Saturday's Chores...........

This is a reposted photo of my work location today.  We have family coming over to have a barbecue in the back yard.  It will be next Saturday and I am weeding and mowing.  It is a good thing to have company as it forces you to do the stuff that needs to be done.  I have patio cushions to scrub, I have two pond areas to spruce up and I have a patio to sweep and wash. 

Did I tell you that the science teacher has blessed me with all of his goldfish from his classroom? I will take care of them and return them in the fall.  There are two koi and about eight fancy goldfish.  They came home with me on Friday and they are loving the new area.  There are a few mosquito larvae in the water and they are eating them up quickly.

I will be returning to the backyard after this posting and  after the show This Old House has gone off the air.  I am actually pleased already as to how much better things look out there.  I have a lot more to do and I can work on it during the next week.  The bulk of the work should get done today.  I have a few flowers that can be put outside again and I have tomato and pepper plants to get put in also.  I may not get everything done today.

Thanks for stopping by my post.

Roses on Friday......

I am sharing a few visuals today and won't put out so much copy today.  It is a busy time at the end of the school year.  Even though I am a sub I am doing other things related to the graduation.

I am a science and softball coach today.  It will be nice to be outside for a couple of periods.

Geranium Truths.........

Pelargonium

The other geranium is not really called a geranium.  It is actually called pelargonium.  I read an article about them in a Garden Design magazine.  I realized that the geranium that is sold so often at greenhouses should be labeled hardy geranium. I have this plant in a couple of locations and it does put out a meager show where I have them planted. This plant winters over in Iowa outside in the garden.

The leaf is a similar shape to the hardy geranium and yet is is a fancier shape.

 Hardy Geranium

I need to get this plant out side and into a planter.  I have a white one that also is in this same pot.

The borrowed article from wikipedi is posted below sharing the info for us.

Confusingly, "geranium" is also the common name of members of the genus Pelargonium (commonly known as 'storksbill' in distinction from 'cranesbill'), which are also in the Geraniaceae family. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, Geranium, but they were later separated into two genera by Charles L’Héritier in 1789.

Gardeners and the horticultural trade often refer to true geraniums as "hardy geraniums", to distinguish them from the less hardy pelargoniums (generally grown as annuals in temperate climes), and most garden "geraniums" (without the 'hardy' appellation) are in fact pelargoniums (storksbills), as opposed to true geraniums (cranesbills).

This is as creative as I will be today.  I have a busy next four days.  Today I am a high school health instructor.  They are taking students off to a state track meet today.  I have been blessed to take all of the  fish in the science lab home for the summer. There will be pictures once I get the outside tank ready to go and the fish are all settled.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Wednesday'a Wanderings.......

The hosta next to the garden gate is large. I moved another hosta that sat next to it last year as it was never going to be able to compete with this variety.  I don't know any names of my hostas. I just know that I like having them as they grow so well with such little care.

This is one of the old fashioned roses that was growing along the house when I first bought it over 35 years ago.   It has been moving itself as it spreads by the roots.  I have it growing on the back side of the house now as it traveled under a fence and moved into another garden area in the backyard.

Grandma's red peony is doing well. I have it planted in a few different places.  They didn't seem to be affected by all the wind and rain so they will be blooming up off of the ground.  I take too many shots of this flower as the red peony is so wonderful.  It  of course is hard to take as the macro sometimes see a different color than it is.

I am a trouble shooter today. I have been in the math room first hour and also did an emergency cover job for a music instructor.  We had the seniors turn in their computers and those all have to be checked and put into storage on numbered shelves.  They will become next year's freshmen class computers.

It is warm in the school building today so I bet it is warming up already outside.  Thanks for  stopping by my blog today.

My Macro World...........

Hydrangea

I really don't know the time when these turn white but I really don't remember them being in a green stage at first.  I transplanted one of these here in the front of the house 5 or more years ago and they have really spread out to be mature plants.  It is the traditional old fashioned white one that you see around a lot of the older houses planted along foundations.

I received a note from a high school graduate friend of mine yesterday.  She was asking me to consider letting her bring her garden club tour bus to see my gardens.  I was flattered but very embarrassed.  I plead innocent to the fact that I have shown off my gardens somewhat.  I also confess that I am a better macro photographer than I am a gardener. I have lots of nice plantings that look good together as I do understand good design.

 What I don't have is the ability to have a great lawn and to keep my gardens weeded.  The creeping Charlie owns my yard and I just don't have the time or money to deal with it right now.  Also my garden flowers are not all planted in groupings.  So I may have an iris blooming here and 10 yards I will have another.  My orchard area is planted with stray things that have no organization other than I have temporarily planted things to get them into the ground and I will move them elsewhere later.

I will not have the summer to get my yard and garden in shape and I am sliding into another job right after the last day of school.  I haven't planted my perennials for this year and I may not as I am too tired, lazy, busy to maintain them and keep them alive.  I will plant zinnia's as they are easy to maintain.

I might send her a slide show of all the photos of my flowers so she could do a presentation with them.  My macros seem to be cropped so you can't see the glaring weeds or creeping Charlie or bad gardening skills.  I also don't have a drop of mulch to make my place look better.

My red peony bushes are now taking their turn to be in bloom.  I have them planted in three different locations but one of them is being crowded out by an old fashion rose. It has only a couple of buds on it this year so I will move it after it blooms.

The smaller rose has many blooms on it this year.  The one on the right is one that is just opening and the one on the left is fading away to the dropping of its petals stage.  The brown from the freeze in April is visible on all of my roses.  When I clip them back after blooming the new ones will not show any damage.

My mock orange bush is an old one.  It has grown to be so large.  It was better looking when I first moved here 30 plus years ago.  I will probably start removing a third of the mature branches and see if I can get it to be a smaller bush.

I am a floating sub today, working in the special education room in the morning and then will be reassigned to another job in the afternoon.  I haven't had a tech day for quit a while as bad spring allergy colds are hitting the staff and students.  There are a lot of track meets and golf meets that take teachers away from the classroom also.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Because it it there.....

This row of iris all staked up so they can bloom on a vertical stem, create an unusual composition.  I will share it because I have it.  I am showing you way too many iris but endure it all as the iris are fading.  There will be no more iris posts in the near future.

The spiderwort is in partial bloom.  I didn't get it staked this year and it fortunately is standing on it's without any support.  I had a magenta colored on that has been destroyed by invading hosta plants.

 Pontentilla come in many colors but my white one seems to be a strong bloomer this year.  It doesn't like warm weather so it struggles in Iowa in August.

 It is a bug portrait again coming from my back yard.  This is the rose that I moved from southern Iowa to my south side of my house.   It is it's third year in the ground and I am pleased with the way it has rooted in and revived to a wonderful rose.  I bought it for my mom years ago and I haven't a clue as to the name of it.  I must have paid a lot of money for it as it is such a strong plant with shiny green leaves.  It has five blooms on it right now and will rebloom after I trim it back.

It is going to be warm today and that will be great.  I have many things on my list to do when I leave the school today.  I have found that I can't do it all so I will make a strong effort to get a lot of things done on one of the projects.

I am a floating special ed. teacher today, taking notes about World War 1 and writing poetry for a final project.  I don't know the next class that I will be attending as I will be sent in to replace the most critical spot. There are actually two people gone and there is only one of me.

Thanks for stopping by my post today.

Macro Memories............

As the season of iris comes to an end in a few days, I am glad that I have these shots.  Every stalk of iris had to be staked but the blooms were abundant this year.

Have a great day.  Thanks for stopping by my post.