Zucchini- the endlessly versatile veggie!

I missed National Sneak a Zucchini on your Neighbor's Porch

day - which was August 8th.

(We won't talk about the last several months I've 'missed' on this blog, either.

The excuses are lame and the reality

....Farmville addiction ??!! is too embarrassing for words.)

But I digress. I enjoyed a recent story about a brave woman from Montana who defended her home, and saved her dog, with the most humble of vegetables, yes,

you guessed it, an overgrown zucchini !

yes, this is THE zucchini used to fight off a bear!

Here's an excerpt from the AP story,by Matt Volz, posted on Yahoo:

"She kicked the bear with her left leg as hard as she could, and she said she felt like she caught it pretty solidly under the chin," Maricelli said.

But as she kicked, the bruin swiped at her leg with its paw and ripped her jeans.

The bear then turned its full attention to the woman in the doorway. She retreated into the house and tried to close the door, but the bear stuck its head and part of a shoulder through the doorway.

The woman held onto the door with her right hand. With her left, she reached behind and grabbed a 14-inch zucchini that she had picked from her garden earlier and was sitting on the kitchen counter, Maricelli said.

She threw the vegetable. It bopped the bruin on the top of its head and the animal fled, Maricelli said.

~~~~~~~

Now that is one brave woman, to be sure.

But one shudders to think what would have happened if she hadn't grown zucchini that year. :)

Finishing up Iris week (month?)

I may have mentioned Beverly Sills before. Here is how this iris is described on the Shreiner's webpage:

Exciting coral pink all over,

Beverly Sills is one of the most talked about and sought-after pink Iris of all time.

She is THE BEST Pink iris, according to almost everybody. I have several pinks, but have wanted this famous and supposedly fabulous iris.

So I bought one, and it was NOT Beverly Sills.

Somebody made a mistake somewhere.

The iris I bought labeled Beverly Sills was NOT even PINK.

Oh well. Sometimes that happens, and so, last year, I tried again,

and bought another "Beverly Sills"... imposter!

Although I will have to say, this light lavender with tangerine beard (name???) is very attractive.

Maybe I'll try again in a few years, and buy another iris labeled 'Beverly Sills.'

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day- June 2010

What's blooming at my place? Irises, of course..

This little fledgling robin snuck in here somehow. Hope he finds a safe spot for the night!

My blue perennial geranium.

The thyme is blooming! Not so many bees, yet, though.

This is a 'sun rose' called 'Dazzler' -a pretty red Helianthemum.

Last, but never least, another iris - this is a closeup of Oriental Design.

Happy blooms! Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who hosts Bloom Day every month!

Joyous Morn - no rain!

"Joyous Morn" is a new iris in my garden this year.

As it unfolded, I remember thinking, ' why did I put this in the pink bed?'

It is described as rose-apricot falls with dusty rose self, and tangerine colored beard. My plant seems to have more brown tones to it than I had anticipated. It is not bad, just not as pink, rosy, or apricot as I had thought it would be from the picture and description. heh. I guess I am feeling a bit luke warm about this one. But at least it is not raining today!! That is joyous news.

Ready for my closeup!

Irises, and more irises

The Siberian irises are in their glory now. Most of the year, the plants just look like grass on steroids, taller, but not much to look at.

If you pay attention in May, you can see the buds bulging on the side of the stem/blades.

I messed around with the purple-blue ratio in the picture, and am satisfied that this is truer to life than what I get from my digital camera. If I can replicate this adjustment, I'll post some of my purple bearded iris another day.

Here's iris-a-palooza in our walking garden.

I love walking through and seeing what has bloomed each day.

Iris week - how many shades of yellow are there?

When you start loving irises, and growing irises, and BUYING irises, it doesn't take long to notice that there are a LOT of colors, sizes, and varieties.

This is an iris that migrated past our fence into the field next door. Don't you love this bright, clear yellow?

Seeing this always makes me smile.

This iris (below) may not technically be yellow. We'll be charitable and call it 'gold,'

really , it's more of a brown.

Here's another salvage iris, yellow with white and brown tones. Not a fave of mine, really.

Here's a nice buttery-yellow.

It's a keeper.

Another yummy yellow beauty. Sorry I don't know the names of any of these.

Here's a space ager, name of course, unknown.

Odd, really, with blue spears extending from the edge of the beard. Odd colors too.

Here's our final yellow iris of the day. Intense, almost mustard-

yellow falls, delicate white standards and white veining.

Iris week - Spiced Custard

More pumpkin colors today - and I found that recipe for Pumpkin Cheesecake,

I'll try and link it in, if I can find it

The falls (bottom three petals) look browner in this picture than they do 'in person.'

This iris is rich in color, and a bit different than most. The description from Blue J Iris describes the iris as a tall bearded iris with creamy yellow blend selfs (the upper three petals) and the lower three petals are cinnamon brown in color. The beard is a maraschino red. Pretty nice, eh?

Iris week continues, and yes, I missed Tuesday... mrk

This bi-color is called Pumpkin Cheesecake. It is blooming for the first time in my yellow/orange iris bed, and I am loving it!

It is looking good with these ruffled orange beauties as a backdrop.

Not surprisingly, I can't find the name for them. Maybe Summit Satin. sigh.

more Iris failure . I'll add that name if I EVER find it. bigger sigh.

IRIS week is here!!! yes, it is...

White. Bland? not at all. I have two white irises in my yard. One was salvaged from the dump by my DH. The salvage irises are larger and taller, (on the right in the photo below),

and you can see the iris on the left are slightly smaller, with a bluish cast.

Same with the buds, in this picture (below).

Here is a closeup of the 'bluish' iris' fall. Don't you love the

blue veining? (One place where that is considered attractive, lol!)

This picture features the yellow-to-white beard on the larger iris.

Yep, I really do love iris. Here is a parting shot of the smaller iris opening. Gotta love it!

Little Mermaid

Cue the music!

A new 'mini' iris bloomed in my garden today - the Little Mermaid. She even has her own song, and movie!

It IS cute and petite, but I have to say, I was expecting more vibrant color. :(

After some fast research, it is an intermediate sized iris, not a true mini. Good to remember. Blue J Iris describes it as pale ivory pink in color. huh.

But , still, new and fun to see.

Where is Iris week? Next week? maybe

This has been a very cool, wet spring here in Utah. I feel like I am back in the mid-West for an Ohio spring. I thought I'd have irises blooming this week to show here, but the 'mini's are still straggling along, and all that is open are the whites and purple irises.

So, maybe next week, or the week after that, my irises will be in their full glory. Right now I have a mini that is blooming for the first time. The wine/maroon color of the falls is pretty true to reality in this photo. I'm not so fond of the blue/purple beard, though. A bit too much craziness for me. :)

I do believe the weather will warm up. Or maybe we'll just skip 'spring' , and head right for summer, with sudden heat. (In June?)

Spring time anticipation

Another spring, another time of

anticipation.....

(and fuzzy photography)

here's a better shot -

won't be long now....

yes-sirree-bob! Iris week starts next Monday!

meme

I'm trying to post more often. I know, memes are lames, but here we go:

This one is a one word challenge – which WILL be a challenge. Let's see if I can do it!

Cell phone? flip
Hair? 'auburn'
Mother? 80!
Father? Recovering
Favorite Food? Chocolate
Dream last night? no
Drink? lemonade
Dream/Goal? Family
Room you are in? Dining Room
Hobby? sewing
Fear? snakes
Where do you see yourself in 6 years? older
Something you are not? Athletic
Favorite Muffins? chocolate
Wish list item? time
Where did you grow up? Ohio
What is the last thing you did? breakfast
What are you wearing? scruffy
Favorite TV Show? loser
Pets? Cats
Friends? many
Your life? Blessed
Your mood? Tired
Facebook? Yes
Favorite place to eat? Any
Missing Someone? yes
Your vehicle? Cruiser
What you aren’t wearing? hat
Favorite Store? JoAnn's
Favorite Color? Rose
Last time you laughed? morning
Last time you cried? Wednesday
Place you go to over and over? allergy

Thanks, Sassylime, for the meme!

I'm still alive! and answering questions about African violets

I've been around, checking other people's blogs, busy on Face book, and with real life, too :)
I've even had a few ideas to post about, but just didn't.

So, here I am today, inspired by Lynn/Lynnita's recent question about African violets.

A little back ground, I used to kill these babies with regularity. And I thought of them as 'old lady' flowers (and now I AM an old lady!). Then I received a great tutorial from an African violet master (plus some starts from her beauties), and mine have done great since then.

So, Lynn says:
Your violets are beautiful. How much and what kind of light will they grow under?
Recently, I bought one and would like to try to grow them.
I have a 10' porch that wraps around my house, therefore, there's no window sill with enough light for them.If I grow them under uv (ultraviolet) lights, how long do I leave them there?
In late spring and summer, I can put them on the porch.
What direction should I face them?
Blessings,Lynnita

Here's my best answers, feel free to chime in on comments if you have some more ideas for Lynn.
African violets do need a fair amount of light. I agree that some supplemental light would probably be necessary for plants growing that far away from windows. I don't have UV lights for mine, so let's hope someone out in blog-land has some experience and advice to offer.

They don't do well with drafty areas, though, so I wouldn't put them on a porch unless it was enclosed with glass, not just window screens.

The violets that bloom best for me are in my south facing (traditionally the best light) window. (argh! why do I only have one south facing window??)
Over time, violets tend to bend and fall over the lip of their pots as they grow and extend along on their stem. I find that turning them a quarter turn every time I water them helps them grow more evenly. Pick a direction; I turn all my houseplants clockwise.

A few more tips:
WATERING:
African violets don't do well in water-logged soil. I water mine every ten days. They only look delicate, so even if they get dry enough to wilt, they will recover.
I let the water sit for at least a day in a pitcher, to let the chlorine evaporate from the tap water, before I water my violets. The water needs to be at room temperature, obviously. And as far as remembering when I watered last, after I water my houseplants, I go to my calendar, count ten days, and write 'water houseplants' on that day. simple.
FERTILIZING:
I use Peter's African Violet plant food. It's fab. 12-36-14, with micronutrients.
SOIL:
It's worth it to buy the African Violet potting soil.

So, thanks, Lynn, for those questions, and for motivating me to get back to my blog.