Sunday, June 30, 2019

Kum and Go......


I have followed the progress of the construction of this building the past three years. While downtown yesterday in Des Moines I was able to see the finished building. The entire design is being noticed all over the world. It has windows that give the people inside the view of the sculpture park south of the building. If you focus on a figure of a man in front of the building you can get the perspective as to how large the structure is.  The company Kum and Go, was wise to chose the architect to create one more sculpture for the area.

Saturday, June 29, 2019

Lily, Lily.....


An Easter lily did bloom this year from last year’s planing.  It has such a rich yellow color in the center of it.

Friday, June 28, 2019

Buds and Blooms.......


My new rose is looking good at its location.  The base of one of the poles of the sunroom makes a great backdrop for them.

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Starting Over....


A new rose on sale made it to my home. It was the last one of its kind.  I rescued it from the artificial conditions in which it was grown.  It leans for now but I just set it free by putting it into the soil so it could spread it roots.  I will prune it all back to give a new start.

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Light and Shadow.....


The aloe is planted in an old enamel pan.  It is starting to be crowded as a plant. The light shining in the downstairs window still gives it a beauty from all the brights and low lights on the plant. It is very healthy compared to the violet sitting on the right of it.

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Mourning Dove....


The bird really isn’t basking in the sun so much as its relishes the new pile of seed. I had to zoom in on the dove from above on the deck to get this shot.  I moved the feeder a little farther away from the house which makes the yard look better but our view is less.


Monday, June 24, 2019

Breaking Up.....


It is nice to see the sun after there has been so much rain.  In some parts of Des Moines we had cars floating down the streets. Over one hundred cars were towed away from the streets after Saturday’s night continual rains.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Humidity Haze.........


The heavy humidity in the air caused my cold camera to fog over making magical images.  The nice surprise is to see the zinnia seed has germinated after laying in the ground for two weeks.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Hydrangea......


The white hydrangea that once grew along many farm houses and in small city towns was a staple for spring flowers. You could see them lining the front of a porch on both sides of the steps. This is originally from one of those foundation plantings. It grows this great at my old city house but it isn’t growing se well at my newer house. It may be my clay soil and it could be that it is in full sun.  I may have to move my shrub to the north end of the house.

Friday, June 21, 2019

Wet on Wet.......


Yep, it is raining. My new deck doesn’t have a finish on it yet.  I was told to let it dry out for the whole summer and then in the fall put a finish on it to seal it.  I have learned that wood that is in the raw does show its finished look by wetting it.  I think it will be a nice looking cedar deck with the sealer on it.

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Towering Towers....



The Country Club Plaza is filled with Spanish styled towers from one end of the area to the other.  The faces of the buildings are also decorated with tiles and wrought iron railing is using to decorate the buildings.

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Tree Appreciation....



The locust tree stands in the front yard. The layers of patterns and colors of green makes it a very good-looking tree.

It is nothing like the two locust trees we had on the farm back when I was a kid. That was two thorny trees with bad bark and falling branch parts.  The things that fell were the seeds and the thorns.  One didn’t walk under those trees without shoes. I don’t know the age of the locust tree in our yard but it has been bred to be a very nice shaped tree and not throne.

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Spain in Missouri.....


Spanish architecture  is everywhere in Country Club Plaza.  This tower is a replica from one in Spain.

The builder of this mall in Kansas City insisted on showing towers throughout the area and also many fountains.

Monday, June 17, 2019

Anniversary Time.....


We took a trip to Kansas City to celebrate our thirty five years of marriage. It was fun to go back and visit the art museum and catch some sights of the Country Club Plaza. We had great weather.

Friday, June 14, 2019

Partly Cloudy or Partly Sunny.....


A partly cloudy day is in our future. The temperatures are not so cold today and it does feel like a humid summer day.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Delphiniums.....


A new purchase for me is this flower.  I have never grown delphiniums and do question that they will survive our winters.   It would be nice if it would.  I don’t have a lot of blue flowers except for a iris or two but the colors of them is great.

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Remaining Clouds.........


While looking out of the door, this is what I can see.  It has rained early morning and the clouds are headed out of the state.  The deck floor was wet so I could not get away from picking up parts of a roof and a fireplace. One doesn’t wear shoes or socks in early morning so I wasn’t going to walk on water to get the better shot.

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Keeping History Alive....


When I first bought my house in Woodward, Iowa this rose grew along the two sides of the kitchen addition. That was in 1976.  It was an old house, 1908, and the kitchen was like a summer kitchen. When we added on an art gallery off the side of the kitchen, the rose on the west side stayed alive.  I dug a batch of it as a crazy impulse and brought it to the new place.  It had a single cane sticking out of the ground for two years and then here it is.  It took time to root but it is now is an established rose on a 13 year old property in a large modern city.  I did find a couple of possible names for it in research on the net.  They have an old house rosebushes site to look for the oldies. You can see that it is putting out more canes and a lot of leaves.  That was a happy rescue when I first saw it on Monday.

Monday, June 10, 2019

Natural Great Colors.....


Looking up our backyard valley we could see these wonderful colors. I don’t think any rain resulted from the clouds but ti did make a great show. I took over eleven different shots but they all did look mostly the same.

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Salvia/Sage.....


I looked this up to see what it actually is named. I guess it does fit in as a salvia and then too blue sage.  I didn’t buy it but it is a great part of the garden.

Salvia sylvestnis Caradonna 

Caradonna Blue Sage 

Saturday, June 8, 2019

In From The Heat......


The new basket of flowers really doesn’t like to be out on the deck in direct sun.  I had to bring it in out of the heat and water it.  Then after watering it the white flowers all came back out again. It looked bad without those white ones. There isn’t real soil in the basket so they need to be watered daily.

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Bloom of Beauty......


I was out with my wife planting some petunias.  I knew things were looking good at the row of peonies but I didn’t know they were do so well.  I have mentioned before that we had to springs in a row with drought.  I thought there was something wrong with the plants. Now I now that down pouring rains make the peonies bloom.  I will have to remember to water them next spring.  With two springs of drought the white one seemed to put out dried up buds.

The plant has proved me wrong.  I will have to bring in a bloom to get a good photo as white is hard to photograph in bright out door light.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Heating Up....


Yesterday’s morning clouds did open up and let the sun heat us up.  We had a hot day yesterday with partly cloudy.  Today is suppose to be a clear day with full sun all day.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Hosta in the Rocks.......


I thought that the rocks seemed a little boring as a garden feature.  I added hosta plants a few at a time to start this hosta garden. The biggest one seems to be in front but I bet the back hosta will catch up with the other two. My other plantings of these at the opposite end of this garden are doing well too.

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Dianthus.....


I have dianthus that have returned to bloom again.  They rarely wintered over at my old place.  I moved further south and I have two kinds of them blooming.  The polar vortex didn’t seem to bother them as they were covered with a large snow drift.

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Peony Season...


One of the first peony blooms for the season.  I brought home the buds from the old place.  I am not sure that they will every open but I thought it would be worth a try.

Big and Small...

 The miniature daffodils are so petite compared to the normal sized daffodil. I don't think I have ever brought the small ones inside be...