90 degrees F.

 I picked them today. They will ripen safely in the house. I had one other that I also picked right after I watered everything I carry water from the water barrel and after a couple of trips everything got soaked . I have some grape tomatoes that I will start picking soon. 

 

The heat is hard on my roses. I have watered these knock outs every other day to get them back to blooming again. These are what is left from their first round of blooms. 

We visited friends last night and saw their gardens. They were all neat and tidy unlike my cottage garden look. They had a lot of hosts and included borders of impatience plants. The day was hot and the hostas all looked like they needed to be watered. I saw they had one small peony start and suggested that I could share with them lots of new starts. Also the husband hinted he would like a start of rhubarb. Since I can't eat it anymore, I will be glad to share. I did dig some already for him this morning and put it in dirt in a bucket. It was hard to dig but I did get a good root for him. I did take them three starts of a hosta and some chives that I had in a pot for them. They can plant it whenever they get time to do it.

 

 

 I have a stray batch of stems that are white. That is a first for me since I planted these a few years ago.

 I don't remember posting this before but here is the one sunflower with three heads. There actually are a lot more blooms to come on it. We are up to high temps again today. The front yard needed to be mowed and I did get that done. It was way too hot for it but I finished it in twenty minutes. My neighbor's grandson joined me again as he mowed next door.  I didn't finish and do the backyard He did do his grandparents backyard but he did take a break before doing so.

Going to get groceries this afternoon and that will be a hot trip. We will pick up supper there and meds. We will then be in, home, for the rest of the day.  Thanks for stopping by today.9

A Hot Tuesday

 It took years of patience to get this field lily to look this good. When I moved it down from the old place I had planted it near a tree. It didn't take off there at all. The plant itself grows wild in country ditches as it is invasive. Houses in the country will be torn down, long gone, and this lily is still blooming in the vacant yards and many times spreads to the ditches. My wife's homestead area had lilies growing way down the now highway roads as the construction people spread it while making new roads.  

My patience has paid off as it now loves growing under the steps to our deck and has spread some. I welcome the time when I have to stop its spreading too much. 

 The invasive phlox is now my problem. I am moving some flowers away from it rather than it kill of the plants, I have moved lots of iris away from it and I now have two Asiatic lilies that I will move this fall. I am still amazed as to how the phlox genetically just changes on its on and I now have white ones and red ones. Oh yes I have the pink ones too. 

 

I am sure there is a word for the seed to have different genetics from its original. The zinnias here were planted from mostly darker magenta flowers and as you can see that I have all colors from that seed. It is told that most apple seeds do not grow up to have the same kind of apple as its base apple. It is said that Johnny Appleseed did a great job spreading apple trees but most of them were small sour green apple that were produced from his plantings. It is said that the farmers made apple cider out of them rather that trying to eat them.  I think trees have to be produced from cuttings of the base tree. 

 

It was really too hot to be outside this morning, working outside. I had to stand in the shade while talking with my neighbor through the fence. I did mostly watering and weeding. I had to look up my hat as I really found it unbearable to be out there without it.  Our high will be in the lower 90s F. with full sun. It is suppose to stay that way for four or five more days. It is our Iowa summer's normal.

Thanks for stopping by today.  

Monday's Mentions

 Some of the ast of the roses from the first bloom session. It is a simple set of petals on a knock out rose. 

 Carrying over geraniums doesn't always pay off but this one is doing well. It wintered in luxury in my basement window and now is giving great sets of blooms. I watered the entire garden of flowers in the round raised bed in the front yard. We are at 87 degrees F. today and the temps remain that level all week. I hooked up a hose as I was getting weary of toteing water from the backyard barrel.

 The Russian sage is doing well in the front yard but I just don't like it grows in such a random shape. It falls all over itself in the garden. I have this trellised up a bit. I inherited this from the previous owner and like it and hate it. 

 I am just now getting morning glory blooms. They come up wild among the tomato patch and I keep thinning them out so they don't suffocate the tomatoes and sunflowers. 

 These sunflowers are not mammoth brand as this volunteer one has multiple heads. I like it but was hoping it to be the other kind. I have three of these growing in among the tomatoes. 

 I sent a set of bulbs from this agapanthus to my brother in California knowing it would bloom. He is lazy and plants everything in pots rather than in the ground. The firs year it became root bound and broke the small pot he put it in. He had to put it in a large pot and now it has five or six shoots of blooms. I read yesterday that I should plant it in the ground in the spring and dig it in the fall. Maybe it will bloom if I plant it in the ground. I see this flower in gardens in Europe and also in California as it grows like a ditch lily, invading everywhere. I was glad he got it to bloom and now that it has he likes it a lot.

 

Here it is, my agapanthus blooming in Yorba Linda, Californina. I have had it in pots for years but it will freeze out in my climate so I bring it inside every fall. The article I read said I could dig it in the fall and replant it in the spring. I will try that soon. I have owned it for years and kept it as a floliage plant in pots. 

I mentioned earlier that it is 87 F. today. We had an appointment this morning in West Des Moines. After the appointment we visited the bookstore nearby. Home for lunch and resting in the afternoon, I watered things in the morning before we left and no one is mowing grass right now. We may go back to having dormant grass again. 

Thanks again for stopping by today.
 

Sunday

 

 

 

 

 We are moving into serious Iowa weather. It is typical that we get high heat and high humidity at the same time. Farmers say the humidity makes the corn and beans grow. It really isn't good for humans as one walks from the car to different locations it is very uncomfortable. I open the door to my garage and it is amazing as to how humid it is compared to our air conditioned home. I will water as many things as I can tomorrow as I am trying not to loose anything. 

Thanks for checking in today. 

Long Blog

 The cloud bank is so low that one almost misses seeing the storm clouds. I had to move to the front yard and stand  in the street to get the rest of the line of couds.

 

It is the second evening in a row that we got such a color show. We didn't get rain from these but some actually had tornado scares from them. The heavy humidity can bring in really strong storms. 

This clown finally made it to the feeder. He tried to crawl up the vertical rails and that just didn't work. He kept sliding down. when he tried. He had to jump up on the bench then jump to the curved rail. He almost lost his valance but then recovered and move to the feeder. There wasn't much in there for him as I hadn't refilled it for the morning. He put on quite a show then just jumped down and left down the stairs.  

I can identify with the balance thing and find myself having to catch it once in a while. I don't try vertical poles but I do step over things where I shouldn't even be trying to do it.  Oh well. Thanks for stopping by today. 

Friday Fun, Maybe

 

 

The evening clouds are highlighted from the setting sun in the opposite direction of the sun. I had to stand in the middle of the street to get the shot as the neighbors trees were in the road. 

 We can't see the sun setting in our neighborhood as the rise of trees and houses above us block the view. At certain times of the season the sun lines up directly with our street. The top of the hill is above and we live half way down it. I have  mentioned before that the house is not aligned directly with north and south but we are at 60 degrees/39 degrees to the world. The cloud shots are at the bottom of the hill. 

 I worked outside this morning in the backyard, I mowed and pulled weeds while we were in low 80s F. and 84 percent humidity. The grass was long and I really didn't know when I had last done it. I had to open my blog to see if I could get a clue. It actually was more pleasant than most times but I did have to take a break in the middle of the job. 

 Here is a shot of my mower also taking a break this morning. I was going to sit down on the patio to rest but that doesn't make sense when the air conditioned air is right inside the door. 

 This day lily is showing off in the backyard. Six blooms in one time is a record for this planting.

 I am reminded that I have to move this as it sits behind plants and I have to move them to get a shot of it. 

 The vines that keep coming up in my tomato patch are so healthy and large this year that I wasn't sure what kind of vine that it was. The soil and mulch must have really nourished them as they are morning glories.  I have been pulling them as fast as I can but there are so many.This is the first bloom of the season. I will leave some of them for photos but I will still keep pulling them when I can. I have glads growing in there as well as some zinnias. The four tomatoes are really doing well and of course the four chive plants, one on each corner, are doing great. 

 My brother sees my shots of the back yard and keeps asking are those flowers yours. His backyard in California is like a jungle with palm trees and a koi pond. He grows every thing in pots for some strange reason. I guess seeing things growing out of the ground means I could be seeing them in city gardens. I plant my cannas in the ground and his are all sitting around in the plastic pots that he bought them in. Thanks for checking in today.

Thursday's Humidity

 It is a lower temperatured today but the humidity is very high. You can see we started with lots of humidity with all the hazy clouds.

 The lilies like the heat and this variety is an Asiatic lily. The spots make it look like a tiger lily but it really isn't.

 This lily is my jumbo sized one with lots of great color. There are three blooms in this one bunch.

 I found another lily that is in need of a rescue. It is hiding behind phlox and a lot shorter. I will be moving it this fall.

 I have soil in this leaking birdbath and the moss rose from last year is sprouting. I moved it up out of the shade to give it some heat to grow those roses. I am not sure why it is so slow in growing but the sprouts are very much rooted in and alive. My hosta row along the steps is looking good this season.

 I worked outside this morning until I just got too hot and down with the humidity. It was like the boiling of the frog story morning. The longer you stayed out there the more you could feel the heat sinking into your body. The arie was just heavy. I had mostly weeding and trimming back of peonies on the schedule and things look better. I have some Russian Sage that is out of control and sagging everywhere.

Thanks for stopping by today.