Saturday....

 

My neighbor Ben once asked if the iris below was an orchid. He is a builder, carpenter and just doesn't seem to know his flowers.  The orchid above is blooming despite my lack of care for it. 

 

 The yellow climbing rose is just now starting to bloom. It had a lot of winter kill on its stems this year but it does seem to coming back pretty well.  I will have many photos of it as it more of a classic looking rose than some of mine are. 

The former owner of this property bought this peony. It really did poorly during the last years of drought but this year it is really showing off great blooms. I really like the color of it. There are tow of them. I had to move the one of the two down the hill as it was not doing well in the clay soil in the front yard..

My neighbors had this painted on their lawn by the gas company. At first I thought it was a little person but now I see it is suppose to say OK. The flag was right in the middle of it like it had been stabbed in its heart. 

We shopped today at Walmart and my wife could not find the paint that she wanted. I found a brand of sugar free cookies that I stocked up on them. We then went to another store where my wife did find her color of acrylic paint. I went to the pet store and left disappointed. The service is poor there to non-existent. I wanted three lousy gold fish and I couldn't get anyone willing to come and help me.  I talked to one guy who was unpacking boxes near there. He would get someone to help; maybe next week. Another guy was loading a  table full of dog biscuits and clearly could see me. I didn't get help and I knew my wife would be waiting for me. I finally put back my expensive bird seed and left my cart out there and left. Sadly this place is the only store in a town of 72,000  that sells live fish. If I happen by again sometime and some live person is working the store I will get what I want. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

 

Last Day of the Week....

 

My favorite of all of my cemetery iris collection is this one.  It is the last of them to bloom. I watched it  unfold all day yesterday until late afternoon it was in full bloom.

The rainfall has been good for the peonies this year. I have never seen so many blooms on this one before this year. I have cut a couple of bouquets out of it so it was fuller.  I worked in the backyard this morning mowing the last of the grass.  It was cool at first but then we warmed up quickly by the time I was done. I was almost overheated wearing a long sleeved shirt. I looked at my phone and it was up to 74 degrees F. I shed the long sleeve and went inside to turn on the air. 

I did go back and water my tomatoes and also my marigold starts.  I get impatient while I wait for the roots to develop. I keep thinking the marigolds will never make it.  I pulled all of my rhubarb today so the lilies that are growing in the same area can get better light. I can't eat rhubarb as I like lots of sugar and can't have it. I cut it up as if I am gong to give it away but I don't really have anyone to give it to right now. My one new neighbor grows her own now. I will keep it a few days and then I might just pitch it. 

A newer rose is going to bloom soon. It sits at the front of the house right next to the front step. One branch of it died but the rest seems to be doing good.  I picked up a planter of various plants for the front step this year. It was dropped in price a lot for it was intended to be used for a cemetery. Flowers are flowers and they will look great on our steps. I share photos of it later, as time goes by. 

 

Thanks for checking in today.

Thursday's Things in Visuals.....

 

 

 I mowed the front yard today. Our yards and flowers have never looked so good since the past two years of dry weather. We have had warmer weather but we are promised to get hot in the low 80s. That is suppose to last for many days. It will slow the growth down a little but we have been too cold. 

Thanks for stopping in today.

Mild Mornings.....

 

I spent a lot of time with this rose this morning trying to cut out a major dead branch. It was tough and the bush likes to protect itself with thorns. 

The William Baffin rose is starting to show off now. It is now framed with a new fence that sets above it and frames it space. The workmen tried to put the gate below it and we couldn't see it from the backyard. When I showed them where I wanted it he said that makes sense. 

I found the name of this iris. It is called "peach jam". It looks a lot worn out in this photo as the rains are hard on it. Rains mean short squalls of water that last maybe lastan hour each day. 

I cleared out wild violets today to reveal my row of hosta. They should do better there now with the chance to get some daylight. The larger they become the violets will just have to move out. 

I need to move the angel back over to sit on the bench but it just hasn't happened yet. My hardy geraniums that wintered over inside are enjoying the out of doors. 

I worked most of the morning outside with mild temps. I see we have tornado warnings for the evening. We are moving into typical Iowa weather with warm calm days turning into powerful storms.

Thanks for stopping by today..

Cool But Comfortable Day.....

 They glare at me waiting for some fish food to drop from above. I did buy three new angel fish and I need to photograph them. They grow large so quickly.

 

The former owner of t his place had purchased commercially different peonies. This red peony is different than my old farmhouse one that I have.

I guess the color is differnet too. I didn't notice htat until I compared the photos. My red peonies came through ownership of two other people, garndma and mom, and from my old property.

I brought four of these to the new place and they have mature into great plants. The rains help to make the flower  heads to drop to the ground. I am expecting to see the growth behaviors to change as the new fence is going to make a new micro climate with a warmer area with them more protected. 

My large pink rose bush is showing off again this year. It has so many buds on it and the blooms are wonderful. I worked in the backyard again today.  I planted a packet of nasturtiums today and filled in a lst area with some zinnia seeds. I also reworked my free standing bird feeder this morning. It was made with scrap wood and does cause it not to wear very good. I reinforced the base and created a new platfor for bird seed. It is good to recycle wood. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Cemetery Iris....

 It is a good memory of visiting cemeteries each year on Memorial Day. The graves are all being decorated with flowers from the home garden flowers. Cut flowers of peonies and iris and sometime they would mix in some ferns to make them more decorated. My aunt Lois always brought jars of water to put her flowers into to keep them fresh longer. In the stages of history people would bring their iris from home and plant them on the graves.  The two different iris seen here came from the Murray Cemetery in southern Iowa. I dug one rhizome from each kind and they have multiplied through the years.

This is another variety that I have collected. They do spread so I eventually have to dig and throw away the advancing rhizomes. 

You can compare the size difference by looking at the hybrid iris growing next to the cemetery iris. I have read that the hybrid iris were bred from the small iris to get the larger size. I read that the yellow and brown iris was the one that started the hybrid processes.

Somehow I lost the yellow and brown cemetery iris.  I also lost an all white one too. The above photo is one that looks a lot like the old fashioned one but I had to buy it and it isn't quit the variety. I do know that some time I will get back to the old Murray Cemetery and I will collect the ones that I lost. The company that sells the one in the picture calls this bumblebee. 

This one variety puts out a lighter color iris and sometime the two different ones are on the same stem.I have one more cemetery one that is white with dark blue falls. It is one of my favorites and is one of the last ones to bloom. 

 I did have iris planted at the graves of my parents, brother and infant sister. The caretakers have decided to level the land and it does look good to have it all graded to the same level. Unfortunately they removed all of them.  I have one fern leafed peony that survived because it was between two of the stones. 

Thanks for stopping by today.

Sunday Blooms

 

 

 

 

Backyard Busy.....

 The rainfall last evening was not so much so I could work in the backyard garden today. The soil was damp but I did get some marigold seed planted and some short rows of zinnias. I didn't need to water them in as their was plenty of moisture in the ground. I also planted my glad bulbs that I harvest from last years bloom cycle. I use to plant them days apart so the blooms will come at different times. I didn't do that this time. I was just happy to get them in the ground. I found my gardener's knee pad and use it all the time, so I can kneel down and work without bending down.

The rains are great but the flowers do suffer a little from them. It was only a fourth  of an inch but it fell in a heavy rainfall. It really brings down the peony bushes.  The means I need to cut peonies for bouquets. There are a lot of blooms so I don't even dent the display of outside flowers. 

 

 

 

While viewing my neighbors house on a realtor site I had to smile. They show all parts of the house inside and go outside to shoot view shots of the yard. My new fence is a star in two of the shots making her backyard look really great. Our house, sun room, is in one of the shots. I am sure she will sell quickly as there is a scarcity of available houses for sale here  

No big plans for the weekend. We are going to meet friends after church tomorrow and eat together. Our weather is going to be cool but rain isn't in the picture. We are finally classified as dry and not in a drought.  It took us two and a half years to get there for sure.  Thanks for stopping by today.

Friday....

 They now have to come through the new gate opening. They can fit under the gate only as all the other parts of the backyard fence are now finished and their is no way in now.

The pink rose is liking the rains that we have received. The peony bushes are going to be open in full force in a couple of days. 

I worked in the backyard this morning clearing out a flower bed. I usually plant zinnias there and I should have stayed ahead of the water weeds. It is all tilled now with my potato fork. The soil was actually wet. I did have only two layers on today as it wasn't as cold as it was yesterday. We have warmed up to 70 degrees now but our highs the next few days aren't going to be to hot. 

It is hard to believe that school is out now. I guess they seasons kept  us busy and I did notice the track meets were being held and that is the end of the school season. All of sudden  Facebook is showing all of the graduations happening and the parties that are going on for now.

Friday is here and thanks for stopping by today.

Cold Cold.......

 Good morning to the sun. It was clear and then the clouds moved in for the rest of the day. I had to do battle with Google to get to my photos but I finally resolved their glitch. I hate it when something like that turns on you and won't let you sign in when they say you need to sign in.

My wife's new Knock Out rose has good blooms but it is adjusting to being put into the ground. It doesn't act like it liked the transfer. 

The front yard Knock Outs are just now blooming. It is good to see them as they all had a hard winter freeze back on its stems. 

I mowed the backyard this morning in the cold. I stopped for a rest and took this shot of the great blue spruce. You can see where I stopped mowing. Weather and illness has kept me from getting the job done. It was long and left a lot of mess of shredded grass. I may just mow it sooner than seven days to catch up on the mulching of the old grass. The spruce and maple tree have grown so much since we moved here in 2017. It is a gradual change but when I look back at older shots they are much larger. 

I bought it at Hobby Lobby for $2.79 because the bottom of it was gone. It must of come off or gotten broken and they put a clearance price on it. I have lots of scrap wood to create a bottom. I stained it for color and now I have waterproofed it for outside weather. I couldn't imagine how much time it would have taken for me to build it myself. 

Thanks for stopping by today.