Three Shots Today ..........

We all know that the weather makes the difference from a good photo to a great photo. I was having a hard time getting a good shot of this as it was cold and windy and the falls would always be rolled under on the edge.  Finally I caught a day when it was calm and warmer and the iris was displaying itself perfectly.  This is one of my cemetery iris of my collection of iris.  My photos seem to make it look like I had a great show of flowers this year but I did not.  I have tried to get close up shots of the few and I am glad I can view those as they are mostly  gone now except for one other planting.

This is the only iris that I had this year that bloomed like a normal year with dozens of blooms.  It too is a cemetery iris that is small in stature but great with color.  The line marking three of these on the falls are really similar in design.

Here is a repeat showing of this one so you can see the line pattern on the fall parts of it.  They are all three similar even though the white one just shows lines and not color differences. Three photos on a photo a day blog.  I think that is my record number of shots on this blog.

River Birch Bark......

I have been flooding you with flower shots so I decided to share some bark on my tree.  I bought the river birch thinking it was a clump birch and I am so glad I made the mistake.  I gave one to my neighbor and I kept this one.  It is a wonderful specimen tree that looks so great in my orchard area.  I like how it peals back bark continually as it grows.

Bud to Bloom........

This is a very hardy rose as it didn't hesitate to green up and start budding after the winter it had gone through.  It did set closer to the south side of the house so the frost line of 40 inches or more may not of been in that area.  I believe this is called a multiflora rose but don't quote me on that as I am not very educated about roses.  I do know now that I can trim it back after that last bloom an it immediately puts out new buds.  You can see that the bloom has a little damage on some of its petal which I assume was the hail storm that hit it a few weeks ago. 

Flag Iris.....

I moved the plant out into the sun last year and it did pay off as I did get two blooms.  The main plant that is still in the shade isn't going to bloom.  Once I am certain that the non blooming one isn't being late I will lift the two plants in the shade and find a better spot for them also in the sun.  I am still learning as an old gardener.

Rose Blooms.....

Next to the garden shed is the rose "William Baffin" that seems really happy with our spring weather.  It rained again yesterday evening so the ground is wet this morning.  It is too wet for me to get out there and do anything. You might wonder about the string that is in the picture.  I really don't know what it was for and will check it out today.

Flowers and Foliage Today.......

I wanted to share this white spider with you today.  It just happens to be on one of my favorite flowers. My camera picked it up right away and zoomed in on showing me that it was sitting on the fall of the iris.

A bonus photo today as I am getting more pictures taken than I will ever use up with only one photo a day.  The inside hardy geranium is loving being outside in the sun.  The foliage on a geranium is as decorated as the flower head itself.

Having found that this blog didn't get posted yesterday and sat in a draft form,  I will post it on top of my Sunday's post.

Sunday.........

The rains are coming off and on but they only last a few minutes.  The iris take on a shimmering look as they react to the moisture.  This iris in the commercial world is called "Superstition." Other companies who sell the copied variety call it the "Black Iris."   It really is darkest when it is in the bud stage but as you can see many colors reflect off of it surface. It turns to more of a purple as it ages. I had given a start of this to my parents many years ago and I had kept one from the package.  Mine eventually died out from to much moisture. I retrieved a start from the parent's home and am back into business growing it.  It is a hybrid that really does grow in a circular pattern with the base of the plant growing from a center point leaving an empty spot on the ground in the middle.