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I have to agree that the lilac tree is very nice - from a distance. I have discovered that the scent can be very, very strong and it gets overwhelming when you aren't able to just move along 🤔.
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A tree that does well here in the Northern U.S. is the Ivory Silk Japanese Lilac tree. It doesn't grow real large, but the blooms and scent are beautiful. It blooms later in the Spring after the regular lilac bushes bloom here. Many cities and malls are using them in their landscaping because they are a nice size and maintain a pretty shape.
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For years we have watched in wonder and sighed as our Japanese magnolia filled with blooms, burst forth, and a freeze killed them all. So frustrating! But a common occurrence with early spring bloomers. Also have that happen in the fall, after waiting for the Cassia tree to burst with its beautiful yellow blooms, an early freeze will kill them. This past fall we lost every bloom. I have some daffodils blooming now and a freeze coming this weekend, so will pick them and enjoy them indoors. Looking forward to the local botanical gardens spring plant sale!
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So I googled Japanese magnolia - I had never heard it referred to that way and I always assumed they were native to the south. I'll certainly enjoy them when they are in bloom around town, in May.
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My neighbor’s daughter chose our Japanese Magnolia to paint for her art class. I saw her taking pictures of our tree. Her mom told me that she selected our tree. I do love burst of colorful blooms in the winter.
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Thanks, CW. I am a bit freaking out about those 400 bulbs I put in. Maybe it will stay cold now for awhile. Possible to get a foot of snow the end of the week.
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We normally have a mid winter thaw and every year people freak out about their sprouting bulbs, they'll be fine.
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Sunday was mid 70's this morning? Now 4 degrees! High to be around 30.

There are many bulb sprouts everywhere. Maybe they will go back to sleep now for awhile.
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Temps here today to reach mid 70's?! For early February, unheard of. So go out and spread/tossed seeds. Blue flax, and wildflower mix, some milkweed and sunflowers. All in areas without bulbs.

I think the timing may be perfect, nice day to do it, then high's in the mid 20's tomorrow with snow overnight.

And what the heck! Even thinking about it got twinges in my back?

Done now. The seeds were packaged for 2017, have been kept in a dry place and zip lock bags. So, hopefully at least some of them will come up. If not, the only thing lost is the cost of the seeds when I bought them three years ago? Doesn't seem possible.
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Thanks everyone.
Glad, the package says:
Open pollenated
and
Untreated
Non GMO
Certified organic
Perennial in USDA Zones 5-8
Deer resistant
Drought tolerant
Attract pollenators
(Uh oh, Bees?)

Then, there is more info on the inside..

These are going on the back 40!
Sheesh, they cost $2.50 for seeds, in a very pretty package.
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I love Asian Jasmine ground cover. You can’t kill it! It really is a hardy ground cover! It grows anywhere, even around large tree roots.

It can be aggressive but I love it. I even have it in my garden beds. No need for mulch anymore because it’s so thick. Never any weeds in it. It must choke out the weeds by being so dense.
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Beware any plant that is billed as carefree or easy to naturalize, yarrow, tansy, periwinkle, ivy, lemon balm and obedient plant have all proved more weed than welcome guest in my gardens.
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Did the package of seeds say they are naturalized? From my bulb shopping I learned, if I did not misunderstand, that naturalized means they will spread. On the surface that sounds like a good thing, be careful what you wish for as they could take over everything and become very difficult to control. But lots of herb tea to treat those headaches.
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Purchased some non-gmo seeds called feverfew. aka bachelor's button or
midsummer daisy. Hoping these are the ones that will spread all over by themselves.
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Some tiny green has poked through the ground making the driveway appear pristinely manicured. In a few weeks, we will be pulling weeds and needing to relandscape the decorative rocks down the middle. But isn't nature great!
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Had to get out an water my trees and bushes, newly planted in the summer. It has been so dry here! No snow in a month or so. A week of pleasant temps, 40's, 50's and 60's, unusual for 60's for sure.

Well, going around with that hose, there are a few bulbs that have started to come up already. It is too early for them! Go back to sleep!
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GA,

It’s Jackson Square but the monument of Andrew Jackson isn’t in the square anymore.

The mayor had Andrew Jackson and General Lee removed from Lee Circle due to the African Americans in our city feeling that they did not want the monuments because of what these men represented.

Yes, St. Louis Cathedral is beautiful! We went there for midnight Mass this year for Christmas.

Cafe du Monde is on Decatur Street and serves delicious cafe au lait and beignets!

Yes, it’s very hot and muggy here in the summer due to our humidity. I don’t think I could become acclimated to the bitter cold. I remember visiting New England in the fall to see the foliage and I was freezing!

I can’t imagine how cold it is in the New England states in the winter! The autumn colors were spectacular. What a treat for us to see because we don’t have that here. The leaves were bright red, orange and gold like they had been painted! It was gorgeous!

My husband was offered a job in Massachusetts and I started crying thinking about the long ❄️ winter. So, he turned the job down.

Sometimes, I regret not trying living in a different area. I kept thinking about having to bundle up my girls in snow suits in the winter. They were young at the time. Who knows? Maybe they would have loved it. My husband grew up here but appreciates the change of seasons. Not me, I could live on a tropical island 🏝 all year long.

I always say that if I would be in the habit of buying lotto tickets (I am not) and I won mega millions that I would buy an island of my own. Hahaha

Maybe it would be fun to see a white Christmas though. All we get here and it’s RARE is a few flurries. The whole city shuts down because we can’t drive in the snow! Hahaha

Other places have ‘snow days’ off for school children. We have ‘hurricane days’ off.
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My Japanese magnolia is blooming it’s heart out! Beautiful purple color. I love this tree. I love my camellias too. It’s so nice seeing flowers in winter.

We planted our tree and camellias 30 years ago. The camellias are a pretty bright pink.
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Leon, welcome!   I'm excited to  meet a gunsmith; I'm interested in discussing some guns and look forward to your advice.
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Thank you GA! I will be spending some time looking around the links you posted.

Looking forward to those 400 bulbs.🌸🌷🌷🌼

Very blustery tonight.

I still love the snow storms! Difference now is I prefer to stay in rather than out playing.
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I LIKE GARDENING AS A HOBBY & A FOOD SOURCE . I FIND IT VERY FULFILLING , AND EDUCATIONAL . I AM A FORMER GUNSMITH , ENJOY TALKING ABOUT GUNS & RELATED SUBJECTS , OLD CARS & HOT RODS . CURRENT STATE OF POLITICS , THE WORLD AS A WHOLE SITUATION !
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CWillie, the quilt wraps come after work, in retirement age, or over the weekend.   And yes, I remember those work days of scraping, shoveling and inching along to get to work, or to the bus or train, then often shoveling again after a slow bus ride home.   Those days I don't miss; I do miss the checks though!
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GA, I agree that winter was a lot more fun when I was under 20, the older I get the more I wish there was a Canadian territory in a tropical climate where I could spend my winters.

Cuddling up under a quilt in a blizzard is a luxury only allowed to those who don't have to be out there scraping off the car, shovelling a trail out the driveway and hitting the roads to get to work, the only way to get to stay under that quilt would be if the roads are closed, and that seldom happens.
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NeedHelpWithMom, Other than when I was a baby and Dad was in the AF, I'm a Northern Gal who's only been through the SE states once or twice, and in your fair, lovely city twice.   I loved the city, especially the St. Louis Cathedral and the "square" it faces (the name of which I can't remember).

I especially LOVED the beignets - what a delicious (and fattening) treat they were.

But I've never experienced such heat and humidity.  I almost passed out when I got off the plane - it was like opening an oven door.    Eventually I got used to it, but it was a challenge.   I guess we all are acclimated to the areas in which we've spent the most time.   

I liked snow a lot more when I was younger; still, there's nothing like a good blizzard to justify in home confinement, making a pot of soup and reading a good book while wrapped up in a quilt.
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GA,

So beautiful! I have only seen snow a handful of times in my life. I am a southern gal at heart so I couldn’t live where there is snow all the time.

I do think it is so beautiful and a treat for me to see it occasionally. We honeymooned in Colorado. We flew into Denver. We visited Colorado Springs, Estes Park and Vail. On the ride up to Vail there was a snow storm. It was quite scary to us as a couple from New Orleans.

We were married in April, spring time. Ski season had just ended so we were surprised about the freak snow storm that blew threw. Most snow that I have ever seen in my life!
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For gardeners dreaming and planning for their gardens, but seeing snow when you gaze out your windows:

I have this as my home page so every time I connect to the Internet I have a leisurely tour of the gardens at Villandry.    Make a cup of hot chocolate or coffee, and enjoy the tour.   Much of the tour is in the chateau, which is beautiful (especially to a Francophile), but the stunning formal gardens reflect their own lovely precision, planning, dedication, and beauty of this charming French chateau and les jardins.    

https://www.chateauvillandry.fr/en/
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Glad, check out some of these hits for fairy gardens.   I do remember that Country Garden magazines had some attractive models in one of their issues, last year, I think.

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=Ej0nXsWzDIm0tQbAiYSAAQ&q=Country+Gardens+magazine%2C+fairy+houses&oq=Country+Gardens+magazine%2C+fairy+houses&gs_l=psy-ab.3..33i299.1566.7356..7523...0.0..0.183.3022.37j2......0....1..gws-wiz.....6..0i362i308i154i357j0i131j0j0i22i30j33i22i29i30j33i160.5JqfZyi3-1w&ved=0ahUKEwjFhPzco5XnAhUJWs0KHcAEARAQ4dUDCAs&uact=5#spf=1579629850127

Lots of fairy houses, some of them good possibilities:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Country+Gardens+magazine,+fairy+houses&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi-mungo5XnAhXGQc0KHWWqAv0QsAR6BAgFEAE&biw=1280&bih=561#spf=1579629938056

More, including specific fairy garden artists:

https://florencegriswoldmuseum.org/visit/programs-events/wee-faerie-village/wee-faerie-village-artists/

Lots more hits:

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=Xz4nXofTE4HNtQbK3rzQCA&q=fairy+gardens&oq=fairy+gardens&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.1612.3189..3367...0.0..0.99.817.13......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131.Dee7loSQxc8&ved=0ahUKEwjH_uf7pJXnAhWBZs0KHUovD4oQ4dUDCAs&uact=5#spf=1579630179100

I think I wrote about this sometime back, but if not...years ago a gardening friend and I visited Heavenly Scent Herb Gardens.  

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=Xz4nXofTE4HNtQbK3rzQCA&q=fairy+gardens&oq=fairy+gardens&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l10.1612.3189..3367...0.0..0.99.817.13......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131.Dee7loSQxc8&ved=0ahUKEwjH_uf7pJXnAhWBZs0KHUovD4oQ4dUDCAs&uact=5#spf=1579630179100

There was a small display of a fairy garden, created on top of an old stump.   The "cover" was a large mushroom roof (I've decided an old umbrella would be a good model for something more sturdy), with fairy houses underneath.    I think I have photos someplace, but I couldn't post them here anyway.
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I love Biofreeze, but I often get the store brand.. seems the same to me, And I like the Doterra cream. Mom had two of the "rice packs" you heat up in the microwave,, they stay hot for a long time!
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Glad, what a great excuse to thumb through old magazines or search online and find sample fairy gardens!    One I remember was a unique fairy abode on top of a large, probably hand made mushroom, with the houses being under the roof of the mushroom.   I saw it at a local herbal garden.    I'll have to spend some time searching for it, but I'll see if it's still posted on the garden's website.

Send, "reciprocal caregiving..."  I can only smile and chuckle!
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I use biofreeze, mentholated gel for aches and pains. Used to be only sold in chiropractor offices or physical therapy clinics. Now widely available. Looks that stuff!

No, GA have not done anything additional about the fairy garden. Must start thinking about what to do. Ideas would be helpful and I will Google. Seems like I will need a rather large pot or multiples of different sizes to have something that will love ok decent.

Still need to get my wildflower seed scattered.
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