Tuesday, June 28, 2011

A cactus garden in Iowa.........


Mrs. Burkhart now lives in an assisted living facility in another town, but her cactus garden resurrects each year with wonderful yellow blooms.


I have seen cactus like this grown at a western theme part of an amusement park.  It was being grown with yucca plants with western wagon wheels around them.


My memories of this plant is that it grows wild along the highways in Nebraska starting just a few miles into the state from Iowa.  I guess it likes sandhills and a more sandy soil. 

Monday, June 27, 2011

Monday's post.....


My wife and I visited the fair grounds in Des Moines Sunday and along the way we saw the cow and calf of Anderson Erickson Dairy.  They have problems with vandals and thieves borrowing the calf but eventually the police find it and bring it back. After all, how do you hide a calf that size in your yard?  Have a good Monday.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Patterns form after the bloom.......


My viburnum bush needs to be trimmed back as it is taking over the whole garden area, but I will wait until after this development.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

A slap happy shot........in the skiy.


A balloon hovers in the air before taking off at this downtown Des Moines area.  There is no time to possibly get a good shot,  just take the picture.  We are at the annual arts festival downtown and the Principal building is in the background.  It is our tallest building and can be seen from anywhere around the city from miles away. 

Friday, June 24, 2011

Old hand saw..............


I looked up at the wall of the garage down south and there hung this old saw.  Maybe I can donate to a museum as I won't donate it to the landfill.


I believe the mechanism at the top probably has been added to replace and older means of tightening the blade.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Empty shoes...........


or full of feet?  These are a pair of boots that a teacher's son once wore when he was young.  They are much smaller than they appear.  They were a young boys passage into the next phase of his life.

The teacher has them at school to remind her of him and of his interests in life.  The boy who is fifteen years old now, probably wears flip flops during the summer.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

One bloom at a time.......




For some reason, this clematis is putting out one bloom every few days.  I suppose it is the rain that slows it down and the temperatures are not that warm.  The top photo is bloom number two and a week ago I posted above bloom number one.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Red Blaze climbing rose.........


It is blooming well this year but doesn't want to clime the trellis. I will have to get some ties and attach it to it's intended vertical position.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Old fashion white...........




I got this start of  hydrangea from an older property from up the street. The new owners of the house decided to tear all of this plant out and put in hostas.  I am glad I have it as it does so well on the north side of the house. It has grown into a very large shrub now after three years of growth.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Freedom........


It is an abstract day as you can view my koi, splashing for joy as he gets released into the tank outside.  They love it out there and get to eat all the mosquito larvae that they want.


A bonus freedom shot of my pet snake. No, not really a pet but  I have many of them.  I will tell you more about them later on my Larry's Creative Zone blog.  For today, I want you to see the snake is free to warm himself on my brush pile.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Creeping Bluebells.........


It is invasive and yet very beautiful.  It was planted around my house when I bought it and it can be seen around other older homes in town.  I am sure it was a shared plant that took over the areas around foundations.

Twenty seventh...........

Twenty seven years ago June 16,  Larry and Della.  It was just like yesterday.  I wished I still looked a little like yesterday. 

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Beauty is bark deep.........


The one silver maple tree keeps dropping it's dead limbs down to the ground.  This fellow showed up yesterday.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Taking photos.........I love it!


It is photo time at the Seibert reunion. Each family, representing the children or grandchildren of the Anna and John Seibert family, has to stand against a brick wall and be snapped by all the other members.  It really is a Norman Rockwell moment when you watch them. Myself and my wife and her brother are standing against the wall and everyone has snapped the shot they want.  Now look what happens. I took a shot of it from the wall.  Everyone has to discuss and investigate each other's shot. Digital technology has changed the entire world.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Bucket Boy Lives........


It looks like I need to scrub the weather mold off of his face but he continues to carry water for me all four seasons.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Side Porch View.........


I was surprised to see the shadows and the great pattern that it made.  The sun was bright and it washed out the color a little.  I am sure glad it is blooming so well.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Sunday's bloom......


The rain is very light today and the lighting is low. The clematis bloom is too high to photograph so I stood on a flagstone and held the camera up to do blind shots until I could capture something that worked as a true photo.  The trellis is going to look great as this plant fills in and blooms many more blooms.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

One lonely bloom.......


I guess this variety of flag iris needs to be moved to a more sunny location. It has been against this fence a couple of years and last year bloomed many flowers.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Friday's close up.......


The superstition iris is just an very outstanding variety.  I have it planted in two different locations and it has just put out so many blooms. It's root structure is so large and strong and it multiplies easily.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Clematis blooms......



My purple clematis has regrouped and is going to bloom this year again.  It had a disease or a shock to my neighbors weed spray and didn't make a show last year.  This year it was green and growing early in the spring and now it is just popping purple.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Kersplash..............


Because of the heat, I went out and cut samples of all of the plants for an indoor viewing.  The heat has just shriveled up everything. As a result of the arrangement I found some cool abstract compositions.




I have turned into a flower blog but just you wait, I will show you other things that have nothing to do with blooms.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Backyard rose.......


It is not a very strong plant and it still puts out these wonderful blooms one bloom at a time. It doesn't seem to want to put out more than two stems a year.  I have fertilized it and mulched it but it just doesn't get any better than two stems a year.  They flower reminds me of a lotus flower.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Knock out rose..........


The heat has taken off all of the blooms on my yellow knock out rose but the pink one doesn't seem to be effected by it.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Seeing green...........on Sunday.





Two views of the same plant.  The sun was giving me a back light that created a very special effect on each photo.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Spirea.........


This is probably the last of the blooms as the heat has moved into Iowa now. It doesn't take a day for heat and wind to take them away.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A neighbor's iris........


Concrete or plastic?  This grows next to her outdoor water pipe and I captured it in great light..

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Flag Iris.........


Putting it's best face forward, my blue iris is showing great color. I moved some of my plants out into the sunshine and I received blooms. The clump under the tree will not bloom again this year. It will be completely moved shortly to another part of the garden.

Blurry Blue Cup Day.....

 It is Monday and I am a little blurry eyed today. It is fitting then my blue cup is blurred a little because it is in low light. I was too ...