still flowering

I was surprised to see this peony looking as fresh as it does in the garden today. We have been receiving rain showers during the night and it usually takes care of the large, heavy peonies. I really like the delicate pink color of this one.

The poppy just opened today. I hope to make an appliqued piece some day using one of the poppies for a desgin. They fascinate me.

I was very happy to see this red peony several years ago. We had redone the flower beds and this peony didn't show up for 4 years. I was afraid we had lost it.

House Plants?????

The plants should be outside, but they are in the house. We have had numerous severe thunderstorm warnings and today is no different. The plants came in at midnight last night when the NOAA weather radio went off and I left them in today as there is a great deal of moisture around and new storms headed this direction. The plants are still pretty small so I don't want them damaged before we even get a good start on the growing season.

towel bars

Not the most exciting photo compared to what I have been posting or at least I don't think so, but these things made me think of a number of things this evening.

The towel bars have been a pain in the *&(^ from the beginning. But it made me think of how far cameras had come. Certainly would not be worth discussing towel bars as they are way behind cameras, along with the people from which I ordered the towel bars. But the cameras these days are awesome!!!! I have a nice camera, but it is nothing compared to others I have seen.

I took photography in high school and we used the little box cameras. To develop the film, we threaded the film on spools, placed the spool in a canister, closed the lid and poured the solution into the canister. I might add that this was down in total darkness. We then set a timer and then washed the film. wWe let the film dry, then we would put the film into the next thing, mind is blank at the moment, load the photo paper in trays position everything, and then print the photo. It was still pretty dark. Then it had to go into 3 different solutions and then a water bath, then the photo would be hung up to dry. 1 good photo per roll was about all one could expect.

I much prefer what I do now days! I am able to take 100's of photos, set the camera on a docking device or use a hot wire and download those photos in minutes. Then play with them on Photoshop. I guess I am just trying to figure out why towel bars haven't progressed any more than what they have??!! I don't mean the heated ones, one that would just stay together would be nice and have a reasonable amount of space between the two towels when it is a double towel bar??? Apparently people are much more interested in camera development.

Little Surprises

The other day I was watering the ivy that hangs in the structure. I noticed some fungus growing on one of the posts. I had not seen this type before and have found it at the base of three of the poles. I enjoy finding little surprises in the garden. There is always something new and different. I like the shape and coloration of these little things. Took a few photos of the bark left on the pole as well, some interesting texture.

The other photos are of flowers. These are the first two water lilies of the summer. They are a delicate pink and are small, another surprise the other day. They are one of my favorites, but then they all seem to be that. The other lilies seem to be off to a slow start, but it has been cool. We placed some fish in the pond a week ago, hopefully they will live. We need to clean it.

The Siberian Iris are blooming now and the surprise here is that they are so short this year when everything else is amazing. I have several groups of these and the blue one finally bloomed this year, the biggest surprise. This variety is Cesar's Brother, the most dependable one for me.

The peonies are larger than they have ever been and the poppies are 8" across. I have never had such beautiful, spring flowers. I hope the summer day lilies are as nice.

Catching Up

Thought I would catch up on a few things today. Posting for one.

The poppy is currently blooming in the flower garden. I love these flowers, one of my favorite. Hoping to raise some grape colored ones this coming year. They last a short time and take up a good deal of space, but are well worth it.

The other photo is of the chocolate flowered vine. I was cleaning around the area where it grows and noticed all of the stems that have wrapped themselves around the support wire.

When we first planted the vine we had a difficult time training it to go up the wire and on top of the structure. There is a good deal of it on top now. A couple of branches had escaped the wire and were after a Columbine.

June !!!

I cannot believe that today is June 1st.

The peonies have opened and I believe it is a bit early as they were open the third week of June 10 years ago.

I also had an Oriental poppy open today. It is the one of the pale pink ones. I wanted to take a photo of the poppy, but there is a storm brewing over us at the moment, so thought it best to come in and post it later.

I purchased some new poppy seed this year and one is called grape. Until later.

Refreshed !!!

It is spring!! One of my favorite times of the year, IF we receive rain. And we had a little over 2" this past weekend. All of the plants are refreshed and they were looking beautiful as it was because of the rains we had last fall.

As I had mentioned before, I had forgotten how beautiful this part of the country is when it rains or snows, even if it is a little below average. It is the way below average that has hurt us. We are not as lush as the rainforest in Australia, http://dsaaustralia.blogspot.com/ ,where my daughter and her students were yesterday or today, however that works. Anyone interested in keeping up with Jennifer's personal blogs from Australia can also go to http://everydayinaphoto.blogspot.com/












The photos today are of a columbine, old fashioned iris that smells like concord grapes and the chocolate mint plant. It has another name, but I cannot recall it at the moment. It is a vine and in the spring it produces these deep, cocoa red colored flowers that smell like chocolate mint. One of my favorites in the garden.