The Boxes Have Arrived

Even the UPS man asked what are these?  I told him they were my plant starting lights and he looked at me like what are you talking about!  Isn't it a little early, he said, no I explained that these were for indoors and then we put them outdoors.  He petted Reggie who barks non-stop at him each time his truck pulls up.  You would think Reggie would know him by now!

I am planning on using a sterile synthetic soil because if it has any real dirt in it the seedlings can suffer from a sickness called "damp off."  This is devastating to see happening, watching one plant after the other fall over at the soil line and die,  expensive and not fun to watch.

There are lots of pieces

It's ready to go, each set of lights plugs in separately.

These are the little peat plugs that came with the pans and covers.  It was difficult to find just the trays, it seems everything comes in a kit.

I have decided to use the little peat pots for the very small impatiens seeds.  I filled the container with warm water until they were saturated.

There are only twenty-five seeds of this new introduction so I can't afford to lose any.

I would normally used a sterile synthetic soil and will for some of the other seed starts especially the larger seeds.

The lights are on a timer 14-16 hours is appropriate for seed starting a cover is necessary in the beginning to retain moisture (many years I just used a sheet of plastic).  I do not have a heated pad under these or the seeds would germinate faster.  Lights are adjusted low and will go even lower when the cover is removed (when all the seeds have sprouted).

They are really small but are beginning to sprout!

Wild Thing Impatiens

Hopefully, this is what I'll get!

Curtain Call

Gardeners are a creative bunch of people and most of us have others things we do when we are not gardening.  One of my other lifelong endeavors has been sewing, clothes in the beginning for myself and my children then home decor, curtains, draperies, dust ruffles, duvets, pillow shams and pillows.

A trip to Chicago to a very old warehouse building

Sometimes I get ahead of myself in regard to what I can accomplish and have to rely on the trades to get me through a project like the fabric and fringe I had for a year to make new animal print pillows for my husband's chair.  He finally convinced me to bring the materials into the store and have them made.  I hate to give in to this because I know I can save a lot of money doing it myself - they're being made!

Yesterday, my daughter, sister-in-law and I took a trek into the city to a place that few fellow seamstresses could envision.  It is called Fishman's Fabrics (10,000 square feet of warehouse space established in 1903) and it is the largest collection of fabrics, supplies and trims that I have ever seen, overwhelming.  I had been there many years ago but as I remember was so confused by the multitude of materials I didn't buy a thing.

The city is still in disarray with cars totally buried in the snow, forget about street parking, and many chairs and tables holding parking spaces.  We were lucky enough to get into their small lot because we got there early.

There are three full floors of fabrics, every type imaginable, at bargain basement prices, racks of silks, velvets, sheers, linings, etc.  It is easy to get lost in there going from room to room to room on each floor.  The elevator is out of the 1920's, you know with the iron cage that comes down when you get on and you have to raise it up manually when you've reached your destination.

Racks of laces

Trims

More trims

Glitzy trims

A sale on trims

My daughter found some beautiful materials for draperies and valences for two of her rooms.  She is an excellent seamstress but has very little time, so seeking out the trades to help out may be an option.  My sister-in-law teaches Home Economics including sewing so she has many projects going at all times.

Checkout time

I didn't buy anything today either, they brought me along as a "color consultant."  This is the first time I've been called that, but I did enjoy the experience.

Everblooming Daylillies

I have daylillies everywhere in my garden, peeking out, popping up, trimming the border and structuring the back of the border.  There is no such thing as an everblooming daylily but you can make it look like this if you plant varieties that bloom from spring through fall.

Eileen Clymer (Extra Early)

Happy Returns (Extra Early)

When I first began planting daylillies I had no idea of all of the various bloom times, reblooming, petal types, etc.  I learned the hard way with all of my daylillies blooming within a few weeks of each other, and then it was over.

Miss Amelia (Early)

I am beginning to organize my daylillies in regard to bloom time, trying to have some blooming at all times during the zone 5 growing time.  There are very extra early varieties like Eileen Clymer (which I planted in the fall) and Happy Returns which blooms in my raised bed each year, not as great reblooming for me.

Mary Todd (Early)

Chicago Weathermaster (Early to Mid-Season)

Rain does not spot the petals

Red Rum With Broadway Lights Shasta (Early)

Joan Senior (Early to Mid-Season)

Miss Amelia, Mary Todd and Chicago Weathermaster and Red Rum are all earlier bloomers in my garden.

I have Midseason blooming varieties like Chicago Apache, Chicago Rosy, Arnies Choice, Ice Carnival, Dark Ruby and Hyperion.

Chicago Apache (Mid-Season)

Chicago Rosy (Mid-Season)

Arnie's Choice (Mid-Season)

Ice Carnival (Mid-Season)

Dark Ruby (Mid-Season)

Hyperion (Mid-Season)

Tetrina's Daughter (Mid-Season)

I have some later season blooms and some new ones that I planted last fall in my front garden bright oranges and yellow. 

Cherry Cheeks - Mid-Late Season

Nutcracker Suite (Mid-Late Season)

Sandra Elizabeth (Late Season)

For a small property, I have a lot of daylillies but they work well because they bloom and then can be cut back to grow new foliage.  I have some stands of daylillies that are up front but I think they are most effective when planted with perennials or annuals in front of them.  They are not pretty when they are done blooming and need to be cut back the the ground so that fresh foliage can grow.

These are the new plantings from last fall, and I can see that I have an abundance of mid-season bloomers.  So if I add anymore they should be in the extra early and late categories.

Entrapment (Mid-Season)

Lady Lucille (Mid-Late Season)

Maua Loa (Mid-Season)

Space Age (Mid-Season)

Each flower blooms for one day, hence the name daylily, and it is not necessary to pick off the "mushies."  However, many mornings I walk the garden to clean up the mushies in a bucket, not necessary except for looks.

The Stars Have Arrived

You know when Al Roker from NBC and Jim Cantore from The Weather Channel arrive in Chicago you can bet you are going to get hit big!  Or else, why would they be here if it wasn't a big story?

As I opened the front door, I found a snow pressing of my door design.

We get a little jaded in this area because many storms have been hyped on the media and then it's a miss.  All of the really big ones have missed us for over ten years, but this one everyone seemed to take seriously.

In the lower part of the picture I have about three feet of snow drifting up against the storm door, could not get this one open.

It is still snowing and we are up to 20" in my area, and I am looking at Al Roker on TV covered in snow on Michigan Avenue.  The Today Show has been preempted by our local snow coverage.

This is the view from the door that I can't open, going to have to make a little path if I can get out through the garage.

The little sticks poking out of the snow are about three and a half foot bushes.  The drifts are in all shapes and sizes many much higher than this one.

My Veggie Garden

Do you think this is what they mean when they say you can plant spinach and lettuce on top of the snow?

I'm in the house for at least today and maybe more, alley not plowed, streets not plowed, the National Guard has been called out, and the powers that be are telling us to stay in our homes!

It Was a "Rockin" Day

The Art Institute of Chicago has a study group which has some really neat side trips that do not always involve going into Chicago.

Last Thursday's trip was to  a suburb of Chicago where there is a lapidary museum call the Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art.  Joseph Lizzadro came from Italy around the turn of the last century as a young child.  He rose in the business world to become the chairman of the board of Meade Electric all the while having a passion for lapidary (the cutting and polishing of stone).

Lizzadro Museum of Lapidary Art

This is a Florentine mosaic of Joseph Lizzadro.  These are all separate pieces of stone fitted together to look like a painting, took four years to complete.

Florentine Mosaic

Joseph collected throughout his lifetime not only antique stone but more important stones that were cut with expertise and creativity.

A most rare and expensive color

A rare blue color but not as desired as the green Jadeite

Wow!  I was totally bowled over by all of the precious gems and minerals on display at this very small museum.  These are all things that come from this earth after millions of years of impact on the soils that we as gardeners work in each year. 

Copper from Michigan

Amethyst

A Gemologist guided us on our tour explaining the difference between rocks and gems, rocks being made from more than one mineral and gems usually having just one  major component.  Lapis happens to be a rock that is also classified as a gem.

Mr Lizzadro began collecting back in the 1920's mostly pieces that were not necessarily antique but of the utmost quality as far as carving and formation.  He was an artist in regard to producing finely carved pieces and jewelry. 

He purchased many pieces from China that were of the Jadeite and Nephrite quality many priceless today.

Nephrite Jade

Older than Jadeite

Jadeite Candlesticks

All of these colors were contained within one full piece of Jade

I am ashamed to say that I went many years to college across the way from this unique museum and never ventured over for a visit.  I said to myself, rocks,? why would I be interested in rocks?  Well, I finally got here and probably appreciate it much more than I would have then.

This is a screen made entirely of stones all pieced together like a wonderful painting given to the Emperor of China in his "white eyebrow birthday year" (assumed to be about 70 years old) in 1736.   The background is all made of cinnabar in multiple patterns.

The Lizzadro has dioramas that line the walls filled with unique carvings that both children and adults love to look at.

Ziggy

He was the longest living elephant from the Brookfield Zoo.  When he died in 1972 they used his tusks for this carving.  He is carved from Obsidian and ivory.

The parrot is carved from Jasper and Malachite

There is a full wall of snuff bottles, snuff being powdered tobacco, which was used from the 1600's until about 1912.  It was at this time that cigarettes replaced the snuff.

In the background, we kept hearing this typewriter typing, I mean a real typewriter with the return and the sound of the return going back and forth.  We were all laughing wondering if it was the sound of the new iPad or Netbook!  As we moved closer to the desk area I spied that it was an IBM Selectric circa 1964, we all thought we had somehow been sucked into "Back To The Future."