Middle of the Week

 We started off in the clouds and it has stayed cloudy for most of the day. Our high for the day is 56 degree D. The winds keep it feeling colder and a jacket is needed when working outside.

 When I took this shot the sun was shinning on my new Japanese maple tree. I really am glad I bought this and the colors are so great. 

 While I was out weeding I discovered that this rose has buds on it already. It lost only a couple of canes during winter. In a whole the bush looks fantastic. I had trimmed it back a little last fall  but in the most part it is still the same size.Those buds really do look like they could open up soon when we get warmer weather. 

 This rose has the new fence to protect it in the winter now. Also it makes it a little warmer being in the corner of it all. 

 

I was trying to take a photo of a robin in the locust tree. They have a nest in the tree but I really can't locate it. I did get a photo of the robin but it is hiding behind a brnach so all one can see is the tail and its orange breast feathers. 

It is the middle of the week and I did get some yard work done today. I have done too much physical work so have to slow down and heal up a bit. I  planted some pussy willow sprouts out by the new tree and also dug some phlox and moved them back into that new garden corner area. I need to mow my backyard but I am going to wait on it. The rains made the grass grow so well that it should be mowed more that just once a week.  It seems too cold so I just won't mow it. 

Thanks for checking in today. 
 

Tuesday's Things

 They have been slow in blooming but they are there. I really have to search to find them as the foliage is so full. 

 A mallard duck and a hen came it for a quick visit. The water looks less green as the neighbor must be treating it to clear it. Usually when people are home the kids are sent out to chase them away but no one is home. You know when the have come in as they look like a large blob, a bird, flying into out backyard area. 

 I worked again in the front yard area trying to take out the spreading evergreen that has spread way out of bounds. It has crowded out the rose bushes and is spreading down over the wall. The yucca plant actually is invading the evergreen shrub and I have to let the yucca be dominate, so I cut back the evergreen. After writing this I found the name to be "blue creeping juniper" I didn't plant any of this and I seem to be maintaining Arlen's choice of shrubs and roses. 

 The more work that I did the more stuffing of material had to go into the sacks. I am glad to say I am done for now and will tweak everything as things grow back. The roses are all budded for blooms inspit of all the dead wood that I had to remove. 

 

The end results look like this. It isn't too impressive to me but when the roses start blooming things look better. 

 In the backyard I have a great splash of color from this old fashion iris. The other modern variety of iris is starting to bud and soon I will have pinks and blues back there. 

 This is my very last bloom of this peony for the season. The rains really messed with the blooms as well as the cold. 

We were cold for most of the day. I worked outside with layers to keep warm. The winds seem to keep it cold also. Maybe tomorrow we can warm up again. Thanks for checking in today.  

Spring Work

 I worked in the garden this morning until I just got to hot. The sun was hot and the temps were  high. The last of the tulips are still making a great show in the front yard. 

 I have to move some of the tulips carefully after they finish blooming. I make gardening mistakes and I planted hosta in the area after the tulips were way gone. I didn't know that I had crowded up everything. I have decided that I will get my best towel, sit down, and dig on both sides to get them out of there. I can find places to move the tulips. 

 This is difficult work but I did get it done. The winter was different this year and some time in the middle of the season we warmed up to very warm temperatures. Then we went back down to very low temps. That whole disturbance of temps caused winter kill on six of my rose bushes. This looks sad but I am gong to wait and watch and see how things go. I can buy new ones but I will just wait for now to see which ones are too bad to save. I worked on one already and today I worked on this one plust three knock out roses. I have one more to do and that should happen tomorrow. 

 I happy to see how well these regal lilies are doing. The place next to the southeast part of the house seems to a great place to grow them. 

 This cemetery find is my earliest bloomer when it comes to iris. They are considered medium un size but they do look small compared to the hybrid ones that bloom later in the season. 

 The house finches are back. The males get so red during the mating season and the red does fade later on. The finch likes the new tray feeder.

 We are blessed this year to have a regular red visitor. The cardinal is at the feeder six or seven times a day. He is friendly with the sparrows. I took this shot of him and didn't know the sparrow was in the shot. It makes a good visual of cooperation among birds. I have so many shots of the big red. 

I like to share plants with others. This morning I dug the small bulbs of grape hyacynth and put them in a recycle can. I gave them to neighbor gardener who loves to grow many plants. She has a greenhouse light going on all year in her sun room. I shared chives with her earlier. I have shared with my brothers in warm states and I share with my blogger friends. I was going though my desk and found some cleome seeds from a blogger friend, Mildred. She has passed a few years ago now  but I though I will plant them this year.  It was a happy/sad find with those seeds. I looked up on the net to see how to plant them. I have a friend in Wisconsin I know that grows them. It will be a challenge to pull it off.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Sunday

The month of rain has been great for our blue spruce tree. It is growing out more abundantly than usual. Our totals of rain figured out to be over 7 inches of rain. We are not in a drought anymore for sure.

 The globe allium is looking good this year also responding to the good moisture. 

 

  A later photo of the wet cardinal with a sparrow. The tray had to be refilled today as all that was left was sunflower seed shells. 

We warmed up to 74 degree F. and I had to turn the air on in the house. The humidity is something we have to get use to again. I am hoping the weather stays good so I can get some more gardening done tomorrow..  Thanks for checking in today. 

Stuff for the Day

 My fern leafed peony likes the warmer weather. It finally opened up its blooms glad that cold temperatures are gone.

 I went to pick up a new battery for my truck. I then stopped at a nursery and picked up two new trees. The one will replace the tree that I had removed last fall. I also bought the Japanese maple to replace my stick of a tree that I bought last fall. 

 This is a good tree compared to the 18 inch one that I had growing there. The sun is making the top of the leaves more red that the rest of the leaves. 

 The crabapple tree will be a part of our secret garden area. The big blue spruce shields us from seeing that corner of the yard. We will instead create a garden there where we can visit it with special flowers, the tree and rosebushes to see. 

It will take a few years for this tree to get really showy but next spring we can enjoy what blooms that it has.  We warmed up a bit again today. One needed a couple of layers in the morning and a spring jacket by evening. We are suppose to get warmer. Thanks for stopping this Saturday. 

Friday

 As the earth continues to tilt my view of the sunrise is more limited.  Soon the sun will be up but the two large trees will block the horizon's view. The clouds gave me an exciting shot with the vertical line-up of them.  

 

Our cardinal did dry out and he looks really good. I like that he frequents the tray as it shows me that  I found something he likes to eat. The safflower seeds mixed in with sunflower seeds makes it a lot more tasty. 

 Sadly I had to cut back the dead wood on this once glorious rose bush. I thought about digging it all out and tossing it but right now I am in the wait and see mode. 

 This beautiful yellow rose is in the same condition. Most of the canes are dead. There is growth coming up but I don't know if this will ever be as glorious of a bush as it originally was.  I will trim one a day. I have three knock out roses that also look like this. 

 We had two mallard ducks wandering around in our back yard this morning. When I made the attempt to photograph them they flew up to the neighbors shed roof.  I don't understand why they are hanging around in the residential area but here they are. If you look at the google maps, we actually are about four miles from the Saylorville Lake. There is no straight road to there but the ducks can fly over easily enough. Again I mentioned that they like my neighbors pool of green water. 

It is Friday and I am glad to have all my chores done for the day. We really didn't warm up much today. Our high was 54 degrees F. The wind chill makes it a cold day. Thanks for stopping by today.  

 

Thursday's Sharing

 The new tray feeder is successful. It is all newer lumber and construction. I also figured out how to get it to level on that railing. The doves love tray feeders or eating off of the deck,

 

 

My cardinal showed up this morning and he was soaked from the morning rain.  I installed the new tray feeder late in the afternoon yesterday and he didn't show. I was glad to see him out there this morning. 

 The sparrow like sharing the space with the red one as long as he can get some seed. I bought some new sunflower plus safflower seed mixture and it is a hit for sure with the cardinal. I have house finches back in the area now but I don't have a visual to show yet. It is still on my camera chip. 

 

My geraniums in the front are blooming now. I like the flowers on this plant but they do show up as spots in the green rather to be close together. 

 I just realized that I hadn't shared my new tray feeder. I was tired of the old one that wobbled and wouldn't sit level anymore. I used all scrap wood pieces and small clamps keep it on the metal railing without causing a damage. Okay, old age is setting in as yes I did share this already. Check it out again if you want, or scroll on down. 

 The robin's nest next to my sliding glass door light is now being guarded by two birds. I went out for a quick look and was being attacked by one of them. The one is sitting shot gun outside the area. They try to draw you away from the area by flying ten feet away to hope you will follow.

 The other robin was actually sitting closer to the door ready to pounce. I am sure for now that they have eggs in the nest because of their behaviors. I will take the stairs down the deck to get out there now to keep from upsetting them.  Twelve to fourteen days to hatch and then the feed and leave the nest in a very short time. I hope all goes well. 

We got our gifts sent to our granddaughter this morning. She turns seven years old tomorrow. She can open her gifts on Saturday. Thanks for checking in today.