Glorious Gladiolas

Our neighbor planted 250 gladiola bulbs a few years ago and shared these blooming beauties with us yesterday.

He did not know his gladiola colors complemented my silk painting above the fireplace.  So the glads are staying in front of the fireplace.

(39" x 41")

Kudos to nice neighbors.

Now We Have a Greenhouse

First we started out with our dog run area which we no longer use as such because our fur babies are so spoiled they won't go anywhere without a human by their side.

Then, inch by inch and step by step, the Mr. followed all instructions given in the kit. And now it is ready for use.

This is the finished product with pictures by Amazon.

source

We are hoping it will keep all herbs, geraniums and begonias safe over the winter. 

 And next spring, just wait for those beans seedlings and other vegetables to come out of the greenhouse!

The Mr. and the Mrs. are happy gardeners.

(illustrations by Sara Midda from In and Out of the Garden)

Good Bye Summer

good bye to our flowers...

goodbye to summer excursions and a trip to see family...

and hello to fall decorations, golden foliage, hot stews, two new tv dramas, ratatouille, apples and autumn fidget pie!

Wildflowers Part Deux

Being jazzed up by my wildflower visit to the Colorado mountains last weekend, I decided our flower beds in the back yard needed a make over.  And why not plant some wildflowers while I was at it?

After removing two dozen or so iris bulbs, clearing off the leaf debris from our cottonwoods which shed leaves all summer due to the low rainfall, I was ready to start planting.

Thus far here is the gardening score:

Purchased columbine and lupine this morning and planted:

Transferred yellow columbine: two plants:

Planted Bluebells: two plants:

Planted Penstemon: one plant:

Tended this ground cover which I am not yet able to identify, but it is doing well:

Shopped in my herb garden for dinner tonight (sage, parley, basil, oregano, tarragon, chives):

And here are morning glories about ready to bloom and some planted three weeks ago:

Transferred clematis: one plant, transferred delphinium: two plants. Transferred ground cover from top bed to prayer garden below.  Transferred two iris bulbs in prayer garden.  Husband chopped down 6 foot shrub and I cleaned off the debris.

Showered, ate yogurt and cereal, shopped, gardened and blogged and it is now 11 AM.  I am pooped already!  What is on your Saturday morning schedule?  Whatever you do, I hope it is relaxing.  Have a great weekend!

Wildflowers in Colorado High Country

The Museum of Western Colorado sponsored its popular annual Wildflower Tour to the area near Crested Butte, Colorado over the past weekend.  A dozen of us traveled by van to take in a tour of Crested Butte, eat and shop in the quaint downtown area, and later attend an excellent evening chamber music concert of piano, violin and cello sponsored by the Crested Butte Music Festival.  Then we were off early Saturday morning to meet our wildflower guides and travel north through Gothic and the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and on to find wildflowers.

We were at an elevation over 10,000 feet when our guides arrived at the areas where they had previously scouted out the best display of wildflowers.  We stayed on the gravel roadway (mostly) and were shown about three dozen different wildflowers growing close to the road where our guides pointed out unique characteristics of each of the flowers. Breathtaking views, magnificent flowers, and being taught by experts in their biological fields was memorable, to say the least.

I took about 100 photographs, then chose 50 of the better ones to put into a movie.  If you have a couple of minutes, the entire YouTube video can be seen below.  A few separate photographs are shown at the bottom of the post.

Crested Butte Mountain

Cow Parsnips

Elephantheads

Columbines

Although Colorado has had low rainfall this year, our guides kept a sharp lookout and found the following varieties of wildflowers to show the group: Tall Larkspur,  Sneezeweed, Longleaf Arnica, Bistort, Silvery Lupine, Parrot's Beak, Showy fleabane, Coulter's fleabane, Rosy Paintbrush, Sulphur Paintbrush, Daffodil Senecio, Tall Bluebells, Sawleaf Senecio, Cow Parsnips, Fireweed, White Geranium, Dock, Queen's Crown, King's Crown, Yarrow, Corydalis, Fringed Gentian, Star Gentian, Monkey Flower, Goldenrod, Shrubby Potentilia, Whipple's penstemon, Scarlet Paintbrush, Monkshood, Monument Plant, and Golden Aster.

On another note, I found an excellent app for the iPad called "Colorado Rocky Mountain Wildflowers" that can be seen here.  It can be accessed without using wi-fi; a great buy for $10 and good to use in the field.  They say, in part, ..."We have been careful to include the most abundant and visible plants and also those less common but found in unusual habitats, such as, wetlands, ponds, and rocky slopes. We have also chosen species from various altitudes, from 85 families and 200 genera, and from all geographic locations -- East Slope, West Slope, and the mountains between."