LPN BARNES....
You asked me a question about the "Song of Angels" cross stitch picture/chart. You can see it if you go to Artecyshop.com and type in the artist's name. I think you can also get the picture if you type in the title, but I found it under the artist's name.
Sorry it took a while to get back to your question but I just spent most of the day planting pansies....
Posted by: Bermuda on 11/29/15
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I planted some yesterday in a pot on the patio. I forgot to buy bulbs. Darn.
by: Texas Stitcher on 11/29/15
Do you prefer bulbs?
by: Bermuda on 11/29/15
No, I don't. I like both. I usually plant daffodils, etc. I like the height and color. Tulips don't do well here and most bulbs do not come back the following year. They don't get enough cold weather. I like four seasons but in a moderate way, like the Williamsburg, VA area. I could grow so much more there. Of course the summers are brutal but the other three seasons are great. I also like pussy willows but doubt that they would grow here.
I also plant hyacinths now because they smell so good. I have a spot between the fence and the rosebushes where I plant bulbs that I take out of the pots and for some reason they like the location. Maybe it's some micro climate. After I prune the roses in February the bulbs come up.
I love pansies, I found really compact ones with huge blooms. I believe they are the Matrix variety. I planted the other ones to early. Fall was so late this year and I have to pinch them back - too gangly already.
by: Texas Stitcher on 11/29/15
How far do you pinch your pansies back? Just the flower or 1/3 of the way down?
I planted some pansies too early here in SC and lost some because it was still too hot for them.
I planted about 2 dozen today...ohhh, me back...
by: Bermuda on 11/29/15
Pansies are tough! Only killing frost I've been through in the Central Valley took everything but the pansies. I'd spent a lot of time covering plants too.
by: jlhewes on 11/29/15
My little gardening episode yesterday planting pansies dug up an ant hill and they swarmed like crazy. Some of those buggers got above my gardening gloves and bit me. Last night I started getting itchy (like mosquito bite) bumps on my arms. DH went and got me some hydrocortisone cream but my arms are a mess. So there will be a "fire-ant delay" on my trip to the framing shop today until my arms heal. :(
by: Bermuda on 11/30/15
Is this your first run in with fire ants? They are nasty little things. It will take several days for the bites to heal or longer - depending. Although we have mounds here, I've been lucky. San Antonio was an entirely different story. I developed blisters and eventually scabs and the itching continued for days. Try to resist the urge. My ankles looked awful, like I had some nasty disease.
Amdro works wonders on the mounds - not the bites! A jug usually lasts a couple of seasons.
So sorry to hear about your run in with those pesky critters.
by: Texas Stitcher on 11/30/15
Thanks Texas,
You can see if hasn't affected my ability to type but the itching is awful! My arms have red patches on them. I AM grateful they only bit me on my arms. I saved my hands because I had double-gloved my hands with vinyl gloves and gardening gloves.

Did you see the wonderful sale that ECS is having this week on the cross stitch "ornaments"??

by: Bermuda on 11/30/15
Try to keep the bites dry, Bermuda. I've had some ghastly looking developments! :)

I pinch the pansies back by about a third. The part that is especially long. It's painful sometimes when there are blossoms and buds. :) It does help keep them looking nice. I also deadhead as much as possible. Early last summer I had seedlings all over, some developed nicely and lasted for several weeks but then the heat began and it was all over.

DD loves flowers but has no problems pulling stuff up. I have a hard time with it.
by: Texas Stitcher on 11/30/15
I do too when it comes to pinching the flowers off when the plants get "leggy". A nursery worker told me many years ago when I was buying flats of the small bedding impatiens (in a variety of colors) that once I got them all planted I should trim off ALL the flowers. I did try it but it was painful; but 3 weeks later all the plants produced new and even MORE flowers!
Oh, and thank you for the advice on keeping my fire-ant bites dry. I haven't run into this situation with
fire-ants before. DH is going to treat the area of the garden when I had the confrontation. I'll consider myself lucky that I had bites only on my arms.
by: Bermuda on 11/30/15