Flowers! An Icebreaker.

Poster By Alvesgaspar, Tony Wills (10) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0

My friend, an exasperated groom, once remarked, "There's no ugly flower!"  This did not help his bride-to-be choose her bouquet, because though none are ugly, there are certainly more beautiful ones in the eye of the beholder.

At last meeting, we found out just which flower struck each member's fancy. 

Here's our list with some online photos. 

Enjoy these blooms as we head through icy times.

• Daisies

• Siberian Iris

Siberian Irises from Canadian Iris Society

• Lilies

• Milkweed

• Peonies

• Poppies

• Old English Roses

Can you match the member (Dionne, Erica, Janice, Lana, Lori, Margaret, Vivianne) with their floral favourite?

Lilies from 2009 Lily Festival By Shahnoor Habib Munmun - Own work, CC BY 3.0 

Monarch butterflies on Common Milkweed, Asclepias syriaca from Make Way for Monarchs

'First Lady' peonies by Tracy Cox from Canadian Gardening "Peonies on Parade"

Icelandic Poppies from Decor8 blog

"Golden Celebration" from David Austen Fragrant English Roses

Tessa: Garden "Helper"

I don't have pictures of our dog, Tessa, caught in the act but she likes to help us garden.

Last week we planted potatoes. When we placed them in the holes ready to cover them up with dirt, Tessa snatched a potato and took off with it.

When I transplanted some nasturtiums she dug them out and I had to chase her around the yard to get the seedlings back.

She dug a young shrub right out of the ground. Perhaps she knew it was dead and was just helping us.

I spend plenty of time chasing her when she steals my garden gloves or small garden tools when I'm working with them and have just laid them down temporarily. She thinks it's great my running around after her.

This week, I hand picked a pile of dandelions out of our lawn and put them in a plastic bucket. She stuck her head in the bucket and ran around the yard spreading them back over the lawn - ever so artistically.

Now if I could only train her to dig when and where we want her to…

- Johanne. Highlands Garden Club Member

My Stupidest Gardening Mistake - or- We Were Once All Newbies

If you're ever feeling down in the dumps about a stupid garden mistake - search no further than Gardenweb forum for "My Stupidest Gardening Mistakes..." to help you laugh through the pain. Get doses of gardening tips and advice with every spoonful of schadenfreude! 

Below are some short ones from the discussion. 

May you soon be laughing at your own mistakes and sharing them with us here! 
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* Posted by: Pickwick z5 (My Page) on Thu, Mar 13, 03 at 18:14 The grounds superintendent of a large estate where I worked in the days of my youth, assigned me to plant grass seed in a freshly prepared area. He conveyed to me where I might locate this seed. Evidently, I seemed to have grabbed the wrong bag. It was thistle birdseed...........

* Posted by: MaryMarg Zone9/San Jose (My Page) on Thu, Feb 27, 03 at 15:27 We moved into our first home four years ago, and had a gorgeous bougainvillia draping over the tops of the french doors to our bedroom. New to gardening, my husband and I couldn't figure why it "died" several months after moving in. My husband, escaping with multiple minor cuts and several colorful expletives, managed to remove it. We found out several weeks later (after it had been taken away by the garbage man) that the beautiful climber was merely dormant. Such remorse!

* Posted by: PattiA6290 7b ) on Sat, Feb 9, 02 at 8:17A friend of mine had her son-in-law plant several hundred tulips for her one year. That next spring none of them came up. Miffed she was gonna return them to the nursery where she buys all of her plants. After she started digging them up she notice he had planted them all up side down.

* Posted by: Marisha 6OH on Sun, Feb 17, 02 at 20:47
One year my husband brought home a truckload of grass clippings from work, in big plastic bags. Oh, thrill! We could use them for mulch in the vegetable garden......little did we know how many dandelion seeds were hidden in all those grass clippings...until the next spring when they all bloomed!