A Rose is just not a Rose......

The rose at the farm is blooming right now. Its name is William Baffin and it is a very hardy climber. I would like to buy it again for the new place but I am realizing I just don’t have the same amount of space to move everything. There just isn’t enough space to move all the antique old fashion peonies either. The partial view of the two different peonies are almost finished blooming.

A Shot of the Sun........

The light from the sun makes the green look greener.  The quarter of an inch of rain from the edge of a storm really was needed. The patterns of the neighbo'rs fence looks great.  The tomatoes are probably twice their size from when I planted them.  This garden is getting better each day. Our four days of dust bowl temperatures took its toll on the iris bed but the tomatoes stood strong through it all.

Dust Bowl Temperatures.......

One would never know that this mild sunrise is just the beginning of another hot day.  The past three days have never happened in weather history since the era of the Dust Bowl.   Broken heat records for three days and today really is going to be just a few degrees cooler.

A Splash of Colors.........

The peonies are opened now and the heat is not treating them well.  I am watering them each morning to keep the fresher in appearance.

Honeysuckle Vine......

This is a positive thing to inherit in my garden.  I didn’t know that the variety existed.  At the old place we have honeysuckle shrubs that have clusters of pink flowers. This one just pops up and puts out blooms early in spring.  It will bloom all summer.

Black Iris......

The only time that it is black in color is when it is in the bud stage. I haven’t seen this iris bloom for three years or more.  It was being partially shaded at the farm but I did remember that it was the black iris. I have it in the new garden area out in the open sun and look at that bloom. I am sharing the opening view of it for now.  It really is a deep darker purple. The light of the day makes it look like different colors.  It is an outstanding hybrid that they genetics experts created.

From the Farm......

My wife’s grandparents and parents farm is now gone.  It has all been cleared and a large building is built in the back half of it to assemble parts into work trucks.  The rake in this photo would have put muscles on the farmer with the heavy fork being used to lift swaths of grass or hay onto a horse drawn wagon.  The loose hay would be lifted onto a rack and then unloaded to be place in a barn loft. The farm had been in my wife’s family over 125 years. The first thing my wife’s grandfather did to make a living was to cut the prairie grass on the land and take it downtown Des Moines to sell to people who owned horses.

Springing into Summer....

An old fashion iris that is putting out multiple blooms. It is fun to see it blooming in a different location from where it is still growing at the old place.

Wednesday’s World.......

It is a beautiful presentation this morning. The clouds look like another layer of background trees. It is the look of a day becoming a very hot day with lots of humidity.

Iris Season....

My iris season has started.  This one was not quite unfolded but this morning I am sure it is in full bloom.  I have two different new ones open. This was an iris that I got from my parents home.  It didn’t bloom well at the farm and I was surprised to see it being in bloom at the new place.

Hanging On....

The last years pine cones on the blue spruce are still hanging on to the branches. I don’t know how they will shed them but maybe they drop them when the new ones form. The new sprouts on the tree shows that the tree is still growing larger.  The pussy willow behind it has put out its leaves.

An extra photo for today is one of the bunny enjoying the grass and birdseed on the ground below the red maple. The bird feeder sits away from the house to keep birds away from my neighbors vegetable garden.  The only thing that I can see the birds actually do is roll in the loose dust in my flower garden.

Fresh Seed.......

There was seed in the sock but the fresh seed brought in the goldfinches. I filled both of them and I had birds in fifteen minutes scrambling for a place to select seed.

Staying Close.....

Barney stays close to us during the day. Some days he is more needy and lays at our feet or as close as he can get.  The computer and lap support were placed at the floor as I went to get ore coffee.  He hung as close as he could get to where I am. In his older age he likes to lay up against something.

Purple Iris........

It has finally bloomed now that we moved away from it. The story starts about ten years ago when my parents home had neighbors who plowed down a lilac at their rental property.  The didn’t do a perfect job as there were small sprouts that were left behind. I brought home a sprout and put it in the ground.  Spring after spring I kept watching for buds. So this year, ten years lager,  there is one branch with these set of blooms on it. It was a beautiful large bush and I was sad that they took it down.  So now an hour or so drive north of it I now have moved it and it is blooming again.

Hosta with Grass.......

The statue boy with a bucket was sitting directly on top of this hosta.  The planting person didn’t remember he had planted it and the stature person placed it exactly on top of it. When the leaves started to slip up and out from under things, I moved the statue.

Blue Iris........

The first iris to bloom at the farm probably will be the first to bloom at the new place.  We will just see it that proves true. The falls are short on this iris which makes in an old fashion iris.  I still call them cemetery iris because that is where they still grow today.

Promises to Bloom....

Having moved many iris to the new place I am happy to see this happening now. The color is not determined yet but I am betting that it is the white iris that blooms earlier than the others. One other iris has buds on them but they look like they are going to be dead on arrival. That I don’t understand but it is the first year for them. I moved them off and on throughout the past summer so some have had more time to root in and mature.

After the Rain.....

It is a spotted sky with clouds that first look like Canada geese. The day is still hazy from that early morning rain,  Barney and my wife were up for that storm but I did sleep through this one. I believe we will see clear skies as the day moves on and the front heads east.

Jack in the Pulpit......

The internet wants to call it a flower.  The former owners left three plantings of this Jack in the Pulpit.  It shot up in a very short period of time in the shade of my deck stairs.  From my memories of the smaller plants like this in our timber the colors were a little different.  I am assuming there are varieties of plant.  I am guessing that  it is a bulb plant and that is why it can be planted by man.

Birch Tree Glows.......

The birch tree at the farm is getting to be so large. Its slender trunk is not so narrow any more as it is getting old. The tree was planted in the late 1970s making it 40 years old.

Apple Blossoms.........

The old apple trees in my yard were covered with blooms when I visited on Tuesday.  The oldest tree had so many blooms on it at the top that it looked like snow on the top of the tree.  I don’t think I have ever seen it put out that many blooms. Our freezing temps in April did cause everything to be late this year so the tree must have had a lot of energy pushing through its roots and branches.

Spring Blooms.....

I remember the planting of this tree across the street from our old place.  It was a bank give away one and three owners before now planted it. I am certain that it was in the late 80s when it was put in the ground. I took my camera to the old place yesterday and found every tree and bush now blooming. It was said that our freezing temperatures in April really has  caused all spring things to just happen at once.

Frilly Pink......

A special multi-petaled tulip does turn to its best colors as it matures. The back side of it has great stripes of green making it a great addition to the garden.

One Day Later.....Locust Leaves.

I am not sure that there are leaves as much as they are a fern leaf shaped. I didn’t get a focused photo of them but will try it again another time.

Ready for Display.....

The locust tree in the front yard has started to unfold its leaves. It is a stark-looking tree with bare branches but once the locust foliage is revealed it has a great look.  The foliage looks more like a fern leaf than just a plain single leaf.

Bluebells.....

I had forgotten as to how large this plant became last year.  Some people call them New England Bluebells.  They are a wild flower in Iowa and the do like our climate.  The former owner planted this and it is a large plant.  I have them at the old place where they grow among the old fashioned ferns. I remember seeing them years ago in our timber on our farm in southern Iowa.

Storm Images.....

The storm sirens were blasting and the warnings on television were continual as clouds passed by us on Thursday evening. The light was so low that it makes the color fade and it li looks more like a black and white photo.  I had seen the black ominous cloud from the deck and went to the front door to capture this.

Fine Art......

I have storm shots and cute birds in the grass but I chose fine art today.  The two days of rains have filled the cast iron skillet half way.  I know that letting this former bird feeder container setting around with water is a bad idea.  I will being it in today. The photo is unplanned and yet the line designs of the railing and the fence row help to make this into a fine photograph.  The texture of the blue spruce is so great too. We have had almost 3 inches of rain the past two days. Watching tornado warnings all evening were tense but we were safe as they kept staying up in the clouds and did not land on the ground.

Hearts in a Row......

The rains helped to cause the bleeding heart to double in size as it got taller and wider. The little sets of flowers also grew in size.

Middle of the Week.....

The morning after of the thunderstorm does look like this.  We had lots of wind, lots of thunder and lighting and just a little bit of rain.  It rained its heaviest when I was out with Barney.  We were out around ten o’clock and a mild sprinkle turned into a heavy rainfall with horizontal winds.  Needless to say but I will say it anyway, I along with Barney were soaked to the bone.I really was surprised to see the rain gauge only registered one half inch of rain.

Flowering Trees......

It is a struggle to take focused shots of these blooms. The light is great but the wind is moving everything around. I have many times had difficulty with them as they are white. I should have a few days yet to get it figured out but until then here is my blurry version of what I am seeing out there.