Seedlings!

I confess that I cannot pass up a chance to try growing plants from seed.  Knowing the logistics--the wasted time, money and effort when something doesn't sprout--just doesn't seem to phase me.  Not all my attempts have been failures.  I have a couple of rose bushes I grew from seeds--they are the Romer's Hip Happy, a rose that makes big rose hips with easy to sprout seeds.  But still!

So when I came down with the Iris Virus this year, of course it would not do but I had to grow iris from seed.  In trying to identify so many of my No I.D. ("noids") iris, I learned that there are a seemingly infinite variety of them!  My favorite is and always will be the tall bearded, but I have a few of the different kinds now.  And most of these are in part to my little trays of seedlings.

Here are few photos of the "lab" where I have tended the trays and fussed over the little green sprouts.  They will need potting up and careful nursing through a blistering summer.  But by fall, they should be strong enough to plant in the beds out front. 

The nursery!  (a.k.a. the labORatory.  hwaahahaha...)

Red flag iris, blue flag, and some Siberians. 

A tiny rose, black sage shrubs, senna corymbosa, and a squirrel planted palm tree I dug up.

Tropical milkweed, for the monarchs.

Aren't they sweet?

I think this has been a lesson in patience.  It's usually two to three years from seed to bloom with these babies!  Here's hoping I will see blooms in a couple of years.

Ten cool things about Joyce Elaine Graham Brown

I posted this on Facebook, so my apologies to those friends who have seen it already.

Ten cool things about Joyce Elaine Graham Brown.

1. She knew to bang on the battery cable connection with a wrench when the car wouldn't start. 

2. She once made a doll house television--that worked.

3. She could not tell a joke to save her life, but she loved to hear them.

4. She was a great fisherman and camper, and taught me how to build a fire. 

5. When she was five, her dad let her drive the car. She hit the garage.

6. She loved the song Silver Bells at Christmas.

7. She unknowingly named one of the French Poodle puppies Renee, at the same time I was naming my daughter Renee.

8. In general she couldn't cook, but she did make great snickerdoodles.

9. She was a sweet Gran to my kids, but took no crap from them.

10. She was the best mom ever.


Happy Mother's Day to you all, whether your mother is with you or has gone on.  Let's remember good stuff all day, and make good memories for our own kids to remember.

The roses are awake.

Well of course I'm still naming irises.  FINALLY found the name of the lilac blue one I've been researching for weeks.  It's "Alien Mist".  Took a long time, but this name sure fits.  The older the flowers get, the more they sprout the "space age" horns and spoons at the ends of the beards, so it's been interesting.

Kinda looks like an alien from this view.

A new one bloomed yesterday, too.  She's called "Conjuration".  I guess the hybridizer just couldn't think of a better name.  Oh well, what' in a name, right?  This beauty is tall, incredible to see in person, and smells very sweet.  She's a space-age iris too.

The husband said "The real roses are blooming now!"  Which means the roses that are NOT the miniatures.  He loves big flowers.  I have lots of minis--who can resist a perfect miniature rose?  But the large ones are beautiful too, and I am happy to see them awake and ready to join the garden's celebration of spring.   This is Ambiance and Granada.  The Granada gets showier the more it opens...a wildly vibrant set of colors--yellow, orange and flame red. 

Poor Schultz wasn't allowed out in the front yard, so he sat patiently by the door, waiting for me to come back in with my camera. 

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and there is some Springtime in your life!