Iris in All Colors

I thought a drawing would be good for me because i need to rely on drawing the details instead if just blocking in color when I use plain ink.

These few remaining Iris were part of a trade with one of my neighbors when I moved here 17 years ago.

There are a lot more of these Iris which were a gift from my brother.

There is only one of these so I will be trying to add new Iris next year to start to build a nice collection of them.

There are only 2 yellow Iris plants so I'm always anxious for these to bloom each season because they make such nice bouquets with the rest of the flowers blooming at the same time.

In this last photo there is a photo at the top and a drawing in markers on the bottom.

Miniature Tomato Plants in the Living Room

Miniature Tomato Plants

At the top of the page is a photo of the miniature tomato plants I grew last year. I'm very excited to say that the seeds that I saved were viable and I am growing 3 new plants from the seed.

This year I'm growing them in an indoor hydroponic system and it does seem to have made a difference.

The biggest change is that these have lots more buds and blossoms on them than last years did.

I'm very pleased with the results so far. I'll keep you posted of the progress on the way to harvest.

Sunday June 23, 2019
I noticed the first tomato on one of the plants and was quite excited about that. I can't wait to see how well these bear compared to last years.

I don't remember what dates I shot the rest of these photos on but they follow the plants progress.

Because of the extra weight of the fruit I began pruning a lot of the leaves to lighten the load and distribute the weight better.

By the time the tomato plants got to this point they kept tipping over so I planted them in regular flower pots where I could add as much support as they needed.

Front Garden Photos

The wild geraniums have just started blooming.

So far I just have yellow and purple but am looking for at least one new color to add this year. They really brighten things up and fill in places until I find things that I like better.

Here are a few other views around the front yard where of course the hosta seems determined to take over the world no matter how much of it I give away every year.

Oh well, I love it and it was free so I just keep moving it.

What can I say? It's a shaggy mess but it's home.

Lilacs

Front Garden Birds

I love the picture of this robin the best, somehow it looks like the gnome has something to say to it. If I ever think of a clever caption for it I may use it on a greeting card.

There must be something shiny about the camera lens hidden inside the feeder because the birds seem very interested in it.

On the other hand, this bird couldn't care less so I'm left to wonder what's really going on.

There have also been doves, goldfinches and cardinals but there are no pictures of them because they seem to favor the other feeders and those don't have cameras in them.

The main thing for us is the enjoyment we get from watching and listening to them chatter and sing in the garden.

It can drown out the traffic at times to the point that you can almost forget you're in the middle of a city.

Progress

Having filled all of the large planters I'm Planting up all of the various sizes of pots laying around here.

I'll be changing this table out for the big one as our main entertaining area.

There will be 2 other, smaller areas that will be a bit more casual.

This is our new toy to make the transplanting easier and faster this year.

Since I can't get around and do the digging myself I'm trying to make things easier for others.

I've been told it's fast and works really well.