Deceptions......

Hot sun brightens up the back patio but in reality it is 62 degrees.  We didn't freeze on Wednesday night but it did get really cold.

I teach English today with one drama class and other regular English kind of classes.  It sure is good that I speak the language un poco.

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm, except if you live in the south, then you guys can stay cool!

Oxalis...........

I planted my oxalis in the ground for the summer.  I gave half of it to my neighbor and her plant is huge and blooming profusely.  Mine is doing ok but it hasn't done the greatest in growing.  When I dig it I will give it some fresh potting soil and maybe it will revive inside.

More of more.....

I am sorry but I have so many zinnia photos and need to use them as that is all I have for my resource today.  We will be hot today and by Wednesday it will be cold. We are hitting our diverse changes in the weather season.

 

Another weathered holly hock. For the flower being white, I really do like all the texture that you cans see with the color white.

One last cluster of blooms on the phlox holds on while all the others have faded and are gone.  My back yard growth of ditch lilies are starting to flatten and yellow and soon the leave will start to fall from the hydrangea.

Of what value is an inexpensive thermometer that always, and I do mean always, has the wrong temperature.  The sun messes with it, the air conditioner messes with it, and being close to the door that effects it.  I will move it and see if I can get it to be correct.  It is always reading too hot.

I am subbing in an At Risk room which they call a Success Room.  It is a place for those who can get so distracted that they can't do homework. They need help with directions and also I got to read some of Homer today to one of the students while he jotted down vocabulary words and wrote in his journal about the story. I like being in here but the structure is loose and I need to just keep them all working on something.

I see evidence of the same cold that I caught from the students last week, still manifesting itself and spreading throughout the masses.

Have a good day and thanks for stopping by to visit my site.

A rescued rose.......

I have successfully moved this rose from southern Iowa to my garden.  It put out one bloom earlier in the season and another one now. It is the second year that I have had it in this location.  I will fertilize and mulch and encourage it more to bring on multiple blooms for next year.

It is a day to remember the tragedy that took place in this country. May we never diminish the horror of the day by just moving on but may we learn and reevaluate who we are as a country and how we need to protect our once taken for granted freedom.

Take care today and appreciate your every day.  Thanks for stopping by to visit my blog.

Harvest of the present and the future.....

My tomato growing was a sad endeavor. I have just a few roma's and the one normal sized plant has grasshoppers making caves through the tomato.  I will throw this one large one away as it has been chewed up too much to save.

My success story will be the yellow squash crop.  I have nine of these as of last count.  There are more but they are probably not going to make it to maturity by the first frost.  I will show them all to you when I get them picked.

A followup story on the moving of the hostas is now complete.  I  have a photo of the hosta that I moved out from under the redtwig shurb and now it will be growing in sight for us to enjoy.  I split it and have two different areas where it is planted.

I got switched.   I was suppose to be in an air conditioned room yesterday at school while subbing, but I didn't get to stay there.  Another staff person called in sick and he was the shop teacher.  That particular building is not cooled and is an older concrete block building.  It was cool most of the morning and then the sun started to warm up the block walls and the humidity set in for good.  We all were windblown from sitting around with the three fans blowing to keep us from being too hot. Yes it was more of a good thing that me, the guy, went out to the shop to teach and the young lady took the social studies classes.  I was good with it and it was a somewhat good day.  School actually was let out early as the many portions of the different buildings are not cooled and the heat was too much for some of the classrooms.

I did get called to come back in today to be the shop teacher again.  I guess the guy is really sick.

It is Friday and I hope you all have a great weekend.  We have no plans here but may find a brother in law and his wife to eat breakfast with one of the mornings.  Take care.......

Zinnia World.........

It was a couple of weeks ago when I was out snapping the last of the good flowers before a rain. The year has been too wet for them and they were not planted thick enough. I still had some beautiful flowers.  Many people don't notice the set of extra yellow flowers that a zinnia may put out in the center. They all don't  have this but a lot of them do.

This red zinnia has a funky shape and the color is wonderful too.

Another trio of blooms singing with bright color.  The blooms need to be picked soon so I will have seed for next year.

I still do not have my blogspot uploading status with photos working correctly.  I have adapted my processes to be able to post but I do hope it rights itself soon. 

Thanks for stopping by..........

Going really green....

The spring rains and cool weather has been good for greening up our world. Iowa eventually gets so hot and dry so it is time to really appreciate it.

I bought a snowball bush a few years back not really knowing what it was but it is a nice specimen plant and the little white flowers are nice. It is a few years old but this is the first it has ever bloomed. The mungo pine is sprouting new points and it looks good nestled between two other kind of yellow green shrubs.

The hostas are a great investment also when the heat hits. I want to redo an entire area under a tree with a fence surrounding two sides of it. The things there have not done well with the installation of the fence.
And my Asiatic lilies have been my greatest success. I planted them when I didn't know much and each year they keep performing. I will have a lot of nice photos of those, but he foliage is great also. Thanks for reading.....

Time will prove me wrong.....

I whined all through my last blog about the loss of a clematis. Gosh I hate looking stupid. I was out and about and decided to starting to trim back and take out that clematis. Well, after the first cut of a major vine-like part of it, I took a look at the inside of it. Thank God it was still green inside. I don't have a clue why it hasn't sprouted out yet but maybe our impending 80 degree weather on Wednesday will make it take off. It is on the west and gets sun in the afternoon only, so that may be why it is slow. Now I can whine about the one stem that I cut out of the clematis but I can be of great joy that it is still alive!!!!
The lily of the valley is a lot blurry but I like the photo. It reminds me of a scene in "Honey, I shrunk the Kids." That automatic camera got everything in the background perfectly focused. I will retry tomorrow and take a better photo.

This little clematis is planted under my lattice covered gate. It is two years old and looks like I will see blooms this year. I think it is a white one. I need to start work on the creeping charlie. I will mulch as much of it out as I can with my new bagger mower. I love grass clippings for instant use. I am subbing for an English teacher today so I am stuck inside on a sunny day. Thanks for putting up with my whining and for reading.....

Flowers live, flowers die....

I have had this clematis growing on the front porch post for many years. It was planted with hostas at it's feet so it could remain moist. There also was a red peony at its base that helped to shade its base. With our rainy summer last year the excess water around the area must have caused it's roots to rot and die. It just rained every week all summer. It was an ideal spot for it except for one unusual summer. I am now going to rethink if I even want it there anymore. I don't like the dead looking vines that remain all winter so that it can bloom off of those canes, so it is a positive that I don't put one back there. I was planning to show you the dead plant but that is not good. I am just glad I have a great picture of it.
I lost a lot of iris because of our monsoon weather also but it won't stop me. I will regroup, rethink, and replant. That is what we crazy gardeners do. Thanks for reading....