Wednesday's a Washout.....

 Yesterday's peonies looked like this.  We got over a half inch of rain last evening and now they are all laying on the ground.  My neighbor lady is ready to tell me "I told you so".  She told me that she didn't grow them anymore because the rain will ruin them.  Well I will continue taking my chances as the negative doesn't out weight the positive.  I will go cut a few bouquets of them today and will enjoy them as if they are not on the ground.  My front row of peonies are not on the ground today.

 

Under the maple tree I see that the robins have a nest in that tree. I tried to find the nest but the leaves are just to thick to see through.

My tomatoes are all in the ground now. We are still dry but last nights rain should help out some.  I don't do other vegetables as we can just pick up a can of them at the store. I collected grass and am mulching this year.  No chemicals were sprayed on it this year as I cancelled the service from last year.

 

 

I believe it is a primrose bloom. They are identified byt the four petals.  I see I have more of them blooming after the rain but I took this yesterday when there was just one bloom.

The dark iris called superstition is so heavy with blooms that I have to stake them up now. I have two plantings of this and they are doing so good.  I moved this down from the old place. 

The "William Baffin" rose is growing to large.  I don't really want to trim it back but I do so in the fall.  It doesn't seem to bother it but I like how the rose has flowers on every single branch at all ends. 

My neighbor's iris is hard to photograph but it can be done by place the camera lens right on the crack of the fence boards and it focused right through. 

I did heaving lifting today as I went to Ace Hardware for supplies.  I bought mulch, sand, three red square bricks and three creme colored bricks.  I plans for the bricks and I need to mulch a lot of things.  My stairs that was design by the former owner has bricks laid o ntop of a sand base. It isn't a good design as the sand washes out from under the block steps.  It is complicated to explain so I wiil take a photo later while I am working on them.  Weightlifting means I didn't mow anything today. I've spent my energy for today.  i was told by Ace that I already had a mulching blade on my mower that I needed to just mow mow every four days.  That wasn't what I wanted to hear but I will work on it.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Tuesday.....a Hot Day.

 This is my red peony that I inherited from my mom and grandmom. 

 This is a white peony that I moved from my old place.  It has a lot of history at that property which is a 100 plus years old.

 I inherited this peony from the former owner of our new place.  I suspect it was bought commercially.

 This antique peony also came from my old place.

 This red is from a former owner also.  It is not the same red as my grandmom's peony.  I am thinking it was bought commercially. 

 

 I hope our hot spell won't destroy the peony blooms.  We are having high humidity and that should help them out. It was not fun to work outside this morning.  It is summer.   Thanks for stopping in today.

Memorial Day.....

 My dad was in the army during WW2.  He landed overseas in Belgium and eventually was sent into battle.  It was called the Battle of The Bulge.  He was the radio carrier who went out with the scouts to see the battle field situations.  He was with the scouts that discovered in the small town of Rmagen that there was still one bridge intact that spanned the Rhine River into Germany.  The Nazis had destroyed every bridge across the Rhine to keep the Americans from invading Germany.  The only problem is the bridge at Remagen is that it wouldn't fall down even though they kept placing dynamite at its base supports. My dad was with the first unit to cross that bridge in the spring of 1945. There was a unit of German soldiers to greet them side that couldn't keep them from crossing. In ten days, six different units of American soldiers crossed over there on the bridge.  The final invasion was taking place.  Hitler's army admitted defeat on May 8, 1945.  It was also the same day of my Dad's birthday. More than 35,000 Americans died in that five week battle and it was the final fight to stop the war with Germany.  I fly my flag as often as I can to remember that our freedom did come at a great cost. I feel I am doing it for my father, Jesse T. and he is being honored when you see my flag.

 

 

 

 Thanks for stopping by this Monday, Memorial Day.

Sunday Sunrise Show....

 Sunday morning promises to be a good one. We will warm up today and the clouds will be few.

My light blue flag iris is now in bloom.  I collected this from a neighbor back at the old place.  She collected a lot of things from me after we moved away and before I sold the place. 

I planted zinnias and marigolds yesterday next to this garden.  I planted seeds so I will be waiting a while before it will look good. 

 

 

The front raised flower bed that I inherited is looking better as the flowers are starting to spread.  I plant this space differently each year but I enjoy the planter being there. I need to do some straightening of the brick.

The dianthus returned from last years planting. I would like to fill this area in with more perennials so the work will be less. I will add a hosta or two by fall.

These hybrid iris blooms are so great. It is a new one from last  year and the first time blooming for me.  It sits too close to the peonies but I guess I will leave them alone for another year. Moving them six or eight inches away from the peonies would be a good thing.

We are having a quiet Sunday with no big plans.  We may go out for salad and sandwiches for supper at Panera.  Taking a day off for work is good to do.  Thanks for stopping by today.

New Blooms.....

 This is one of the last of my cemetery iris to bloom. It is one of my favorites of all of my collection. I like the contrast of colors. The line decoration on the falls of this match the others.

This cemetery iris is in bloom right now too.  I discovered that I have it planted in two different locations which I am glad to have it. 

This bloom was commercially sold on line.  It reminds me of the one cemetery iris that I had that looked like this.  It seems to be too small to be from the exact same line.  Maybe another year it will grow bigger and I will think it is from the same line.  If I were able to travel to a certain cemetery in southern Iowa I am sure I could get a rhizome of the authentic old ones. 

I have the red peony blooming but I was surprised to see this old fashion peony also is now starting to bloom. I brought this down from my old place and it is from a long line of historic peony plantings along the driveway. 

I have a lot of red peonies to bloom.This one is from the line of peonies that my Grandmother Brooks had years ago at her home in Murray, Iowa.  My mom collected the plants starts and then gave me a couple of them. 

My final share for today is my invention.  I bought a new white rose for the front yard. When I planted it, the location seemed to be good.  Now that the wild geranium is being invasive I put together a fence to hold it back.  I had scrap fencing pieces that pieced together in an interesting way.  We are warm today and it is pleasant outside.  Have a great weekend.

New Things....

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow there will be many more new flowers to share.  We went to get breakfast out this morning and ended up at the bookstore.  Friday is a good day to go as it gets so crowded on the weekends.  Thanks for checking in this day.

Many Things on Thursday.....

 Changing weather conditions cause the various sights in the morning.  It is sunny most of the time today.

I spent the morning watering things.  I have seeds planted that could use a boost to their germination.  The cottage garden is looking its best for the year.  I guess when the phlox take over later in the year things will still look good.

One more of my cemetery iris is now starting to bloom.  It is one of my favorites and yet my very favorite hasn't bloomed yet.  This has a good stand of plants so I may want to dig some later on and put it in the front flower garden. 

 

I watered in the front garden today also.  I have greenhouse plants on the other side of this.  I couldn't take a photo as the watering makes them look a little beat up.  They are all rooting in good and I have not lost a one of them. The salvia, or whatever it is called, is starting to look good.  The coral bells flowers look good as they are leaning into them. 

Morning glories are up and I hope will climb the trellis.  I may have to help direct them or maybe raise the pot up so the have to grow into it. 

The new surprise for me to see was this iris in bloom.  It is blooming earlier than the other two that I have. The bush is crowding out the plant a little so I will trim it back soon.  I know that it can spread to the left but it doesn't need to be bullied by the dogwood bush. 

I have many closeup shots of iris but I will hold back on that.  I took 31 shots this morning and I had taken photos the day before.  I have too many things to share. 

The company that sold me this iris called it "Superstition" while other companies want to call it the black iris.  It acually is a very deep purple and yet the buds look black before they open.  I have it planted in another location and it hasn't bloomed yet.

I am taking more of a leisure day today.  I sharpened the blade of my mower today by hand.  I don't have a grinder like the one my farmer dad had.  I hope it will help me with my mowing.  I won't do a mowing for five or six days more.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Middle of the Week....

 

I have seen a robin come to the feeder last summer season.  This is the first for this year.  They flit in so fast that I have to grab the camera a move fast. 

 

 I got a lot of partial shots and didn't think I was going to get the full body.   It did turn around quickly and came to the front of the feeder.

 

 

A new hybrid iris came out today.  It put out two blooms at once which is unusual. I don't know the name of it at this point of time but I was thinking I would like to have more two colored iris. I guess I do know have this one.

 

 

 I had forgotten that I had this one. I moved it from the old place.  I call it Sally's Iris as she brought in a bunch of rhizomes in to school one day and I collected a few of them.  This is the only one of them that survived and was glad to move.  I had to discover out about treating for grubs as a lot of my iris was being eaten up at the base. I lost a lot of iris back then. 

I mowed the back yard this morning. I couldn't understand why I was having physical problems and then I found out how hot it was out there.  I have looked at my mower blade and I need a new one.  I don't have a way to sharpen it properly so I will go buy one. I was advised to buy a mulching blade.  Right now my old blade is just beating the grass to death. I had to use the bag again today and carried lots of grass away to mulching areas of my back yard. 

The heat is something new to adjust to just like the freezing temps were such a shock.  I am glad to have it all mowed now even though it took me two days.  Tomorrow.......

A New Day.....

 

The haze continues even though it is suppose to be lesser.  We do have sunshine today and it is going to get up to 81° F. I mowed in the morning and a long sleeved shirt was too warm for me. I had to take it off to a T shirt.  

This hardy geranium has a good glow though as the red is bright.  I didn't buy the larger ones available as I figure I can grow them larger myself. 

I must have pruned them back alright because I have "knock out" roses starting to bloom. They have leafed out well and they are partially in bloom.  I need to remember to water them as we are still considered dry after two years of drought. They don't get much rain as they are up to the southeast side of the house and it doesn't get as much water unless the wind is in the right direction. 

 

 

 I do need the tube to be there but I have decided to put it up only when I know it will rain.  I don't think I will have water in the basement if I forget.  I think it would look better if I wasn't slicing it into visually. I could find myself having to go out into the rain to install if if rains when it isn't predictied. 

I did get my front yard mowed this morning.  I had to bag it as the grass is too thick and my mulcher wasn't handling it.  I get to carry bags of grass down the hill and sometimes find places along the way where grass mulch would be good.  I will mow the back yard tomorrow.  It is tall back there and it will need to be bagged also.  Makes it a lot more work, stopping and carrying, but it looks better when done that way. It works for my body to do it in two sessions.

Thanks for stopping in on Tuesday.