Wednesday's Wandering........

The columbine took a hit early on with the freeze but it didn't take out the buds, just those flowers that were in bloom.  So I am getting a good show from my two plants.

We were very warm yesterday and these peonies actually opened up so you could see their centers. My earliest plant like this is now spent as the warm weather made the petals wilt and shrink.

Red is hard for the digital camera to translate but this is close to the actual color.  They are going to be gone soon with the warmer weather.

My neighbor guy who is not a gardener keeps telling me I need to prune back my spirea.  He doesn't like the look of my ancient shrubs.  I do see he trimmed his three off to a foot high and you can imagine what they look like this spring.  I can thin them out if they were full of dead wood but they are not, he just doesn't like the branches dangling down when not in bloom. I finally told him that they are on my property and that I will nurture them the way I think best.

I have a larger set of spirea along the alley and they are doing great just like the ones on the property line.  As you can see I have very nice looking shrubs.

One last photo just for show.  The iris actually are not leaning, the old man shooting the shot seemed to be leaning with the camera for some reason.

I am a tech guy today and it seems to be a busy morning.  I am working with ipads again today, download applications onto them for the staff to take to a workshop.  I don't like the keyboard of an ipad and I really don't think I will ever purchase one.  I type quickly and the ipad requires one to type with two fingers switching from an alphabet screen to a numbers screen back and forth while typing.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.  

Tuesday's Sharing.......

Globe allium when planted in the correct spot will multiply easily.  I have it growing out into my yard. I decided to mow around it and move the strays to other parts of my property. I like it when they spread and take care of themselves.

Red Admiral Butterfly

I have numerous butterflies this year and they are really feeding on the blooms.  I had to look this butterfly up on the net as there are a couple of them that look similar to this one.

I have hopes to see these white clematis blooming soon.  They are doing well on this gate roof but they do seem to be sensitive and die out easily if the conditions are too dry.  I am assuming the cold temps are keeping them from bursting open.

The fernleaf peony opens up and looks like a large poppy.  I did see these flowers opened in the afternoon.  When I returned later in the evening to take a shot, they had all closed up again.  I should have stopped in the middle of the mowing of the yard and taken a picture but I thought that would be ridiculous.  We cool off fast and so they closed.

The macro shots of the spirea really make the small petaled flowers look a lot bigger.  My bushes are not going to be as full of blooms this year I am assuming because of our freeze.  The branches that are putting out flowers look great.

I am a Middle School English teacher today.  It will be a long day as there isn't a break in the person's schedule all day.  The kids have matured a lot since the beginning of the year so I should not have to be redirecting behaviors so much today.  Quiet reading is my favorite part of the lesson plan.

Have a good day and thanks for stopping by today.

Monday's Mayhem........

It is crowded in my corner garden.  The redtwig dogwood is getting too big.  As you can see it is over shadowing the red fernleaf peony.  It also is crowding three iris and a large hollyhock plant.

As you can see the iris is doing well.  I don't remember what the color is of the iris but it looks like it is a hybrid variety. I am going to have to prune the dogwood away from behind this grouping.

This is a closer view of the iris buds. The wind and cold has not been great for the peonies. They tend to stay closed most of the time because there isn't enough heat for them to open completely.  Maybe today when it gets up to 66 degrees F.

Among the crowd stands my dependable blue boy holding his weathered leaf. The hollyhock is so large already that this guy is going to have to be moved.  Oh yes, I have tulips in this garden too as you can see.

I will be spending my day in the Science room, studying soap and also the planets. I think it it the chemical reaction between things that they are studying in soap in which bubbles are formed.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Just Checking In........

I had decided not to blog on Sunday but I need to share a least one photo today.  We are cool and cloudy with sprinkles off and on today.  My creeping Charlie has to share it's space with the lily of the valley.

Thanks for stopping in today.

Another Cold Day..........

The cold is taking it's toll on the last of the tulips.  It was just too chilly for me to finish mowing the orchard.  I thought wearing a winter coat and stocking cap was pushing it for the season.  I don't think grass grows much in cold weather.

During this cool off the fernleaf peonies are blooming.  It would be nice if they were in the warmth but maybe they will last longer.  I have four of them in bloom and one that is a new start with out a bud on it.

Thanks for stopping by my post.

Frigid Friday......

My first blooms for my iris.  I believe it is one of  my cemetery iris collection.  This is the first time it has ever bloomed for me even though I have had it a few years.  I used to have a white one that boomed first but I transplanted it into a bad spot and all I get is foliage.  It will be moved soon for next year.

I entered a photo in a contest which the theme was"green."   I didn't use this one but it does show the growth of a lily taking place.

It is about time to make something with rhubarb. It makes my mouth water to think of how sour it tastes.

The ditch lilies are taking over my one back yard garden.  I either have to chop it out or rescue those things that it is crowding.   I think I lost a regal lily because of it.  If not I will dig it as soon as it shows itself.

Thanks for stopping by today.  We are very cold today and it isn't going to warm up much.  I froze my body walking Barney last night as I had not worn my stocking cap. This morning I work three layers with a hood and it was still a little bit cold.

Larrion the Librarian today.  Thanks for stopping by my post.  The weekend is coming!!!!!

New Sprouts..............

My violet leaves have started to sprout new leaves.  I had to go back to see when I had placed the leaves in the starting tank.  It was in February.  I had been putting the task off for so long that I finally just did it one Saturday morning instead of working on frame jobs.

I had posted about this a few weeks ago saying that there were no signs of new starts.  I looked up the exact site and you can see the process when I first begun in February 18, 2012.  Plant Doctor was the title of the post.

I did lose a couple of leaves to rot so in the first of the month I inserted new leaves in their spot.

I have three actual evidences of sprouting leaves and my watering procedures have now changed.  I don't want to disturb the roots so I am placing ice cubes in among the leaves to allow them to keep the moisture up, rather than having the watering can wash soil away from the leaf stems and disturb their growth.

I really don't know if the fertilizer is causing such great leaves but I do know that the small drops of it in the watering can have really made them get very green.  I bought a large pot for one of the violets as it seemed to be outgrowing it's smaller container.  Who knows when I will get it transplanted.  I do have a couple of loses so I am not all successful here.  A couple that I divided are doing well but the smaller plants that I divided from them are really struggling.

It rained this morning for a short while but I think we are done for the day.  A field trip was canceled today and two of us ended up as left overs without a job.  I will be doing tech as that is my second job and the other person will probably read a book all day.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.