of the black plastic pots, I also must rinse and clean the bags out for reuse next year. All the plants I didn't sell at the farmers market this year will go up for sale next year.

But for now, in this hot weather, I am digging holes and putting my plants in them, watering really well, and babying them. The strawberry plants I got a month late, and in a dried up state, revived excedingly well and with the constant watering I have been doing , look really healthy. They are all sending out runners already. I have been putting off mulching with straw until I get the weed issue more under control, but it is time.

My neighbor on our newest acquired acre of land, thought that since he has been using a goodly share of the property under the old ownership, that we (as new inexperienced owners) should just give him that piece of land. (Do I have turnip greens hanging out my ears?)
Also he doesn't want me to plant a row of trees along the property line because it makes his place look smaller and so isolated. He then doesn't have a clear view of the neighborhood.

CHAR

[wild4flowers]

After the Farmers Market this past summer, which I totally enjoyed, I went through a 'dry' period of inactivity. My sons girlfriend urged me to try making jewelry, which I have been. I took it to 3 fall craft shows, but didn't do as well as I had hoped. The craft market is down this year, but I did take my herb blends, and those are really popular. In fact, they alone, paid for my booth fees.
If I look at the Farmers Market vs Craft shows, they are really very similiar in traffic flow and types of people. Thats not taking into account the items sold, but only the way people are. CHAR

[wild4flowers]

How time fly's. I'm pretty busy this summer, but not with gardening, (darn). I have gone back to work because DH is every so slightly concerned about $$. And since the position I took as an RN is a 12-hour one, I am having trouble getting aclimated to this time frame. But it means more days off.
The left over Farmers Market grases I put back into the garden last fall are growing like gang busters. I am incorporating them into my garden and friends gardens.
Our 1st year strawberry patch is awesome. We got so many quarts from our 25 plants, that my fingers and lips are permanently red.
A couple of hosta casulities,( my first, )one of them being Oops. Probably because it was so tiny. However this is a very good year for large and lush, as my other hostas are growing like weeds (ok, wrong term). But they do keep the weeds down under their leaves.

CHAR

[newtohosta-no more]

Should I say congrats on your new job?? I hope you'll get adjusted to the new schedule in your life soon.
BTW..I love the jewelry! You'll just a woman of many talents!

[wild4flowers]

My gardens have filled in so much you can't tell the weeds from the flowers unless you are up really close. There are a few spots of poison ivy from birds who dropped the seeds. If I get them early enough, I can pull them out by the roots easily.

My short dayllilies were awesome this year, I put them in a circle around another round perennial bed, and left a walking path between the two. Now it is time to go out and chop off the seed pods. Neaten it up a bit.

I only got to part of the redoing of my pathways, before it turned so hot. Yes, there is always more time. I have collected seeds from aquellegia, and annual poppy's.

My new garden on the vacant lots is going great guns, including all the queen anns lace that grows inbetween the rows. That one I haven't gotten to.

New job is still stressful, but getting better. Thank goodness it is only an on call position, after I learn the lay of the land.
CHAR

[fullofit]

This is from wild4flowers. Something has happened with my sign in name "wild4flowers", and I can't seem to get it to work. I have talked with Chris and tried everything I could think of to make it right, to no avail. Even signing up with a new name and same e-mail address didn't work. So I went a different route and used a different e-mail. Unfortunately I now have a new 'name'. I am now 'full of it'. But then I always have been.

My life has changed quite a bit because I went back to work. That leaves me with not enough extra time for my gardens. The 12 hour job I tried just wasn't for me. I'm way too old for that many hours in a row. I was tired and moody all the time. I even went for medication to stop my weepyness. But, instead I switched jobs, to a much more relaxed atmosphere. The medication is long gone, and I am happier. I'll be even happier when I can get outside to my green babies.
CHAR

[Linda P]

Hi, Char! I like your new screen name, and I've also enjoyed re-reading your journal and looking at your pics again. I'm glad you have a job that suits you better, and I hope it leaves you more time for your garden.
Linda P