Category Archives: plants

Mar8

One of the newest PHS members!

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I did join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society this morning-actually it’s a ‘dual’ one and for a year’s membership, we got two free flower show tickets ($26 each!). We were all dressed and ready to go at 10:30 (the daylight savings messed us up) and Brian couldn’t get a hold of his dad. He tried for an hour and the answering machine kept coming on. So Brian didn’t get to go to the show and Sean and I decided to at least go to my mom’s and wait to see what was going on. Here he was sound asleep in his bed, the phone was in the other room, the tv was blasting downstairs and the stove was left on. Brian had to physically shake him to wake him up! He said he’s always been a sound sleeper, but I’d say the phone must have rang 100s of times and he didn’t hear it! The next room isn’t that far away. We thought he had fallen down.
We took my mom again (she had gone with my brother Don on Thursday) and Sean got the student price. My membership and tickets were waiting for me at the booth in the convention center. I thought for sure I’d have to wait to use them next year as it said I had to give them 24 hours to process. Before we went into the show, we ate lunch in the Reading Terminal Market-such a bustling places with lots of sights and sounds. I will share a few photos, but need to upload over 100 on Flickr during the upcoming week.
Mom and me in front of an awesome exhibit mainly with orchids in test tubes:
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This is a neat one:
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The show had an Italian theme and there was lots of gorgeous statuary:
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I can’t forget Sean!
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And this is one of the miniature shadow boxes-all the tiny plants have to be real!:
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My brother Don was at my mom’s and he treated us to a nice dinner up in our hometown. It turned out to be an adventurous day for sure!
I made a video too and will edit that sometime this week too-all the water features are on it plus a silly son!

Jan5

About 200 photos later

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Sean and I tried again at Longwood Gardens and practically had the entire place to ourselves! Yeah. I think I took at least 200 photos and narrowed it down to 175, which I will upload to Flickr. The gardens are using LED lights, so all the wrapped trees and hand fashioned trees look brighter. I really need to see how people are getting tri-pods in there, that would make a difference. I’ll share a few shots, first of the face I’ll be missing in a few days:

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Taken through a window in the orchid room. Sean treated me to dinner in the ‘fancy’ restaurant at Longwood. He had pasta with olive, mushrooms and capers and I had Citrus grilled chicken with white beans and spinach. I treated him to dessert in the cafe section. I had chocolate chip cake and he had a creme brulee type of cheese cake.
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The water in this area was decorated with cranberries!

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A natural themed tree with white and gold lights. I’d like a tree like this next year.
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A sampler from 1802 found in the DuPont House.
Thanks Mr. DuPont for Longwood Gardens!
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Here is the slideshow from today. I only got up to 60 uploads. The above photos are the unedited versions of what will be on there. Enjoy!

Dec31

2008 in a nutshell by Dianne

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Want to play along? Kelli over at ‘There is no place like home’  is hosting a meme. You take your first blog sentence for each month of 2008 and add a favorite photo from that month too. Be aware that most of my ‘first’ sentences have nothing to do with the photos. :O)
January-

That’s my life for the last few days.(I had been sick and so had Brian)
Yellow roses
February-

Let’s start off February with a fun event thanks to Lisa/Oceandreamer’s 2nd time around hosting it.(One World, One Heart blog giveaways)
Punch needle design
March-
This is my mom’s birthday last year and my youngest brother is giving her the cupcakes that I made to blow out the candles.(for a Photo Hunt)
Purple and yellow orchids
April-
It’s 70 degrees outside!!! I’m inside and wearing a sweater though.

May-
Thanks to Scrappy Jessi for hosting this fun event.(showing our childhood toys)

June-
Like I did last night!

July-
I really did see a camel! (a place on our road had several exotic pets or boarders)

Strasberg, PA 7-30-08, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

August-
Today I’m sharing my baby book.

September-
I can’t believe it’s September already!

October-
….the cataracts are gone! Well, that may be so for my mom in a few hours.(My mom had both her eyes done, and one got an infection, so she had to have a third operation!)

Celebrating after 28 yrs!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

November-
This is from the Philadelphia Flower Show 2006.(We try to go every year since I am so snap happy)

Grant Park and a new beginning!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

December-
I just realized that I was pretty much on the go for over a week, since my birthday on the 19th.
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Jul2

My Coleus variety 2008

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My Coleus variety 2008, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Thought you’d like to see all my different coleus. The colors and leaf variety are all so different. If you click on the link, it will take you to flickr and you can see the different names of the plants.

My etsy shop and eBay store has been updated-eBay is loaded with very inexpensive, but nice lots of cross stitch magazines and leaflets. I’m trying to clean out my one stash area before I clean out the things I was saving for myself. Please check them out! Links on right—–>>>>>>

Jun29

We ♥ Commerce Bank

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Sean and I went out for a few hours this afternoon. We had to exchange some trousers I had bought as a gift for him. We also had two huge bags of coins that we have saved for many months. Commerce is open on Sundays and they have a free coin counting machine. So we guessed we had $124.00 (they ask if you want to guess) and after all was said and done-we had $197.00! Yes! We split it up and I saved Bri $50 (Sean got $100 since he will be driving the most for his internship) and then we went to Macy’s. Sean got an extra pair of trousers and a few shirts in another store-from the coin money! We then went to a shopping center where Old Navy and Michaels is-I went to Michaels and Sean to O.N. I picked out some things there and went down the clearance aisle and I started to chat with a nice lady there. She asked if I had ‘a coupon’ which I didn’t. It was for after 4pm and for 25% off your total purchase. She had an extra and gave me one. I thanked her and headed to check out and saved $10!

We ate in Friendly’s and shopped a bit in Trader Joe’s then headed home. I called my mom and she had talked with brother #2 and they may be seeing eye to eye again. I seriously hope so. He tends to get mean about things that he doesn’t agree with. I still am not crazy about being chummy with him as I feel like I don’t know him anymore and he talked about me behind my back that night he horned in on our ‘girl’s night out’. I wish mom hadn’t told me he thought I looked fat. He had said that to my face when we went down to visit him in Florida in 2002. Nice isn’t he? I’m not having high hopes about this, but at least, and I’m praying, he’ll treat her nice and with respect.

Anyway, here are some yard shots for your enjoyment. They sure make me smile. : )


This is what I call my herb bed. The Roma tomatoes are taking it over. There’s basil in the front along with fennel and cilantro.

My favorite lilies are blooming too! I missed the first blooms a few days ago.

A pretty hanging basket with pinkish daisy like flowers and portulaca

Look how big the butterfly bush is! You can see the rain gutter there. Not a ton of blooms, but we cut it back a lot last year.

Sean got a B- in his English class he just finished. My boy’s not a writer, so he was happy.

Jun22

Rust affecting the Shasta Daisies

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Rust affecting the Shasta Daisies, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Here’s what I was talking about in my previous post. See the spots? I did take many of them off by hand. Not sure if that will help or not.

My 50 gallon in ground pond was in ‘distress’. I have never seen it so full of algae, mud, you name it. It reminded me of my cousin’s big pond behind their farmhouse that we use to swim in. Icky mucky! I have no trouble sticking my hand in algae-it’s like long green threads. I use to make a mean mud pie as a kid. : ) So I decided to bail it out. Bri came out and did a few, but my back is going to feel it tomorrow. I even pulled out the two meshed encased waterlilies and peeled the algae off of them. I was fascinated that one was the home to earthworms as I didn’t know they lived under water. I’ll see how it looks tomorrow and if more bailing needs to be done.

The guys went over to the patriarch’s again as tomorrow he turns 85. I helped Bri pick out a food basket and a cake. I also suggested they take over a gourmet pizza from our new favorite pizza joint. Sean almost begged to go out to eat, even to Friendly’s but pop declined. He does get out of the house to ride the bus to Atlantic City though. I feel when he knows I am coming, he needs to clean, etc. Plus I can’t eat their usual choice of take-out. I use to take food over there all the time. It was so much work. And he use to take us out to restaurants too. We would have paid today. The people he wants are there IMHO.

The weatherman got it wrong about thunderstorms, so I was watering things yesterday and today. Bri trimmed our front hedges that run along the house and didn’t cover my impatiens on one side, etc so that was a mess to clean up. And I am so discouraged as deer have eaten all my sunflowers, leaves on my Hollyhock, leaves on my Dinner Plate Hibiscus and about a dozen buds off of one of my roses. I am happy that my tomato tepees are holding up so far. Those plastic clips that Martha Stewart suggested are great. Instead of using string or panty hose, these little circular clip with a latch do the trick.

Stay cool!

Jun19

Some plant stuff

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I’m basically breaking tidbits of info up. A few weeks ago, Lee asked me if I knew what was wrong with her plants. Well, didn’t some of my own plants get ‘rust’ on them. I did some research and it’s a fungus from too much rain and dampness. They tell you to remove all the leaves, but I’d be out there for a while to do so. The rust is mainly bothering my Shasta Daisies (Grrr-I love them) and a few other perennials. I think you can spray them, but since it’s there already, I don’t know how that would help. I guess I’ll just watch it and pick off the ugly ones.

Jun11

Tuesday night light show

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We had a wicked rainstorm with tons of lightning go through last night. Earlier we lost power 5 times which was a pain as we had to keep resetting the clocks. It did considerably cool things off in the evening, but it was warm again today. My father-in-law lost power and it’s still not on after 24 hours. When they had their windows replaced years ago (on the lower level), my late mother-in-law decided to put in windows that didn’t open for ‘security reasons’. I questioned her about if she burnt something in the kitchen and she said she would use the stove fan and open the back door. Well, he is really suffering from not being able to have proper circulation in there. Glad something like this doesn’t happen often.

Sean took me grocery shopping over in our town’s new Acme which is 6 miles away. I know, we live closer to the mushroom town-lol. I think he wanted to check it out. We ran into Lowes to get Bri hot peppers. That’s all he talked about last week. They are something he just has to grow it seems. Anyway, the store is huge and I just wanted to zoom around in there and grab what I needed, if it was priced right. I wanted lemons-79¢ each-picked up about 3 and the last one was moldy on one side. I put it back, mold side up-bought nada ! I can go to the farmer’s market and get some at 5 for $2 and they are perfect. What’s going on here?

Got strip steak for dinner-two pieces in a package for $11! Not a lot for 3 people, but we had enough of other things-red potatoes, peas and Focaccia bread (and mini eclairs for dessert) that we were quite happy. I cook steak in a pan, with a little butter and steak rub-just what you buy in the spice aisle. I brown it well to get a crust and pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes to cook the middle. Rachael Ray said not to put ice cold meat in a pan as it ‘seizes up’ and makes it a little tough. I have to remember that. It was good!

My brother hasn’t gotten around to fixing my mom’s car yet. Guess he got held up on something tonight. Now she can’t go spend the day with my uncle on his 85th birthday tomorrow. We sent him cards, but it’s not the same. I will probably go and help her food shop before Sean goes to night class. Maybe we can do something for him over the weekend.

I’ve been working on ATCs and have some cute ones to share, I just need to photograph them. I have a series called ‘Rose babies’. Jennifer over at Sweetpea Stitches had sent me beautiful rose stickers and they were my inspiration for the two I have made so far, but I have 5 new ones altogether!

Someone in my graduating class passed away over the weekend. She was a cheerleader and an art major. Not a friend, but it’s sad to know someone my age has passed-too soon. She had two sons and still lived in our hometown. They are asking for donations for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, so I am wondering if that was what took her too soon.

I wish the idiots who use my blog for spam would take a hike! I can see what you are trying to do and I just delete it from my spam finder. They stick URLS, etc in the middle of my posts-lame!

May22

Pretty things

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I had my Mother’s Day gifts in for a few nights when it was really chilly. It’s in the 50s tonight, so hopefully they’ll be fine. The red one is being shy about blooming, but the yellow one seems to have two plants in one pot-yellow and peach and the flowers are different too! I thought they were pretty enough to share.

I had some chicken tender strips defrosted and was looking for a quick recipe. I wasn’t really in the mood to look as the food photos made my tummy hurt (I’m getting better), but I improvised (green pepper instead of yellow, mandarin oranges instead of navel, bagged salad instead of Arugula) and the guys really liked it! It’s so easy to broil the tenders. I would change the spices a bit, but I do think they tasted better broiled. What a cinch to broil peppers too. I should do it more often.

Got outside between raindrops to plant yellow flowers in the Yucca bed next to the road; Victoria Blue salvia in the woodland garden; and the long looked for Pineapple sage in the pond area. Still some planting to do, but lots more mulching!

Trivia-well-sort of-I saw in my pal Barbara’s blog that her son was doing a walk and the one Dutch word had ‘Avon’ in it. Now not sure if I ever looked this up, but I live in Avondale-Avon meaning ‘river’ and ‘dale’ meaning valley dweller. So this is true as we live in a valley not far from the Brandywine River. : )