Thursday, April 29, 2010

Bird Seed

I've named this Sunflower "Bird Seed". It is the first Sunflower of the season and came in the bird seed package from Wally World. Who would think that it would be so lovely and short in height? I can see them all over the place now........

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Soft Spoken Tour

Here is a video of the iris in bloom in my garden. It was a lot of fun to walk around and tape it because of the newness of videoing the garden, and panning, and walking around while trying to avoid fall hazards.

It is also a perfect medium for personal introspection to listen to yourself as you candidly speaking to yourself, recording it for others.

I usually delete most of the photos of myself, because I think they don't accurately represent who I think I am, or at least not the me that happens to be operating the camera delete button. It is also true for recorded messages, apparently I also don't sound like myself either, so I am pleased that this seems to have passed the editing process, at least for now............

The inner "soft spoken tour guide" me, hopes you enjoy the show.

Thank you for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Iris and Right Now

This post is really about Iris, but I have to live in the now, and now I am also blanching peas to freeze.

With each new bloom that appears in the garden, the Iris they just keep getting better and better. Puccini is blooming and it is Michael's favorite.

This is our first spring with strawberries. Definately a nice garden addition.

And this Red Delicious Apple is not supposed to do well in our region (although they did sell it at the nursery which is where I picked it up, go figure....) So time will tell. Hopefully we will get some apples. There are a rediculous amount of blossoms and bees. Isn't that a good sign?

Can I just smudge this color onto my face? California Poppy eye, check and lip color, with flowers behind the ears and I'll be ready to go. Oh yeah, Iris....

This was a gift from Julie my neighbor although I'm still thinking about eye color.

This is from Leslie (lip color) I have taken photos of these to take to the Iris Sale so hopefully the photos that they have available, will help me be able to identify this one. The previous Iris is an old-timey one so it's name is forever lost with the people that planted it up at Mount Charleston. You can tell by it's appearance that it is an older variety because of it's narrow falls.

This one is called White Fox and I purchased it from the Iris sale last June.

And this is an unknow Space Age variety because of it's horns (the beards that have an unusual flair) and you can see how they lift in the photo (the beard is the catepillar). I am still trying to identify the name of this one.
I feel like donning some dramatic eye color changing my name....
Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Where to Begin

I don't know where to begin. First there is the bench I made out of recycled shipping crates.

And all of the Iris are preparing to bloom and this is the first one, a gift from my friend Don.

I've planted Bed Seven and while configuring the irrigation, (I use the chopsticks to layout the design) Symba was stricken sleepy by the effect of the Catnip. That stuff is mighty powerful.

And I captured this photo of Spring to add to the photo of Winter on the sidebar. There are many opportunities to take photos of birds, the hummingbirds on the Penstemon, I just fear scratching the camera with the pruning shears or something else so I set the camera down and repeatedly miss the opportunity. Maybe today is a good day to try again.
Thanks for visiting. To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Friday, April 9, 2010

Color Chaos

Color Chaos in red against green with splashes of orange.


Thanks for visiting. For all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Too Much of a Good Thing

It is time to go vertical.

Moving lattice about the yard contemplating the effect of extremely busy grid work on the eye,

I kind of like the look of the two pieces framing the corner.

But here is the location where one will be. It is a good idea to consider other options, once you have the lattice on your property you can move it around and feel the effect.

So here is the second location and the lattice is in place.

Here are the two pieces side by side. Once they have vines growing on them it will increase the amount of visual green in this area, and reduce the amount of reflected heat. I had my heart set on morning glories but after speaking with my friend Leslie, she shared with me that they are extremely prolific. That would mean that I would be trying to eradicate them before long. Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

But this is an artist's vision and Zen has latched on to this vision and won't let go. I will be the one who unleashed the Blue Morning Glory on Black Mountain and right now I'm okay with it.
Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Random Thoughts

Penstemmon can be amazingly rediculous.
Happy Easter to everyone!
The iceplant blossoms are beginning to multiply.

The carrots were harvested to make room for Turk's Turban Squash which just seems fun to grow.

Here are the carrots after a good scrub and they are quasi pale, which is curious.

The peas are producing large quantities each day. I am blanching them and freezing them in gallon sized ziplock bags. They separate nicely after being frozen.
Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, carry on and hurry back!