Sunday with Showers........

My wife's pansies look happy for a number of reasons.  The first good reason is that I took away all the spreading juniper that was shading the area.  Secondly they are glad we finally got them out of the plastic containers and put into the ground.  Lastly they love all the rain we are getting.  We had 3 inches plus on Tuesday and it has rained two days more making the ground super moist for them to grow out their roots.

The creeping bluebells are starting to bloom on the north side of the house.  Last year it was so dry that they shriveled up right after they bloomed.  This  year there will be a great show of color for a long time.

I mowed most of my yard yesterday and it sure is looking good this year.  I don't think I mowed it maybe three times the whole last summer.

In the background next to the stairs you can barely see the one  hydrangea bush out of two that revived from the cold winter. It is putting out some blooms. I have so many who say they have never seen the white hydrangea. White hydrangea is actually the only kind you see in Iowa that has grown around all our older farmsteads and houses in town for years.  It was traded or shared with neighbors as the small towns grew. The breeding of color with hydrangea has made it possible to see color blooms now in fancy gardens and around businesses today. The color ones are readily available for many years now at nurseries. I guess the green hydrangea is common also in some areas. I have seen them all my life at houses where they have taken over most of a houses foundations.  I also have seen some that climb that had covered up a lot of a house.

I really like the colors of the stems of rhubarb.  We have another picking available now but will wait another week to make something to eat.  I have become frustrated with these California strawberries as they never ripen and become moldy if you try to do make them ripen.  I usually like to add them to the rhubarb but I am going to give up buying them.  I see we have a pick your own strawberry patch south of us now and they will be great tasting strawberries. It  must bee very muddy for the people to get out into those rows of plants.

The bleeding heart plant that I planted early spring has really started to grow.  I am going to be watching to see if it will put out blooms.  If we become hot, like our summers usually are, it may not bloom this year.

Headed to church this morning in the rain and will meet up with my Arizonian brother and his wife for a meal this afternoon. It will be fun to see them again and catch up on each others' families. He lives in Mesa and all his kids now live near him there.  He will probably enjoy driving through rain and is doesn't rain that often in Arizona.  Thanks for stopping by today.