Fall Flicker ?

From my kitchen window, I've been enjoying the color of the Virginia creeper.

Then I heard some rustling, and saw a bird eating the berries....

I'm guessing it's a flicker of some type. But I don't know a lot about birds!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday -check it out!

Iris Week wrap up - 'Dear Dorothy' blooms

"Dear Dorothy" was a bonus iris from Blue J Iris.

I've ordered irises from them more than once, and always been pleased.

It's one of those 'too many colors' for my taste, but not bad, for a freebie.

Anytime an iris has brown, tan or copper listed as colors, I am a bit wary.

I have some yellow/brown irises that I love some days and hate on others (don't tell them).

Blue J describes Dear Dorothy as a bi-color with yellow-orange selfs (upper petals) and light powder purple (or almost brown!) falls with yellow orange edges and hafts

This closeup shows the light purple falls and yellow beard. Nice. Almost rainbow-colored in the range of colors. And, of course, 'free' is always nice.

Iris Week - Mystery Theatre, featuring 'Copper Lustre'

One of my new irises is "Copper Lustre."

It is a Dykes medal winner (1938),

with delicate coppery-pink standards and darker falls with veining and a yellow-orange beard.

Here is what Copper Lustre is supposed to look like.

Then we come to what I have in my garden, bought with the understanding that this is supposed to be a copper /pink combo:

You can see we are talking about something that is definitely NOT copper-y. Wine? yes. Purple-red? yes. but copper? no. So now I wonder what this lovely iris is called? Maybe I should just save some time and rename it myself.

Any suggestions?

Iris Week- lovin' the blues

Irises make me happy, so lovin' the blues is more accurate than singing the blues today.

This is a closeup of Chico Maid, a tall bearded iris.

You can see the beautiful blue beard with a bit of bronze.

Chico maid again. It is such a beautiful color and the blue beard just adds to the thrill for me.

unnamed pale blue

This iris is a lovely deep, periwinkle blue that's blooming in several spots in the yard today.

Iris Week - Yellow beauty, big and small

Looks like Mama iris and babies, doesn't it?

The tall yellow ones are named "New Moon," and are a rich lemony color.

The 'babies' are a smaller variety, and I don't have the name for them. My yellow bed is getting crowded, I'll have to do some thinning when my iris get done blooming.

GBB Day for June 2011

One of the highlights of spring is the dogwood blooming. Here in hot , dry Utah, I don't remember when the dogwood has bloomed this late before. We've had a very cool and wet spring.

The yellow splotches on the leaves are the pine pollen from our Austrian pines.

Also blooming: mullein, IRIS!!!!!, allium, the last of the tulips, perennial geranium, thyme, vinca, IRIS!!!, and

did I mention, IRIS?

This is a 'space ager,' which I featured a few years ago.

Be sure to head over to May Dreams Gardens to see everyone's blooms today!

Iris Week - too many to count

Too many to count -

This bed is from some beauties I got from a wonderful friend. She had to clear them out of her yard, and so now I have them.

Lucky me.

Would love to see your irises??? give me a link in comments!

Yep, It's time for Iris Week! - one more reason to love irises

DH brought these irises home in a plastic shopping bag,

and they sat there for about a month. Then I noticed they were budding, then blooming.

Gotta love a tough plant that won't give up.

More irises tomorrow!

GBB day for March 2011 !

Back! I saw these little croci out the kitchen window today, and thought I'd add my part for Garden Blogger's Bloom day.

Happy Spring to all!

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!